C4D forward backward compatibility

[jed 387]

It's something I never think about - what are the 'rules' for forward and backward compatibility with different versions ?

[ABMotion 238]

Sorry, I posted an answer to your question in the other post and just now saw you posted this as well. So that my reply is here as well:

 

..."My understanding is down to R12 is compatible, with the exception of plugins etc. Pre R12 won't be able to open them.

I may stand corrected, but that is my understanding."

 

Full response as to why I think it came up as a question:

 

[jed 387]

I sometimes get a warning when opening an old file (say R14) and re-saving with R19 - 'this file was created with a different version blah blah', although TBH I'm not sure if that's a C4D message or from Windows 10. Either way I ignore it . . .

 

Thanks for reply.

[blutz 25]

We try to be as forward/backward compatible as possible with our file format. Normally, you can open CINEMA 4D files in newer and older versions. New functionality will be ignored, when you open a file in an older version. This could change the look and behavior of your scene and is not recommended. But even then, CINEMA 4D will try to keep the unknown data for new functionality, even when you are editing the scene. There is a chance, that you can open a actual scene in a older version, edit it and open it back again in the new version and everything works. There is also a huge chance that your edits changed the scene in a way, that information about new functions can't be preserved and you ruin your scene.

R12 is a barrier, as we switched to double precision back then. Up to R19, there is a special importer for scenes older than R12. This importer will be removed with R20, so make sure to load old (<R12) scenes with R19 and save them again, as you won't be able to load them in R20.