MikeA

OK guys - persuade me... What's the big advantage over a decent screen and a tablet and stylus? I really don't get it...

Thanks Srek, I'm sure we all appreciate your willingness to respond to the conversation here.

Srek: "The scope of Cinema 4D users is enormous, our customers are working in such a wide variety of fields that i sometimes despair to find things that will help even most, if not all." I can certainly understand the issues here. I work in fairly 'niche' areas of 3D myself, so often the areas I'd like to see improved are often of little interest to others. But having said that, I'm surprised to hear you say: "i sometimes despair to find things that will help even most, if not all." to me there seem to be many areas requiring improvement that would benefit the vast majority of your users: UV mapping improvements, handing speed of large numbers of objects... etc.

Hi Srek - I think the above is the right interpretation. It's just an expression to say this feels significantly less than we expected.

I have just posted a comment on the YouTube page - but I have to repeat it here: Stunning work!

PS: Re the "with our limited resources" comment... Prime users will soon be paying 'studio' level subs, perpetual 'studio' users could be facing a 50% increase in upgrade cost next year, you're telling us you're going to have all these new renters coming on board... OK, maybe I shouldn't have opened that particular can.... ; )

Everfresh could have typed the response for me : ) - I'm perfectly happy to have that additional option as long as it doesn't detract or interfere with the core info - and that it's clearly separated from that info, not all jumbled up together. The sort of help info I typically need is: What does 'parameter A' do? - or some other very focused bit of info. I need the info I want, quickly and accurately to get the job out of the door. For me, Cineversity fulfuills a different role: it's for when I want to explore or discover a new feature or toolset in more depth - and I have the time to watch and absorb a longer video or playlist. Hence the need to keep these two routes clearly separated. I noted your comment about the current difficulty of incorporating user reported typos, inaccuracies etc - and your efforts to enable the integration of that input. I'd very much like to see that improved. If you could enable an easier route for user contributions that would be a very good thing. I'm not talking about directly accessible user content here, but about submitting content to yourselves that you could review, consolidate and consider for your next 'documentation update'. I guess my ideal solution would be an online system that gives you the ability to make continuous updates, corrections etc - but one that would allow the user to download a local copy (of the core info - similar to R20) at any time of their choosing for local off-line help. This could then be updated by downloading a revised copy of the help as and when the user felt necessary - and when they had good connectivity to do so.

Rick - thanks for being a 'willing listener' on this important matter! I'd pretty much echo Macgyver's comments 100%. 1. Please - no community content. That's what Google's for. When I'm looking for help in complex software like C4D I want direct, detailed, in depth, authoritative information - that I can find immediately and easily. The very last thing I want is a link to 23 random youtube tutorials... or similar. I hate the fact that Adobe have done this to their help system. Please don't follow them. 2. Just like Macgyver - I have a good amount of 'screen real estate' at my studio and high speed connectivity. But I typically want to refer to the help most when I am away from the office with my 15" laptop - minimum screen estate - and poor, or NO, connectivity. Yes, I understand that a system that can be updated more easily etc would be good. But my priority - by far - is a help system that meets the requirements above - as R20. Mke

A positive note: it's good that you're here, and listening. In the work that I do I regularly receive direct customer feedback. When I ask for it I like to say "It's always nice to receive good feedback - but honest feedback is useful : ) " Please be open to it all.

Ralph, I work with a lot of customers in defence and other areas who are totally banned and unable to connect their machines to the internet in any form. So how are they supposed to get help? Your quote: " Online connectivity is something people assume nowadays..." Please don't assume - you can end up making bad decisions - like this one. "Having the help online greatly increases our flexibility and speed of deployment, especially for the numerous languages we support. It’s the modern agile approach and we are embracing it." Great to hear it's benefiting MAXON. Does it benefit your customers? It won't help me. I'm frequently travelling with effectively no internet connection. At the absolute minimum please make this easily downloadable for your users. Like a lot of other users here I thought the exisiting C4D help system was one of the better features of the software.

The Laubwerk stuff looks great, but I decided to hold off on that until the R21 plugin in situation settles down. Having looked around and sampled a few low cost options I went with: https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-deciduous-v-ray-tree-model/846988 They were spot on for the job at hand. Highly recommended.

Deck - many thanks, that's two good suggestions : )

Hi all, I've been tasked with a very urgent job which requires some generic real world trees in a distant landscape. I need something quick and low poly. Has anyone got any suggestions / recommendations for a good quality collection / pack of either 'alpha plane' cutout trees, or very low polygon geometry trees?

It's a good question Kent. I just hope that MAXON have given some thought to how their changes will impact plugin developers - but given the rush to subscription you never know. The most comparable situation for me is After Effects. While it's sub based, it still has a very active plugin market - including quite a few well north of $500 - Trapcode et al. As a general rule they are perpetual with a yearly upgrade - but often the older versions still continue to work in the updated AE - certainly through the mid cycle updates. I guess the key question here is how often will future C4D development break your plugins. Let's hope for everyone's sake it's not every single update.

Yes, I think that's a good approach. Enjoy the rest of your weekend : )