SOFT WARE: CINEMA 4D 2024
Mike Griggs replies
Cinema 4D’s Object Manager is the secret sauce of this 3D content creation application. When working with other apps with an object view similar to C4D’s Object Manager, it’s unlikely to be as intuitive for a new artist.
A decent object manager is at the heart of any sound content creation system, as it shows the relation of elements within the scene to the scene itself and to other objects clearly when the artist is in the middle of creation. Still, when you come back to a file after a couple of months or hand it over to another artist, everything in the Object Manager must be as straightforward as possible.
What makes the Object Manager in Cinema 4D even better for many artists is how customisable it can be for a specific scene or using the new scene ability. The
Object Manager enables artists to assign colours to elements within it, assign icons from a predetermined list, or even add in custom icons. Using tools like this and elements such as nulls for notation lets artists standardise their scenes, making it easy to differentiate lights, cameras and objects from each other.
To understand why Cinema 4D artists use the Object Manager so much has to do with its logical simplicity. Nest an object within another object, and the child object takes on the properties of the parent by default, both in the Object Manager and the Viewport. Objects can be designated an appearance in Viewport, Render or both via the traffic light system of double dots, and tags and materials can be easily identified by their associations.
The logic of the Object Manager is so vital to C4D users that when third-party plugin makers have tried to go against it, they tend to have failed, whereas those that have embraced the Object Manager, such as X-Particles from Insydium, have been successful from day one. Getting the most from the Object Manager will vastly improve your experience and these tips should help with that journey.
EXPERT TIP
Instead of organising the Object Manager every time a new scene is created, save the scene to the desktop and call it 'new.c4d'. Place this file in the Cinema 4D application folder to start
