So in my previous
update I said my Cinema licence expired. This was because it was a student version, which I got for a longer time than my school had planned. Which brings me now to the point where I have to buy my own professional version from a Maxon store, the creators of Cinema 4D.
Buying a version of Cinema 4D is not really an easy task for someone who just graduated. Mainly because they do cost a lot. I'm in negotiations right now with a very friendly employee at one of the international Maxon stores, in order to pick the right version and hopefully get a discount on my licence. It's already certain I'll be boosted up to an R17 version for free because I believe they're in the middle of a change of software.
Picking a version for Cinema 4D sounds easier than it is. There are 6 different versions, mostly different. Maxon themselves made a very useful list of the differences, which is updated when a new version is released as well. It's a very useful guide to get what you need without getting things you don't need and saving on the price. The list can be found right
Here. And in case the link does not work, let it be phone, web, tablet or whatever else, here's the full link.
maxon.net/en/products/general-information/general-information/product-comparison.html
Most would recommend getting the Studio version, as it has everything you do need and will ever need. While this is true, they do not give the price tag. The employee did give me a pricetag of every version and what it'll cost to upgrade from that version to the latest. The version numbers are not yet correct, so R16 should be R17 and R15 should be R16. But the prices, while in Euros, will be unchanged.
As you can see, while Studio has the most features, it also has the highest price tag. Which is reasonable and normal for an all-inclusive package. And this price tag also shows that Cinema is more a company-product than for private use. Or you can buy it together with some friends, all pitch in and save on money that way.
I've looked and thought it over several times now. For me the Visualise would be the better choice. It would mean I wouldn't be able to do tutorials about physics, which are great fun to play with. But I will be able to make multiple showcases and actually serve the model right by having a good rendering feature. Until I get a good screencapture software, I wouldn't be able to capture physics tutorials in a good way anyway, and that software can rack up a few hundreds or thousands as well. So there won't be a major loss there.
In the meantime, while negotiating, I've noticed that going back in my older Cinema files will be hard to do as well. I cannot save anything, so any changes will be futile. I can't even save a render, which doesn't make things better. So in other words, there won't be any tutorial for a while still.
Again, sorry for any inconvenience and I hope this post at least informed future buyers of which version to pick. Of course, feel free to ask any questions.
