If, however, you're going to need to produce larger or more complex 3D elements or need to animate characters, we'd recommend levelling up to the full version of CINEMA 4D. If you're working on motion graphics or only need very simple 3D assets, we reckon you can get away with sticking with CINEMA 4D Lite.

That said, it gives you far more 3D capabilities than simply doing everything in After Effects would, and Maxon have worked hard to improve camera inoperability between the two programs, so it's now far easier to make edits in either and have them instantly recognised by both. However, being a Lite version, this doesn't support advanced features like ambient occlusion, global illumination or polygon modelling. Both programs can render C4D files, but if you choose to render directly in CINEMA 4D Lite you'll be limited to low-res renders of 800圆00 or less - this cap is removed if you render the footage within After Effects. You can create basic 3D objects and animations in CINEMA 4D Lite, then export them to an After Effects layer as footage for further editing.

This is the stripped back version of CINEMA 4D that comes as part of your After Effects CC download, and is the program you'll actually do the C4D work in (although if you have a full version of C4D R14 or above already installed on your computer, After Effects CC can also harness that to deliver the same two-way workflow to a full version of C4D). It arrives as part of your After Effects CC download, and is not available to anyone still using After Effects CS6 or earlier.

It's what makes it possible for After Effects users to enjoy that two-way workflow, choose to render CINEMA 4D files in an After Effects-based renderer and see changes to cameras and lighting in both programs, regardless of which they were made in. Not actually a standalone application, CINEWARE is the name of the plug-in that's been added to After Effects to let it communicate with CINEMA 4D. Now that we're a little way down the road, the dust has settled, the workflow has been explained and the deals have been announced, we thought it'd be a good idea to take a look at CINEWARE, CINEMA 4D Lite and CINEMA 4D and work out exactly which option is best for whom, and what it is you'll get for your money. When it was announced that the Creative Cloud iteration of After Effects would be capable of two-way collaboration with Maxon's CINEMA 4D range, it fast became our favourite new feature.

Maxon cinema 4d adobe after effects