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Golaem 9.2 The main change is that you no longer need a license to use the feature set from Golaem Lite, the old lower-priced edition of the software for layout artists. Users with a subscription to the Media and Entertainment Collection can now use the Golaem Lite features on as many machines as they want. In addition, the old watermarked Personal Learning Edition has been replaced with a standard 30-day Autodesk trial version. Golaem 9.2 is compatible with Maya 2022+ on Windows 10+ and CentOS, RHEL, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 8. Golaem is available as part of Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment product bundle, which is available rental-only. Subscriptions cost $335/month or $2,700/year. https://www.autodesk.com/collections/media-entertainment/overview https://help.autodesk.com/view/GOLM/ENU/?guid=glm_golaem-92-20250326 Maya 2026 and Maya Creative 2026 Unlike Autodesk’s recent annual updates to Maya, it does not introduce any complete new toolsets, but there are updates throughout the existing core functionality, including 3D modeling, retopology, shading, animation and simulation. There are also updates to Maya’s integration plugin for Autodesk’s Arnold renderer, and a new Animate in Context feature for users of Autodesk’s Flow Production Tracking platform. Autodesk has also released Maya Creative 2026, the corresponding update to the cut-down edition of Maya for smaller studios. For asset development, Maya’s Boolean node gets a new Volume mode. Unlike the existing Mesh mode, the source objects are converted to volumes before computing the Boolean operation, then the output is converted back to polygonal geometry. Autodesk pitches it as a quick way to block out organic models like creatures and characters. Other changes to the modeling toolset include the option to set scale units when importing or exporting models in STL format for 3D printing. For texturing, the main change in Maya 2026 is that OpenPBR is now the default surface shader. Support for the open material standard, intended as a unified successor to the Autodesk Standard Surface and Adobe Standard Material, was originally added in Maya 2025.3. In addition, LookdevX, Maya’s plugin for creating USD shading graphs, has been updated. LookdevX for Maya 1.7 features a number of workflow improvements, particularly to publishing, and support for relative file paths when exporting MaterialX documents. Other changes include an experimental new generative textures API, making it easier for TDs to integrate third-party generative AI services into LookdevX by creating C++ or Python plugins. Maya’s Substance plugin, for editing procedural materials in Substance format inside Maya, has also been updated, although there aren’t many details about what’s new in Substance 3.04. Maya 2026 also features performance and workflow improvements to the new ML Deformer. Introduced in Maya 2025.2, it uses machine learning to create a fast approximation of complex deformations, enabling users to take characters with complex, slow-to-process rigs and train the deformer to represent the deformations they generate in the character mesh. In Maya 2026, it is possible to visualize the difference between the source and target meshes as a heat map to help troubleshoot output, using a new display option, Apply Mesh Compare. The update also makes the training process more customizable, makes output less noisy, and improves performance: load times are “40 times faster”, and disk space usage is “80% reduced”. Other changes relevant to animators include the option to export Playblasts in .webm format. Bifrost for Maya, Maya’s node-based framework for building effects, gets a significant update in Maya 2026, with Bifrost for Maya 2.13 adding a new FLIP solver for liquid simulation. It was already possible to use it to simulate liquids by meshing the output of the MPM solver, but the workflow was better suited to granular and viscous fluids, whereas the FLIP solver is better suited to large-scale water simulations. The new FLIP solver is described as “largely similar” to the older Bifrost Fluids plugin, but shares the same framework as other simulation types, like smoke, fire and granular materials; and the node graph provides more flexibility than Bifrost Fluids’ menu-driven interface. Bifrost Fluids is still included with the software as the implementation in Bifrost for Maya lacks some of functionality from BOSS, Bifrost Fluids’ ocean surface toolset. Other changes in Bifrost for Maya 2.13 include updates to its work-in-progress procedural character rigging system, updates to texture baking, and 20 new node types. Maya 2026 also ships with an updated version of the integration plugin for Autodesk’s Arnold renderer, with MtoA 5.5.0 introducing support for the Arnold 7.4.0.0 core. Key changes since the release of Maya 2025.3 include a new transmission_shadow_density parameter in the OpenPBR Surface and the Standard Surface shaders, to control the look of shadows cast by transparent objects, as shown in the image above. Global Light Sampling (GLS) now takes material glossiness into account, which “greatly enhances” render quality, especially in scenes with many small lights. Arnold’s support for ID matte-generation system Cryptomatte has also been improved, with a new internal implementation adding GPU support, and improving performance on CPU. Other changes include improvements to MaterialX and USD support, to the implementation of OpenPBR, and to the MtoA plugin itself and the Arnold RenderView in Maya. However, Arnold 7.4 is a compatibility-breaking update, so shaders, procedurals, and other plugins compiled against older versions of Arnold will need to be recompiled. USD for Maya, Maya’s Universal Scene Description plugin, has also been updated. USD for Maya 0.31 improves lighting workflows, adding support for light linking, and the option to control lighting by looking through a selected light source. Other changes include support for USD cameras in Render Sequence, the option to search for USD prims in the Outliner, and to add or remove USD schemas in the Attribute Editor. Maya 2026 also integrates more closely with Flow Production Tracking, Autodesk’s production-management platform, previously known as ShotGrid. Originally announced last year, the new Animate in Context feature makes it possible to view shots surrounding the active scene directly in Maya. Animators and other shot-based artists can now scrub between their own work and that of other artists, helping to ensure that the changes they make preserve the continuity of the edit. The feature is available on Windows and Linux only, and is still officially in beta. Autodesk has also released Maya Creative 2026, the corresponding update to the cut-down edition of Maya aimed at smaller studios, and available on a pay-as-you-go basis. It includes most of the new features from Maya 2026, with the exception of the updates to Bifrost for Maya. In related news, Golaem, the Maya crowd-simulation plugin that Autodesk acquired last year, is now commercially available again. Autodesk includes it in the release notes for Maya 2026, but it’s a separate purchase, and requires a subscription to the full Media and Entertainment Collection, not Maya alone. You can find more details in our story on Golaem 9.2, the current release. Maya 2026 is available for Windows 10+, RHEL and Rocky Linux 8.10/9.3/9.5, and macOS 13.0+. The software is rental-only. Subscriptions cost $245/month or $1,945/year, up $10/month or $70/year since the previous update. In many countries, artists earning under $100,000/year and working on projects valued at under $100,000/year, qualify for Maya Indie subscriptions, now priced at $320/year, up $15/year. Maya Creative is available pay-as-you-go, with prices starting at $3/day, and a minimum spend of $300/year. https://www.autodesk.com/customer-value/me/maya https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2026/ENU/?guid=GUID-BAF59B47-E24F-4F87-9B77-ABE78D3F8268 3ds Max 2026 In the 3D modeling tools, the Vertex Weld modifier has been updated to support Spline objects as well as Mesh objects. Using Vertex Weld to close a spline means that it is still possible to apply further modifiers to the spline, including Extrude, Bevel, or Bevel Profile, and “still have a successful result”. There is also a new three-point method for creating spline Rectangle objects, which enables the object to be created at angles other than world-aligned right angles. 3ds Max 2026 features updates to the software’s retopology plugins, including the new Flow Retopology plugin introduced with 3ds Max 2025.2 last July. It mimics the functionality of the existing Retopology Tools, but makes it possible to submit retopology jobs to run in the cloud, rather than on the user’s machine. The current version, Flow Retopology for 3ds Max 1.2, is now bundled with 3ds Max 2026, and the usage limit has been raised from 30 to 50 cloud retopology jobs per month. Version 1.6 of the Retopology Tools plugin itself updates the Mesh Cleaner Modifier, and reduces processing time when using the ReForm algorithm. For texturing, the main change in 3ds Max 2026 is that OpenPBR is now the default material. Support for the open material standard, intended as a unified successor to the Autodesk Standard Surface and Adobe Standard Material, was originally added in 3ds Max 2025.3. There are also three new Open Shading Language (OSL) maps, including the Perlage map (above), which creates grooved circular patterns like those found inside antique watches. The Substance plugin, for editing procedural materials in Substance format inside 3ds Max, has also been updated, with Substance 3.0.5 making it possible to import materials from the online Substance 3D Assets library directly into 3ds Max’s Slate Material Editor. For animators, the changes in 3ds Max 2026 are very similar to those in 3ds Max 2025.3: more bugfixes to the CAT and Biped toolsets. There are also more performance updates to key modifiers, including the Array, Conform, Displace and Skin Modifiers. 3ds Max Fluids have been updated for a processing speed improvement of “up to 10%”. Other general quality-of-life improvements include a new Preserve Stack Position toggle to return to the modifier previously selected for an object before selecting a new object. The Create section of the Command Panel gets a new Object Search widget. 3ds Max 2026 also ships with an updated version of the integration plugin for Autodesk’s Arnold renderer, with MAXtoA 5.8.0 introducing support for the Arnold 7.4.0.0 core. Key changes since the release of 3ds Max 2025.3 include a new transmission_shadow_density parameter in the OpenPBR Surface and the Standard Surface shaders, to control the look of shadows cast by transparent objects, as shown in the image above. Global Light Sampling (GLS) now takes material glossiness into account, which “greatly enhances” render quality, especially in scenes with many small lights. Arnold’s support for ID matte-generation system Cryptomatte has also been improved, with a new internal implementation adding GPU support, and improving performance on CPU. Other changes include improvements to MaterialX and USD support, to the implementation of OpenPBR, and to the MAXtoA plugin itself and the Arnold RenderView. However, Arnold 7.4 is a compatibility-breaking update, so shaders, procedurals, and other plugins compiled against older versions of Arnold will need to be recompiled. 3ds Max’s Universal Scene Description plugin has also been updated, with USD for Maya 0.10 adding a new Layer Editor for managing USD layers, and support for light linking. The plugin is also now bundled with 3ds Max, rather than being a separate download. 3ds Max 2026 is compatible with Windows 10+. It is rental-only. Subscriptions cost $235/month, up $10/month since the previous release, or $1,945/year, up $70/year. In many countries, artists earning under $100,000/year and working on projects valued at under $100,000/year qualify for Indie subscriptions, which now cost $320/year, up $15/year. https://makeanything.autodesk.com/3dsmax https://help.autodesk.com/view/3DSMAX/2026/ENU/?guid=GUID-5E7810B6-59DF-434E-AB24-BC2A452C715C MotionBuilder 2026 MotionBuilder 2026 extends USD-based workflows, USD support having been introduced last year in MotionBuilder 2025. When loading a USD stage file, the animation contained in the file is now retained, and will be rendered. A new animatable frame offset property in the Python API makes it possible to retime or time warp the motion. There is also a new button in the UI to reload USD stage proxies, and a corresponding property in the API. Workflow improvements include a new shortcut key to force-select previously unselectable objects, and support for extended function keys – [F13] and beyond – as keyboard modifiers. There is also a new SDK property to control whether HUDs are exported in FBX files, and some API properties have been renamed for clarity. MotionBuilder 2026 is available for Windows 10+ and RHEL and Rocky Linux 8.10/9.3/9.5. It is available rental-only, with subscriptions costing $2,225/year, up $80/year since the previous release. https://help.autodesk.com/view/MOBPRO/2026/ENU/?guid=Whats-New-MotionBuilder-2026 Photoshop 26.5 Photoshop 26.5 is a minor workflow update, redesigning the Adjustment Presets layout. Changes include a new tabbed layout, new icons, and the option to organize presets into groups, including by dragging and dropping. Photoshop 26.5 is compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+. In the online documentation, it is also referred to as the March 2025 release or Photoshop 2025.4. The software is rental-only, with Photography subscription plans that include access to Photoshop now starting at $239.88/year. Single-app Photoshop subscriptions cost $34.49/month or $263.88/year https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/whats-new/2025-4.html 3DGS Render 3.0 Based on research published in 2023, 3D Gaussian Splatting is a new 3D scanning method. Like photogrammetry, it begins by generating a point cloud of a 3D object or scene from a set of source photos, but rather than converting the point cloud to a textured mesh, it converts it to gaussians, using machine learning to determined the correct color for each. The result is a high-quality and potentially fast-rendering 3D representation of the object or scene being scanned. An increasing number of 3D scanning tools now support 3D Gaussian Splatting, one obvious example being Kiri Innovations’ own Kiri Engine. However, native support for 3DGS data in CG applications is currently limited, although it has recently been implemented in both V-Ray and D5 Render. 3DGS Render is intended to address some of the “pain points” with existing workflows, making it possible to manipulate 3DGS scan data inside Blender like a standard 3D object. The add-on converts 3DGS data imported on PLY format into an object that can be transformed, scaled, rotated or duplicated like conventional geometry. The scan can then be lit and rendered inside Blender, although currently only using Eevee, Blender’s real-time renderer, not Cycles, the main production renderer. 3DGS Render 3.0 makes it possible to retexture 3DGS scans by painting onto them directly, as well as by editing shader properties. You can see the workflow briefly in the video at the top of the story: as well as painting solid colors, it it is possible to paint through an image texture. 3DGS Render also now automatically generates UV maps when importing 3DGS data, making it easier to texture using standard Blender workflows. The update also lets you convert standard polygonal meshes to 3DGS – the reverse of what most people will currently be doing, we imagine, but it may open up new workflows in future. In addition, it is now possible to export face edits and transformations, like changes of scale and rotation, made inside Blender when exporting 3DGS data to other DCC applications. There is also an experimental new feature for baking modifier effects to improve performance, the option to apply animated effects to 3DGS data having been added in 3DGS Render 2.0. 3DGS Render 3.0 is compatible with Blender 4.2+. It’s a free download. The source code is available under an Apache 2.0 license. https://rdk2hgu4np.feishu.cn/docx/H07Nd01YQoVdLFxCftDclzo9nTh https://github.com/Kiri-Innovation/3dgs-render-blender-addon Arnold 7.4.1 Arnold 7.4.1 makes it possible to use the toon shading features – the Toon shader itself, and the Contour filter – when rendering on the GPU, as well as on CPU. The GPU implementation is currently limited to direct lighting only, so it does not support reflections, refractions, or indirect lighting, in addition to the standard limitations on CPU. The update also improves render performance, particularly in complex scenes with a lot of procedural instancing. The new options.procedural_instancing_optimization flag “usually produces speedups between 1-2x, but for sufficiently complex scenes the speedup can be significantly larger”. According to the release notes, Activision’s new Caldera USD data set (shown above), which is based on a map from Call of Duty: Warzone, renders a full 18x faster. Parallel scene initiation also now scales better with CPU cores, reducing time to first pixel on many-core machines. In addition, rendering photometric (IES) lights and mesh lights using Global Light Sampling now generates higher-quality results for the same render settings and render times. In the comparison images in the release notes, the difference is particularly striking on a motion-blurred mesh. When rendering USD data, Arnold now uses Hydra by default to handle the translation from USD, which makes the resulting render consistent with its Hydra render delegate. Arnold 7.4.1 also introduces a new HTML-based interactive viewer for render statistics. It displays render stats – such as frame render time, render time by category or by node, memory usage, and texture usage – in a visual format, making it easier to troubleshoot performance bottlenecks. All of Arnold’s integration plugins have been updated to support the new features: 3ds Max: MAXtoA 5.8.1 Cinema 4D: C4DtoA 4.8.1 Houdini: HtoA 6.4.1 Katana: KtoA 4.4.1 Maya: MtoA 5.5.1 If you’re using 3ds Max 2026 or Maya 2026, both of which were also released this week, be aware that these aren’t the versions of MAXtoA and MtoA included with them, which support Arnold 7.4.0, the previous version of the renderer. MtoA 5.5.1 also adds support for OpenVDB point data in the aiVolume node, enabling Maya users to import VDB files that contain point data and render them as Arnold points primitives. Arnold 7.4.1 is available for Windows 10+, RHEL/CentOS 7+ Linux and macOS 10.13+. Integrations are available for 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Katana and Maya. GPU rendering is supported on Windows and Linux only, and needs a compatible NVIDIA GPU. The software is rental-only, with single-user subscriptions costing $55/month, up $5/month since the start of 2025, or $415/year, up $15/year. https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_core_7410_html Mudbox 2026 The release notes read, in full: “Welcome to Mudbox 2026. This release includes minor updates.” Although Autodesk did previously put out more substantial releases, Mudbox 2026 is now the fifth consecutive annual update with no new features listed in the release notes. The firm said that it was “committed to the development of all [of its] tools, including Mudbox” but that it could not comment on future releases. However, while Autodesk raised the prices of most of its Media & Entertainment products in January, the price of Mudbox actually dropped, at least for a monthly subscription. The monthly rental cost fell from $15/month to $10/month, although the price of annual subscriptions remains unchanged. Mudbox 2026 is available for Windows 10+, RHEL/Rocky Linux 8.10/9.3/9.5, and macOS 13.0+. The software is rental-only, with subscriptions costing $10/month or $100/year. https://help.autodesk.com/view/MBXPRO/ENU/?guid=Mudbox_ReleaseNotes_release_notes2026_html ZBrush 2025.2 The main changes in ZBrush 2025.2 are to ZModeler, its polygonal modeling system for creating base meshes and hard surface models. The update adds snapping options when inserting edge loops, making it possible to snap the new loop to the centers of the polygons into which it is being inserted, or to user-defined points. There is also a new Selection Action Mode for “quick polygon selection”, and the option to store commonly used features as presets. The new functionality was developed while integrating ZModeler into ZBrush for iPad 2025.3, the new iPad edition of the software, included in ZBrush subscriptions. Users of Redshift, Maxon’s production renderer, the CPU-only version of which is now available with ZBrush subscriptions, get “18+” new materials. The Redshift material attributes have been updated to match the standard Redshift materials available in other DCC applications compatible with Redshift. ZBrush 2025.2 is compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 11.5+. It is rental-only. ZBrush subscriptions cost $49/month or $399/year. https://support.maxon.net/hc/en-us/articles/15780513877788-ZBrush-2025-2-0-Release-Notes

That's an old plugin... I don't know why he made those videos now. The effect is still possible with the cloner. The plugin offers some flexibility and ease but it's still possible to do that without it. In his demonstration there's a Mix and Match plugin in the Extensions tab but I couldn't find it in his website, maybe it's something he's still working on

Hi I have had long break from forums since I became dad for two kids. Yes am old user of Cinema 4D and but liked Modo too. Still you can get 10 years licence for Modo + Octane render. (I was in the forum with names "kraphik3d" and "ahven" and very old user since c4dcafe) Please have a look for this link: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/709536/modo-3d-discontinued-free-to-download-ten-year-offline-license#latest

Perfectly reasonable price for what it does tbh. If you need to make a minecraft world environment for a job then its an absolute bargain; and with the release of the film its probably a pretty good time to release it.

Another $100 plugin from Rocket Lasso....

Basically yes. It forces c4d to run the crash routines which includes attempting to save all open files into the bug reports folder. Theres a slightly different key combo on mac, ctrl alt cmd backspace i believe.

@Cerbera That's perfect! Thank you very much! Eudes

What is that ? The self-destruct sequence ? I've never heard anything like that before. Do other applications have similar functionality ?

press left shift, right shift and delete at the same time (on windows) to force c4d to crash. You can then go to the bug reports folder and hopefully your c4d file will be in there

You may be able to recover a backup in the same folder as your C4D files:

Jut after a few minutes of testing and a few crashes, I think OpenPBR shader doesn't work with Material translation (Viewport/Export) Baking enabled. I was reworking nodes and it kept crashing. I turned it back to Draft and so far no crashes.

I started in on the OpenPBR material with the new Redshift. I was surprised to see it in there till I saw that Autodesk also included it in Arnold this last release as well. The future is now... OpenPBR. Saul Espinosa says it's the only shader he uses now (RS + Houdini). Subsequently, I just sent a ticket to maxon to have it included in the default material dropdown.

Nice to see further particle improvements, I like to tweak stuff with handles in the viewport 🙂 The fluid teaser looked waaay better than dmcgavra's post, but it also seems to confirm: only small scale stuff. Hm. I hope at least we get some nice adjacent tools as well, like a performant parametric ocean object... Redshift material viewport baking sounds useful, eager to try that 🙂

There are some very interesting new features. Particles have an extensive list of new functionalities from which the following stand out. The Field-driven density distribution of particles is highly appreciated along with in-built noise shaders for both distribution and emission. Density control shaders and Fields is something I've been asking for MoGraph for years. Finally it can be achieved through particles. Noise Sampling for Color and Data Mapper https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2025-2_Particles_NoiseSampling_01.mp4 https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2025-2_Particles_NoiseSampling_02.mp4 Neighbor Search algorithm for Flock, Predator Prey and Blending Similar to the geometry density coloring effect I've been asking. Some Scene Node Capsules are now directly available with other primitives from drop-down menus. This was something I was actively arguing about from early versions of Scene Nodes as it was a closely UX-related issue. Things were pointing to parallel ecosystems of the same tools being developed under the same application or tools that were not that easily accessible that would inevitably lead to confusion or frustration among new and old users. It wasn't too long ago you could finally make capsules accessible from custom pallets but that required from users to know how to do that and as SceneNodes was so actively characterized as experimental or system for advanced users, people would prefer staying away from it missing some key features that were not that hard to use after all. Personally I extend my custom Layout with capsules supported by the OM every new version. Now the Line Spline is available along with the Break Spline, Branch Spline (which is an easier MoSpline Turtle), Catenary Spline, Dash Spline, Electric Spline, Partition and Pulse Spline. What I don't know is if they re-developed those tools in C++ or if they are just links to the node implementation with modernized icons to fit with the rest of UI. Well, there are still some argument about what should be characterized as a Generator what as a Modifier and what as a Deformer... For example the Branch Spline is more fitted to the Generators club as it does create additional splines on top of the original but I guess they run out of ideas on how to represent it with a new icon to avoid confusion with the MoSpline... Which leads to other old arrangement arguments like why don't we just have new features part of older tools as modes... For example the Branch Spline as Mode of the MoSpline... Break, Dash, Partition and Pulse modes of a single spline deformer/modifier or Wrap, Shrink Wrap and Spherify as modes of a single deformer... Looking forward to seeing all distribution nodes as modes in the Cloner and Blue Noise as a mode of the Push Apart Effector. New mode for the Look at Camera expression I always thought this to be an old remnant from earlier C4D versions... I never used it because I achieved the exact same effect using the Target tag... I still don't know what the difference between them is... Some unfortunate translation issues: Weird title, not available in English (fixed the next day) https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Default.htm#html/OFPBLEND-FP_BLEND_OBJECT_OUTPUT.html MAXON ONE capsules are not documented... Bad marketing as other users don't know what they are missing Things that we saw in the teaser video but they are not documented (yet) Weave Spline Generator (also expected a better icon for that, here's mine ) Constellation Generator (Plexus effect) Liquid Simulator (yeah... the thing that should be teased the most was not)

interesting release... one thing I noticed right away is why the spline modifiers and generators have the word 'modifier' and 'generator' after them? there is obviously no need for that as we know its a generator and modifier from its icon colour. also just like the 'Spline Wrap' modifier, the word spline should be at the beginning for eg. 'Spline Branch', 'Spline Break' etc etc... this ensures naming consistency with the rest of the modifers/generators as well as conciseness and being DRY(don't repeat yourself)... I feel like there was a lack of attention to detail there before release... and maybe if they plan on adding more spline tools, it might start deserving its own seperate category like the spline shapes...

03/04/2025 Join us for an exciting livestream about the new features in Cinema 4D 2025.2 and Redshift 2025.4 with Elly and Noseman from the Maxon Training Team.

There are, if we look carefully, a number of things subtly wrong with the settings in this scene. As HP predicts above, Render Perfect on the sphere is one of them, and fixes the effect of collision deformer not showing in render if we turn that off. Next we had some suspect settings in the sweep object (parallel movement should be off, Banking should be ON, and End Rotation should be 0 degrees), which fixes the twist in your path spline over the indent, and restores it to correct, contiguous circular form all the way along its length... The mode of the Collision Deformer should be Outside (volume) and the capsule should ideally not be a child of it, though it doesn't particularly matter in this scene. Likewise object order in the OM could be better bearing in mind that Cinema scans downwards through it from the top. Below is more ideal I would say, and general good practice. Next, the curvature in your path spline within the sweep isn't quite matching the curve of the indent in the sphere, resulting in some unevenness in that area. This can be fixed by getting a new path spline for the sweep, which we get by doing Current State to Object on the main sphere (once collided) and then Edge to spline on the centre edge loop of that, but first we have to fix the collision object, which should also ideally be a sphere so that we can choose Hexa type and thereby avoid the complex pole on the end of the capsule it replaces, which was previously confusing the collision deformer, and producing some wanky / uneven collision vertices in the main sphere at the apex of the collision point, which would obviously effect any spline you subsequently derived from it. In my version I wanted a better, higher resolution sphere, but not one that caused the collision deformer any extra work, so changed the type of that sphere to Hexa as well, which then necessitated addition of a Spherify deformer before the Collision Deformer (because hexaspheres are not mathematically spherical out of the gate). And then lastly that went under SDS to give us improved resolution, and my Current State to Object was performed on the SDS instead of the sphere itself, for maximum spline matching. Anyway, I have fixed all that in the scene attached below... groove-on-sphere CBR Fix.c4d CBR

I am afraid that you need to force quit to stop the process : /

Fun facts: The text was AI generated. I did not expect a reference to the CEO by name. Later I asked for an interview. It wasn't an elaborate prompting at all, I asked three times all and all. I was clear of my intensions so it knew it was supposed to be an April Fools article. I asked for C4D screenshots for the next version... It kept drawing Blender elements on them. Curiously there's a repeating pattern that resembles a mix of the old logo of the Blue Pearl with the splash screen of R21 (see last two images) I removed the AI image from the article the next day just because it was too cursed... I later thought I could make the YT image to link to a Rick Roll video but it was too late. The Rocket Lasso image is a manipulated version of the S26 I asked for a new C4D logo but it refused, there must be a limit of 3 generated images per day I guess. The Chamferer icon is the CV-Chamfer icon. I designed the Spline SFD icon by templating the Spline Mask icon. I planned this prank 4 days in advance. Spline SFD, Chamferer, Outliner and Field Distribution are all real but not as versatile to construct as they are presented. I did not expect the Spline SFD to be that fast in viewport. The Field Distribution was the most time consuming as I had to construct an XPresso rig to manipulate 4 coencentric Torus Fields from the radius of the visible Spherical Field... real pain in the a$$ and didn't manage to link the Inner Offset to the radius of the inner most Torus to make it more believable. Fortunately I didn't have to spend extra time to recreate the UI of the Cloner as I had already done this a week earlier as a future sugggestion for MAXON.

Do you have the "Render Perfect" option enabled under the Sphere's attributes ? I think that's what is wrong with it

So in re-linking assets in the inspector window, I initiated a search on a drive that also had a Google Drive mounted. There is an insane amount of files in that drive. Hitting ESC only seems to cancel searching in the current directory. I'm trying not to force-quit C4D, but I can't cancel this search completely. I've held the mouse over the red X in the window. Held ESC down. Used modifier keys with them. Any other tricks before I resort to force-quitting and losing anything I hadn't already saved?

@Cerbera, I had already tried this solution, but the groove disappears when I render it. See the image. Eudes