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What I think is the major unsung capability, which has been building over the last couple of versions, is the procedural power brought by nodes and capsules. Due to its nature it is not upfront, but the new workflow possibilities afforded by object manager stacking of capsules, and new nodal solutions, is pretty amazing. We need more sample files and tutorials to see this aspect brought forward.

i fear you are incorrect. Xpresso and scene nodes solve very different problems and work in different contexts. Xpresso controls parameters, but can’t really change the objects or their geometry. Scene Nodes create or modify objects, but can’t modify the parameters of objects.

I agree with Dave’s post just before - there have been so many threads in the past where it was noted, ‘Maxon can’t look at updating such-and-such a feature until they address the underlying core performance and object handling, this or that feature really requires the internal architecture to be sorted out before they can address those other issues’ etc. I’m probably paraphrasing badly but this was noted more than once. Some threads here and on Reddit are downbeat because they think the release is ‘just a speed increase’, but I suspect they’re missing the bigger picture. Everyone can read between the lines but I suspect the Maxon devs are happier this release is behind them rather than ahead of them. And even with a couple of less feature heavy updates here and there, generally the releases from last year on have shown a lot of promising stuff finally arriving, so I expect C4D 2024 to help this process along quite a bit. There were posts years ago noting that a Bodypaint update would likely require a big internal rewrite before they could look at it. We seem to be finally arriving at that station, so who knows.

Excellent point and I never looked at it that way. I would imagine optimizing such a vastly complicated set of code was a hard slog and filled with frustration because there are so many connection points to other major code functions that the developers were faced with unintended consequences each time they changed something. All of this also points to the architecture of the program and the methodical way Maxon connected features to that new core over each release while "still" implementing new features....further increasing the programs complexity and interconnections. I get a headache just thinking about it. To use a construction analogy, they have essentially been rebuilding the foundation while still adding new floors on an ever-rising tower. That is no easy trick. Now...does this mean a rapid increase in new features and/or the much-needed revamp of aging portions of the program like TP and BP? I don't want to say that because it will lead to over-speculation and increased expectations. What I will say is that Maxon program management has obviously been pretty methodical over the years. It had to be given what they have accomplished. Most likely, that methodical approach will continue. Also.....capsules are amazing. I could not see the benefit of Neutron in its initial release and the back and forth on how to implement its capabilities was a bit confusing. But they nailed it with Capsules. Each is a non-destructive mini-plugin that provides more flexibility than any single plugin could ever provide. I could not have created some of the things posted on this forum without them and they certainly have come "into-their-own" in the past year. So, while they seem like such small things in the release notes, we do forget what each brings to the table in terms of flexibility and creative capability. Dave

For me, a simple way of distinguishing between Xpresso and scene nodes/capsules when referring to their strengths and the best way to apply them to your workflow is as follows: Scene nodes/capsules gives you the tools to build the assets. Xpresso gives you the tools you need to help manipulate them. Now this is NOT 100% accurate and there are of course exceptions because there are always more ways to do the same thing in C4D. But viewing them this way helps me breakdown how to approach them when problem solving. Just my humble opinion. Dave

Interesting comments in this thread. It appears that the thirst for new features outweighs the thirst for performance improvements. Now, no disagreement from me that both are great but let's not understate the effort required to re-engineer and optimize the underlying foundation of a program to improve its performance while still trying to add new stuff to it. Kind of like mounting new tires while still maintaining your lead in the car race. It can be done (we've all seen pit crews) but requires a lot of planning or else it will result in disaster. So let's give some credit to the Maxon developers for attempting to do both and pulling it off. I am actually quite impressed with the performance improvements, but I look at it a different way. Rather than ask "what new features did I NOT get because they were focusing on performance improvements?" I would ask "how much of a hardware upgrade would I need to make to my PC to get the same level performance improvements using R2023". If those hardware upgrades cost you more than the annual subscription price than consider yourself ahead of the game because you not only were saved the cost of that hardware upgrade with this release, but you did get some new tools as well. Just a thought, Dave

Unfortunately, 3DConnexion's request to Maxon to remove their (Maxon's) previously perfectly functioning space mouse driver (version 2023.2.0) so that they can replace it with their own independently running one has been an absolute disaster as far as I can see, and the new driver they provide not only has terrible installation problems, but also has serious problems and negative effects on Cinema's stability for everyone I know that uses one including myself. I have never seen such a terrible case of self-sabotage from a company, and now I simply can't use my space mouse because it affects Cinema so negatively. I suggest you write to 3DConexxion like I did and complain vociferously, not that they appear to be listening. They seem to have a mistaken case of 'our driver is fine' syndrome, which it definitely isn't ! I am furious that I can't use my new Space Explorer in any version past 2023.1.2, and that they needlessly deprecated my previous model, which was still 100% perfectly functioning, and replaced it with a version that is deeply unreliable and unstable. Appalling behaviour. CBR

personally extremely happy with this realease. 2024 solves alot of genuine problems that users have been dealing with for a very long time. two of the most being, no proper vanilla vertex normal editing system, and viewport performance. now, maxon has finally added weighted normals and a vertex normal editing tool and has implemented it really well. we also now have a very impressive viewport speed that finally brings out the power of the new core. also, I didn't know that the deformers are multi-threaded now, which is also a huge performance improvement. pattern selection is a gigantic deal for modelers, and combines super well with the procedural modeling system that capsules provide. adding to that we now have a display of point indexes, which allows us to properly do procedural operations on specific areas of a model. in this regard we are getting much closer to houdini levels of procedural modeling. the continuous work being done for the simulation systems to be more unified is also excellent. Maxon are heading in the correct direction with Cinema4d and I am very happy to be a customer right now. Also, maxon support has been excellent, they have properly gotten back to me rergarding bugs and crashes and have helped me out. good job team and keep it up 👏 👏 👏 👏