deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d 0.9.0

AWS Deadline Cloud for Cinema 4D

AWS Deadline Cloud for Cinema 4D

User guide | Service documentation | Deadline Cloud on GitHub

AWS Deadline Cloud for Cinema 4D is a python package that allows users to create Deadline Cloud jobs from within Cinema 4D. It provides both the implementation of a Cinema 4D extension for your workstation that helps you offload the computation for your rendering workloads to Deadline Cloud to free up your workstation's compute for other tasks, and the implementation of a command-line adaptor application based on the Open Job Description (OpenJD) Adaptor Runtime that improves Deadline Cloud's ability to run Cinema 4D efficiently on your render farm.

For instructions on installing and using this integration, visit the user guide.

Compatibility

This library requires:

1. Cinema 4D 2024 - 2026
   • Redshift is supported but not required
   • Arnold is supported but not required
2. Python 3.9 or higher; but Python 3.11 is recommended as this is the version Cinema 4D uses natively.
3. Windows or macOS operating system for job submission
4. Windows or Linux operating system for job rendering
   • Cinema 4D 2024 - 2026 is supported on Windows
   • Cinema 4D 2025 is supported on Linux
5. When rendering using Redshift with Cinema 4D on NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA GRID driver version 551.78 or later is required. Using older drivers can result in job failures.

Important: Workers hosts with GPUs that run the Cinema 4D adaptor must have sufficient RAM (at least 2x the amount of VRAM) to run Cinema 4D correctly. For example, if your GPU has 16GB VRAM, your system should have at least 32GB RAM. Insufficient memory can lead to unstable rendering behavior.

Getting Started

The Cinema 4D integration for Deadline Cloud has two components that you will need to install:

1. The Cinema 4D submitter extension must be installed on the workstation that you will use to submit jobs; and
2. The Cinema 4D adaptor must be installed on all of your Deadline Cloud worker hosts that will be running the Cinema 4D jobs that you submit.

Before submitting any large, complex, or otherwise compute-heavy Cinema 4D render jobs to your farm using the submitter and adaptor that you set up, we strongly recommend that you construct a simple test scene that can be rendered quickly and submit renders of that scene to your farm to ensure that your setup is functioning correctly.

Submitter

The Cinema 4D submitter extension creates a button in Cinema 4D (Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter) that can be used to submit jobs to Deadline Cloud. Clicking this button reveals an interface to submit a job to Deadline Cloud. It automatically determines the files required based on the loaded scene, allows the user to specify render options, builds an Open Job Description template that defines the workflow, and submits the job to the farm and queue of your choosing. The submitter includes your settings, such as Redshift plugin settings and multi-pass paths, in the submission to Deadline Cloud.

There are two installation options:

1. The official Deadline Cloud submitter installer (Recommended)
2. Manual installation

After installing, you can access the submitter in the Cinema 4D interface via Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter.

For most setups, you will also want to install the Deadline Cloud monitor.

Manually installing the submitter

Windows

In Windows cmd

:: Set installation location in AppData folder
set SUBMITTER_LOCATION=%APPDATA%\DeadlineCloudSubmitter

:: Install pip using Cinema 4D's bundled Python
"C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D 2026\resource\modules\python\libs\win64\python.exe" -m ensurepip

:: Install required Python packages to our custom location
"C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D 2026\resource\modules\python\libs\win64\python.exe" -m pip install deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d "deadline[gui]" -t %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%

:: Create plugins directory
md %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%\cinema_4d_plugins

:: Download the Deadline Cloud plugin from GitHub
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aws-deadline/deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d/refs/heads/mainline/deadline_cloud_extension/DeadlineCloud.pyp -o %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%\cinema_4d_plugins\DeadlineCloud.pyp

:: Set C4DPYTHONPATH311 environment variable - if it doesn't exist, create it; if it exists, append to it
if not defined C4DPYTHONPATH311 (setx C4DPYTHONPATH311 %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%) else (setx C4DPYTHONPATH311 %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%;%C4DPYTHONPATH311%)

:: Set g_additionalModulePath environment variable for plugins - if it doesn't exist, create it; if it exists, append to it
if not defined g_additionalModulePath (setx g_additionalModulePath %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%\cinema_4d_plugins) else (setx g_additionalModulePath %SUBMITTER_LOCATION%\cinema_4d_plugins;%g_additionalModulePath%)

System-Wide Installation for All Users

For shared workstations or enterprise environments where multiple users need access to the Cinema 4D submitter, you can perform a system-wide installation.

Prerequisites:

• Administrator account access
• Cinema 4D installed on the system

Installation Steps:

1. Install the submitter as Administrator:

   • Run the Deadline Cloud submitter installer as Administrator
   • Select "system installation" option during installation
   • This installs the submitter to a shared location (e.g., C:\Program Files\DeadlineCloudSubmitter\)

2. Initial dependency setup:

   • Open Cinema 4D as Administrator (right-click → "Run as administrator")
   • The first time you access the submitter (Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter), it will prompt to install GUI dependencies
   • Click "Yes" to install the dependencies
   • This step configures permissions so all users can access the installed packages

3. Regular usage:

   • After the initial setup, any user can open Cinema 4D normally (without Administrator privileges)
   • The AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter will be available to all users

If you encounter permission errors, ensure that step 2 (initial dependency setup) was completed as Administrator.

Mac

In a Mac terminal:

# Set the base location
export SUBMITTER_LOCATION="/Users/$USER/DeadlineCloudSubmitter"

# Create directory
mkdir -p $SUBMITTER_LOCATION

# Install Python packages
python3 -m ensurepip
python3 -m pip install deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d "deadline[gui]" -t $SUBMITTER_LOCATION

# Create plugins directory
mkdir -p $SUBMITTER_LOCATION/cinema_4d_plugins

# Download the plugin
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aws-deadline/deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d/refs/heads/mainline/deadline_cloud_extension/DeadlineCloud.pyp -o $SUBMITTER_LOCATION/cinema_4d_plugins/DeadlineCloud.pyp

# Create the launch script
echo "#!/bin/zsh" > ~/Desktop/Cinema4D.command
eval echo "export C4DPYTHONPATH311=${SUBMITTER_LOCATION}\${C4DPYTHONPATH311:+:\$C4DPYTHONPATH311}" >> ~/Desktop/Cinema4D.command
eval echo "export g_additionalModulePath=${SUBMITTER_LOCATION}/cinema_4d_plugins\${g_additionalModulePath:+:\$g_additionalModulePath}" >> ~/Desktop/Cinema4D.command
echo '"/Applications/Maxon Cinema 4D 2026/Cinema 4D.app/Contents/MacOS/Cinema 4D"' >> ~/Desktop/Cinema4D.command

# Make the launch script executable
chmod +x ~/Desktop/Cinema4D.command

To open Cinema 4D on Mac, click Cinema4D.command on your desktop. After you load a scene, click on Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter to view the submitter.

Adaptor

Jobs created by the Cinema 4D submitter require the adaptor to be installed on your worker hosts.

The adaptor application is a command-line Python-based application that enhances the functionality of Cinema 4D for running within a render farm like Deadline Cloud. Its primary purpose for existing is to add a "sticky rendering" functionality where a single process instance of Cinema 4D is able to load the scene file and then dynamically be instructed to perform desired renders without needing to close and re-launch Cinema 4D between them. It also has additional benefits such as support for path mapping, and reporting the progress of your render to Deadline Cloud. The alternative to "sticky rendering" is that Cinema 4D would need to be run separately for each render that is done, and close afterwards. Some scenes can take 10's of minutes just to load for rendering, so being able to keep the application open and loaded between renders can be a significant time-saving optimization; particularly when the render itself is quick.

Important: Workers hosts with GPUs must have sufficient RAM (at least 2x the amount of VRAM) to run Cinema 4D correctly. For example, if your GPU has 16GB VRAM, your system should have at least 32GB RAM. Insufficient memory can lead to unstable rendering behavior.

Note for Redshift users: When rendering with Redshift on NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA GRID driver version 551.78 or later is required. Using older drivers can result in job failures.

Both fleet types in Deadline Cloud support the Cinema 4D adaptor:

1. Service managed fleets
2. Customer managed fleets

The Cinema 4D integration for Deadline Cloud is supported on both Windows and Linux fleets (service managed and customer managed).

Service managed fleets

On service managed fleets, the Cinema 4D adaptor is automatically available via the deadline-cloud Conda channel with the default Queue Environment. This includes Redshift (built into the cinema4d package by default) and Arnold (can be used via the cinema4d-c4dtoa package).

Customer managed fleets

There are two options for setting up the Cinema 4D adaptor on customer managed fleets:

1. Manually installing on worker hosts
2. Using customer-managed Conda packages

Manually installing on worker hosts

Both the installed adaptor and the Cinema 4D executable must be available on the PATH of the user that will be running your jobs.

You can also set the C4D_COMMANDLINE_EXECUTABLE to point to the Cinema 4D executable. The adaptor must still be on the PATH.

The adaptor can be installed by the standard python packaging mechanisms:

$ pip install deadline-cloud-for-cinema-4d

After installation and adding it to the PATH it can then be used as a command line tool:

$ cinema4d-openjd --help

For more information on the commands the OpenJD adaptor runtime provides, see here.

Using customer-managed Conda packages

Cinema 4D Conda packages are available in the "deadline-cloud" Conda channel on service managed Windows fleets.

However, if you prefer, you can build the Cinema 4D Conda packages yourself. There are conda recipes in our samples Github repository for cinema4d-2025 on Windows and cinema4d-openjd on Windows and Linux, and cinema4d-c4dtoa on Windows

For instructions on building conda recipes on Deadline Cloud, see this article. Though it refers to Blender, the process applies to Cinema 4D recipes as well.

Worker Licensing for Cinema 4D

Service Managed Fleets

Usage based licensing for Cinema 4D 2024 - 2026, Redshift 2024 - 2026, and Arnold 2025 - 2026 is available on Deadline Cloud service managed fleets with no additional setup.

If you prefer to use your own licensing for service managed fleets, you can also connect service-managed fleets to a custom license server.

Customer Managed Fleets

You can use usage based licensing on customer managed fleets by connecting them to a license endpoint.

You can also use your own licensing for customer managed fleets.

Viewing the Job Bundle that will be submitted

To submit a job, the submitter first generates a Job Bundle, and then uses functionality from the Deadline client library package to submit the Job Bundle to your render farm to run. If you would like to see the job that will be submitted to your farm, then you can use the "Export Bundle" button in the submitter to export the Job Bundle to a location of your choice. If you want to submit the job from the export, rather than through the submitter plug-in then you can use the Deadline Cloud application to submit that bundle to your farm.

Versioning

This package's version follows Semantic Versioning 2.0, but is still considered to be in its initial development, thus backwards incompatible versions are denoted by minor version bumps. To help illustrate how versions will increment during this initial development stage, they are described below:

1. The MAJOR version is currently 0, indicating initial development.
2. The MINOR version is currently incremented when backwards incompatible changes are introduced to the public API.
3. The PATCH version is currently incremented when bug fixes or backwards compatible changes are introduced to the public API.

Security

We take all security reports seriously. When we receive such reports, we will investigate and subsequently address any potential vulnerabilities as quickly as possible. If you discover a potential security issue in this project, please notify AWS/Amazon Security via our vulnerability reporting page or directly via email to AWS Security. Please do not create a public GitHub issue in this project.

Telemetry

See telemetry for more information.

Troubleshooting

Additional Python Libraries in the submitter

Some versions of Cinema 4D ( e.g. Cinema 4D 2024.1.0) have been found to be missing some libraries key to Deadline Cloud requirements ; in later versions such as 2024.4.0 this has been resolved.

A missing library error will manifest in errors that can be visible from the Python section of the Extensions > Console UI. These typically look like:

PySide6/__init__.py: Unable to import Shiboken from  ...

To remedy these errors, you can switch to a later version of Cinema 4D which resolves the missing libraries, or you can manually add them specifically to the Cinema 4D python module, e.g in Windows it will be something like:

"C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D 2024\resource\modules\python\libs\win64\python.exe"-m ensurepip
"C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D 2024\resource\modules\python\libs\win64\python.exe"-m pip install MISSING_MODULE

3rd party plugins

Cinema 4D for Deadline Cloud works with several common 3rd party plugins. Many plugins can be installed on Service Managed Fleets using a conda recipe from the deadline-cloud-samples repository.

Autodesk Arnold

Follow these instructions to build the C4DtoA conda package. This recipe supports both Windows and Linux fleets.

Installation instructions for workstations

1. Install the Cinema 4D to Arnold plugin by following instructions here.
2. [Optional] Verify that "Arnold" works with Cinema 4D locally. You can test this using any of the sample scenes available here
3. Submit to Deadline Cloud from Cinema 4D by using menu command Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter with cinema4d-c4dtoa in the Conda Packages parameter.

Licensing instructions

Arnold licensing is available by default on service managed fleets. To setup licensing on a customer managed fleet, follow the licensing instructions here

Version compatibility

We ran C4dtoA v4.8.3.1 on Cinema 4D 2025. But more recent versions should still be compatible with latest versions of Cinema 4D, etc. For more information on compatibility refer to the C4dtoA release notes.

Chaos Group V-Ray

Follow these instructions to build the V-Ray for Cinema 4D conda package.

Installation instructions for workstations

1. Install the V-Ray for Cinema 4D plugin by following instructions here. i. Choose "Workstation" install
2. [Optional] Verify that "V-Ray" works with Cinema 4D locally. You can test this using any of the sample scenes available here.
3. Submit to Deadline Cloud from Cinema 4D by using menu command Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter with cinema4d-vray in the Conda Packages parameter.

Licensing instructions

V-Ray licensing is available by default on service managed fleets. To setup licensing on a customer managed fleet, follow the licensing instructionshere

Version compatibility

We ran V-Ray for Cinema 4D v7.10.01 on Cinema 4D 2025. But more recent versions should still be compatible with latest versions of Cinema 4D, etc. For more information on compatibility refer to the V-Ray System Requirements.

INSYDIUM X-Particles

Follow these instructions to build the INSYDIUM conda package which includes X-Particles.

Installation instructions for workstations

1. Install by following instructions here
2. [Optional] Verify that "INSYDIUM" works with Cinema 4D locally. You can test this using any of the sample scenes available here.
3. Submit to Deadline Cloud from Cinema 4D by using menu command Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter with cinema4d-insydium in the Conda Packages parameter.

Licensing instructions

Licensing is built into your Insydium plugin by default. For more information, see here

Version compatibility

We ran Insydium Fused v2024.4.1 on Cinema 4D 2025. But more recent versions should still be compatible with latest versions of Cinema 4D, etc. For more information on compatibility refer to the Insyduim Compatability Documentation.

Kit-Bash Cargo

Cargo works without requiring extra fleet or submitter configuration. Use File > Save Project with Assets to save your scene before submitting.

Red Giant

Red Giant is different from other plugins as it requires a host configuration script instead of a conda recipe. Follow these instructions to setup Red Giant.

Installation instructions for workstations

1. Install the Red Giant plugin by following instructions here
2. [Optional] Learn how to use Red Giant inside Cinema 4D with this demonstration video
3. Submit to Deadline Cloud from Cinema 4D by using menu command Extensions > AWS Deadline Cloud Submitter

Licensing instructions

Red Giant licensing is available by default on service managed fleets. To setup licensing on a customer managed fleet, follow the instructions here.

Version compatibility

We ran Red Giant 2025.6.0 on Cinema 4D 2025. But more recent versions should still be compatible with latest versions of Cinema 4D, etc. For more information on compatibility refer to the Maxon system requirements.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache-2.0 License.