Cinema 4D on Render Network (Beta) Guide
An in-depth look into the C4D x Render Network integration
The Cinema 4D integration for the Render Network is currently in a BETA Phase, and we recommend all users test a small sample of any scene on the Network BEFORE submitting an entire project or scene using the integration.
This will prevent wasted funds on avoidable errors.
The BETA is recommended for testing purposes, NOT for large-scale production work.
The Render Network has launched the first Beta version of its native C4D integration. The following guide will continue to be updated as the Beta continues, with feature additions, improvements and changes reflected throughout.
Current Engines Supported in Beta:
- C4D 2023.2.1
- Octane 2022.1.1-R6
If you are in need of support, please contact the Render Network Support Team at https://help.otoy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new and select "Render Network C4D Beta" in the ticket category.
Below you can find tables containing information about current supported Octane features, unsupported Octane features, and the status surrounding those features:
Octane Feature Name | Supported: Y or N? | Additional Info |
---|---|---|
Baking Camera | Y | |
Cryptomattes | Y | |
Custom OCIO Configurations | N | See Photo Below for current allowed configurations** |
C4D Light Linking | Y | |
Deep Images | N | In development |
Denoiser | Y | |
External OSL Files | N | In development |
Hair Rendering | Y | |
Octane Scatter | Y | |
Octane Scatter (via .csv import) | Y | Only Octane C4D 2022.1.1.R6 and higher |
OSL Shaders | Y | |
Pyro | Y | |
Pyro (Motion Blur) | N | Not available on launch, coming soon |
Vectron | Y | Only for files created in Octane C4D 2022.1.1.R6 and higher |
Volumes | Y | |

**Currently allowed color space options
Below you can find tables containing information about current supported C4D features, unsupported C4D features, and the status surrounding those features:
C4D Feature Name | Supported: Y or N? | Additional Info |
---|---|---|
Additional File Formats (non PNG & EXR) | N | In development |
Ambient Occlusion | Y | |
Alembics | Y | |
Audio Files | Y | |
Capsules | N | In development (excluding Python reliant capsules) |
C4D Render Effects (Denoise, Sharpen, Tone Mapping, etc.) | Y | |
C4D Noises | Y | |
C4D Procedural Shaders (effects and surfaces) | Y | |
Cloners + Effectors | Y | |
Deformers | Y | |
Fields | Y | |
Generators | Y | |
Hair Object | Y | |
Hair Shader | Y | |
IES Lights | Y | |
Magic Bullet Looks | N | External Plugin not currently supported |
Metaball | Y | |
Mograph Color Shader | Y | |
Mograph Beat Shader | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Mograph Multi Shader | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Mograph Camera Shader | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Mograph Cache (Internal) | Y | |
Mograph Cache (External) | N | In development |
Motion Blur: Geometry | Y | |
Motion Blur: Volumetrics | Y | |
Motion Blur: Sub-frame Motion Blur | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Motion Blur: CameraMoblur (on/off) | Y | |
Motion Blur: Lights | Y | |
Motion Blur: Instances | Y | |
Motion Blur: Pyro-generated volumetrics | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Multipasses | Y | |
Octane Object Tag Hair Shading | Y | |
Octane Light IDs | Y* | Octane supported |
ORBX Files | Y | |
Parenting/Constraints | Y | |
Python/Python Tag | N | External Plugin not currently supported |
Pyro (motion blur via velocity channel) | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Rende Region | Y | |
Simple XRefs | Y* | Standard/Physical supported, not Octane |
Sketch & Toon | Y | |
Stage Object | Y | |
Substance Assets | Y | |
Takes | N | In development |
Thinking Particles | N | Workaround in progress |
Vertexmaps | Y | |
Viewport Rendering | N | Error under investigation |
Volume Loader Object | N | Error under investigation |
Volume Builder Cache | N | In development |
Volume Mesher | Y | |
Watermark Effect | Y | Machine Info not supported |
Additionally, during Alpha and closed Beta testing, certain features were discovered to need preparation in order to function currently. Those can be found in the table below alongside instructions for those features.
Feature Name | Prep Instructions |
---|---|
Assets from the C4D asset browser | Needs to be saved into the project folder |
C4D Particle Emitter | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Cloner | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Cloth | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Rope | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Soft Body | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Rigid Body | Needs to be cached |
Dynamics: Hair | Needs to be cached |
IR/LM Global Illumination | Needs to be cached |
Motion Blur: Hair | Needs to be cached |
ORBXLoader | Relative path in PAI needed |
Octane VDB Volume Object | Relative path in PAI needed |
Physical/Standard Caustics effect | "Save Solution" needs to be turned off |
XRefs | Relative path in PAI needed |