Thursday, June 23rd, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Next Limit releases RealFlow | Cinema 4D

Originally posted on 2 May 2016. Scroll down for news of the commercial release.

Next Limit has announced RealFlow | Cinema 4D: a new fully integrated version of the popular fluid simulation software into Maxon’s 3D modelling and animation package.

The software is due for release in June, but is already available on pre-order.

GPU-accelerated fluid simulation integrated directly into RealFlow
With the obvious potential for fluid effects in motion graphics, one of its core market sectors, a native fluid simulation toolset has long been high on the wish lists of many Cinema 4D users.

While there are a number of third-party solutions – including Navié’s Effex, Insydium’s X-Particles, and RealFlow’s own connectivity plugin – there is a gap in the market for a native fluid solver.

The new RealFlow | Cinema 4D promises plugin-free “fully integrated” fluid simulation within Cinema 4D, based on the new Dyverso solvers introduced in RealFlow 2015.

The toolset is GPU-accelarated via both CUDA and OpenCL, and should work with any suitably specced modern GPU.

Interacts with MoGraph, PyroCluster and native Cinema 4D hair
According to Next Limit, RealFlow | Cinema 4D will support “native Cinema 4D modifiers and tools” – including key motion graphics and effects toolsets like MoGraph, PyroCluster and hair.

So far, most of the feature demos on the new product website are listed as ‘Video coming soon’, but you can see a brief demo of a RealFlow simulation interacting with a simple Cinema 4D container object.

Updated 23 June 2016: RealFlow | Cinema 4D is now shipping for Cinema 4D R15 and above, on Windows 7 or higher and Mac OS X 10.9 or higher.

Next Limit has now posted a detailed comparison of the feature sets of RealFlow | Cinema 4D and the standalone edition of RealFlow, and there are quite a few tools you don’t get in the integrated edition.

Notable omissions include the Caronte dynamics engine, the RealWave toolset, a number of the daemons and fluid mesh types, graphs, the new spreadsheet functionality introduced in RealFlow 2015, and Python scripting.

Most of those are features aimed at TDs, or artists running larger or more complex simulations.

At the time of posting, Next Limit is still offering its early bird pricing of $595 for a single floating or node-locked licence, including one year’s maintenance. The regular price will be $795.

Read more about RealFlow | Cinema 4D on Next Limit’s website