---
title: "External Reference"
url: "https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/NET_MAXON_NBO_NODE_EXTERNALREFERENCEGEOMETRY.html"
section_path: "The Node Editor > The individual Assets > Experimental > External Reference"
element_id: "NET_MAXON_NBO_NODE_EXTERNALREFERENCEGEOMETRY"
description: "This page documents the External Reference node of the Scene Nodes system in Cinema 4D. It loads one object from an external 3D file directly into the …"
---

# External Reference

> **Note:** **What is it about?**
>
> This page documents the **External Reference node** of the Scene Nodes system in **Cinema 4D**. It loads one object from an external 3D file directly into the node setup — lightweight geometry referencing without scene import.

This can be used to load a 3D format supported by Cinema 4D. Note that only one object is loaded from this file. If there are multiple objects in the file, only the last element will be loaded.

### External Reference

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NBO_NODE_EXTERNALREFERENCEGEOMETRY`

### Preview

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_PREVIEW`

### Basic

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_GROUP_BASIC`

### Coord

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_GROUP_COORD`

### Inputs

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_GROUP_INPUTS`

### Outputs

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_GROUP_OUTPUTS`

### Object

Parameter ID: `NET_MAXON_NODE_BASE_GROUP_OBJECT`