Cinema 4D and the Command Line
Starting the Commandline Renderer in conjunction with the Maxon user account
When starting the Commandline Renderer for the first time, it must either be connected directly with the Maxon user account or indirectly via the License Server.
The following dialog window will open:
Depending on what is selected here, the same information (this will be requested here) that you normally have to enter when using Cinema 4D normally. This information is:
- For the Maxon user account (Maxon Account): Email address and password (for multiple licenses the type as well). See also here.
- For the Maxon License Server: License Server IP address, License Sever port (the one you entered during installation), determination if the connection to the License Server should be encrypted or not and the optional username and password (as they were assigned in the License Server’s User tab). See also here.
- RLM: for online licensing: RLM server address, RLM server port, optional password. For offline licensing, only the RLM license path is required.
After licensing has been completed, the Commandline Renderer can be used.
Starting Cinema 4D via the Command Line
Cinema 4D can be started via the command line. This is useful if you want to control render functions using other software (e.g., render farm software). A Windows system is used in the example described below (references for Macintosh users are listed subsequently).
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Enter the following to start Cinema 4D via the command line ( If a path or file name contains spaces it can help to enclose them in quotation marks):
c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe
C:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Cinema 4D.exe can also be used. However, Commandline.exe, which is installed in the installation directory in Cinema 4D R16 or later versions, is recommended because it also starts without the application interface and always leaves a console open.
For c:\Programme\\Cinema 4D\ enter your individual path to the executable file.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d
This command will render the scene hajopei.c4d, located in the c:\scenes directory. The render settings already defined in Cinema 4D will be used.
Example: c:\Programme\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\Szenen\hajopei.c4d -take front
This command renders a specific Take. In this example it’s the Take named ,front’.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -frame 100 150 10
This command will render every 10th frame from frame 100 to 150. If 150 and 10 were not included in the command line, only frame 100 would be rendered. This command will override any scene settings.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -oimage d:\images\framename
This will overwrite the save path for the scene file hajopei.c4d and render to the d:\images directory. The files will be named according to framename. Sequential frame numbers will be added automatically.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -omultipass c:\mp\passes.psd
This will overwrite the scene’s Multi-Pass path and save the Multi-Pass to the c:\mp\ directory. Sequential frame numbers and Multi-Pass names will be added automatically.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -oformat JPG
The output format defined in the scene file itself can be replaced with one of the following formats: TIFF, TGA, BMP, IFF, JPG, PICT, PSE, RLA, RPF, B3D.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -oresolution 800 600
This will overwrite the render size as defined in the hajopei.c4d scene file. In this case the render output will have a resolution of 800 x 600.
Example: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe -render c:\scenes\hajopei.c4d -threads 2
This defines the number of threads. 0 is the optimal number of threads.
Example: c:\Programs\\Cinema 4D\Commandline.exe - render c\Scenes\hajopei.c4d g_logfile= c:\Report.txt
All information regarding render progress will be saved in a file on the hard drive (in this case Report.txt on your c: drive).
The following commands, with the exception of -help, are less useful when using the Commandline option and only have a function if the Cinema 4D executable file iw used with the options described.
Launches a brief description of supported commands
Cinema 4D starts with minimum viewport options.
Starts Cinema 4D without a GUI (interface).
Make sure that this command comes first. Otherwise, new window may still be opened.
Windows only: c:\programs\\Cinema 4D\Cinema 4D.exe -title Name
This command assigns a name to a Cinema 4D window. This name will be displayed at the top left of the Cinema 4D window and in the task bar. This makes locating one of several open instances of Cinema 4D much easier using Alt+tab.
Example: c:\Programme\\Cinema 4D\Cinema 4D.exe -layout c:\Programme\\Cinema 4D\library\layout\Modeling.l4d
Use this command to load a specific layout when starting Cinema 4D.
Example: c:\Programs\\Cinema 4D\CNEMA 4D.exe -licence 192.168.30.15 5235
This lets you start program instances that access the License Server (if the server has also been started as a command line instance) or the RLM server (enter the host name instead of the IP address).
The syntax for paths on Macs looks somewhat different. The executable Cinema 4D file can be launched directly from a console window:
1. Right-click on the Cinema 4D.app startup file in your installation directory and select Show Package Contents.
2. Switch to the contents/macOS directory.
3. Drag the Cinema 4D file into the terminal window. The correct path will automatically be used.
4. Enter the desired commands (e.g., -render, -nogui, etc.)
5. Drag the scene file to be rendered into the terminal window. Make sure the path is correct.