2024.2 INSYDIUM Fused Perpetual License

X-Particles Features

xpFluidFLIP

xpFluidFLIP features a choice of fluid solvers, APIC and FLIP.

The APIC solver is fantastic at maintaining liquid momentum, preserving the natural flow that your fluids should have and can also provide a more dynamic yet very stable simulation.

xpFluidFLIP has a new collisions system which handles not only static collider objects but also fast-moving or rotating collider objects. It can interact with all other xpDynamics objects giving you endless possibilities.

xpFluidFLIP helps you create detailed, fast fluid simulations, giving you more artistic control than ever before.

xpScatter

xpScatter enables you to scatter your objects over multiple scene geometry, from splines to parametric objects all at the same time.

The topology tab will enable you to distribute your scatter on landscape slope, height, and curvature to create realistic ecosystems.

Animate your growth by using textures, X-Particles modifiers, and Mograph effectors.

Use multiple display modes for fast viewport performance. You can even restrict the scatter of objects to within the camera field of vision for optimal efficiency.

xpCache

Our time and custom spline retiming option give you fine control over playback. The new cache layers in xpCache enables you to lock and unlock to re-cache objects in your scene.

Seamless Integration

X-Particles is built seamlessly into Cinema 4D like it is part of the application. It’s compatible with the existing particle modifiers, object deformers, Mograph effectors, Hair module, native Thinking Particles, and works with the dynamics system in R14 and later.

If you know how to use the Mograph module, you already know how to use X-Particles, it’s that easy.

• Intuitive Workflow
• Data Import and Export
• Field Support
• OpenVDB Export
• Mograph Support
• Particle Caching

Advanced Rendering

X-Particles has the most advanced particle rendering solution on the market. It enables you to render particles, splines, smoke and fire, all within the Cinema 4D renderer. Included are a range of shaders for sprites, particle wet maps and skinning colors. You can even use sound to texture your objects.

Perfectly partnered with INSYDIUM’s Cycles 4D and also compatible with the following:

• • Cinema 4D Standard Renderer
  • Cinema 4D Physical Renderer
  • Arnold, Octane, Redshift

Particle FX

Create outstanding ParticleFX from Solar Systems, FUI, Holograms and medical visualizations to abstract artwork. Multiple options to combine Emitters and Modifiers, gives you a vast range of possibilities.

Data Mapping

Fully exchange, manipulate and combine particle data from every place within X-Particles. Use the Data Mapping tab in each X-Particles modifier to access particle attributes like texture, brightness, speed or temperature, giving a totally new level of control.

Key Features

The three essential driving forces behind X-Particles simulations; Dynamics – bringing life to your particles, Generators – creating geometry, splines, and volumes, and Modifiers – to control and manipulate your particles behavior.

Dynamics

A wide range of Dynamic modules from Constraints to Fluids and Fire means you can add life to your particles, replicating realistic physical particle behavior. Our interactive tools are intuitive, combining a whole host of X-Particles effects using multi-threaded options leaving you with unlimited possibilities and the ability to create caches for the production pipeline.

Generators

Generate fast and stable geometry and Splines from particles. Attach your animated models to create realistic cache ready simulations. X-Particles comes with Particle Color support, plus the New OpenVDB Support for industry standard meshing.

Modifiers

A wide range of modifiers enables you to create exceptional effects, with a simple and intuitive workflow aided by effect stacking. Multi-threaded options and a unique and straightforward system of Questions and Actions means you have full control of your particles. Plus, Data mapping from particle information and complete R20 Field Support.

OpenVDB Meshing

Streamlined workflow for meshing using our filtering system, means you can layer up your effects, generate smooth flowing surfaces, remesh geometry objects or create complex models. OpenVDB enables you to entirely art direct meshes; you can take total control of your artwork.

Smoke, Fire, and Advection

Realistic smoke, fire, and explosive simulations. You can export ExplosiaFX as a VDB volume, and any render engine that can read the VDB data can then render the volume data.

Particle Advection

Add realistic fluid dynamics to your particles, you can also transfer physical and color data from explosions. Advection enables you to combine ExplosiaFX with FluidFX and ClothFX, giving you amazing results.

Key Features

X-Particles beauty is its versatility, not only can you create realistic Fire and Smoke simulations. You can also mix ExplosiaFX, Fluid, and Cloth to develop fantastic Advection effects.

Fire

Produce custom chemical burning models to create hyper-realistic Fire simulations. Combine Linear, advanced and smart advection modes, with Pressure, Curl and Turbulence support to create a multitude of combustion effects. Intuitive and Fast workflow means Explosia is the go to tool for all your burning requirements.

Smoke

Create Smoke effects with Explosia, manipulate the level of diffusion, dissipation, and buoyancy with intuitive precise controls. For the finer details use our Vorticity Refinement, you can also add object collisions to your simulations with fluids or solids. Combined with a range of X-Particle Modifiers, you can generate a truly extensive range of smoke effects.

Advection

Advection means you can add hyper-realistic fluid dynamics to your particles. You can transfer physical and color data from explosions. Advection allows you to combine ExplosiaFX with Fluid and Cloths with impressive results.

Fused System Requirements

• X-Particles, NeXus, Taiao, Cycles 4D, and MeshTools require Cinema 4D R19* or later.
• TerraformFX requires Cinema 4D R20 or later.
• Your computer will need a processor that has AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions).
• Modern NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, or Apple M Series GPU with at least 4GB of VRAM, support for Vulkan, sufficient compute capability for advanced GPU tasks, and up-to-date, stable drivers for software compatibility.
•  INSYDIUM Fused is natively compatible with Apple M Series systems in Cinema 4D R23 and later, except Cycles 4D, which cannot be used on these machines as it does not have silicon support.

* The xpExplosiaFX OpenGL viewport display in X-Particles requires OpenGL and a supported GPU with up-to-date drivers. Due to Maxon removing OpenGL from Cinema 4D, this feature is not supported in S22 and above.

Operating System

• Windows 7 or later, or macOS Mojave (10.14.6) or later.
• The email address used when purchasing INSYDIUM Fused will become your registered license email address. This same email address will need to be entered when requested, to use INSYDIUM Fused.
• Licensing is done online so you need an internet connection. For more information, see our Knowledge Base.
• On some Windows systems, you may get a warning that you are missing some runtime files. If so, go to our Knowledge Base where you can download them.
• MacOS Catalina (10.15) and newer users may experience security warnings when installing. If so, go to our Knowledge Base for instructions on how to proceed.

Cycles 4D GPU Compatibility

nVidia
Cycles 4D is compatible with all PC systems using an nVidia Graphics Card and will render using the GPU.

Macs are CPU only.

AMD
Previous versions of Cycles 4D used OpenCL to render using the GPU on AMD cards (and OpenCL support was also available for nVidia cards).

Due to a lack of support from Apple, Blender has withdrawn OpenCL compatibility on MacOS, meaning that GPU rendering is not available using AMD cards on these systems.

If you are using OpenCL on a PC with an AMD card, this should work, however, can’tt be guaranteed and we would recommend installing a Cycles 4D Free Trial license so that tests can be completed.

What’s new in Fused 2023.3.1

• Added compatibility with Cinema 4D 2024
• The INSYDIUM Fused Service Update includes bug fixes to increase performance and stability.

What’s new in Fused 2023.3

X-Particles (Build 1557)

Updated

• List UI – Height scaling option added.
• Local Rotation – Option added to rotations.
• Multi-instance support – Added for xpGenerator and xpScatter.
• xpSplineMesher – Flat mode, new meshing option for Trails.

Caching

• New Spawn and Foam from cached particles, cache support for xpVertexmap.

NeXus (Build 190)

New

• nxAvoid – Changes particle direction to avoid other objects in the scene. It can also be used to freeze and kill particles, once an object is detected.
• nxFlock – Mimics the behaviors and reactions of creatures within a flock, with particles interacting with each other and reacting to stimuli.
• nxInfectio – Simulates growth patterns. It is modeled on the idea of an infection spreading from one particle to another, but you can use it for any kind of growth.
• nxQuestion – Completely redesigned with advanced coding logic integrated into an object-based hierarchy system.
• nxUpres – Interpolates the properties of source particles to destination particles. By using a low-particle count source, and a high count destination, this creates a form of ‘upscaling’ or ‘upresing’.
• nxWave – Generates a velocity field which can create rolling waves within your fluid simulations.
• Data Mapping – Create custom data maps to control various parts of any NeXus modifier, including constraints and fluids.

Updated

• nxBlend – New blend modes and new emitter weighting.
• nxConstraints – Updated node tree GUI for connections and icons for falloff types.
• nxWind – New mode von Kármán.

Taiao (Build 278)

• Significant overhaul improving speed.
• toFlower – Fully procedural layer-based flower system.
• toLeaf – New procedural Leaf generator.
• Modifier stack – Adds modifier layers with fields support to control the plant parts.
• New procedural selections added into each layer.

New Modifiers

• Aim – Use custom objects or upvectors to aim any part of the plant.
• Displace – Use shaders or textures to displace the mesh of Trunk, Branch, Leaf and Petal layers.
• Forces – Updated forces, layer based per part options, new layer weight spline. Forces now supports deforming leaves new options “Curl”.
• Growth – Updated growth system, now fully layer based per part with fields support. New growth animation options for keyframed data.
• Profile – Use a custom spline to set the profile of Trunk and Branch layers.
• Texture – New distribution method, use textures and shaders to distribute Branches and Leaves.

TerraformFX (Build 198)

New

• tfFold Handle support – Viewport handle to comfortably manipulate the fold levels, with simple visualization to indicate the fold direction.
• tfFormula – Use formulas for the generation of abstract animated landscapes.
• tfLightRig – New light rig built into tfTerrain object.
• tfRiver – Create procedural river systems with splines or fully procedural Perlin worms.
• tfTrace – New operator that uses ray tracing to incorporate scene geometry into the TerraformFX height field.
• Distribution Curve – Create custom clone distribution along the road spline in tfRoad.
• GradientUV Shader – Map colors to the terrain surface, based on any data from any operator.
• Preset terrains – Mountain, Valley, Island, Canyon and River.
• Randomize Terrain – New command to randomize and store the settings.
• Road Material – Create center line material in tfRoad.
• Subdivide Bottom – Option within tfTerrain, construct the bottom face using a subdivided plane.

MeshTools (Build 243)

New

• mtRayline – Procedural ray casting spline generator.
• mtSplineFX – Spline effects generator tool.

Updated

• All spline generators now have built-in gradient displays.

April 2023

This latest Service Update (Build 1493) is available now via the online updater. This update includes fixes for X-Particles and NeXus.

September 2022

INSYDIUM Fused consists of

X-Particles (Build 1480)

Maintenance Plugin Benefits

• NeXus (Build 60)
• Taiao (Build 141)
• TerraformFX (Build 164)
• MeshTools (Build 190)
• Cycles 4D (Build 559)

Updates

Maintenance Benefits

NeXus

NeXus is a GPU particle and simulation system that integrates perfectly into the X-Particles ecosystem.

Bringing many standard modifiers into the NeXus GPU framework means faster fluids and standard particle effects.

• nxConstraints
• nxFluids
• nxFoam
• nxAttractor
• nxBlend
• nxDirection
• nxDrag
• nxExplode
• nxGravity
• nxKill
• nxRotate
• nxPush
• nxScale
• nxSpeed
• nxTurbulence
• nxVorticity
• nxWind

Taiao

• New Growth System– We now have individual control over branches, which can be added dynamically. Leaves, Flowers and Custom Objects have individual control with variation and support for Fields, using the Growth tab.

TerraformFX

New Feature

• tfWarp – Distorts the input height field, using a low-res control grid of 2D displacement vectors.
• tfFlood – Flood valleys, or clip off mountain tops, with ease and mask the results with the tfFlood operator’s custom output map.
• Grid Monitor – Constantly monitor your operators’ 2D outputs with the new Grid Monitor dialog, that can be freely docked into your layout.
• Shader Masking – Use textures and shaders to quickly mask your operators without having to use Fields.

Update

• tfGrid – Control output map
• tfSpline – New fill mode
• tfBrush – New modes for warp and grid
• tfBlur – New median filter

MeshTools

New Feature

• mtFractal – Procedural fractal tool

Update

• mtEdgeSpline – New offset with count and rotation

Library Assets

New

• Taiao Preset Pack – Get up and running fast with our Taiao Preset Pack. Build flowers, plants and trees, quickly and easily.
• Nature Material Pack – Inspired by nature, our 120 high-resolution drag-and-drop materials mean you can replicate the beauty of nature in no time.

Fused March 2022

INSYDIUM Fused consists of

• X-Particles (Build 1250)

Fused Plugin Benefits

• Taiao (Build 80)
• TerraformFX (Build 147)
• MeshTools (Build 131)
• Cycles 4D (Build 557)

Updates

Taiao

A procedural plant animation system which generates trees, flowers, grasses and custom objects.

toPlant Procedural layered based modeling plant generator. Use layers to add branches, leaves, flowers and custom objects to build any type of plant or tree.

toTree Simulation-based system creates natural growth based on rules. Use space colonization to build branching systems based on points in a volume or particles.

toGrass Grass generator, add grass and scatter plants and objects over the surface of any object.

TerraformFX

New Features

• Generators
  • tfGrid Adds a grid of adjustment handles; with these, you can custom design the landscape, including a new grid brush to paint and sculpt the land.
• Filters
  • tfPath Procedural path operator, add a custom spline to generate paths and roads in the landscape.
  • tfErosion Snow New Erosion operator, tfErosion Snow lets you add snowy materials to your terrains.
  • tfHighpass Filter to help maintain details in existing layers without destroying the original form of the landscape.
• Others
  • tfRoad Part of tfPath, the new tfRoad generates a procedural road based on the path, with built-in cloning for adding roadside structures.

MeshTools

New Features

• mtSplineSample lets you resample the input spline to add uniform, adaptive and distance point distribution modes.
• mtPolyScale Takes an input geometry and scales down the faces.
• mtRemesh Remeshes the input geometry into a Delaunay triangulation-based mesh surface.

Updates

• mtInset
  • Divisions feature adds more divisions along the length of the inset.
  • Divisions deform spline lets you deform the shape of the offset with the spline.
  • Twist twists the inset face.

Fused Hotfix Update – 28 September 2021

This Update contains bug fixes for Licensing, xpDynamics, xpShatter, xpCache, and TerraformFX, all of which will increase performance and stability. In addition, users will find that the following xpCache fixes make the cache ‘dialog’ far more responsive.

X-Particles Build 1036 and TerraformFX Build 122

• 4254 – xpDynamics – xpGenerator failed to cache
• 4248- xpDynamics – xpShatter failed to initialize reliably
• 4241 – xpShatter – Any offset from global zero breaks recursive shard positions
• 4244- xpShatter – Hang on Collision Trigger mode
• 4243 -xpCache – Dragging the progress dialog affects cache speed (R25)
• 4242 – xpCache – Mouse movement halts cache progress (R25)
• 4240 – TerraformFX – Operator changes fail to update the terrain without forcing a redraw
• 4238 – Change License – Re-enabling a license causes application hang (R25)

If you are an eligible customer, you will receive this Hotfix Update automatically, as long as you have enabled your Online Updater. Alternatively, you can access the latest build of Fused for your license from your Customer Account.

X-Particles Build 895

9 September 2020

• 3284 – xpOVDBMesher: Crashes Cinema 4D R23 when Transfer Point Color enabled
• 3283 – xpFlowField: Layer strength can’t be keyframed
• 3270 – Adding any X-Particles Falloffs will cause Cinema 4D to Freeze
• 3269 – xpExplosiaFX: Display issue when moving between scenes
• 3265 – Adjusting the xpMorph Threshold Slider does not do anything
• 3262 – Changing the “emitter shape” to “object” then drag in any object such as a sphere or cube crashes Cinema 4D
• 3260 – xpLight mod brightness setting not correct
• 3259 – Gradient color is not an available option in a Sub Branch Object
• 3257 – X-Particles is crashing when using xpCellAuto with xpTrail
• 3255 – Particles passing through object using xpAvoid
• 3250 – xpColor: The intended color is not displayed using both color operation settings
• 3249 – X-Particles System Preferences: Enabling System HUD crashed Cinema 4D R23
• 3248 – xpColor: Fade between is not finishing on the desired color
• 3245 – xpExplosiaFX: Color Display not working when using a Cinema 4D deformer
• 3240 – xpScatter: The scattered objects are not updating correctly when used with xpVertexMap
• 3238 – xpScatter: Does not get sorted when using SystemSort
• 3237 – xpExplosiaFX: Cached VDB file performing poorly
• 3218 – xpExplosiaFX: Crashes C4D if OpenGL is turned off in preferences
• 3217 – xpVertexMap: Color Vertex Map options – only displays particle layer weight, and not the full layer set
• 3214 – xpBranch: Not able to set the angle mode of the branching when using Curl mode on the source branch
• 3209 – xpFlowField: Does not reset as expected
• 3205 – Particle Emission from Extrude Caps issue
• 3204 – xpScatter: Viewport Display affects Render
• 3200 – xpBranch Curl vs Animated Plane Angle
• 3184 – xpAvoid: Currently has no import
• 3181 – xpExplosiaFX OpenGL vs Backface Culling
• 3174 – xpVertexMap: The field is using the wrong matrix
• 3172 – xpVertexMap: Animation of the seed object stops when the invert checkbox is selected
• 3138 – X-Particles crashes Cinema 4D during the upgrade on Mac 10.10 Yosemite
• 3132 – xpExplosiaFX: If SubSteps is above 1, particle gaps occur

X-Particles Build 884

Friday 3rd July 2020

In this Update, we have focused on our core foundations, rebuilding, refining, and enhancing. X-Particles is an essential component of an artist’s toolkit, and as such, we are continually improving our workflow so our customers can work more efficiently. We’ve so many great things to show you.

Please note: X-Particles Build 884 is the last Update that will support Cinema 4D R14 to R18. Future Updates will support only R19 and later and your computer will need a processor that has AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions).

This Update contains all the features previously available in the Beta Access build, plus some additional new and updated features.

New Features

• xpFlock
• xpOcean
• xpScatter
• xpSticky
• xpBlend
• xpNegate
• xpPushApart
• New icons
• New Scheme colors
• Token Support
• xpJoin
• Trail Display added to xpFlowField, xpExplosiaFX and xpFluidFLIP

Updates to Existing Features

xpSystem Object

• New layout
• Renamed Other objects to Utilities

xpEmitter

• New Emission mode Simulate
• New Emission mode Motion
• Threshold (Vertex Map)
• New Origin Display
• Texture UV Switch
• Rotation Display mode
• Unified Questions list, icons for each mode
• Unified Modifier list, icons for include/exclude
• Added New Offset Channel to Texture emission
• New rotation ‘Face Screen’ mode
• New Physical Data User Value
• New Shot modes for Regular and Hexagon emissions

xpVertexmap

• Completely rewritten, new UI/UX
• New From VertexMap mode
• New Curvature mode
• New Ambient Occlusion mode
• Support for parametric objects
• New Effects options

xpFlowField

• Completely rewritten, new UI/UX
• New Speed Mapping in data mapping
• New Turbulence mode
• New Curl mode
• New ExplosiaFX mode
• New Surface mode
• New Fields mode
• New Import Flow
• Updated Export settings
• New Trail Display mode
• New shader mode gradient option (removed old RGB)

Questions

• Question New Direction Change Question
• Question New User Value, linked with Emitter User Value options
• Question Sub Question now Changed to a Standard Question

xpDisplay Render

• New Collider Bounds mode
• New FlowField Trails mode
• New xpExplosiaFX Velocities mode
• New xpFluidFLIP Velocities mode

xpBranch

• New Curl mode
• New Control splines for Curl options
• New Symmetrical option
• New Intersection system

xpDynamics Modifier – New Auto Fade

xpMultiSpawn – New Start at Age and Offset

xpExplode – New Trigger modes

xpLimit Modifier and xpMetaGroup – New user value

xpNetwork and xpAvoid – New Intersection system

xpTurbulence – Updated Defaults

xpSplineMesher

• New Growth Slider
• New Vertex Colors

Actions

• New Output to Console Action added
• Change Group Action support for physical Data
• New Rotation mode added to Direct Spin Action

xpCache

• New Unique IDs
• New List View of Cached Items
• New Retiming options

xpDomain

• Renamed xpFluidFLIP
• New APIC solver
• Rewritten collision system
• New Solid Object options
• New Sticky functions
• New CFL Options
• New Resampling feature
• Removed legacy smoke and fire
• Optimized core
• New Trail Display for velocity
• New Allow Inflow
• New Liquid Surface

xpExplosiaFX

• New Upres options
• Updated container size options
• Adaptive bounds color added to Display options
• New Solver information readout added
• Gravity set to match XP
• New Motion Gap added to solve stepping in simulations
• New Velocity added to Geometry tag
• Rewritten Custom section
• New defaults
• Removed simple
• New OpenGL display added (currently works in Cinema 4D R14 to R21)
• New Trails Display mode
• New CFL option added
• New Substep options added
• Rewritten collisions
• New Vorticity and Turbulence options

X-Particles Service Update Build 742

Released 22 January 2020

This Service Update contains bug fixes which will increase performance and stability. This is available to all X-Particles customers in their Maintenance Period.

X-Particles owners will receive this update automatically, as long as you have enabled your X-Particles Online Updater. Alternatively, you can access the latest build of X-Particles for your license from your Customer Account.

Remember, with the addition of Customer Accounts you will be able to track your maintenance expiry and access your downloads. You’ll also be able to view your previous order history, download and print invoices, and if you are in your Maintenance Period access exclusive Maintenance Training videos and Content Repository files.

If you haven’t set up a Customer Account, register now.

Microsoft Windows users may need to install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015-2019, see our Knowledge Base for more details.

Bug Fixes

2693 – xpOVDB Mesher Zero Data in Velocity Maps
2683 – xpOVDB Mesher incorrect Trails Velocities
2691 – xpOVDB Mesher won’t render when cached
2686 – Cached Cloth crashing Cinema 4D
2685 – Modifier field question error
2682 – Collider Tag doesn’t work on Motext
2681 – Emitter is being generated outside xpSystem
2677 – Cloth xpCollider crash
2669 – xpFlowField vs Emitters Activation
2668 – xpFollowPath Modifier crash
2663 – xpCollider crashes randomly
2661 – Cloth Constraint not set up
2660 – xpSound Crash/Freeze while adding sound file
2654 – Collision tag – spawn
2650 – R21 crashes when XPCache finished caching
2649 – xpSound crashes when frequency max is reduced
2644 – Load XP palette failure
2639 – Collider not working with xpFluidFX
2638 – xpDynamics incorrect File Structure
2628 – xpColor Falloff Failing to return Color
2626 – xpSprite misnaming on CSTO
2625 – Cache info missing in R21
2623 – Leaking Colliders
2620 – Fluids xpFoam crash
2615 – XP crash of cache completion
2613 – Crash while rendering to picture Viewer in R20-R21
2607 – xpScale Falloff Substeps issue
2606 – Shatter Bad Normals with Scaled Objects
2605 – Data Mapping doesn’t work in the attractor modifier
2592 – Fast moving object used as xpCollider and xpFlock avoider, crashes Cinema 4D
2589 – xpPPCollisions crash
2580 – xpGenerator + xpCollider crash
2579 – Old scenes which use xpOVDB Mesher are crashing when opening
2555 – xpOVDB Mesher Redraw
2505 – xpShatter layers copy/paste issue
2504 – Point Container undo
2493 – Shatter Emitter undo issue
2356 – No Generation of XP generated objects
2238 – Pulse emission has random results
2219 – Connect on collision affects spawning from an unrelated emitter

Build 732

• Adds Cinema 4D R21 Compatibility

Cinema 4D API Changes

Cinema 4D R21 has seen API Changes. As a result of these changes, all third-party developers such as INSYDIUM, have had to adapt their plug-ins. X-Particles is a sophisticated piece of software, which means these changes take up significant development time and it is only possible to implement them on our latest builds.

X-Particles C4D compatibility explained:

• X-Particles 3.5 Cinema 4D R14-R19
• X-Particles 4 (Build 535) Cinema 4D R14-R20
• X-Particles Build 642 Cinema 4D R14-R20
• X-Particles Build 728 Cinema 4D R14-R20
• X-Particles Build 732 Cinema 4D R14-R21

X-Particles Public Release 2019

Build 724 – Thursday 4th July 2019

New Feature list

This version contains all the features previously available in the Early Access builds to May 2019, plus some additional New and Updated Features.

New Features 

• xpDynamics – New Dynamics solver for Rigid and Soft Body Dynamics.
• xpShatter – New Voronoi based shattering system.
• xpDisplayRender – New Render generator to render Particle and Display Modes.
• xpMetaGroup – New Powerful type of particle group.
• xpQuickTools – New integrated preset tools.
• xpSplineGrowth – New Deformer to grow spline objects, Trails and Elektrix.
• xpTrailTip Tag – New Tag to add an object to tip of trail splines.
• xpParticleSampleShader – New Shader to colour objects from particle parameters.
• xpSheeter – New Modifier to generate thin film particles in Fluid simulations.
• xpSplash – New Modifier for crown splash simulations.

Updates to Existing Features

• Emission from Object – Rotation mode Tangential to Normal.
• Colour Modifier – Colour from vertex tag, change particle shape.
• Inherit Modifier – More options to inherit and control when inherited.
• Spawn Modifier – Inherit UV emission data from source.
• xpVertexMap – Vertex colour from particles.
• Drag Modifier – Use Scene units and new Shatter mode.
• Scale Modifier – New Percentage option for scale, and shader mapping.
• Infectio Modifier – More color control with groups.
• Physical Modifier – Use Shaders to control options.
• Cover Modifier – Two new modes ‘Nearest Surface Point’ and ‘Nearest Vertex’ added for more control over material channels.
• Attractor Modifier – New Viewport icon to show where particles will be attracted to.
• Vortex Modifier – New Helix mode.
• Custom Data – New variation field.
• xpTrail – New object mode.
• Network Modifier – New distance mode.
• Emitter Display – New cylinder mode.
• Emitter Direction – New option persists while stuck, enables particles to maintain correct axis direction on deformed normal.

What’s new in X-Particles 2018

New Feature list in Build 642 – Wed 24th Oct 2018.

This version contains all the features previously available in the Early Access builds to September 2018, plus some additional New Features.

General 

• Revised particle core and collision engine with much greater speed
• Compatibility with Cinema 4D R20 using the INSYDIUM Bridge plugin
• R20 Fields are now supported, the Falloff tab of any object now shows the standard Fields display. The X-Particles falloffs are in the Fields list in their own panel (this applies to Cinema 4D R20 only)
• Enhanced quick tab functionality in the user interface

Emitter 

• New emitter type – Torus emitter
• Emitter instance mode added
• It is now possible to set the colour for different constraint types and render trails from the constraints using those colours
• New extended data item – Emission Vertex
• Changed particle colour by shader to give correct 3D sampling
• Revised particle colour gradients in the emitter/group object
• New modifier fields display
• New variation control added to emission along object normals
• Edge-only emission for the emitter in rectangle mode
• New up-vector option in the emitter rotations
• New option added to the emitter falloff

Generators 

• Enhanced functionality and the ability to mesh volumes in the OpenVDB mesher
• New option in the Trail object to handle Infectio trails
• Option to create a Vertex Color Tag added to the Fragmenter object (Cinema 4D R18 and higher only)
• New distance controls in xpElektrix

Dynamics Objects 

• Faster, more accurate fluid simulation in FluidPBD and FluidFX
• FluidFX has been greatly improved and is much faster
• New Wave object added
• Improvements to the Foam object to give more control over the foam offset from the fluid surface
• Particle group and falloff support added to ExplosiaFX
• Revised and enhanced Shader mode in the FlowField object

Modifiers 

New Infectio modifier
More inherited parameters added to the Change Group and Spawn modifiers
New list of target objects added to the Attractor modifier
Mograph Cloner/Matrix support added to the Attractor modifier
New force and velocity settings added to the Attractor, Cover/Target, Flock, Rotator and Vortex modifiers
Improved and extended Color modifier
Custom data can now be mapped to particle data in the Custom Data modifier
New threshold setting in the Geometry modifier
New options added to the Kill modifier
New mode and new switch added to the Life modifier
Revised and extended Limit modifier
New axis constraint setting in the Network modifier
Three new attractors added to the Strange Attractors modifier
New functionality – actions on trail zero length – added to the Trails modifier
New mode of operation in the Weight modifier

Other Objects 

• New X-Particles Seed Object used in the Infectio modifier and in the VertexMap Maker
• New mode in the VertexMap Maker – ‘From Seed’
• Ability to add a Vertex Color Tag in the VertexMap Maker (Cinema 4D R18 and higher only)
• Z-axis formula and displacement shader added to the Trail Deformer

Questions/Actions 

• Can now disable/enable individual questions and actions in the emitter Questions tab and in Actions lists in all objects
• New Fluid Data questions in the Question object
• Self-spawning feature added to the Control Spawning action
• New action to control the Infectio modifier added

Other 

• New System Hierarchy Sorter command to sort X-Particles objects into a System object
• New option in the X-Particles preferences: automatically add newly-created X-Particles objects into a System object
• New parameters added to the main X-Particles preferences
• With data mapping, you can now map modifier parameters to a vertex map tag
• The Xpresso get/set particle data nodes now allow you to get or set the Infectio state of a particle
• The X-Particles console has been updated and improved
• New features added to the Distance shader
• The Load Palettes facility missing from the original release has now been restored
• Spline collisions added to the collision engine
• Adaptive collisions and their display in the Collider tag
• The FluidFX Collider tag no longer exists and the standard X-Particles Collider tag should be used in its place. See the FluidFX page in the online manual for more details

What’s new in X-Particles 4.0

New objects in X-Particles 4

• New Dynamics Objects
  • Cloth FX
  • Explosia FX
  • Flow Field Object
  • Fluid FX
• New Generators
  • OpenVDB Mesher
  • Planar Mesher
  • New Modifiers
  • Custom Data Modifier
  • History Modifier
  • MultiLevel Spawn Modifier
  • Sound Displacement Modifier
  • SplineFlow Modifier
  • Strange Attractor Modifier
  • Trails Modifier
• New Tags
  • Cloth FX Tag
  • Cloth FX Pin Tag
  • Explosia FX Collider Tag
  • Explosia FX Source Tag
  • Fluid FX Object Tag
  • Newtonian Gravity Tag
• Other New Objects
  • Cellular Automata Object
  • Circle Packer Object
  • Data Export Object
  • Data Import Object
  • Distance Shader
  • Object Shader
  • Shader Falloff
  • VertexMap Maker Object
  • X-Particles Console

Other features

• Custom data
  • Each particle always carries a set of data values (e.g. speed, radius, mass, etc.) but with this feature in X-Particles 4 it is possible to add your own custom data. How this is used is entirely for the user to decide, but examples are given on the custom data page which explains how to add custom data and how it can be used.
• Changes/additions to existing objects
  • Actions
    • New actions:
    • several actions to control new modifiers
    • Change Trail action has new ‘Connections’ action
    • Custom Data action new mode added to allow incrementing/decrementing the current data value
  • Branch Modifier
    • Branching algorithm improved and legacy mode added to preserve existing scenes
  • Collider Tag
    • The ‘Exclusions’ tab now has an Exclude/Include menu so that it can now accept emitters to exclude or include in collisions with the object.
  • Colour Modifier
    • * New operation modes added
    • * Fade Between
    • * Distance From Object
    • * Distance From Camera
    • * Gradient by Parameter modes replicate emitter gradient modes
  • Data Mapping
    • Can now map to additional data including:
    • Particle index
    • Distance to target using either a cover mod or an inherit mod
    • Spline segment length if using a follow spline modifier
    • Particle scale
    • Shader support added (i.e. map to a shader such as Noise)
    • Support for texture tags added (i.e. can map data to an existing material)
  • Direction Modifier
    • New relative direction mode added
• Emitter
  • Object tab
    • Emission can be controlled by object colour when emitting from an object
    • Improvements to illumination-controlled emission
    • Particles can be emitted from ngon centres
    • Moselection tag is supported when emitting from a Mograph cloner
    • Support for emission from a Mograph Matrix or MoText object
    • In defined emission, radial mode now has a ‘reverse’ switch to reverse the initial direction
    • Particle radius can now be controlled by texture and by emitting polygon size
    • Topology-controlled emission (height, slope, and crevices)
    • The Voronoi Fracture object selection tags are now supported
    • Emitting from the position of each object in a Mograph Cloner is now supported and a multiplier setting added to increase the particle count
  • Emission tab
    • New emission modes added for uses with the Advanced Fluids module
  • Extended Data tab
    • Rate of change control added for particle rotations
    • Up-vector added for particle rotations
    • Particle mass can now be linked to its radius
    • Ability to store UV data to the particle added to the Extended Data tab
    • Ability to enter custom particle data added to the Extended Data tab
  • Groups tab
    • Groups list can now use the conventional ticks/crosses icons to disable or enable groups, and can use groups in hierachies with the hierarchy icon
  • Display tab
    • Outline Multiplier control added
    • Can now set the emitter icon colour
  • Modifiers tab
    • Modifiers list can now use modifiers in hierarchies rather than having to add modifiers individually
  • Follow Path Modifier
    • New switch added to reduce the crossing over of particle trails when the particles move to the first path object
    • Support for Actions to be executed when the particle enters the path
  • Follow Spline Modifier
    • Support for Actions to be executed when the particle is captured by the spline
    • New speed mode added
  • Follow Surface Modifier
    • Falloff tab added to modifier
• Gravity Modifier
  • New mode added – Newtonian gravity
• Limit Modifier
  • Mapping of limits to individual axes is now possible
• Particles Falloff
  • Groups can now be used in the falloff
• Question Object
  • New questions:
    • Particle-Particle Collision question
    • Time in Group question
    • Custom Data question
    • Particle Has Connections question
    • Fluid Surface question
    • New mode added to the Particle Age question
• Scale Modifier
  • New variation setting added
• Spawn Modifier
  • Spawned particles can now inherit scale and/or radius from the source particle
• Sprite Object
  • Orientation setting added for placard sprites
  • Sprite lights can now use lens effects
  • New text mode added – ‘Uset Text (Phrases)’
• System Object
  • New switches added to the System Object to apply the only modifiers/deformers in the same system to all emitters in that system (no longer necessary to set the switches manually in each emitter)
  • Ability to move/rotate a particle stream when the parent System object is moved/rotated
  • Ability to change the colour of the System Object icon to any colour, or to use the colour of the scene layer the object belngs to
• Trail Object
  • Maximum length setting added to the ‘Straight Sequence’ algorithm
  • New ‘Multiple Sequence’ algorithm added
  • New thickness mode added – Use Radius (Variable)
  • Cached trails can now retain their colour
• Turbulence Modifier
  • New Simplex noise (modified Perlin noise) added
• Xpresso nodes
  • The Set Physical Data node now allows you to set the particle group directly rather than using a separate node
  • New Get/Set Custom Data nodes added

What’s new with service pack 2 for X-Particles 3.5

Changes

• Cycles 4D Ready, sign up to our Newsletter and be the first to find out more.
• Licensing speed improved to reduce starting delays.
• Offline license server support for multiple Cinema 4D licenses.
• xpSkinner Support for Cinema 4D R18 Vertex Color Tag.

Fixes

• 834 – Cache Read Not Ignoring Hidden Files.
• 835 – Cache tag enable state not saved.
• 839 – Wetmap UVs gap.
• 889 – Generator not rotating along with particles during animation.
• 890 – Modifier Source Falloff strange bounding box.
• 891 – xpCache, xpSystem and xpGroup.
• 894 – xpTransform Subframe Problem.
• 902 – Volumetric material missing from Object Buffer.
• 914 – Caching broken in R18.
• 915 – Rewind mod mapping crash.
• 919 – Actions Incorrect Data type.
• 921 – XP Crash.
• 925 – xpSkinner on Thinking Particles.
• 927 – Stick particle to source not working when one particle per source is selected.
• 933 – Crash if using a TP group as the skinner source with second flag set to polys.
• 935 – Stick to stopped working.
• 938 – xpTurbulence Frequency broken.
• 942 – xpCache Playback broken in R18.
• 947 – xpCache Save & Load Scene Broken!

What’s New in Version 3.5

Illumination based emissions. Use Cinema 4D lights to trigger particle emissions from surfaces.

FollowPath meets Cloner. In our latest update, the xpFollowPath Modifier has direct access to the Mograph Cloner object, you can use closed Splines inside a Cloner object, giving you even greater control over particle paths. Control like never before!

Trail Deformer. Our new trail deformer helps you breathe life into your trails, use formulas or shaders to deform your trails and add animation for full control over the trail object.

xpParticlesFalloff. Now you can use particles as single falloff objects. Our exciting new xpParticles Falloff will open the door to endless possibilities, from random growth to unique color changing effects. Let each particle become the controller of your modifiers.

Enhanced Group Object. Giving you more control over your particle groups. The group object can be used in 3 different modes, from display only to control over particle properties.

xpSound Modifier. Use sound to drive your particles parameters, speed, color, size and much more. Audio has never been this compelling.

What’s new in version 3

X-Particles 3 has over 40 particle modifiers with many modifier improvements, such as new flocking, giving even more control over your particle VFX.

18 New Modifiers

• Control
  • xpColor, xpInherit, xpPhysical, xpRewind, xpTransform, xpWeight.
• Motion
  • xpAvoid, xpDrag, xpExplode, xpFollowPath, xpGaseous, xpLimit, xpNetwork, xpVortex, xpVorticity.
• Generate
  • xpBranch, xpDynamicParticles, xpTendril.

All New Core

• Faster with reduced memory¹ use enabling simulation of more particles with the same resources².
• More power to your CPU, increased threading across X-Particles making more use of multiple cores including threaded caching and compression making caching 4 times faster³.
• Subframe Modifier Execution, complete user control over modifiers and dynamics for more accurate simulation and less particle banding artifacts.

¹ compared to X-Particles 2.5 with a basic two million particle scene.
² subject to modifiers used, each modifier can dynamically add data needed during execution.
³ subject to file format used, X-Particles native caching is the fastest and X-Particle 3 enables you to customise what data to save.

Licensing

New serial number system independent of CINEMA 4D : license management and entry directly into X-Particles with no more need for serial number updates with new CINEMA 4D releases or having to add X-Particles to the MAXON license server.

Workflow

Many improvements to the intuitive X-Particles workflow including:

• X-Particles System Object updated with viewport display, quick access to new modifiers from the OM, full system presets.
• Many more Questions and Actions to boost the power of your particle VFX.
• Additional particle control via emission properties for Groups.
• Partio file format support to enable import and export of particle caches to popular particle file formats for quick and easy transfer between applications.

Generation

Particle and mesh generation including:

• xpElektrix for quick and easy lightning vfx.
• xpSplineMesher creates polygons from any CINEMA 4D spline, X-Particles trails and particle branching.
• xpVolumeEmit controls emission of particles from object volumes.
• xpBranch enables creation of organic structures including tree and plant like formations.
• xpTendril creates dynamic flowing tendrils.
• xpNetwork gives organised particle movement to create vast patterns.

Dynamics

• Enhanced dynamics with advanced liquid and gaseous simultion.
• xpDomain brings advanced Liquid and Gaseous (Smoke and Fire) simulation into the standard X-Particles workflow enabling simulations to use the X-Particles modifiers plus Questions and Actions system.
• xpConstraints adds dynamics for viscosity, friction, surface tension, particle connections, fast particle to particle collisions and forces.

Rendering

• The blazingly fast X-Particles render engine has been enhanced to bring in spline rendering, volumetric and voxel rendering.
• The enhanced X-Particles Material enables more control and properties for shading your particles including the ability to drop the material onto a spline and have it render, including shading Trails from the particles.
• X-Particles Material > Volumetric enables rendering particles as smoke, clouds and other volumetric phenomena, including isosurface (Skinner like) renders.
• Volumetric Voxels turn your particles into voxels at render time to turn them into one continuous volume for realistic gaseous rendering.
• X-Particles Gaseous is a new X-Particles material that builds on the X-Particles Material Volumetric Voxels to bring Smoke and Fire rendering.

New Features in 2.5

• Many enhancements to the emitter object.
• Greatly improved, faster and easier fluids.
• Blazingly fast high quality rendering and Multi-Pass.
• Wet Maps.
• Polygon Fragmenter.
• Additional skinner surfaces.
• Particle painting, creation, deletion and properties such as color, speed, rotation and life.
• Extra modifiers and enhancements such as Move over Surface and Falloff over Life.
• Completely new, flexible and powerful caching system.

Emitter

• The emitter object includes a host of new features:
• Motion inheritance.
• Initial emission state.
• Defined emission.
• Many new options for emission from objects.
• Additional support for mograph effectors.
• Particle rotations.

Fluids

• Fluids in X-Particles 2.5 have had a massive overhaul:
• Faster and easier to control with additional options to enhance the results of your fluid simulations.
• Enhancements to viscosity and vorticity.
• Boundary density correction and surface repulsion and attraction.
• Diffuse particles such as spray and foam.
• Wet maps created from particle to surface interactions.

Rendering

• Major rendering enhancements bringing substantially faster and higher quality particle rendering.
• X-Particle material additions such as Fill Particles and additional illumination models.
• Light tag for finer control of lighting and shadows.
• Multi-Pass layers including depth, vector motion blur, object buffers and position/normal passes.

Fragmenter

The exciting new Fragmenter object in X-Particles 2.5 enables you to turn the faces of any polygon object into your own controllable particles.
You can use it to drive a single object or a hierarchy of objects as particles, giving you the freedom to take your animations to another level.

Particle Paint

Open the door to your imagination with our powerful new painting tools. Particle paint lets you paint particles directly into your scene onto any object’s surface, right within the CINEMA 4D viewport. The possibilities in this tool truly let you unlock your creativity.

Wet Maps

New in X-Particles 2.5 is the superb new Wet Map Tag. This tag and accompanying shader enables you to generate custom wet maps based on particle to surface interactions. Wet maps can also generate vertex maps enabling you to view them directly in the viewport. This also enables you to use them for particle interactions with other objects such as emitting from wet maps.

X-Particles 2.5 includes many more additions such as:

Modifiers

• Trigger Action and Move Over Surface modifiers.
• Falloff over Life enhancement in most modifiers.
• Greatly improved Follow Spline modifier.
• Color blend mode in the Cover/Target modifier.
• Curl turbulence source and boundaries.
• Many more questions and actions.

Caching

• Completely revised caching system to bring all cacheable objects under one caching system.
• Include/exclude objects as needed from caching.
• Multiple caches per object.
• Cache playback control through start/stop times, retiming and enable your particles to continue after the cached frames.
• RealFlow 2013 particle BIN file format support.

Generator

• Animate option with offset and retiming to enable animations per particle.
• Faster viewport navigation when not playing the timeline.

Trails

• Improvements to connections so they are more consistent and easier to control.
• Faster generation, up to twice as fast.

New features in version 2

• multithreaded emitter and other components – far faster when using very large particle counts
• up to 1 billion particles on screen (if your computer can hack it!)
• two commercial versions, Standard and Professional
• new Skinner object (Pro version) – forget the old C4D Metaball object!
• set of new Xpresso nodes (Pro version)
• greatly improved collision system
• new SPH fluid simulation and multiphysics (Pro version)
• most modifiers enhanced with significant additional features and functionality
• Trail object has new algorithms for connecting generated splines
• online updating system for rapid updates and bug fixes
• new modifiers, including Attractor, Follow Spline, Morph, Rotator, and Wind modifiers
• morph between generated objects (Pro version)
• several additional Questions and Actions
• enhanced control over modifiers (a modifier can be made to affect just one particle if required)
• improved particle group system
• particle editing (Pro version)
• particle rendering without needing the Hair module – a greatly improved volume shader
• many other smaller enhancements added
• revised and updated manual