Before discussing Blender's pricing, I'll show my Cinema 4D's costs over the past 10 years and what it might cost in the future, using the same plugins. In 2013 I acquired Cinema 4D Release 11 on eBay for about $320 and later upgraded to version 14 for $1900. I entered into a MSA contract for $640 and paid the same annually for updates over 6 years. Subsequently, I invested in upgrades to release $23 and $25 for approximately $1000 each and accepted a Maxon One subscription offer for $700. In total, my expenditure on Cinema 4D over 10 years was around $9600. When working with Cinema 4D, I relied on X-Particles, which cost me about $1820 over 10 years. Additionally, I used useful gray-scaligrilla tools like the HDRI Link plugin, totalling around $300. HDRI Light Studio, which accelerated my workflow, cost about $1100. The Forrester plugin, combined with Octane Renderer for natural renderings, amounted to approximately $800. Overall, from 2013 to 2023, I invested approximately $13500 in Cinema 4D and its plugins. Many tools now come with recurring costs. Cinema 4D with Redshift is about $980 annually and X-Particles is $520. Gray-scaligrilla charges $460, while Octane costs $260 per year. HDRI Light Studio is $220 and Forrester requires a one-time payment of $560, with updates after 2 years at $185 each. After a year, we own Forrester and updates are optional, but likely necessary for new Cinema 4D versions. These prices lead to an annual cost of approximately $3000. After 10 years, the cost comes to over $30,000. Including all discounts and Black Friday deals, it's around $20,000. After 10 years, all you have is just a plugin. We're now looking to see if we need add-ons in Blender to work as closely as possible to how we do in Cinema 4D. We'll start with some basic areas, explore the differences and look for similar add-ons in Blender. Gray-scale Gorilla's HDRI Link allows for easy one-click HDR loading in Cinema 4D. In Blender, the HDRI Maker Add-On allows me to load HDRI's with a single click, offering many other features as well. Alternatively, I can also use the Gaffer Add-On for free to load HDRI's. In Cinema 4D, the most Redshift materials are available only to subscription customers, not to perpetual license holders. And the Gray-scale Gorilla plugin further enhances this with a wide range of high-quality materials. In Blender, the Polyhaven Asset Browser Add-On integrates all the materials from the Polyhaven website directly into Blender. Additionally, there are numerous other providers offering a wide range of high-quality materials at affordable prices. In Cinema 4D, you can adjust colors in real-time during preview rendering. Most settings also work really well right in the viewport with the photographer 5 Add-On. Cinema 4D is well known for its robust MoGraph capabilities. The JMoGraph nodes Add-On in Blender allows users to mimic many of the core features that are typical in Cinema 4D. Forrester lets you make parametric trees in Cinema 4D. While Blender's built-in sapling tree gen does not allow for post-creation editing, the well-known but subscription-based SpeedTree offers this feature. Though the Grove Add-On is quite similar to SpeedTree in use, it's a bit pricey but a really good alternative. Additionally, there are numerous other Add-Ons available for parametric tree design in Blender. With Forrester in Cinema 4D, you can distribute parametric plants across geometry. In Blender, you can use the Geoscatter Add-On to add realistic plants to scenes, complete with a wide range of presets and numerous extensions. Additionally, there are several other Add-Ons available for similar purposes. Let's make a quick jump to explore painting and sculpting tools, and see if we can find anything helpful to make the process easier. In Cinema 4D, there's a doodle tool that allows users to make notes directly on the viewport. Similarly, Blender offers a three-dimensional annotate tool with an enhanced feature set through the grease pencil. This tool enables drawing directly in the 3D scene by creating splines that behave like 2D drawings, but exist within the 3D environment. Users can draw on orthogonal surfaces or directly on the geometry. It includes a layer system, a variety of brushes and a timeline for animations, allowing for a creative blend of 3D and 2D artistry. When comparing the sculpting tools of Cinema 4D with those of Blender, it's important to note that for Blender, you don't need to buy any additional Add-Ons for sculpting, providing a diverse array of sculpting tools that stand out for their variety and ease of use. In Cinema 4D, I can paint directly on 3D models, and I have the ability to work with layers just as I do in Photoshop. In Blender, you can also paint directly on the model but with even fewer tools. By default, you can't work with layers, but with the TX layer Add-On, it becomes possible. The Substance 3D Painter is highly recommended as an external tool, and it's available for purchase as a perpetual license on Steam. Let's take a look at some basic differences between Cinema 4D and Blender that often pose challenges for Blender beginners. But let's start with something great in Blender. In Cinema 4D, it's annoying that you can't drag nodes onto lines in the node editor like you can from the asset browser, so I have to connect them by hand. In Blender, dragging nodes onto lines works well, and the node wrangler adds many helpful features, making working with nodes easier. Cinema 4D allows free object arrangement, but Blender's collections sort objects differently, offering less arrangement freedom. It's like the layer system in Cinema 4D, but with more features. In Cinema 4D, it's easy to transfer modifiers from individual objects to groups if the modifier is in the group. In Blender, to apply a modifier to multiple objects, you need to join them into one using Ctrl plus J, which is less convenient. In Blender, there are some things you need to learn, but there are also great add-ons that can make your life easier. Let's take a look at some simple add-ons. At first, handling cameras in Blender can be a bit tricky. It's important to give yourself some time to get used to it. The QL Camera Bookmarks add-on helps by saving both multiple camera positions and the positions of the viewport camera. In Cinema 4D, the Material Manager displays an overview of all materials. In contrast, material management in Blender can initially seem a bit unfamiliar. The handy tool QOL Materials Panel provides a solution by making all materials visible with just one click. In Cinema 4D, plugins are listed in the menu or under "Extensions". In contrast, in Blender, plugins appear in the side panel, which can quickly become cluttered. In such cases, the clean panels add-on offers an effective solution to create more clarity and organization. Now, let's make a jump to the simulations. In Cinema 4D, Pyro lets you make fire, smoke and explosions easily and quickly in the viewport. Blender also has a particle system for fire and smoke effects. The preview is slower than Pyro in Cinema 4D but works well with low domain resolution. While the animation plays in the timeline, there's no real-time feedback in the viewport. And you can definitely create photorealistic results with it. If you work a lot with fire and smoke simulations and are tired of spending hours baking them, I recommend the EmberGen tool by JengaFX for real-time simulations. You can then import the final results into Blender. In Cinema 4D, if you want to create fluid simulations, you need X-particles. By simply dragging and dropping objects, you can control the simulations very quickly, which is highly intuitive. In Blender, to create a fluid simulation, I require an obstacle, a water-emitting object and a domain. For a preview, I work with low domain settings and bake the simulation. The results are absolutely good and realistic. However, this is a very time-consuming process overall. The Flip Fluids add-on for Blender brings enhanced features and boosts performance. It also allows you to see a live preview during the baking process. In Cinema 4D, there is a standard particle system that is significantly enhanced with the addition of X-particles. In Blender, there is also a standard particle system that allows for the quick creation of simple simulations. In X-particles, complex particle simulations can be created with a relatively simple setup. The geometry and simulation nodes in Blender enable the creation of complex simulations, but they require a longer setup and a learning period. Although powerful, mastering this technique takes time. The node configuration visible behind the animation was necessary to produce this animation with this specific technique. Here are a few examples showcasing the capabilities of geometry and simulation nodes. These are add-ons that have been created using these systems. A droplet generator that coats objects with droplets. Buildings arranged randomly akin to the style found in Houdini. Fruits that grow procedurally. Using geometry nodes to spread garbage. Procedurally generating traffic. Draw splines and at these locations a river will be automatically generated, or wrap complex geometries around various objects. There are many more available and you can also create your own, which I imagine could significantly expedite various projects. Okay, let's take a look at some more simulation scenarios to see if Blender can handle them too. This is a rigid body simulation in Cinema 4D25 with over 5000 cubes, it's not very fast. And this is the same simulation in Cinema 4D2024, the video is not speeded up. And the same simulation again in Blender 4, it's a little bit slower than in Cinema 4D25. With a normal number of objects, Blender handles the simulation quite well. Here's a cloth simulation in Cinema 4D2024. Now the same in Blender 4. Next, the same thing with 8 layers of fabric in Cinema 4D. Let's try this in Blender 2. I'd say in this example the cloth simulation was faster with Blender. For cloth simulation, particle simulation and rigid body, especially when it comes to destroying things in Blender, you should take a closer look at the RBD Lab Metalsoft add-on. Now let's take a look at the other tools available with Fused. Those with Insidium's Fused subscription also get Terraform for landscape creation. An alternative here could be the Terra Nodes add-on, but there are other alternatives as well. With the new GeoGen tool from EmberGen, you can build landscapes extremely fast. World Creator is also quick and has a Blender add-on. This add-on lets you export and import landscapes with just one click, making the workflow much faster. Now let's also review their prices, including projections for the next 10 years. HDRI Maker to replace HDRI Lynx $69. Polyhaven Asset Browser for materials $30. Photographer for better camera setup $24. JMoGraph Nodes for motion graphics $39. The Grove, a top-tree generator, $149. GeoScatter for scene design $99. TX Layer for layers in painting $28. QOL Bookmarks to save camera views $4. And QOL Material Panel for material lists $8. Clean Panels to organize add-ons $18. Flip Fluids for working with liquids $76. RBD Lab for simulations $77. Terra Node for landscapes $25. Total Cost $647. Often a 30% discount is available for the add-ons, reducing the total to around $450. You'll find complete satisfaction with these specialized external tools. Substance Painter offering excellent projection painting for approximately $150. EmberGen, ideal for creating fun and realistic fire, smoke and explosions at $299. And World Creator for landscapes, saving you more free time, priced at $289. The total for these tools comes to approximately $740. Discounts are often available for all three programs, reducing the total cost to approximately $500. And all three programs come with permanent licenses, adding all add-ons for Blender 4, with these tools totals around $1,380. With a discount it's yours for just $950. In the film I also introduced various additional options, which I do not count towards the acquisition costs, as they are completely individual. Expand your collection as needed. Thinking about costs for the next 10 years? Most add-ons update for free, a few might ask for a small fee, but that's not common. You decide when to update external tools. If you liked the video and want more like this, please give a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel.
