DEM Earth R4.005 for R21 is now available

#1

Both MAC and WIN versions are now available.

things are getting complicated so I put together a couple of version selectors.

New License Version selector…

Upgrade Version selector…

feature summary for R4.xxx

Feature summary.

  • 4 new self hosted, high quality height data sets.
  • Super fast height data content delivery, worldwide, in all countries, via CloudFront.
  • New Route Object for generating real travel routes between one or more pinpoints.
  • Poly Object Update- new multi-polygon query (for finding lakes, rivers and a lot more)
  • Smart extruder - big improvements, for better results.
  • GeoCoder rewrite. Now uses a better API for much better results.
  • GeoRef Tag - Embedding functionality rebuilt for better masking of water areas, etc.
  • Rebuilt licensing model for R21, and self managed optional floating license.
  • Anoter full rebuild for R21 win and mac.
  • Many bugfixes and improvements.

More info to follow. I am just glad I got managed to get it all done. its becoming a real pita to have to rebuild it all every year. MAC versions are no fun to have to do anymore. This rebuild cost me hair and nerves and I hope there is an end to this madness.

#2

Is it free for those who have current support?

#3

it is a paid upgrade. if your support is up to date, the upgrade is ~99 EUR + tax

you can edit the cart option to reflect your support.

#4

Does that mean only R21 users get V4.0?

#5

currently, yes. But i am working on R4.xxx for R20, the win version is pretty much done, but as ever, the mac version is the delay.
R19 and older will not get R4.xxx, so the final R16 to R19 build is 3,701, for mac and win.

#6

I’m sure your customers would be much happier if you were simply able to dedicate time to coding new features and not have to continually throw tons of development time at keeping up with API changes and new licensing models.

I always wanted to get DEM Earth and hoped a job would come in that would mean we would have a reason to buy. We have an R20 license for as long as it continues to function so we’ll definitely keep that hope alive. DEM Earth is without out doubt in a class of its own.

#7

i agree. I find myself doing way too much maintenance coding just to keep it going and up to date. I don’t enjoy that at all.
I have however still spent a vast amount of time, adding new features and improving the toolset. its a very different beast now, compared to what it was in the pre 20 days.

#8

Is there a “What’s New” video for v4 or plans for one?

#9

plans for one, yes. Right now I am just glad to have got it finished and out.

#10

Sorry to hear about all the hoops you’ve to jump through.
DEM Earth is a cool plugin. The company I work for will continue to use it for R20 & probably R21 too.

#11

20% off DEM Earth and my other plugins today (Black Friday 2019)

The discount is automatically added to the cart.

CinemaPlugins.com

#12

Hi Paul, I’m a user/client of your plugins (except DemEarth) But all your plugins are not working anymore with R21, even via the Bridge plugin from Insydium. Did you plan to adapt them, or this is over from now ?

Thanks for your answer (i wrote you via your ticket form, but no news)

Best regard, Didier (aka Diego)

#13

dem earth works in r21 (rebuilt and compiled for 20 and 21)
lazpoint works in r21 (rebuilt and compiled for 20 and 21)
vector pro will be updated shortly for r21 (its done, with improvments and new features, pending license changes)
voxygen works in r21 via bridge (will get an r21 version after i get vector pro out)

topo maps, should work, with a bridge but would benefit from a rewrite.
shaders wont work in general with any bridge. unlikely to get updates,.

it all comes down to demand. That’s the problem with any plugin where demand is not strong and there is no service model to pay for its maintenance. When you buy a plugin for just ~69/~99 EUR or less, there is no room in that for multi year support, or mega updates. it doesn’t pay for itself. When there is no long term market support to pay for it, it becomes pointless. You can more or less read from my update history what is worth updating, or not. I am one person, and I am in no position to waste time updating plugins that nobody buys any more. I have to work with that reality. Even if I update some of the old plugins, the arguments I get into with old users, over why they need to pay for updates, make me not want to go there anymore. Vector pro is a good example of this. its basically done, but I can’t bring myself to do all the work I have do with an A plugin, for an update price.its madness and it makes no sense at all. Support is time consuming, soul destroying, and expensive. Doing that for next to nothing, is not something I can afford to do.

#14

Thank you Paul for your answers. :slight_smile:

I can’t make neither Voxygen or Top Maps work via Bridge, (i’m on Mac OS 10.13.6), i don’t know why :blush:

But the one i need the most is VectorPro, so i will be patient, and i’m ready to pay if it is necessary :wink:

Good luck for all your work

Best regards, Didier (aka Diego)

#15

if I remember rightly, both check for license server, or not license server. That was all they checked for. Vector pro too. in R21, that check would fail with the bridge, as that previous method/function no longer exists. There is no fallback. Maxon removed those functions.

#16

Hey Paul -

You said DEM Earth is rebuilt and compiled for R20 and R21, but the website says the R20 version is 3.701. I know it’s a drag to support R20 when it is no longer developed, but I was wondering if you have a rough time frame to bring that version of the plugin to the new features, or if it will stay 3.7xx

I’m sure I speak for many here, in that we understand the struggles you must have as a sole developer. Your efforts are appreciated!

Thanks

#17

there are 3 versions:

  • R21 version 4.005
  • R20 version 3.701
  • R16 to R19 version 3.163

mac and win.

that’s 6 projects. requiring 3 different xcode versions and 3 different VS versions. That is already completely f*cking insane, for a plugin( if you can excuse my french)

|Cinema 4D R21|Visual Studio 2017 (see note in docs)|Apple XCode 10|
|Cinema 4D R20|Visual Studio 2015 (see note in docs)|Apple XCode 9|
|Cinema 4D R16|Visual Studio 2012|Apple XCode 5.0.2|

good job i skipped many of those versions in between.

I dare say I am not the only dev who has had his workload increase x fold.

Anyhow, new features go into the latest version.
i.e. there are features in the R20 version that are not in the previous version. There are features in the R21 version that are not in the R20 version. For the sake of my sanity, I can not/will not add new features to old versions, across multiple sdk’s. As long as each project can be built, I can maintain each version and update if needed(as I had to do when my license server died this year), but in general, all the new stuff goes in the build for the current version of c4d, not previous versions, moving forward.

best
Paul

#18

Totally fair. Thanks for clarifying.