What to choose blender or cinema4d?

Question

3D

I'm new, but I have very little experience with both of these editors. I haven't decided on the scope of 3D yet, but I like motion graphics, vfx, rendering and modeling.

Everywhere they write that blue is much friendlier to beginners and it is worth starting with it. And that all 3d packages are about the same (3dsmax, maya, c4d, blender). Is it so?

For example, it seems to me that modeling is implemented a cut above in blender, in blue it is very inconvenient. And in general, I search on YouTube, behans, art stations, instagrams, and I can’t find anywhere the work in which the artist in blue has modeled something cool. One gets the feeling that the cinema is not intended for modeling at all, and that it is mainly used for animation or, at most, some simple low-poly objects.
But at the request of the blender, it immediately gives out a bunch of characters made in sculpting, and complex high-poly objects, and hardsurface, and in general everything in the world.

Question. I’m learning blue and I can’t get rid of the feeling that it’s better to switch to a blender, because. it feels more functional and versatile or something. Correct me. Really in cinema really everything is limited more to animation?

Answer 1

I have been working with Cinema 4D (hereinafter referred to as C4D) in conjunction with Octane Render for about 2 years. Although before that he worked in Maya, Blender. The fact that "blue" is "more friendly to beginners" is true. For the most part, this is due to the intuitive interface. But what then it will be possible to "easily" switch from one package to another - depends on the person. (But, in any case, it will be easier).
Now more specifically.
About motion graphics. I think that for this industry there is no better C4D. With the help of the MoGraph functionality, which I will analyze below, you can already make something beautiful, "complex" or abstract in 10 minutes. (because of this, we love motion designers).
About vfx. I don't do it myself, but I can give you some advice. It is also important to know what kind of visual effects you want to do.
For example, real and "realistic" implementation of explosions, fire, smoke, etc. on a bare C4D will not work. This can be done through emitter (particle creator), but the result will be so-so. Many people use the TurbulenceFD plug-in for such purposes - a powerful plug-in with which an excellent result is obtained.
Simulation of liquids in C4D - no (if I'm not mistaken, Blender is 3 heads higher). You can create it with an emitter, but it won't look very good. There are plugins again, but it's easier to use third-party programs like Real Flow. Although in the new versions of R21, R22, which I did not use (I'm sitting on R20), they made Field Force - a new particle control system. Perhaps with it the results of water / fire will be better.
If this is a dynamic object that, under any manipulation, should collapse, fall apart, etc., then in C4D there is a simulation of solid objects, a simulation of soft objects, a simulation of clothes and fabrics, which, with proper settings, do an excellent job with their function.
And now to the sad part. If it's a character that needs to do rigging, animation, etc., then C4D is clearly lagging behind other 3D packages. It seems to me that everything related to the character in C4D is lame. For such purposes, Maya is more suitable (I don’t know about Blender, unfortunately), or use specialized programs. BUT! In version R23, they promise to make significant changes in terms of animations and rigging.
Visualization... Again, what? I worked on visualization of interiors/exteriors. There is not much difference between the packages. If you need any function, then it either already exists in C4D, or there is already a plugin for this. The exception is 3D Max (3DM). Only 3DM has a greater advantage in terms of architecture. It has hundreds of plug-in libraries for this.
And finally, modeling. If you get used to it, then you can model in any 3d package. Each program has its own feature. I'm modeling in C4D at the moment and don't really complain. There is no need to switch to something more "functional and flexible". Why, then, are there so few works where "an artist in blue has modeled something cool"? Maybe you searched badly? Although I agree that few people model in C4D. And this is not about convenience. It just so "historically" happened that C4D was mainly used for motion and less often for modeling. Blender is more often seen because it is a folk (free) package. It has more users. (Something modeled in 3D Max generally comes across most often).
In outline.
I will not describe standard figures such as a cube or a sphere.
I am pleased with the rather convenient work with splines. There are standard splines (circle, spiral, etc.) or you can draw your own. There are basic tools for working with splines (just extrude a spline, extrude by rotation, create a surface from splines, extrude an object from 2 splines, etc.)
Separately, I will take out Subdivision Surface, which simply makes a denser mesh on the model (breaks it). Often used in modeling. You can select the type of meshing.
Add. instruments. Boolean type, symmetry, stroke according to the plan, etc. Each of them needs to be dealt with separately.
Deformers. I think it is in every 3D package. There are standard ones (bend, wrap, inflate, etc.). And there are also quite interesting ones. For example, you can make, in real time, a dynamic water surface using only 2 deformers - interaction and morph.
Rest. Infinite floor, sky (download HDRI map), physical sky (in which clouds, sun, time of day, etc. are built in), fog, various cameras (although in 99% you will use the standard one), different light sources, various post-effects / processing (it is better to use After Effects for these purposes), as well as tags.
Render. The default render is not very good. The physical one is a little better, especially if you fiddle with the settings. Although with any render you can get a beautiful picture (it's a matter of directness of hands). The built-in GPU render - Pro render (although it is unfinished) was brought to version R19. I use a third party GPU renderer called Octane. (works only with NVidia cards, although they promise compatibility with AMD cards). There are also third-party Arnold (on the CPU), Redshift (on the GPU, the "competitor of Octana", works with all video cards), V-Ray works on both the CPU and the GPU). These are just the most popular...
Materials. You can create materials in the usual way, but since R20 you can create a material using nodes (which has been in Blender for a long time). If you need a simple material (glass, smooth metal, something rough), then it is very convenient. Nooooo, if you need to create a complex material, then you need to know very well the functionality of the material manager (layer system, effects, shader, etc.). I rarely use it, but I know that it is possible to create very beautiful and realistic material. And so, I usually texture in a third-party program Sabstens Painter. (recommended)
You answered the question about Blender above. It talked about support for FBX, OBJ, DAE, etc. formats. I'll tell you a secret that all 3D packages support the main formats. Even in Microsoft's 3D Builder, you can save the model as an OBJ or FBX.
Plugins and scripts. Although not many (compared to Blender or 3D MAX), they do exist. The most "popular" Groyw fx (for creating realistic plants), the aforementioned TurbulenceFD (for smoke, fire, etc.), Greebler (for "squeezing" various details and shapes on the surface of the mesh. Great for sky fi composition), etc. . If you know Python, then you can write scripts yourself.
Mo Graph. It's just awesome functionality. By combining MoGraph objects and effectors (especially with tags) you can achieve very complex animation, huge filled spaces, something chaotic or ordered. Example. Create a floor that consists of hexagons that move to the beat of your chosen music while changing colors? Easy. It will take no more than 2 hours (if you still need to tweak the parameters). The section is intuitive for those who watched at least 1 lesson.
Key animation. Nothing fancy or complicated at all. Everything is just as intuitive if you watch the training video at least once. Not at all intuitive, a separate timeline window that shows animation keys, curves, etc.
And I'll end with one of my favorite tool kits. Any simulation objects. You can simulate objects such as springs or axial connectors, simulate the movement / tension of clothing, physics of rigid and soft bodies. Simulate particles (Particle) through Emitter. Through it, at the very least, create an animation of the dynamics of fire and water (I repeat, Field Force was added to R22, through which, perhaps, the situation is better).
It is also possible to create dynamic hair, wool and feathers, which is placed in a separate Hair section. The functions of Hair are limited not only to the corny character or the creation of a woolen coating. The function can also interact with MoGraph. There are many tools for editing or straightening hair/fur.
Third party benefits.
Maxon (the creator of blueprint) is closely "friends" with Adobe. Therefore, you can easily transfer your project to AE (where they usually do all the post-processing and work with vfx), or transfer vectors from Illust to splines that blue will understand, or open render images in Ps. Along with the imported projects, layers from C4D will be imported as a layer with shadows, color, highlights, glass, etc.
In addition, among 3D packages - C4D is one of the most stable. For 2 years, it crashed no more than 5-6 times (mostly when the PC is loaded).
Bad implementation (or cons of the package)
Of the really raw - only the built-in GPU render (Pro render). Maybe it was fixed in new versions, but in R20, and even more so in R19 (when it was just introduced), it made a lot of noise while rendering was taking place. In order for the noise to disappear, it was necessary to wait for the render for 3 hours in a simple scene, without complex materials and light for such a result.
Character animation and rigging (including weight map). They will soon release R23, where they promise to remake a lot in this direction (and work on it further). Perhaps someday C4D will be as convenient as Maya in this regard. Well, for now everything is very "difficult" and "uncomfortable".
UV... This is a sore subject for those who have unwrapped in C4D. I think that this is a basic function that should have been given attention in the first place. Automatic unwrapping appeared only in the R22 version, and the redesigned interface and tools will only be in the R23 version. I haven't tried the new sweep system in R22 and later, so I can't say anything. And so, I do the unwrap in a third-party program Rizom UV (ps is sooooo convenient and sooooo easy to learn).
Sculpting. This is the only thing that was not touched in the latest versions. In general, not bad, but clearly worse than in the same Blender. For sculpting from scratch, ZBrush is usually used. But, even on trifles (add dents, chips, pull something out), the sculpt from cinema is not convenient.
Conclusion
Fitting so much information into 10,000 characters was very difficult...
I could still talk for a long time about rendering, global illumination, textures, etc. But, unfortunately, the stimulating effect of amphetamine in my body is coming to an end. If you have read this to the end, you are either a psycho or a guy in love with 3D graphics and self-development :) Good luck!

Answer 2

In my opinion, Blender is much better. It has a whole bunch of modeling and rendering tools. There are various modifiers, thanks to which some complex actions are done in a couple of clicks. There is also a built-in animation tool (I don't understand it). You can create materials directly in Blender , which is useful for rendering and game models. Supports many major formats: FBX , OBJ , DAE etc.
There are tools for shading and sculpting. But there is a minus: Like all programs with wide functionality, it is not easy to learn. But that's just my opinion, try it. :)

Answer 3

Blender has more modeling tools, integration with AE and viz is convenient in blue