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C4D MigratorC4D Migrator

Getting started

What you need

Section titled “What you need”
  • Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or a Mac with Apple silicon.
  • Two versions of Cinema 4D 2024 or later on the same computer: the one you are moving from and the one you are moving to. 2027 is supported.

C4D Migrator only migrates upwards — from an older version to a newer one, on the same machine. It doesn’t install Cinema 4D for you, and it doesn’t copy settings between computers.

Install

Section titled “Install”

C4D Migrator is sold through aescripts + aeplugins. Install and license it with the aescripts + aeplugins manager. To try it first, choose Add Trial from the manager’s Account menu.

The manager puts the app in Program Files (with a Start menu shortcut) on Windows, or in Applications on a Mac, and uninstalls it too. It is a standalone app, not a Cinema 4D plugin — you won’t find it in Cinema 4D’s menus.

License it

Section titled “License it”

The first time you open C4D Migrator, the licence window appears.

  • Bought it? Enter your licence code.
  • Trying it? Type trial.

The trial is the whole app up to the last step: it shows you the full preview of your own migration, but running it needs a licence. See Licensing & support.

Before your first migration

Section titled “Before your first migration”
  1. Install the new Cinema 4D, launch it once, then quit it. The first launch creates the settings folder the migrator copies into. A version that has never been opened can’t be chosen as the target.
  2. Quit every copy of Cinema 4D — old and new, including any Team Render client or command-line render. Cinema 4D saves its preferences when it quits, so one left open would write over the preferences you have just migrated. The migrator warns you if it sees one running.
  3. On Windows, say yes when the app asks for administrator rights. Cinema 4D keeps some files under Program Files. See Windows & macOS.

Your first migration

Section titled “Your first migration”
  1. Open C4D Migrator and click Next on the Welcome screen.
  2. Check the Source and Target. Last year’s install is pre-selected as the source and this year’s as the target.
  3. Answer the questions about Greyscalegorilla / Cargo, INSYDIUM and Redshift. If you don’t use them, the defaults are right.
  4. On Items, leave the recommended selection as it is, or untick anything you’d rather leave behind.
  5. Read the Preview. Nothing has been written yet.
  6. Click Migrate. The app snapshots the new version, runs the plan and shows the report.
  7. Open the new Cinema 4D and check your preferences, layouts and plugins.

Every screen is explained in Step by step.