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Seamlessly bridge your Cinema 4D to Houdini workflow

Connect

Export

Import

LiveCam

Open Folder

Connect to Houdini

Establishes a live connection between Cinema 4D and your active Houdini session. The plugin automatically detects running Houdini instances and maintains a stable bridge for real-time data transfer. Click to toggle connection on/off.

Export to Houdini

Send selected objects or entire scenes from Cinema 4D to Houdini. Supports multiple formats including Alembic and FBX, with options for animation baking and hierarchy preservation. Respects your configured export settings.

Import from Houdini

Bring Houdini geometry back into Cinema 4D. Automatically converts between different geometry types and handles unit scaling. Supports modifiers for precise placement in your scene hierarchy.

Live Camera Sync

Synchronize viewport cameras between Cinema 4D and Houdini in real-time. Perfect for lookdev and layout work. Includes support for camera parameters like focal length, aperture, and focus distance.

Open Folder

Quick access to your export directory. Opens the folder containing your exported files in your system's file browser. Useful for managing exported assets and checking file outputs.

Current Session:

Filename:

Controls how exported files are named. Random generates unique filenames, Objects/Document uses selected object names or document name, Custom allows manual filename entry in the text field below.

When exporting with Objects/Document or Custom names and the file already exists, the plugin temporarily clears file references in Houdini to allow overwriting. This ensures a smooth workflow without file lock issues. With Random filenames, new files and nodes are created each time.

Note: The plugin intelligently handles existing files by preparing Houdini nodes before export and restoring them afterwards, all in optimized batch operations to minimize performance impact.

Export to:

Defines the destination folder for exported files. $HIP/c4d2hou uses Houdini’s project directory, $JOB/c4d2hou uses the job directory, Temp/Hardlock creates temporary files with geometry data baked directly into nodes, Choose allows custom folder selection.

Export as:

Sets the file format for geometry export. *.abc exports standard Alembic files, .abc (Archive) creates Alembic Archive nodes in Houdini, *.fbx exports FBX files, *.fbx (Subnet) imports as FBX subnets with full hierarchy.

Import as (VDB):

Determines how VDB volume files are imported into Cinema 4D. Volume Loader creates standard Cinema 4D Volume objects, RS Volume creates Redshift Volume objects for rendering with Redshift.

Import as (Particles):

Controls particle system import behavior. As Particle Geometry imports as Cinema 4D particle geometry, As Polygon Object converts particles to polygon meshes, As Particle Group creates particle group objects.

From/To:

Sets the frame range for animated exports. Static exports only the current frame, Document Range uses the full timeline range, Preview Range exports only the preview/playback range defined in Cinema 4D.

Scale:

Adjusts the scale factor between Cinema 4D and Houdini coordinate systems. Default is 0.01, which converts Cinema 4D’s centimeter units to Houdini’s meter units. Increase for larger objects, decrease for smaller precision work.