 | BakeNShake is a plugin for Cinema 4D which caches geometry in RAM and on GPU to accelerate geometry by up to 50x in the viewport, as well as providing unique animation features for CA via it's NProxy component. BakeNShake can also be use to import,cache and animate alembic geometry and particle sequences, and is fully compatible with all render engines. |
BakeNShake is made of 2 Objects.
- Bake NCache
- Shake NProxy
Q: What is the NCache Object?
A: It is essentially a Geometry Cache Object plugin. A Geometry Cache lets you scrub otherwise sluggish animations in real time, because the animation is pre-computed and stored in both RAM, and and on your GPU.
Q: What Can I do with the NCache Object?
A: You can bake animated objects and/or Hierarchy, so that geometry is stored in both Ram and on your GPU. This dramatically accelerates the playback of your procedural objects. It highly optimizes caches removing hundreds or even thousands of unnecessary objects and tags, from the Geometry structure, caching and accelerating your most intensive objects, so that they can be displayed and animated at insane frame rates.
Q: What is the advantage of Caching Geometry?
A: Speed, reduced complexity, ease of use.
Q: What are the disadvantages of Caching Geometry?
A: It consumes both host RAM and GPU RAM, and Increases your file size.
Q: What Kind of speed ups can I expect?
A: The more polygons and procedural objects you have the more you can benefit from caching with NCache.
note: If you do not have much going on, there is little point in baking to an NCache object, unless you can use the NProxy features. If you have for example some gigantic object, with millions of polygons, animating via a displacer, you will get a huge speed up by baking to an NCache, but it will cost you lots of ram, and increase your file size dramatically. You just need to be aware of the trade off. You trade RAM and disc space for speed. But you also make somethings possible, like the ability to bake back to alembic without the native flaws associated with built in c4d Alembic baking.
Q: do I need to buy a license for BakeNShake?
A: if you want to create assets, yes. you need a license. If you create an NCache, you will not be able to save it, without a license. However, If someone else created an asset, and you load it and use the plugin without a license, you can load and use, work with that asset, and save it in your scene. You won't be able to bake the asset to alembic or modify it without a license.
Q: Can I bake NCaches to Alembic Caches?
A: Absolutely. NCache is excellent and unique with it's ability to bake complex objects and hierarchies, in Cinema 4D. Once baked to an NCache, you can easily convert the cache result to to a highly optimized, easy to export alembic asset. This is Alembic baking that really works, and produces results you can use.
Q: Can NCache accelerate rendering?
A: yes. it can significantly accelerate rendering, at the cost of Memory.
Q: does it work with my render engine.
A: Yes. I we tested it with several engines, and it works very well with them all, including Redshift and Octane.
Best is to try it for yourself, before you get a license.
Q: What can NCache NOT do ?
A: NCache can not bake particles, or splines. Forget this. It is a Geometry cache. You always bake the final state. i.e. What you see after all generators and deformations, for the purpose of accelerating your procedural geometry display, via a Cache. This cache comes at the cost of RAM. Both System RAM and GPU RAM are consumed, and when you save, it will cost disc space.
If you do not have lots of RAM, and resources are tight, you probably do not want to use a geometry cache. A Geometry cache only makes sense if you have lots of spare RAM, not being used, and you have a fast system, with a decent graphics card.