Changing Cinema 4D Presets and Layout

Presets:

It is very easy to change the default project settings. Just start Cinema, change the project settings in any way you like (that also includes the render settings) and just save the file two times in the following folder:

Applications/MAXON/Cinema 4D R17/

The files should be called:

new.c4d
template.c4d

Now every time you open up Cinema 4D, the “template.c4d” file will be opened. And every time you create a new scene, the “new.c4d” file will be opened.
I always have a couple of settings that I change, like the framerate to 25, the default color from dark blue to grey, the renderer to Physical, etc.
If you want to use my settings, just download the files here and move the files from the zip in the folder shown above.

Layout:

Also the Layout is very flexible. Essentially every icon can be placed and grouped everywhere. I will upload a video going through this in more detail sometime in the future. For now, I have adjusted the default Layout by adding another row of commands above the hierarchy panel, as well as a stop option within the t You can download the layout here.

You apply it by simply opening the template.l4d file with Cinema 4D. The window size might change, so I would adjust the size of the window to the size of your screen, and then make this your default Layout by going to:
Window->Customization->Save as Startup Layout

Here is a quick explanation of what each icon does:

	Reset PSR	Resets all the Coordinates (Position to 0cm, Scale to 1, Rotation to 0°).
	Center Axis to	Calculates the average position of all the points of the mesh and moves the axis to there.
	Delete Without Children	Deletes the selected object, but it’s children will remain and are now ungrouped.
	Connect Objects + Delete	Merges the selected objects. Just the “Connect Objects” function would merge them as a new object, while the originals remain untouched. This function will delete the originals, so that you are only left with the merged version.
	Optimize	This Function can delete unused points, and connect/merge points that are close together. To see the options click on the cogwheel. To apply with the settings you last made click on the recycle icon.
	Scroll to First Active	Say, you have selected an object in the Viewport, but it is parented under a lot of layers in your hierarchy. Just select this button, all it’s parents will unfold and the hierarchy will scroll the selected element into view.