MAXON Computer Cinema 4D Tutorials: Customizing Menus

Tips & Techniques - Interface

Interface:
Customizing Menus

Works with:
XL, Studio Requires:
Version 8.2+

Cinema's interface is completely customizable. Starting with Cinema 4D version 8.2 and up, the file menus can be customized just like the interface.

Step 1: Both the Dynamics and MOCCA menus are found within the Plugins menu. A lot of the time it just takes too long to get to these menus. To change this open the Menu Manager (Window=>Layout=>Menu Manager)

Step 2: You might notice that the default menus being shown in the manager are the top file menus for the application. To add your own select the Submenu File text and hit the New Submenu button. Input Character to create a seperate submenu.

Step 3: Now that the submenu has been added in there, you need to add all of the menu functions of MOCCA. These are added in the same manner that an icon would be added to the interface. Open the Command Manager and switch the mode to Plugins.

All the functions of MOCCA will be found in the Command Manager now. Look at the MOCCA pulldown to see what order the functions go in. The first one should be Use MOCCA IK; locate that function in the Command Manager then drag and drop that text as a child of the Character submenu.

While using the MOCCA pulldown (from the Plugins menu) as a guide, add all of the functions as a child of the Character submenu. The Menu should look similar to the image shown.

Note: If you are using Cinema 4D Release 9, you can tear the MOCCA menu and place it next to the Menu Manager. This will eliminate the process of constantly going back to the pulldown in the Plugins menu.

Step 4: Your character menu is pretty much setup. If you would like to seperate portions of the menu you can use the Seprator 1 and Seprator 2 buttons from the Command Manager. Just drag and drop them inbetween the menu entries that you would like to seperate.

Step 5: Double-click on the Character submenu to collapse its hierarchy. At its current placement, it would appear before the File menu. To change this just click and drag on the text and move it after the Animation submenu.

Once you hit the Apply button the menu will appear at the top of the application as if it were hardcoded into the program!