Please disable your ad blocker to support our website.
I tested the plugin on Cinema 4D 2024 with a scene containing over 1 million polys.
Cinema 4D automatically calculates normals based on polygon angles. This plugin overrides that automation, allowing you to:
To appreciate the Vertex Normal Tool, one must first understand the limitations of Cinema 4D’s native workflow. By default, Cinema 4D averages vertex normals to create smooth shading across adjacent polygons. This works perfectly for organic models like characters or rounded objects. However, it fails spectacularly in two common scenarios: low-polygon styling and hard-surface mechanical models. Vertex Normal Tool 1.0.5 for Cinema 4D
In low-poly art, artists often desire "flat" shading to emphasize individual facets, yet they also need to control which edges are sharp and which are soft. The native Phong tag is a broad instrument—it either smooths an entire angle range or breaks edges at specific angles. It cannot, for instance, make one corner of a cube sharp while the adjacent corner remains smooth on the same polygon. Furthermore, game engines like Unity and Unreal rely on explicit vertex normals for lighting. If normals are not authored correctly, exported models can show ugly black seams or incorrect specular highlights. The Vertex Normal Tool 1.0.5 addresses these shortcomings by providing a direct, non-destructive editing interface for normals.
Problem: My normals look correct in the viewport but are ignored in Redshift. Solution: Ensure you have "Use Edge Normals" disabled in the Redshift Object tag. Redshift prioritizes the vertex normals from the Vertex Normal Tool only if its own edge detection is off. I tested the plugin on Cinema 4D 2024
Problem: The tool is slow on a 2-million-polygon mesh. Solution: Version 1.0.5 includes a "Deferred Calculation" mode. Enable this in the plugin preferences. The tool will only recalculate normals when you release your mouse button, allowing for smooth interaction.
Problem: My exported FBX file ignores the normals in Substance Painter. Solution: Substance Painter requires triangulation. Before exporting, triangulate your model in C4D (Mesh > Conversion > Triangulate), then apply the Vertex Normal Tool. Export triangulated. The Vertex Normal Tool allows you to decouple
Cinema 4D is famous for being user-friendly, but its handling of Vertex Normals (sometimes called "weighted normals" or "explicit normals") has historically been clunky.
By default, C4D calculates shading based on the average of the polygons meeting at a point. This is fine for smooth, organic shapes, but it creates two major headaches:
The Vertex Normal Tool allows you to decouple the geometry from the shading. You can keep your topology clean and continuous but tell the render engine to treat it like a hard edge.
You should buy Vertex Normal Tool 1.0.5 immediately if you fall into any of these categories: