Need help to get started with C++ for R14

On 15/05/2013 at 18:55, xxxxxxxx wrote:

User Information:
Cinema 4D Version:   R14 
Platform:   Windows  ;   
Language(s) :     C++  ;

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How can I get started with Visual Studio 2010 and C++ plugins for R14?
In R13, there is a solution file in the cinema4dsdk folder. Together with several other folders. In R14, there are only two files, cinema4dsdk.vcxproj and cinema4dsdk.vcxproj.filters.
Is that correct, no solutions files for R14?

I have tried to build the cinema4dsdk.vcxproj as it is, but get a ton of error messages. It complains about a non existing file projectsettings.props.

Regardless of what instructions I read, all seems to be for R13 or older.
Is there a place where I can find detailed instructions for R14 and Visual Studio 2010?

Any help is much appreciated.

-Ingvar

On 15/05/2013 at 21:34, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Do you have the Express version of Visual Studio?  If so, you need to get the Windows 7.1 SDK installed and point the project Properties General->Platform Toolset to it.

On 15/05/2013 at 23:53, xxxxxxxx wrote:

If there's no projectsettings.props file in your "cinema4dsdk" folder, your installation probably did not work. Reinstall Cinema.

On 16/05/2013 at 05:19, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi and thank you, I am a professional programmer so I have had all pro versions of Visual Studio the last 12 years. But I am (not yet) a C++ programmer, I know Object Pascal (Delphi) and C# and assembler. So I will have no real challenges with C++.
And I have already made several plugins in Python.
But I do not want to spend a lot of time trying to figer out things others have solved already. That's why I follow instructions and tutors to get started quickly.
@c4dJack:
Yes, that was my thought too, something is missing. Very strange, since R14 has worked flawlessly almost 5 months now. Reinstall.. and then apply the update(s) - not very tempting. There must be a way to get hold of the complete SDK alone?
Any ideas on how to do that? And was the SDK updated when the last R14 updates were applied?
-Ingvar

On 16/05/2013 at 06:21, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Ok, I have a solution! :slightly_smiling_face:
I also have the render server and clients installed, and they had the complete set of files! So I just copied over the files, opened the sln file in VS 2010, built all, and the plugins appear in C4D all right. No error messages - it just works.
Now I have to find out how to build 64 bit plugings, because they only show up in the 32 bit C4D version.
-Ingvar

On 16/05/2013 at 07:35, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Good to hear.  You should be able to copy the cinema4dsdk project and use it as a template for getting all of your builds (Windows 32/64 bit as well as MacOS).  You really should be using those projects as a base for your projects by removing all of their files and imparting your own.

On 16/05/2013 at 19:03, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

Good to hear.  You should be able to copy the cinema4dsdk project and use it as a template for getting all of your builds (Windows 32/64 bit as well as MacOS).  You really should be using those projects as a base for your projects by removing all of their files and imparting your own.

This has turned out to be a very good advice, indeed.
By gradually excluding items from a cloned cinema4dsdk project, I learn how things are built up, because of the error messages I get when something is excluded, without removing references to it in main.cpp.
I am also debugging nicely now, with C4D running, setting breakpoints and reading values. All in all, I doubt I will write much Python plugins after this.
The help I get in this forum is invaluable!

-Ingvar

On 17/05/2013 at 00:24, xxxxxxxx wrote:

In deed, copying the existing SDK project and changing its contents is the easiest and safest way of creating a new plugin project.

If you're still a beginner with plugin development for CINEMA 4D, you might want to check out our blog:
http://c4dprogramming.wordpress.com