This is an application to enable better management of Cinema 4D plugins.
Plugin Boss 1.2.1.0 for the PC and Mac : the latest version for both PC and Mac is now available for download, and is compatible with C4D R12. All users of Plugin Boss are recommended to upgrade to this version, even if you are not using R12 at the moment, because a number of interface tweaks and minor bug fixes have been added.
The PC and Mac versions have the same functionality and look-and-feel for both operating systems, and both are available free of charge.
current version
The current version of Plugin Boss is 1.2.1.0, dated March 20th 2011. This version has several improvements over previous versions, including:
- Plugin Boss can now handle Python-based plugins (those with extensions .pyp and .pype) as well as the usual COFFEE and C++ plugins;
- fixed a bug in the PC version in which PIB would crash if 64-bit Cinema 4D releases 11.5 and 12 were launched from PIB itself;
- removed a potential user error in which it was possible to add identical paths for the application folder and the user data folder, which could make it impossible to inactivate and deactivate plugins.
This service release is recommended for all users of Plugin Boss.
what it is
If you’re like me, you have a lot of plugins which you’ve accumulated over the years. However, you probably don’t use all of them all the time. In fact, some of them you probably don’t use at all except for specific projects when you really need them. But you keep them all loaded, just in case you need them.
The problem is that having a lot of loaded plugins makes C4D slower to load, utilises memory you might need for your scene, and maybe makes Cinema less stable than it normally is. Ideally, we’d all like to be able to load and unload plugins from within C4D itself, but the plugin architecture apparently makes that impossible. So if you want to ensure that Cinema will (or will not) load a particular plugin, you have to exit Cinema then either rename the plugin files so that Cinema will or will not recognise the plugin, or move the folder containing the plugin into or out of the plugins folder. Either way, it’s time consuming and boring, so you probably don’t do it... which either means that you have a lot of usually unneeded plugins loaded, or perhaps you never load the plugins you may have paid good money for.
Plugin Boss changes that. It can’t get around the problem of having to quit and restart Cinema but it does make the activation and deactivation of plugins easier.
note for users of the original Windows version of Plugin Boss
The original Windows version of PIB looked for different versions of Cinema 4D on the user's machine by examining the Windows registry. This caused a problem for certain users where for some reason the registry didn't contain anything about C4D. It also meant that the program was unusable by C4D users who move their installation of C4D between machines on an external hard drive or memory stick. More recent versions can cope with any installed location, and is able to handle point versions installed separately to the main full version. This is necessary because R11.5, unlike all previous point releases, does not install over a pre-existing installation but has its own separate location.
system requirements
Windows: a PC running Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. It will run on 32 or 64 bit systems.
Mac: Intel or PPC Mac running OSX 10.5 (Leopard) or later. Unfortunately it will not run on OSX 10.4 or earlier.
Please note that this is NOT a plugin for Cinema 4D. It is a standalone application which must be installed on your machine to run.
Download links are at the bottom of this page.
find out more
You can download the program help files for either version by:
- downloading the Windows help file for the application at this link. Note: this is available in Windows compiled help format (.chm) only.
- or, download a .zip file of the Mac help files and unzip it into a convenient location. Open the file PluginBoss.html to go to help start page.
(Windows users: when you open the help file after downloading, on some computers you may get the message in the right-hand pane of the help viewer 'Navigation to the web page is cancelled'. This is a security 'feature' of Windows and not a fault in the file. To rectify this, right-click the file and select Properties. Then in the General tab click 'Unblock'. This makes the file available.)
screenshots
See this page for screenshots from both PC and Mac versions.
download links
To download Plugin Boss, please do so from the links below.
This application has been tested extensively on my systems in both 64 bit and 32 bit Windows and on a Mac running Leopard (OSX 10.5.8). As far as I know, there are no significant bugs, but as usual with new software, please be cautious before using it on mission-critical data.
Windows version
Download Plugin Boss full setup file (.zip file, 1.82Mb). This will install the latest version (1.2.0.0) of Plugin Boss.
Mac version
Download Plugin Boss disk image (.zip file, 1.23Mb). This contains the latest version (1.2.0.0) of Plugin Boss.