NeXus for Cinema 4D Beta

NeXus is now available in Cinema 4D as a public beta, with the same features as NeXus for Blender.

Both versions run on the same NeXus engine, so the objects, options and simulation results are the same. Mostly the interface around them is different, as listed below. That is why these docs serve both: every page applies to Cinema 4D too, unless it says it is Blender only.

The screenshots and videos show the Blender add-on. In Cinema 4D the same controls appear in the Attribute Manager, with the same names, in the same tabs.

Requirements

Cinema 4D: R19 or later, on Windows or macOS. The link to the native GPU particles and Pyro needs Cinema 4D 2025.3 or later.
X-Particles: NeXus for Cinema 4D runs alongside X-Particles, which holds your INSYDIUM Fused license. NeXus does not start without X-Particles installed.
GPU: Vulkan 1.3 on Windows. On macOS, macOS 13.0 or later with Metal 3. The accelerated viewport needs macOS 26.4 or later in this beta.
License: any INSYDIUM license. If you have none, you can request a free beta license in your INSYDIUM account.

Download the beta from your INSYDIUM account, in the Beta Builds group. It comes as an INSYDIUM Fused zip file. Beta builds are not offered through the in-app updater.

Only in Cinema 4D

Modify Cinema 4D Particles in the NeXus Project Settings lets NeXus modifiers drive the native particles in Cinema 4D 2025.3 or later. Beta 2
The NeXus tab in Project Settings holds the document substeps.

Adding NeXus objects

In Cinema 4D, NeXus has its own menu: INSYDIUM ▸ NeXus, right after X-Particles. It has the same submenus, entries and labels as Add ▸ INSYDIUM NeXus in Blender.

Top: nxCache, nxEmitter, nxGroup
Presets: nxLiquid Fill, nxLiquid Flow, nxMaterial
Top: nxCollider, nxQuestion
Generators: nxDeformer, nxGenerator, nxMesher, nxOcean, nxShatter, nxTrail
Dynamics: nxFluids, nxFoam, nxSheeter, nxSplash, nxWave, nxConstraints, nxExplosiaFX, nxFlowField, nxMPM, nxPin, nxPPCollisions
Modifiers: nxBlend, nxColor, nxKill, nxScale, nxUpres, the forces (nxAttract to nxWind) and the behaviors (nxBind to nxSticky)
Warps: one entry per nxWarp type

So when a page says Add ▸ INSYDIUM NeXus ▸ Modifiers ▸ nxGravity, in Cinema 4D you choose INSYDIUM ▸ NeXus ▸ Modifiers ▸ nxGravity.

Reading Blender terms in Cinema 4D

In these docs (Blender)	In Cinema 4D
Add ▸ INSYDIUM NeXus	INSYDIUM ▸ NeXus
Properties ▸ Physics panel	Attribute Manager
Enabled checkbox at the top of Object Properties	Enabled checkbox on the standard Basic tab
Object Properties, Groups Affected, Mapping and Falloff tabs	The same tabs, plus the standard Basic and Coord. tabs
Lengths in meters	Lengths in centimeters, so 1 m reads as 100cm
Speeds in m/s	Often shown as a length, such as 150cm
Factors from 0 to 1	Often a percentage from 0 to 100%
Z is up	Y is up, so Z+ in Blender is Y+ in Cinema 4D
Frames or seconds toggle on time fields	Your document’s time format
Options that do not apply are hidden	Options that do not apply are grayed out
Add-on Preferences and the N-panel HUD and Document tabs	The NeXus page in the INSYDIUM preferences and NeXus in Project Settings

The values are the same underneath. For example, nxGravity’s Strength defaults to 9.81 m/s² in Blender and shows as 981cm in Cinema 4D.

Small differences

Flock reactions: in Cinema 4D each reaction in nxFlock is its own nxFlock Reactor object, a child of the flock, with its settings on the reactor. In Blender the settings sit on the reaction row.
Blender only: Node Integration (reading particle data in Blender’s shader and geometry nodes), the NeXus vertex map panel, Collection Instances and tooltips.
Scripts: Blender opens scripts in its GLSL Script window. Cinema 4D uses the INSYDIUM Code Editor.

Where a page has a difference that matters, the page says so.