WireTools: Less Clicking, Better Connections

For those who don’t know the tool: WireTools, developed by Maksym Vysokolov under THODOS, adds gesture-based editing to Cinema 4D’s Redshift Node Editor. Draw connections, slice wires and shake nodes loose. Finally, waving the mouse around impatiently has a documented purpose.

A little less spaghetti

Building materials involves plenty of creative decisions and rather a lot of connecting small things to other small things. WireTools tackles the latter. Hold I and draw across nodes with the left mouse button to connect them in sequence, using available ports or custom connection rules. Right-button drawing adds precise port targeting, including replacing an existing input connection.

Hold I and K for fan-out: one source, multiple destinations, fewer individual introductions. Custom rules determine which ports should connect, giving the spaghetti some table manners. The shortcuts are configurable; fan-out combines the chosen Wire Drawer shortcut with its additional qualifier.

Y activates the Wire Cutter. Draw across connections with the left mouse button held, then release to cut. Alt+D invokes Shake/Drag, letting you disconnect a node by shaking it and insert it into another connection. Shift toggles persistence, although the instructions and changelog disagree on its default state. Escape stops execution if the tool gets stuck.

Good connections, complicated plumbing

The developer’s plugin overview and 1.1.1 changelog describes revised handling of root graphs, groups, nested groups, pan and zoom, plus a custom Node Editor canvas hook to avoid capturing gestures under ambiguous focus. Precise drawing also handles situations with multiple output ports, while “constant” error wires can now be cut.

An earlier update reportedly reduced Shake/Drag calculation time from 130 to 15 ms. That is the developer’s measurement, not ours, but reducing the pause between shaking and moving sounds like sensible node etiquette.

There are limits. Ports and wires along the Node Editor’s sides remain unresolved, and some display configurations can cause problems. An optional DPI Adjustment switch is provided under Extensions. The developer explicitly says WireTools goes beyond the public API, so future host compatibility deserves checking before an update joins the party.

Read the small print, then cut the wires

WireTools is currently Windows-only; macOS and fan-in connections remain on the roadmap. The shop specifies the latest Cinema 4D releases within 2024–2027, while the developer’s overview still lists 2023–2027. Users on 2023 should clarify support before purchasing.

The product page lists a starting price of US$39 as a one-time purchase. One seat covers two machine activations, with the second added manually. Indie licensing includes freelance and client work; Studio licensing covers companies and teams. Activation and periodic verification require internet access. Temporary offline use lasts while the locally stored licence remains valid, but the published terms do not specify that duration.

It is an appealing little intervention: less port hunting, fewer repetitive clicks and a legitimate reason to shake something when the material graph gets on your nerves. Test it with representative materials, your Cinema 4D version and your display configuration before using it in production.

https://thodos998.gumroad.com/l/WireTools