The release of INSYDIUM Fused 2025.4 introduces a rebuilt NeXus core that accelerates GPU simulation performance while reducing VRAM usage. The system handles particle and fluid data more responsively, and the update brings expanded mapping controls such as looping data channels and layered GPU falloffs that increase procedural flexibility. The changes shift NeXus closer to a general purpose GPU simulation framework inside the host DCC.

INSYDIUM develops simulation and animation technology that integrates directly into Cinema 4D. The company’s toolset is distributed as the Fused bundle, which contains NeXus for GPU accelerated simulation, X Particles for particle based workflows, Taiao for procedural vegetation, Cycles 4D for rendering and a series of utility modules for meshing, shading and scene structuring. The suite provides an internal alternative to standalone solvers by keeping particle effects, smoke, fire, fluids, meshes and procedural animation inside the Cinema 4D environment without external roundtrips.

What Is New In Fused 2025.4

Fused 2025.4 introduces a rebuilt NeXus core that increases GPU simulation speed and reduces VRAM usage. The update improves responsiveness during heavy particle or fluid work and adds expanded mapping controls such as looping channels and layered GPU falloffs. These changes make the system more suitable for complex effects work where simulation data needs to be adjusted repeatedly without long rebuild times.

Expanded GPU Smoke, Fire And Liquid Simulation

Several new solvers extend NeXus into full smoke, fire and liquid simulation. nxExplosiaFX processes smoke and fire entirely on the GPU and can emit from meshes, splines, vertex maps, shaders or particles. The system supports layered emitters, collision objects and forces, while the viewport can display volumetric previews and diagnostic information that assists with look development.

nxFluids adds FLIP and APIC based liquid solvers that handle varying viscosity, thin liquid sheets and surface tension features with improved stability. These solvers respond well to high velocity motion and produce more predictable shapes in turbulent scenes. For converting simulations into renderable geometry, nxMesher produces mesh surfaces with reduced temporal flicker. It supports multiple mesh profiles, layered smoothing and the transfer of simulation attributes such as colour, velocity or emitter identifiers into the resulting geometry. Foam and spray handling moves to a new system under nxFoam, which provides more stable behaviour in fast moving flows. nxSplash introduces a procedural method for generating crown splash shapes for shots that need controlled impact elements.

Layer Based Modifier Workflow

NeXus modifiers now operate through a layer based workflow that consolidates several behaviours into single modifiers. Formerly separate nodes for turbulence, motion offsets, directional changes or scaling can now be stacked inside a unified container. The workflow reduces the complexity of particle setups and improves clarity in scenes that rely on multiple behavioural adjustments. Several modifiers receive technical refinements. nxDirection gains more precise control for stream shaping and vortex behaviour. nxFollowGeo adds multi spline support and new guide and force modes that improve geometry following in both smooth and turbulent contexts.

Jidou Brings Procedural Animation

Fused 2025.4 introduces Jidou, a procedural animation toolkit designed for clones, hierarchies and technical setups. jdAniMate manages start and end PSR states with detailed timing adjustments. jdDriver links arbitrary parameters to create dependency based rigs. jdFlowCam generates structured camera paths with holds and timed motions. jdGeoFlow creates procedural curves that can drive object deformation or placement. jdGeoRoll simulates rolling behaviour with gravity and collision handling for mechanical or motion graphic tasks. Jidou serves as a parallel system to simulation work, covering the areas where predictable procedural motion is required.

Production Considerations

NeXus simulations continue to run on a single GPU. Distributed or team rendering cannot offload simulation data because the processing remains tied to the local GPU. Systems running Windows may require TDR timeout adjustments during long simulation sessions to prevent GPU resets. NeXus requires a GPU with Vulkan support and a minimum of 4 GB VRAM. Performance scales with newer GPU architectures and should be evaluated in context of scene complexity.

P.S. On their site, you’ll find the 4K Wallpapers gallery – https://insydium.ltd/community/4k-wallpapers/ , and I’ve been using the “Flip Particles” for a while on my PC. Worth a look!

The post INSYDIUM Fused 2025.4: Faster NeXus, New GPU Sims, And a Procedural Animation Toolkit first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Maxon released Cinema 4D 2026.1 on 3 December 2025 as part of the Maxon One December update.
The version expands the unified simulation framework, enhances MoGraph placement tools, improves project-variant management, and delivers a wide set of smaller workflow fixes.

Liquid Flow: GPU-accelerated fluids inside the unified simulation

The new Liquid Flow system extends Cinema 4D’s unified simulation framework to support fully GPU-accelerated fluid behaviour. According to Maxon’s documentation, it integrates seamlessly with existing Pyro, Cloth, and Soft Body solvers, and supports interaction among all simulated elements in a single scene. Liquid Flow exposes parameters for viscosity, surface tension, and emitter behaviour, allowing artists to iterate interactively. GPU compute mode is available on supported NVIDIA and Apple Metal devices.

MoGraph: Advanced Distributions and Capsule-based control

MoGraph’s Advanced Distributions introduce new procedural placement types (Stack and Cannonball and a Hexagrid) designed for building layered or spherical arrangements of clones without custom formulas. These distribution modes work with Effectors, Fields, and Capsules, and can be baked or referenced for product-visualisation layouts or dense motion-graphics assemblies. The update also refines Field layer previews and caching behaviour, reducing redraw lag in high-clone scenes.

Take System: faster iteration and clearer hierarchy

Cinema 4D 2026.1 updates the Take System to simplify the creation of multiple look variations. The new behaviour includes automatic naming, consistent render-setting inheritance, and improved preview switching.
This revision targets motion-graphics artists who iterate colourways, camera setups, or lighting passes for client reviews.

Cineware for Unreal: better fidelity and re-import handling

The Cineware for Unreal Engine plugin gains improved lighting consistency and material assignment during export and re-import. Updated metadata handling preserves naming and hierarchy when projects move between Cinema 4D and Unreal. Interactive playback performance within Unreal has also been tuned for scenes containing animated geometry and dynamic caches.

Viewport, interaction, and asset fixes

The 2026.1 release delivers numerous stability updates and UI refinements documented in Maxon’s changelog:

• Viewport stability: reduced crashes when manipulating large MoGraph instances and multi-viewport setups.
• Spline modelling: corrected Tangent and Control-Point editing behaviour.
• Redshift integration: improved synchronisation of material previews and displacement updates.
• Pyro caching: faster cache rebuilds when adjusting simulation domains.
• Capsule Assets: fixed scene-reload issues with procedural Capsules containing nested Field nodes.

While not as headline-grabbing as the Liquid Flow rollout, these smaller changes contribute directly to daily production stability.

Unified Simulation Framework: one solver, multiple domains

Cinema 4D’s unified simulation approach continues to consolidate solvers under a shared architecture.
Liquid Flow joins Cloth, Pyro, and Soft Body within the same system, allowing bidirectional interactions such as fluid–cloth or smoke–liquid coupling. Simulation caches remain GPU-accelerated but can still be baked to CPU for network rendering. This alignment also simplifies export to Redshift’s volumetric rendering and compositing in After Effects through Cineware.

Quality-of-life improvements

The release notes list over 50 usability and reliability adjustments. Highlights include:

• Faster Undo/Redo operations for geometry-heavy scenes.
• Corrected timeline scrubbing when previewing cached dynamics.
• Updated OpenColorIO configuration handling for consistent colour management across Maxon One apps.
• Restored Viewport Filter settings persistence between sessions.

Collectively, these fixes target workflow friction rather than headline innovation — an area professionals will likely appreciate more than marketing slogans.

Availability and testing reminder

Cinema 4D 2026.1 is included in active Maxon One and Cinema 4D subscriptions, downloadable through Maxon App v2025.12 or newer. Users with perpetual licences under maintenance can check eligibility through Maxon’s support portal. As always, artists should benchmark GPU simulations and rendering performance before updating production environments. Pipeline compatibility with render-farm nodes and Unreal export should be validated per project.

The post Cinema 4D 2026.1: Fluids, Distributions, and Practical Fixes first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.