Today, I show you how to explode an object in Cinema 4D by first cutting up your object into pieces with a Plugin called Destruction. Then, we will use Mograph 2 MoDynamics to make the pieces fall on the ground.
Download the Destruction Plugin By Adam Swaab Here
Final Render

Thanks to Jonah Tobias for helping me understand the Destruction Plugin.
Watch Part 2 of this tutorial.




61 Comments
Excellent tutorial. I will definitely put this to some destructive, I mean good use!
Cred on December 18th, 2009 said...
Very cool plugin and tutorial.
Could you cover sticking textures to the fracture object in your next tutorial on this subject?
Radle on December 22nd, 2009 said...
can you help me understand why my object keeps dissapering every time?
GoOd on February 23rd, 2010 said...
HEY NICK! WHY THE OBJECTS DISSAPERING WHEN I CLICK OK? I CANT DO NOTHING!! I´M CRYING..
zymos on February 28th, 2010 said...
Here’s what I did to solve the dissapearing problem: (I’m on Win7 64 bit, C4D 11.5)
DL the 64 bit version mentioned farther down in this thread, AND the older 32 bit version as well.
Put BOTH in your plugins directory (I put them in a folder to keep things neat)
Now it works…I think the plugin needs the TEX folder that came with the 32 bit version, since the 64 bit one only had the single .cdl64 file.
Hopefully that will help some folks- I was getting pretty frustrated myself!
Another great tutorial Nick.
Careful with the plugin everybody. Save your work a lot! As Nick said, it is very buggy at the moment.
Rob
Amazing tutorial Nick! It’s like you read my mind. I was just trying to use Dynamics in C4D for the first time on a side project and had no idea how to do this. Thanks again for all your hard work!
I’ve tried destruction in the past and allllllways crashed C4D for me. I got it to work literally 3 times out of 20. I hope a stable version comes out soon because it really is awesome when it works.
This is just brilliant Nick, you’re really demystifying the complexities of Mograph with these easy to follow and fun tutorials. So many 3D tuts are dull like “today we’re going to model and render a kitchen table”. Who wants to do that? You’re showing us how to do the cool stuff and I just want to bust open C4D and get on it right away.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Is this plugin mac only?
For those like me who needed a Windows 64bit version, Remo of remotion4d.net compiled it for us.
You can find it in his post on page 3 of this Destruction thread on CGTalk:)
http://bit.ly/6yznxf
Izzy – ragecg.com
Izzy on December 17th, 2009 said...
Whoops, I meant page 2:)
illd on December 17th, 2009 said...
thanks bro!
Potemkin on December 18th, 2009 said...
Thanks!!! I’ve searched for it all day )
Nice Tutorial! Mograph2 is so awesome… used it for a bunch of glass shattering vfx.
Very cool Nick!
I could have used this for my MoDynamics tutorial!
*argh* It never works for me, the object just disappears when I press OK :/
looks so fun to use..
Awesome, I’ve been looking for a plugin and tutorial like this for years.
Thanks a lot!
Wow, this looks awesome. I’m still on 11.0, really need to get 11.5!
Do not stop Nick! Your tutorials are very useful and interesting. I work only for one week in cinema 4D, it’s first 3D application in my life and it’s fantastic!
Hey Nick cool stuff! Finally somebody did it! Since weeks I am visiting this site http://www.codeworkers.de/garage-plugins.html
they are developing a similar plugin and they showing some sweet testrenders. But it seems theirs is crashing too… Here is a little tip I found out: Sometimes by dividing the polygons a lot the shape doesn´t no longer look smooth. Just delete the phong tag and it will be ok
You know MoDynamics isn’t very realistic for this type of work. I wish there was some kind of dynamic engine for C4D that was more realistic.
Does anyone know?
The Gorilla on December 18th, 2009 said...
What don’t you like about MoDynamics, Neal? Sure, it has some limitations, but I think it looks pretty dang good. Maybe you can try SilverBullet?
Nice Tutorial as usual Nick. I thought I would share my attempt at the above done the other day. I am attempting to add a frozen in time style spin around mid shatter which I have found a way to achieve manualy which is taking forever but I’m sure there must be a way to freeze the fracture whilst timeline playback continues! Anyway here is the video http://www.vimeo.com/8153508
The Gorilla on December 18th, 2009 said...
Cool. I like how there are two sets of physics on this one. I’m not sure about the freeze frame. I haven’t tried it yet. Let me know what you find out?
Samm Hodges on December 23rd, 2009 said...
the freeze frame thing is really simple, actually. Just go under your mograph tab in project settings and keyframe the time scale to 0.
Really cool stuff, Nick!
Looking forward to the next part!
Nice tutorial! I like the C4D-tuts!
Keep up the good work! I can’t wait for the next part! Is it before Christmas? So my Christmas ball can fall on my Christmas present under the Christmas tree
Cool stuff
cant wait for part 2.
Love your tutorials, Nick. Keep up the good work.
However, with this one it’s a bit annoying for me as the viewer when you’re continually moving windows, the Viewport, etc. for no apparent reason. Just my 0.02c….
Thank Nick, I was trying to make this on my own. But had some small bugs. This is really handful.
Hi Nick, Great tutorial as always. Just one question. At the point you render yours before the destruction your cube look perfect but mine looks deformed with some of the fracture showing! Any ideas? Mark
Gustaf on January 19th, 2010 said...
Awesome Nick!
To bad I have the same problem as Mark here. I’ve tried everything I could think of. Love your site and tutorials/Gustaf
peter on February 25th, 2010 said...
I found that right after you use the destruction plugin delete the phong tag… that worked for me…
you should probably credit Adam Swaab for making such an amazing plugin.
Thanks Nick for this tut.
I try an other thing, in fact I would like that the cube explode when it touch the floor, no before, rrrr, I don’t succeed !! (we don’t use the sphere)
Scott on February 4th, 2010 said...
I wish someone would’ve answered this, i’d like to achieve the same effect. I’m attempting to have a beer bottle fall and shatter when it hits the ground… but gravity doesn’t seem to be working until it shatters
Nick,
I have C4D 10.1 with mograph.
Will destruction work for me, or is it only a C4D 11/mograph 2 thingy.
Best,
J
Sock Gardener on December 20th, 2009 said...
There is a version of Destruction for R10 here:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=47&t=702769&page=1&pp=50
Post# 46 from about a year ago.
But of course no MoDynamics in R10
Silver Bullet works ok though
This plugin rocks and the tutorial is fantastic and easy to follow. Downloaded it and tried it out and its fantastic. ty for the great find and great tutorial
Jiiihaa like John Wayne would have said!! thnx nick iv been waiting for this soooo loooong
I made this one http://www.vimeo.com/8290653
by Destruction Plugin after watching this tutorial.
Nice work!
When I press OK in the plugin, delete the cube, but the null object is empty, why is this happening ??
laidlow on December 22nd, 2009 said...
same here… windows vista. R11.5… no go. just empty null object..
any one got a clue?
FabianCRTV on December 22nd, 2009 said...
I usea windows xp R.11.5
FabianCRTV on December 22nd, 2009 said...
use*
Helix on December 30th, 2009 said...
Yeah, I’ve got exactly the same problem :/
Anyone care to help?
Does Adam’s plug good for PC? or it’s Mac only
It looks cool but it worked 2 or 3 times, then it stopped workin and cinema4d keeps shutting all the time :/
Is it possible to use this plugin on a text?
Hey I have a serious question. Will this work with Windows? If it can please tell me how. Maybe if there another alternative for Windows, I have looked everywhere and I can seem to find where to get this.
The Gorilla on December 30th, 2009 said...
I’m not sure if this works with windows actually. Did you try it? If not, I don’t know of a similar plugin that is Windows compatible.
Ray on February 5th, 2010 said...
Works 100% fine in windows. Windows 7 64bit here and the plugin works flawlessly ( except for the noted crashing and such ;] )
Emmanuel on February 7th, 2010 said...
Is there any way I can get the link for the 64bit version for Windows?
Hey I’m having trouble getting this to work on objects other than the standard shapes…. is there a certain way I need to group my objects in order for this plugin to work more than 3% of the time?
I did get it to work on some type after about 2 hours of opening and crashing c4d. Check it out here..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/big_kat/4212945220/
The Gorilla on January 4th, 2010 said...
It’s pretty buggy, Kat. There will be a new version out soon I hear. Sorry for all the trouble.
Hey Nick,
Gr8 tutorial, however when I try with this tea pitcher, I dont get solids on all of my chunks,
Take a look:http://vimeo.com/8546821
Eric
The Gorilla on January 4th, 2010 said...
The video is set to private.
fixed
http://www.brandonriza.com/3DVisualEffects/HTML/3DVisualEffects.htm
This guy can make things shatter!!! I emailed him and he basically uses a terrain object to give his “breaks” that rough edge and fill the interior with rough boolean surfaces. He uses 3Ds max though and thinking particles but v3 not v2 that C4D has.
Great PlugIn Adam!!!
Nick, your tutorials are perfect
I love them! I am beginner and it is really nice you present everything step by step 
But I have a question. How to install the plugin? I have cinema 4d r10. Does it work in this version? I found some solutions in google but I cant manage. Could you tell me what should I do to use plugins?
The Gorilla on January 6th, 2010 said...
I don’t think it works with that version. Sorry, Joanna. 11 and above I think.
is this just for r.11.5?
anybody know where i can find a tutorial on this for v11?
Great tutorials GreyscaleGorilla, working my way through them and they have been a great help.
People who are having trouble with the cube disappearing its because i presume you are using the win 64bit version.
Use the Win 32bit version instead and that will work fine.
Follow the link Izzy posted above and its on Pg1 posted by Bandini himself.
I already saw some tutorials made by you but this one right here made me to subscribe to your feed! ll try it instantly!
Thanks for sharing
Is it possible to get the whole backwards?
I mean, what I want to have is like the effect from Terminator 2. All piece come together as 1.
The Gorilla on January 15th, 2010 said...
Sure, Just render the scene and reverse it in After Effects or an editing program.
Hey Nick
Every time I devide a cube with the destruction plugin, the chunks remain visible… I have follow your tutorial step by step, but when I hit render, I se the chunks.. What am I doing wrong? Have anyone else had that problem?
All the best
Peter
Hi,
I’am new with C4D,
Thank’s a lot for all
regards
jac
Is there a way to cause the object to explode on R11? Since it’s only Mograph 1, there don’t seem to be rigid body tags. I’m new to the program so I’m probably being stupid but I can’t seem to find a way for the object to react.
The Gorilla on January 28th, 2010 said...
You need R11.5 and Mograph 2 to use the new MoDynamics and the Rigid Body Tag.
I would really like to make the render in slow motion. Adjusting the project time scale slows down the time but amplify the dynamics. What’s up with that?
Awesome tutorial man! Very easy to follow. I have always wanted to know how to explode things in 3D apps and it is fairly easy (thanks to your thorough guide) with Cin4D and that plugin.
Got to the part where you click OK…crashes everytime…
I’ll have to wait for a stable version…
Cool tut though!
man this is great- actually lifesaving for the project i’m working on. thanks so much!!!
Hi Nick,
Is there a way to import an AI spline, extrude it and then convert it to a polygon object so this plugin will work on it?
Christopher S. Knell on February 9th, 2010 said...
Got it.
1) Make editable
2) Function>Optimize
3) Apply plugin as instructed.
Optional:
4) Admit I’m a genius.
The Gorilla on February 9th, 2010 said...
BAM!!!!
I tried this tonight. I think it is safe to say that any model with some detail will crash C4D. Thats why a cube works so well. Thanks for the tut Nick.
The Gorilla on February 12th, 2010 said...
Yeah, he will have a new version of the plug out soon it looks like.
please help me.. i dont have rigid body on mographs tag..
The Gorilla on February 13th, 2010 said...
You probably need Cinema 4D 11.5 and Mograph 2.0
Thanks for another awesome C4D tutorial, here’s my version:
http://tmdmedia.ca/blog/?p=148
AWESOME Cinema 4D Plug-In (for creating debris & destruction): http://xplode.valkaari.com/en/xplode.php
It seems to be more reliable than the well known destruction plugin by Adam Smith
Yo Gorilla!
Great information, thanks a bunch.
I was wondering if you have come across this problem…
I have a similar set up to your cube destruction only my cube is a sheet of glass and my ball is a bullet. The bullet shoots through the glass and continues on its path. The glass smashes.
My problem comes when I try to cache the animation. When using the Mograph cache tags my bullet decided to bounce off the glass instead of going through?.. everything else works fine.
Have you encountered this problem when caching?
Thanks again.
Dane
Melbourne, Australia.
Same thing as Rayfire Tool for 3ds max, just less expensive (since its free, lol) and with less attributes….
but still cool…thanks for the find bro…
Yo, Gorilla
Great tutorials!
One question about this destruction thingy:
Say I want to have a logo falling out of the sky and destroying on impact. Whats the way to do this?
Because, of course, if you set the object to destroy on impact, its uneffected by the gravity.
The only way I found, was setting an initial velocity and basicly throwing the object onto the floor plane. Which is a bit of a hack because the Text does not really fall, it always looks like it gets thrown.
Is the only way to keyframe the velocity?
Neil on February 25th, 2010 said...
Not even the trick with the velocity works.
Objects seem to shatter as soon the are moved…
The Gorilla on February 25th, 2010 said...
Still trying to figure this one out. Some of the newer destruct plugins do a better job in making a cleaner break.
Try out this new one. It may allow you to drop it better.
http://pariahstudios.co.uk/Products.html
Jason on February 25th, 2010 said...
Neil, be sure and post your findings. I too am looking for a similar dynamic and having the same problem – once the fractured object is set to break on impact, gravity fails.
(Unfortunately I’m at work and can’t test this out myself. I’ll definitely try out that Pariah plugin once I get home.)
Gorilla, great site man. Thanks for the knowledge.
Jason on February 26th, 2010 said...
Tried Nitroman’s Xbreaker plugin, but the gravity problem still exists for me. I’m trying to have a small text object fall to a floor and bounce, and then a large text object fall on top of the smaller one and crush it.
The fracture in my case needs to happen based on the force of the collision… or at least clever keyframing. Doing this stationary is easy. Once we add in gravity, things seem to get lost.
Will let you know if I figure it out. If anyone else does, please share it with the group.
Hi nick, im from CHILE (the earthquake country by now) and i have this
question about this tutorial.
How can i shatter the sphere in this case, when it crash in to the cube, like it was made by steel and the sphere of rock or something that could broke.
Great tutorial by the way, and great website
I am using C4D 10 on a mac and can’t get the plugin to work at all.
I downloaded version 10 on CGTalk, install it in the plugins folder but nothing shows up.
Anyone have any experience with this and can point me in the right direction? I really want to explode something!
Thanks,
Tara
abi on March 5th, 2010 said...
I’m having the same problem. win7 64-bit and runing 11.5. I did a test with the olx pluggin folder and that shows , so why dont the disruction folder show?
Help needed…
I´ve downloaded and install Destruction_013_R11_Win64bit but the cube disappears.
Coop, you says win32bit version will fix the problem but in CGtalk forum there is not destruction win32bit plugin for download, only the mac32 bits. (I´ve already downloaded and tried)
Can anybody help?
Thnks soo much!
I´m working in C4D r11.5 windowsxp64bits
I’m on Leopard and it keeps dissapearing too!
plugin version 0.1.3.
Help!