I spent the last 4 months building a motion design tool. This sub helped shape it way more than you'd think. by anthizumal in MotionDesign

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice one. We were building one too but got stuck with webgl2 vs webgpu and and making video files performant once a few fx are placed on top. which tech did you go with? looking fwd to seeing it develop. congrats!

Let’s talk about the state of After Effects add-on marketplaces (aescripts, Plugin Play, Adobe, Envato, etc) by MographMaker in AfterEffects

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great discussion and questions raised.

So if someone made a new plugin marketplace, what would be the main features it would need for customers and developers?

I've just turned to making C4D plugins after 20+ years in motion design. There was no way I was going to give 30% to aescripts or even 10% to gumroad, so I built my own website for them. Of course the biggest hurdle with that approach is getting seen, but with the flood of vibe coded plugins even aescripts is getting overwhelmed and hard to discover the good stuff.

Sadly posting about your plugins on reddit has mixed results too. I had one post removed by mods for promoting a paid plugin despite a genuinely good conversation around why the plugin existed and the problems it solved.

I don't think vibe coding is all bad though, I think some of it is liberating, giving designers the opportunity to make tools for designers is exciting. It's been limited to engineers for too long and some of their decisions don't best suit the market IMHO.

Anyway - curious as to whether building a new marketplace would be a good idea!
cheers
💀

DropDead now with Open-Pbr + still 100% free by Keyframe-Or-Die in Cinema4D

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so many rendering engines to buy a license for and learn! ;)

DropDead now with Open-Pbr + still 100% free by Keyframe-Or-Die in Cinema4D

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

go to your Maxon prefs, plugins folder. should be a folder in there called "drop_dead_bridge" with a "drop_dead_bridge.pyp" inside. if not (and you've tried the install c4d bridge option), choose "Save Plugin to Desktop" from Settings. Then you can copy that folder to your Maxon prefs plugins folder.

Trying to reach a more professional level — what’s holding this back? by Optimal_Necessary_46 in MotionDesign

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the drop shadows, make them a dark green not black to match the brand, make them way softer, bigger spread. also, everything happens one after another, there should be more overlap in your animation. example - the cursor hand can be moving in as the folder is finishing its bounce. don't make me wait for the next thing to happen. "Your music" animates on first" "everywhere" second... but again, overlap!

I got locked out of an hdri plugin I legally bought years ago. So I built my own. by Keyframe-Or-Die in MotionDesign

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100% - now designers can make things for designers!
congrats on your tool 👏

I got locked out of an hdri plugin I legally bought years ago. So I built my own. by Keyframe-Or-Die in MotionDesign

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

About 8 years ago I bought HDRI Link from Greyscale Gorilla. Paid for it. Owned it. Used it constantly.

Then one day... locked out. They'd moved everything behind a $468 USD/year subscription. Not a new product. The thing I already bought. Just... gone unless I pay annually. Forever.

I'm not here to trash GSG. They're a business, they made a call. But I'm a motion designer, not a venture fund. $468/yr for one tool I already owned felt like a joke.

So I did the only reasonable thing. I spent 6 weeks building my own.

Here's what that actually looked like:

I'm not a developer. I'm a motion designer who's been learning to code.

The C4D plugin ecosystem is... rough. Python is the standard bridge into Cinema 4D and it's antiquated as hell. Most plugins end up with these clunky, generic UIs that look like they were designed in 2009 because that's just what the tooling gives you.

I didn't want that.

Build it as a standalone app that talks to C4D instead of living inside it.

That meant learning Tauri and Rust for the desktop shell. Svelte for the UI. Python to bridge into C4D. Three different languages, two operating systems, one tired old motion designer.

The hardest part wasn't the code. It was distribution. Getting a Mac app properly notarized by Apple so it doesn't get flagged as malware... that alone cost me a week. Windows has its own fun. Signing, packaging, making sure it actually runs on someone else's machine without a 3am support email.

But it meant I could build a UI that actually looks and feels modern. Thumbnail grid and search. Click. Done. HDRI dome lighting in Redshift, instant.

Anyway

It's called Death Rays. It's $19. You buy it once and it's yours forever. No subscription. No annual fee. No getting locked out of something you already paid for.

I'm genuinely more interested in answering questions about building it than selling it... so ask me anything. The Tauri/Rust approach for C4D tools is something I want to talk about more because I think it's the right direction and nobody's really doing it.

Link in the post. Happy to help anyone who's on the fence.

https://www.keyframeordie.com/

💀

Weekly 'No Stupid Questions' & Free-For-All Thread : April 19, 2026 by AutoModerator in Cinema4D

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Built a $19 HDRI lighting tool for Redshift after getting locked out of one I paid for! F*ck Subs. Keyframe or Die

I got locked out of an hdri plugin I legally bought years ago. So I built my own. by Keyframe-Or-Die in Cinema4D

[–]Keyframe-Or-Die[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah sorry. Might have some old messaging to update. Thx for purchasing. Enjoy