by Mike Udin·Rendering
Images © Mike Udin. Used for product review; image policy.
TakeMatPass earns its place in the toolfarm library by tackling something Cinema 4D can't do on its own: outputting materials as separate white masks or a unique-color Color ID pass. The take-based approach keeps the setup contained, and coverage stretches from R17 up to Cinema 4D 2024.
Cinema 4D does not natively output materials as separate passes — neither as white masks nor with each material shown in a different color. TakeMatPass fills that gap by generating additional takes from the mask of selected materials, objects and texture tags.
In white matte mode, TakeMatPass creates a separate take for each selected material, object and texture tag in the material manager, displaying that item as a white mask while everything else turns black through the Material Override function. Color ID mode builds a single take named 'MaterialID', where every selected material, object and texture tag appears in its own unique color.
Each take operates independently as a separate document, so simulations such as dynamics, particle and MoGraph animation must be baked before rendering. Visual geometry deformation (displacement) created by materials from third-party renderers is not supported. The plugin covers Cinema 4D releases from R17 through 2024.
Mike Udin TakeMatPass is best for cinema 4D artists who need Color ID passes or white material masks — for example, a Color ID pass to use in After Effects as an alternative to an Object Buffer.
Mike Udin TakeMatPass is completely free to download and use.
TakeMatPass works with a broad range of Cinema 4D releases: 2024, 2023, S26, R25, S24, R23, S22, R21, R20, R19, R18 and R17. That coverage spans both the current year-numbered versions and the older R-series builds, so it fits projects running on legacy installations as well as recent ones. If you're unsure whether your exact build is covered, the developer's page lists the supported versions.
TakeMatPass installs by unpacking its archive of installation files into the Cinema 4D plugins folder. On Windows this sits under AppData\Roaming\MAXON\CINEMA 4D\plugins, and on Mac under Applications > Maxon > Cinema 4D > plugins. After copying the files into place, restart Cinema 4D so the plugin loads. Once it's running, you can select materials, objects or texture tags in the material manager and let TakeMatPass create the corresponding takes.
TakeMatPass creates each take as an independent, separate document. Because of that, you need to bake any simulations before rendering the takes — this includes dynamics, particle setups and MoGraph animation. Without baking first, those simulated elements may not carry over correctly when each take renders on its own. Handle the baking as part of your render prep, then generate your white matte or Color ID takes and send them to render.
TakeMatPass can generate a Color ID pass, which its tutorial demonstrates using inside Adobe After Effects as an alternative to an Object Buffer. In Color ID mode the plugin builds a take named 'MaterialID' where each selected material, object and texture tag is shown in a unique color, giving you distinct color regions to work from in compositing. A demo video walking through the quick-start process is available.
TakeMatPass is listed as free in this catalog. We don't publish a specific price here, so for current licensing terms and any conditions attached to downloading or using the plugin, check the developer's page. From there you can confirm how it's distributed and grab the installation files for your Cinema 4D version before setting it up in the plugins folder.
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