Prevent Maxon Cinema 4D Force Install

[omidsolo]

Why Adobe is force installing it with no option to prevent the installation at first place?

Each platform has standards, Microsoft has some guidelines!

Adobe should provide an option during setup, instead they just fill up our PCs with bloatware!

Don't believe me? Check after Adobe products' install how many services and processes are always running!

Solution is simple: Place a CheckBox on initial setup window: "Install C4D"!

Uninstall PS/AE/PR/ME and you'll see many of app files/folders/registry entries are not removed afterwards!

I'm truely appalled...

[Warren Heaton]

Sure, it would be great of the installer made note of it.  Even so, it doesn't run unless you launch it from within After Effects and it brings an exceptional, long asked for 3D integration.

Ergo, read the user documentation if you're worried about what you're installing on your computer.  Don't wait to discover it after the fact.

[Guest]

The implication being that users should read the entirety of user documentation prior to installation of any Adobe products should the company decide to install third party software without my direct consent?

I've been familiar with After Effects for well over a decade. Why would I pre-emptively go through documentation to expect Adobe to install third party software? Which planet does this make sense on?

[Warren Heaton]

In addition to the user manual and the new features that are published on the AE page with each new release, how else would you like to be notified about software features?

Whatever it is, no need to respond here.  Go to the Adobe User-Voice Page for AE and post it there.

[sebasn42143796]

Just discovered Cinema 4D on my new laptop. I know exactly what programs I have installed, because I just got this computer. Finding Cinema 4D gave me an intital scare. I really really hate software installing without my knowledge and I am not amused. I quick Google search brought me to this discussion. Glad to know it's not (really) malware, but I will take this up with Adobe.

1. If this is part of other Adobe software, please rename it. Integrete it in your products or rebrand it as an Adobe product.

2. If this is bundled third party software, please stop it. Just STOP. Adobe software is not some free tool where we can expect this sort of behavior, you should respect your paying customers more. This feels like some Internet Explorer toolbar from decades ago.

[Warren Heaton]

For professionals who use After Effects, this is much wanted integration.

[Guest]

I 100% WANT this integration Warren, but I sure would have liked to know that I was getting it. Then maybe I might've actually booted it up and played around with it instead of stumbling over it perfectly installed as a separate app on my new machine. You'd do better to acknowledge the hipocrisy in your responses.

[Warren Heaton]

Try to launch it by itself.

Or, read the user manual.

Honestly.

[Guest]

I have. It doesn't address or solve my problem that Adobe doesn't notify me when it installs third-party software to which i have not explicitly consented to be installed.

Based on your advice, I should read the entirety of each software's knowledge base articles prior to installation of anything just in case in a new update has a dependency to required third party software.

Honestly.

[sebasn42143796]

1. The argument "This is in your best interest" is really not taking your customers seriously. This is not a computer managed by Adobe IT department or a children's account. I am perfectly capable of deciding which software to install.

2. "Try to launch it by itself"? Who in their right mind launches a new unknown application that mysteriously self installed on their computer? This is just horrible advice.

Dear Warren, I'm not sure if you are trying to help worried Adobe users feel better by telling them it's really not an issue or defend Adobe's standpoint on installing third party software. Either way, it seems like you are trying to help, but by glossing over our (legitimate) concerns, it appears you are just polarising both points of view.

There are easy solutions where Adobe could (1) rebrand, (2) inform or (3) hold of on installing Cinema 4D after specific consent. Somehow Adobe chose to 'sneak' unfamiliar software on our systems, and a lot of users feel this is the wrong decision. I hope someone from Adobe reads this and maybe chooses to go a different route in the next update. There are plenty of other (more user friendly) options.

[Warren Heaton]

Hello Sabasn:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Cinema 4D Lite will not launch unless you do so from within After Effects.

How would you suggest that a software publisher provide information about their software other than the user manual?  Adobe provides the full user manuals free of charge (one does not even have to provide any personal information) for their software here: https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html.  

What software have you found that you like to use for motion graphics other than After Effects?

-Warren

[omidsolo]

lol man you're pretty out of picture in this regard!

I'm sure you were not a developer or installation designer for near 2 decades right?

So why trying to defend what you're not expert at?

To get started:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/windows-installer-guide

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/windows-installer-best-practices

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/guidelines-for-packages

Altrhough Adobe itself does not follow many since it uses its own crap custom installers!

That's why InstallShield is 2nd to none even for giant companies!

[Warren Heaton]

Omidsolo:

I agree that the installer could do more to let the end-user know what After Effects actually is.

If anything, hopefully this tread helps those who don't know what they're installing to know what they're installing.

Courtesy goes a long way in user threads, Omidsolo.  It's interesting to read a post where someone who is demanding best practices for software installation does not follow best practices for social interaction.

-Waren

[omidsolo]

I think there's some misunderstanding here, it's not your fault that Adobe's devs are dumb! That is a free version of C4D which you can get from other sources and install, even if not installed with AE! Also surely Adobe does not give a ^_^ about our opinions here and there! Be sure of that 🙂

[Rick Gerard]

Without the C4D Lite installation, the C4D rendering engine is not going to work and your app will not be able to do a lot of things that many users would miss. If you want Adobe to stop including 3rd party stuff then all of the CC effects and Mocha AE would be dropped. It's only 700 MB, and even if you never use Cineware in your projects, you would miss the other functionality this bundled program gives AE. 

[jeva72]

C4D does not show up in the CC desktop app, you need to find it in the win  / settings / apps if yo want to uninstall it. Do you really believe that is ok?   Whenever I update AE I get a new C4D lite version, so it's not just 700 MB, it is many times 700 MB depending how often you uninstall that app. And finally: don't be ridicuolus, we are not against 3rd party stuff, we simply want to be in control.  

[Guest]

Not to mention we've not agreed to an EULA with Maxon.

[Warren Heaton]

You obviously didn't read the After Effects EULA, either.  The inclusion of Cinema 4D Lite is not a secret.

[rtijn]

Adobe should get its act together and be the software supplier that it pretends to be. It's morally wrong to force feed third party software without user consent. I'm paying enough to not have to deal with nonsense like that. It's bloatware, no matter how much you love it.

And you should be on our side.

Hiding something important like this away in the EULA is no excuse. And even if I would've noticed it, then what? Not install AE? I need it to do my job.

[Warren Heaton]

I could not possibly promote the removal of Cinema 4D Lite, rtijn.  As you've noted, I need it to do my job.

[Guest]

We're not asking you to promote the removal of C4DL, simply to respect that CONSENT is vital. Nothing about any of your replies has indicated that you understand the importance of consent.

[rtijn]

1) I've worked with Adobe products for over 15 years on a daily basis (including many evenings and weekends). I'm not trying to brag, but for some reason, I have the feeling that I need to clarify this because you seem to think everyone has just started working with computers yesterday. Not ONCE have I needed C4D for anything. After Effects doesn't need it. At all. Period. It's a separate program and should be treated as such, with a separate installer from the creative cloud app. Preferably a full version instead of Lite and Adobe owned instead of Maxon.

2) I think 700mb's of third party software that was installed without my knowledge or consent, is a lot and very inappropriate. On top of that, on the last AE update, it installed a second instance of C4D, totalling up to 1400mb.

3) Comparrisson with AE plugins are rediculous and I'm sure that doesn't need any elaboration.

4) It has a nice integration with AE, but so what? So does AME, and that has it's separate installer.

We're the customers here. Take us seriously.

[Warren Heaton]

I agree that the installer should provide an option for a custom install.

The user guide provides instructions on how to uninstall Cinema 4D Lite.  There is absolutely no reason to lose 1.4GB of storage.

Since the addition of Adobe Media Encoder, it has always installed with After Effects and it still does.  (You are incorrect.)  AME being available as a stand-alone installer is fairly new.

[AndyQ]

Same issue for me - I freaked out for a moment wondering WTF had gone on. If I didn't know what C4D was and hadn't connected the dots to Adobe I would have been on red-alert lock down. As it is, this issue has cost me time (and thus money) to deal with, and the emotional trauma of having my PC security violated by a supposedly trusted source.

[Warren Heaton]

Circling back to this post.  Who went to the User-Voice Page for AE about this?

[rtijn]

Thanks for pointing it out. Just a link for voting convenience: Opt-out of the installation of Cinema 4D R21 when installing After Effects

My 2 cents:

C4D is third party software that I didn't ask for, is forced onto my pc and requires a separate license to fully function. That smells of some shady business deal that we've seen a lot of in the 90's. I am surprised that anyone can consider this anything other than bloatware because this is probably the very definition of it.

I'm a 2d animator, I don't need 3d software. And if I would consider going that route, I would probably go for Blender since that has improved significantly in the past few updates and is free. If Adobe would integrate Blender, it would be a different story, but I still think it would require a seperate installer.

I really do appreciate your effort with your community support, but since you're defending Adobe's choices here, you can also expect some arguments against it. I'd like to address some of your reasoning, because I think there are some misconceptions. Although you're right that plugins are third party software, you would probably agree that C4D is a different scale, since it is it's own seperate program and plugins included in AE are permanently fully licensed.

Another thing you seem to like to mention is that 'industry professionals asked for it'. This really bothers me because you are assuming 2 things: the first being that ALL professionals want this, the second being that they wanted it in this way. Yes it's a nice integration, but everyone would probably agree that C4D needs it's own seperate installer from the CC application. If Media Encoder has it, then C4D should definitely have it. On top of these assumptions, saying that 'professionals want it' also implies that I may not be a professional, since I don't want it. That's not very kind.