Uninstall Maxon Cinema 4D after Force Install

[milesroat]

Hate to be repetative and bring up an old topic; however, it is extremely concerning that it is impossible to uninstall Maxon cinema 4D due to the software (creative cloud) forcefully reinstalling Maxon cinema 4D, without consent.

There is a topic on this in the forums with lots of incorrect answers and so my goal with this post is to clear up confusion and welcome truthful, honest answers about the automatic installation of Maxon Cinema 4D

First, uninstalling the software does not work. The software reinstalls itself automatically. The steps published in this article are false.

Second, there is no mention of Maxon Computer Gmbh as a licensor in the 3rd Party Legal notice for after effects.

Third, the software is unusable without creating an account with Maxon.

All in all, this behavior is extremely provocative and counter-productive. In fact, it is bizarre that this is still an issue in 2024

[Warren Heaton]

Which OS are you running and which version of Creative Cloud Desktop?  As long as the option for the additional installation is left disabled, Cinema 4D Lite should not get installed.

While I have not consulted an attorney about the license for After Effects, we accept the software as-is and Cinema 4D is well documented in the Adobe After Effects user guide.

A Maxon account only needs to be created if users want to take advantage of the trial period of the full version of C4D.

The integration of Cinema 4D was a response to a long standing feature request from After Effects users and even though some other very good options for 3D are out there C4D is a top choice for motion design. 

If you prefer to see it fully separated from After Effects, you, of course, could start a feature request for that.

[kellyf4507295]

@Warren Heaton how does one go about disabling the option for additional installation? I don't even have After Effects installed on my computer and I have 3 versions of Maxon installed that are not removable. I need to free up some memory and cannot due to these 3 HUGE files.

[Warren Heaton]

@kellyf4507295 

If it's Cinema 4D Lite on your computer, that can only be installed and launched with After Effects.  The optional installer has been available since October 2022 (After Effects User Guide > Showcase Features summary | After Effects (October 2022) > Cinema 4D optional installer).

How to install or to remove that version is available here:  After Effects User Guide > Working with other applications > Cinema 4D and Cineware.

If it's not Cinema 4D Lite, refer to these instructions:  Maxon > Knowledge Base> FAQs > Download and Installation > How do I uninstall my products?

I hope that helps.  The Maxon App with Maxon Cinema 4D 2023, 2024, R22, and R25 take up about 6.3GB on my boot drive.  That's space certainly worth reclaming if not using the software.