For 3D artists, indie animators, and freelancers who need natural movement without a capture stage
Record a performance on the iPhone in your pocket and animate with it the same hour. Moves by Maxon is a free capture app that records facial expressions, full-body movement, and real-world objects, then sends everything to Cinema 4D over your local network with one tap. The capture arrives as animation-ready data, the natural starting point for character work that would take days to keyframe by hand.
Motion capture software records a live performance and converts it into animation data that can drive a digital character. Studios capture performances with camera arrays on dedicated stages or with sensor-equipped suits; markerless tools track the performer through a single camera instead. Moves by Maxon takes the markerless route on hardware most artists already own, using the iPhone's cameras to capture faces and full bodies for Cinema 4D. A performance that once required a facility now fits in a phone and a few square feet of floor.
Benefits
Lifelike character motion takes days when every gesture is keyframed by hand. A Moves by Maxon capture takes exactly as long as the performance itself, and the data lands in Cinema 4D ready to drive a character with minimum setup.
Face Capture reads expression through the iPhone's TrueDepth camera and records voice in sync. Cinema 4D receives both a moving face mesh and per-frame weights for Apple's 52 blendshapes. Dialogue scenes start from real human nuance instead of a blank timeline.
Captures move from phone to Cinema 4D over your local network with one tap, and the connectivity comes preinstalled. Cinema 4D stores every take in its capture manager, so old sessions stay available without cluttering your phone. From there the wider toolset takes over, from rigging and MoGraph to simulation and Redshift rendering, all in the same application. A Maxon One subscription adds the rest of the lineup when a project outgrows a single tool.
Our Users
Capabilities
Face Capture turns a selfie video into facial animation. The TrueDepth camera tracks expression in real time while the app records voice and face texture alongside the motion.
Body Capture records full-body movement with the rear camera, no suit and no markers. ARKit analyzes the performance in real time and overlays an animated skeleton on the video for instant review.
Object Capture adds photogrammetry to the same app. Photograph an object from all sides while an on-screen globe tracks coverage, then send the images to Cinema 4D for reconstruction.
Cinema 4D ships with Moves connectivity preinstalled, and the phone and computer only need to share a network. Each capture arrives as a Face or Body Capture object, with setup handled on import so the data is ready to connect to a rig. The capture manager keeps every take organized on your computer. A one-click save bundles capture files into the project folder for handoff to another artist. Captured data stays on your devices. It moves to Cinema 4D and nowhere else.
Our Solutions
Two pieces cover the whole workflow. Moves by Maxon handles capture on iPhone and iPad, and Cinema 4D turns captured performance into finished character animation. For studios that want the full Maxon toolset around it, Maxon One bundles everything in one subscription.
Moves by Maxon is a free capture app for iPhone and iPad that records facial performance and full-body movement, and it scans real-world objects into 3D models. Captures preview live on the device and transfer to Cinema 4D with one tap. The app is free on the App Store and requires iOS 15 or later.
Cinema 4D is where captured performance becomes finished animation. Moves connectivity comes preinstalled, and captures import as ready-to-use objects. The character toolset handles rigging and refinement. Every Cinema 4D subscription includes Redshift for final rendering. A free 14-day trial is available.
Maxon One adds ZBrush for sculpting custom characters and Red Giant for post-production, along with the rest of the Maxon lineup, in a single subscription. For character work that runs from sculpt through capture to final composite, it is the complete kit.
Tutorials
Official Cineversity tutorials cover the Moves workflow from your first recording through working with the data in Cinema 4D.
Athanasios Pozantzis
Athanasios Pozantzis
Athanasios Pozantzis
How our tools are used
How it works
The workflow runs from phone to finished scene in four steps. Record the performance where it happens, on set or at a desk; review it on the device; then hand the data to Cinema 4D for mapping and refinement. No stage rental or capture hardware appears anywhere on the schedule.
Open Moves by Maxon and pick a capture mode. Face Capture works like recording a selfie video. The TrueDepth camera reads expression while the microphone records dialogue in sync. Body Capture uses the rear camera and overlays a live skeleton on the recording. Either way the performance previews in real time, and weak takes get caught on the spot.
With the phone and computer on the same network, one tap transfers the capture into Cinema 4D, where connectivity comes preinstalled. The capture manager files every take on the computer, so the phone stays clear and past sessions remain a double-click away. Nothing routes through a cloud service along the way.
Captures import as Face or Body Capture objects with setup handled for you. Adjust timing and clean up problem frames, then map the movement onto a rigged character. Watch how captured nuance carries through. The small asymmetries of a real face and the weight shifts of a real body survive into the final animation.
A capture rarely ships alone. Build the set around the character and light the scene, then render with Redshift, which every Cinema 4D subscription includes. Hand animation layers on top of the captured base wherever the performance needs a push.
Production motion capture ranges from optical stages with marker suits to single-camera markerless tools. For Cinema 4D artists, Moves by Maxon covers the markerless end for free. The app records face and body performance on an iPhone and sends the data straight into Cinema 4D.
Yes. Moves by Maxon is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. It handles facial and body capture as well as 3D object scanning in a single app. Cinema 4D is required to use the captured data, and a free 14-day trial covers that side, as well.
Apple's ARKit makes the iPhone a capable capture device. The TrueDepth camera tracks facial expression with 52 blendshape channels, and the rear camera tracks full-body movement with no markers or suit. Moves by Maxon records both and delivers the data to Cinema 4D as animation-ready objects.
Motion capture records a live performance as 3D data. A tracking system, whether marker-based or purely camera-driven, follows the performer's joints and expressions frame by frame. Animation software then maps that movement onto a digital character. The result keeps the timing and weight of the original performance, which is why captured animation reads as natural.
Moves by Maxon connectivity comes preinstalled in Cinema 4D, so captures import directly as Face and Body Capture objects with setup handled on import. From there the character animation toolset takes over for mapping the data onto rigs and refining the result.
No. Suits and optical stages still dominate high-end production, where accuracy budgets justify them. Markerless capture needs nothing but a camera. Moves by Maxon records body motion with an iPhone. Results improve with fitted clothing and good contrast against the background.
Moves by Maxon is a free download on the App Store. Pair it with a 14-day trial of Cinema 4D and your first capture can be driving a character this afternoon.
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