NitroMan has a quick look at a new plugin offering for Cinema 4D, NitroVertex. The plugin allows you to work with vertex maps easily in Cinema 4D.
You can build and edit vertex maps by using effectors directly in the scene to set the vertex weight. Effector objects can set the falloff and shape of the vertex weight.
The brilliance behind the plugin is that you can, not only use the effectors to dictate the weights on the vertex map, but because they are objects in the scene, you can also use them for animation, modeling or anything really.
Keep your eye out for NitroVertex which will be coming soon from Nitro4D.