ISSUE - NOVEMBER 2005
CINEMA 4D in the classr classr oom. Read the inter view view with High School School teacher teacher Richar Richar d Per Per rine on pa g e 6.
Lear n how how to make make stunning ar chihitectur e in the g r eat eat tutorial by by Blenon pa g e 15.
Par t 3 of “Jamie’ s” Chainsaw “Jamie’s” Chainsaw tutotutorial. Get your our chainsa hainsaw w r eady y y c ead to r un on pa g e 23.
Page 3
Editors Notes
Page 6-9
CINEMA 4D in the Classroom by Tavy ann
Page 10
C4D Quiz
Page 11-14
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D by Rui Batista
PAGE 15-20 Architecture Tutorial by Blend
PAGE 21-22 MAXON USER MEETING by Mark Gmehling
PAGE 23-25 Modeling and Texturing a Chainsaw Pt3 by Jamie Hamel-Smith
PAGE 26-27 Vital Disclosure - BP2 Insider Secrets by Mark Gmehling
PAGE 28
Sound Driven Animation by Chris Montesano
PAGE 29-30 ZBrush Introduction Part 2 by Mark Gmehling
PAGE 31-33 3D Attack - A UFO Report by Georg Niedermeier
PAGE 34-37 Compositing Tutorial by Jeff Hogan
PAGE 36-37
Artist Spotlight on Mattias Bober
Page 39-42
Using DPit to Create Grass by A Bubbles 4D Member
Page 43-44
Spline Tools Review by Gary Zullo
Editor’s Notes Hello Readers and Attackers! WOW! It’s been a busy month here at 3D Attack. So much has been happening. The magazine, radio show, forum, and plug-ins. Speaking of plug-ins...did you hear the news? SHE’S BACK! JENNA v.2.25! For more information regarding JENNA v.2.25 visit our forum at http://www.3dattack.net/forum/showt hread.php?t=3872 KEEP ON ATTACKING!
3D ATTACK RADIO Yep, 3D Attack is now doing a radio type broadcast. Our goal with the radio show is to have fun and bring our listeners CINEMA 4D related information. While we are not professionals in this area, we hope you will enjoy the show. Be sure to check it out on www.3dattack.ne/radio, or subscribe to our podcasts within ITunes. Simply go to the "Advanced" menu in iTunes and choose "Subscribe to Podcast...". Enter this link: http://www.3dattack.net/radio/3DATTACK-CINEMA4DNEWS.xml
The 3D Attack Team ***GOODIES FOLDER*** http://www.3dattack.net/goodies/ As most of our readers know, your goodies folder usually comes zipped with your magazine. We have decided to do the Goodies a bit different. You will now find your Goodies folder at http://www.3dattack.net/goodies/ for download. This allows us to make changes to the Goodies folder easily, (if needed) and provide you with the access to the Goodies at all times. Remember, the Goodies are copyright protected, as is the magazine. These Goodies are for paying readers only. DO NOT redistribute your download link or your Goodies folder. BODYPAINT TRAINING DVD Nigel Doyle (3DKiwi) of C4dcafe.com has released his new BodyPaint training DVD. Discovering BodyPaint 3D 2 & 2.5 with 3DKiwi is now available for purchase at: http://www.c4dcafe.com/3dkiwi/bpsh op/index.html Be looking for a complete evaluation and review of this great new training DVD in the December issue of 3D Attack.
Advertising with 3D Attack If you would like to advertise with 3D Attack send us an e-mail requesting our media kit and rate card. 3dattack@3dattack.net Reviews If you would like 3D Attack to evaluate and review your product, or if you are a member of the press and would like to evaluate and review the 3D Attack line of plug-ins for CINEMA 4D, feel free to contact Thomas Pasieka at: 3dattack@3dattack.net Tutorials If you have any questions or comments regarding the tutorials within the magazine, please feel free to express them on or CINEMA 4D discussion forum at www.3dattack.net
READER COMMENTS Dale NC -” WOW! I had no idea there was a CINEMA 4D Magazine. Goodbye 3D World and HELLO 3D ATTACK!” Jeanne 3D - “Thanks so much for all of the hard work. Please hurry with the next issue. I need my ATTACK” Damsel - “Another wonderful radio show you two! I think you really gave out some good food for thought this week on supporting each other and the software as well as the plugin developers and the "little guy". Without our support, we all lose. Thanks Tank & Tavy for another great show and lots to think about. Everyone alerted on PlanIT 3D as always.” Neosushi - “HOLY POLY Replica is great. It's ease of use combined with the clear setup of the Plugins interface. GREAT. As a motion gfx designer Replica is a must have. Even if your not a MoGfxDes. The chainmail example combined with Cloth is absolutely awesome. Keep up the great Work 3D Attack, I love your tools alot. Plus the October issue is stuffed with alot of great content. Gonna read mine in the lunch break.”
Attack the CINEMA4D Magazine and all material contained therein are copyright protected. You may not dis-
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assemble or distribute any part of this publication without prior written consent from 3D Attack directly. Any
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attempts to do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as it applies in Michigan, USA. This applies for both 3D Attack material as well as any named artist contained in its publications. Although we read through
E-mail: 3dattack@3dattack.net
all the tutorials and proof-read them for errors we cannot guarantee that they are 100% error-free and therefore cannot issue refunds based on those errors.
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zBlur: zBlur is a post effect for Cinema 4D which can be used as an alternative to C4D's own DOF. zBlur does not cancel out other post effects, it does not require the Advanced Render module, and it supports reflections and bleed control. zBlur also has a preview window and a reference object that can make changes right in the editor.
LUMEN: LUMEN is a plug-in for Cinema 4D which provides a fast and efficient global illumination and special effects solution. LUMEN creates an array of lights using a source object's points or polygons. LUMEN source objects can be any polygon object, spline, primitive, or primitive spline, and several light parameters can be controlled with information derived from bitmaps or procedural textures.
OLX: OLX is a Cinema 4D plug-in that replaces and extends Cinema's built in Object Library functionality. Not only does OLX support submenus, it also supports separate libraries for documents, scenes, objects, materials, render settings and layouts.
LSD: LSD is a post effect plug-in for CINEMA 4D that can be used to create stunning color/special effects. LSD gives you the ability to use a new created zBuffer or CINEMA 4D’s own zBuffer to colorize, desaturate, and/or add grain and noise to your pictures or animations.
For a complete list of 3D Attack Plug-in features, prices, videos, tutorials and screenshots visit our shop at www.3dattack.net/shop/
Interview
CINEMA 4D In T he Classr oom! An Inter vie w with Ric har d Per rine By Ta vy Ann Tavy: Hi Richard. Thanks so much for taking time to speak with 3D Attack today. Would you mind sharing a bit about you and what you do? Richard: Hi Tavy. I would like to start by saying that I am honored that 3DAttack has an interest in our program at Parish Episcopal School. I live in the Dallas, TX area with my beautiful wife Maria and awesome newborn son Timothy.
Interview
I have a background in pathogenic and cancer research, but currently teach at a Christian private school named Parish Episcopal School. I teach courses in biology and 3D Modeling & Animation, sponsor the Marine Biology Research Club and coach girl’s soccer. Can’t forget to
mention that I’m a huge soccer fan! And I love to create using C4D!
Tavy: Why did you choose teaching as your career path? How long have you been teaching? Richard: Wow. After graduating from college, I joined the United States Peace Corps. I spent 4 years in southern Africa as a science teacher. That experience was and is one of the most pivotal moments of my life. I knew then that teaching was something that I eventually wanted to explore as a career when I returned to the US. I had a wonderful time! I’ve been teaching for about 8 cumulative years now with a number of years of research inter-dispersed.
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Tavy: What brought about the idea of implementing a 3D Modeling and Animation program into the curriculum at Parish Episcopal School? Why CINEMA 4D?
Richard: I really got hooked on computers and computer technologies when I returned from the Peace Corps. I was always interested in and dabbled in drawing and art, in general. And, I have always been and continue to be, a child at heart. I love watching 3D animations and cartoons. In fact, I am an avid watcher of the Cartoon Network and Boomerang, for their artistic value, of course. When I saw Pixar’s Toy Story a few years back, I was blown away. I knew then that I wanted to return to my modest creative side and find
CINEMA 4D In T he Classr oom! An Inter vie w with Ric har d Per rine By Ta vy Ann out how they created the wonderful 3D animations and try to create my own works. I spent a few years exploring 3D art and animation and tried demos of a number of the other popular 3D applications. To tell you the truth, I was not overly impressed with some of the other applications. They were either too difficult to satisfy my immediate needs or did not produce the quality that I was looking for.
Interview
To make a long story short, I left research, returned to teaching, and found a great position with Parish Episcopal School. It was only logical, with my interests in animation and computer technologies that I develop a 3D Modeling and Animation program at the school. It wasn’t difficult to implement the idea to the school. Parish has always been supportive of creative and new ideas. I am blessed to be a part of the school. Why C4D? That’s easy. It is, in my opinion, the most user-friendly application while still possessing the tools in producing professional quality renders.
It’s my hope to eventually establish a small production animation studio using C4D at the school. I think that it would be a huge success and resource for the for kids and adults within the Dallas community who are interested in 3D modeling and animation. I have big dreams, but believe it can become a reality. Tavy: How many students are currently enrolled in your CINEMA class, and what are their ages? Richard: I teach high school aged students. Their ages range from 1418. My first class currently has 11 enrolled. I will have 19 next trimester. The maximum class size is 19. Tavy: Can you give us an idea of what your students will learn in a typical semester? What is an average day like in your classroom? Richard: 3D Modeling & Animation is a trimester course. I am hoping that, with the development and success of the course, it will become a
I wanted to make sure that I chose an application that was both professionally recognized and would allow high school students the reasonable opportunity to create vivid works in a short period of time. C4D’s UI and learning curve is ideal in teaching our students the wonders of 3D modeling and animation. I taught myself how to model and animate using C4D in a matter of a couple of months. I feel pretty adept at the modeling and basic animation. I still have much to learn, but it’s always fun re-discovering C4D.
Wolfi Roehrborn
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full year elective in the future. We meet every other day for 90minutes. During the first couple of weeks, I introduce the students to the UI. As I am showing the students the UI, I am doing so by projecting what I am doing on my screen to a projection screen at the front of the room. I’m also helping them become familiar with the UI by demonstrating modeling/texturing/animating techniques. After a few weeks, I let the students go at it. Until I teach something new, they are free to create whatever their heart desires, within reason. The students are strongly encouraged to ask questions and I do my best to help them individually or as a group. I believe that this is the best way for students to learn. This method instruction allows students to move at their own pace. Let them explore and discover what C4D is capable of. This is what happens on most days. They come in and start working on their projects.
CINEMA 4D In T he Classr oom! An Inter vie w with Ric har d Per rine By Ta vy Ann Jackson Wimberly
Tavy: Have any of your students expressed a desire to pursue 3D/CG as a career? Richard: Some have. Many of the students are understandably in the class to fulfill their art or computer science requirements, but, there are some very artistic and computer savvy kids who are genuinely interested in 3D/CG.
Interview
I hope that this class will encourage or inspire more of our kids to explore the possibility of pursuing a career in animation or computer graphics. Tavy: What do you do to keep abreast of the changes and innovations in education concerning 3D and CINEMA 4D? Students have 5 projects to turn in within an 11-12 week period. A modestly simple multiple-choice test is given to test their knowledge of the application and at the end of the trimester, a practical is given. The practical will involve having students pick an object from a hat and modeling/texturing/animating that object within a 90-minute period. The objects are basic, but challenging enough that they are compelled to dig beyond the surface to accomplish it. This class is designed to be fun and as an alternative artistic outlet. By the end of the trimester, the students will have a pretty good sense of how to use most of the primitives, scenes, deformations, the names and functions of the UI, various modeling modes, keyframe animation, materials/texturing, many of the functions/tools, and a little Mocca. The knowledge they obtain is cer-
tainly enough to get them shooting out of the gates! Tavy: My son is 12 years old, and I am amazed at the speed in which he is learning CINEMA 4D. He just loves this application and it’s ease of use. How are your students progressing? Do they enjoy what they are learning? Richard: My students are experiencing the same. They are having a fantastic time with C4D. I spent a good portion of my summer creating a week-by-week syllabus/curriculum and felt pretty good about it. I had to toss it after 4 or so weeks because the kids were learning so quickly! It’s turned out much better than I had anticipated. And I’m having a great time teaching them! I don’t even consider it work. I’ve been amazed at the quality of work my kids are producing having never touched a 3D application before.
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Richard: I go online! I read and sometimes participate in the forums in CGTalk, C4DCafe and 3DAttack, and, of course, the Maxon website to keep abreast of what is going on in 3D and Cinema 4D. I am convinced that the general C4D community must be regarded among the most welcoming and helpful. I’ve learned a great deal by visiting the forums. Tavy: What is the greatest reward you have received through teaching? Richard: The acknowledgment and respect of my students. As a teacher, I’m a work in progress and I’m always trying to develop better ways to teach. It really makes it all worth while when your students recognize the efforts that you make as a teacher and respect you. I love being with the kids!
CINEMA 4D In T he Classr oom! An Inter vie w with Ric har d Per rine By Ta vy Ann Tavy: Thanks again Richard for this opportunity and interview. We at 3D Attack wish you and your students much success. Do you have any last words for our readers and/or your students?
Interview
Richard: CINEMA 4D rocks! Thank you Tavy and 3D Attack for this opportunity to share a little bit about myself and our great school. Keep modeling AND animating! And, of course, thank you MAXON!
I was really excited to have the opportunity to interview Richard and spotlight not only his work, but his students as well. In Mid - Michigan, I taught primary through high school grades for 3 years in a small private school. Due to limited funding, it was near impossible to implement programs such as the 3D Modeling and Animation class Parish Episcopal School has brought to their curriculum. I give a big “thumbs up” to Richard and administration at Parish. The children are our future! Thank you for realizing this and implementing programs that will shape and mold them for success!
students...YOU ROCK! KEEP ON ATTACKING! -Tavy Ann
A little note to Richard’s
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zBlur is a post effect for Cinema 4D which can be used as an alternative to C4D's own DOF. zBlur does not cancel out other post effects, it does not require the Advanced Render module, and it supports reflections and bleed control. zBlur also has a preview window and a reference object that can make changes right in the editor.
WIN zBLUR Answer the question below for a chance to win zBlur! Question: What 6 plug-ins are currently available in the 3D Attack Shop? Send an e-mail with zBlur in the subject line, the answer to the question above along with your real name in the e-mail body to 3dattack@3dattack.net. You will then be pooled with the other entrants for a random drawing on December 1, 2005. Our winner will be notified via e-mail and on our CINEMA 4D discussion forum at http://www.3dattack.net *3D Attack staff and/or their immediate families are not eligible to enter and/or win the C4D Quiz.
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D By Rui Batista
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D This will be the very first of a series of articles about the procedural shaders that come, included, with CINEMA 4D.
Tutorial
Before I start talking about the procedural shaders, I will explain in layman terms (or the best I can), what exactly a procedural shader is. A procedural shader is a computer program. Through calculations an image is generated and that is what is used to texture an object. There are advantages and disadvantages with procedural shaders. The advantages are: - Procedural shaders are usually very small. They don't take up any disk space and require less memory than bitmap textures. - Procedural shaders are resolution independent. So, no matter how much you zoom in or how big you enlarge your objects, there will never be any pixelation. - They are also portable. This means that you don't have to save any additional file when transporting your C4D file to another computer. Of course, this only applies to CINEMA 4D native procedural shaders. If you use third-party shaders, you must make sure they exist in the destination computer. - Procedural shaders can be "intelligent". Meaning that they can know things that a regular bitmap texture can't and react accordingly. For example, they can know the angle of a face in relation to the camera. They can know the size of the object. They can know the thickness of the object. They can know what lights hit the surface, etc.
The disadvantages are: - Procedural shaders can be slower than bitmap textures. This is because with procedural shaders calculations are involved. Sometimes, these calculations can be very complex and slow. - Due to their mathematical nature, procedural shaders can show a very evident repeating pattern. this is because a computer can't create true random events (only natural events can be truly random. On a computer only pseudo-random numbers or events can be generated). Creating a procedural texture that looks "natural" is often hard to achieve. - Procedural shaders are an "all or nothing" deal. When you apply a texture based on a procedural shader to an object, you are not able to make the texture slightly different in a specific area. With a bitmap, you can simply paint a different motif or locally adjust some pixels. With procedural shaders, even if possible, it requires the use of masks and multiple projections. Now that we know a little more about what procedural shaders are and how they work, let us start with the first shader of this series of articles: the Gradient shader. You may think: "Mmmm, the Gradient shader? Does this even justify a whole article? I know what it does... it does color gradients. What is the science behind it?". Well, I can assure you that almost all procedural shaders justify an article, but I decided to start with one of the "apparently" simpler ones. Most of the options from the gradient shader are pretty self-explanato-
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ry. For example, I will not teach here how to add new color swatches or how to adjust them, but I will surprise you by explaining you some options you always took for granted. The Type of gradient has eleven options. I can bet you almost never used more than three of four at most. The ones you use more often are the 2D-U, the 2D-V, the 2DCircular and, maybe, the 2DDiagonal. It’s a shame because most of the other options can be very useful. I will explain them all, nevertheless. I assume you know what UV coordinates are (you need to know that to understand how the gradient is applied to the surface), but if you don't, I will give you a brief explanation. All surfaces can have UV coordinates. If they don't already, new UV coordinates can be assigned. Remember those 2D charts you learned in school? There was an X axis running at the bottom from left to right, and a Y axis running at the left side from bottom to top. You could, for example, chart your grades values (Y axis) along the years you spent in school (X axis). Ok, the UV coordinates are like those charts: the U stands for X and the V stands for Y. Now, imagine a square chart. The U coordinates (from left to right) range from 0 (zero) to 1. The Y coordinates (from bottom to top) also range from 0 (zero) to 1. If you flatten your object - you don't have to do so, it’s done internally. This is just for the sake of example - and place the flattened out faces inside that square chart, you can now visualize how the U and V coordinates correspond for each point on the surface of the polygons of your model. Many models can easily be spread out into a
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D By Rui Batista
continuos surface, such as spheres and torus. Some can't and you have to split some parts.This is not really very important right now. What matters is that you understand that all surfaces can't have UV coordinates and what those coordinates are. So, the gradient type of 2D-U, means that the gradient runs along the U coordinate axis. Similarly, the gradient type of 2D-V, produces a gradient that runs along the V coordinate axis. The gradient type 2DDiagonal will, obviously, produce a gradient that runs along both U and V axis, simultaneously. (Pictures 01,02 and 03)
Picture04
Picture05
edges. (Picture 06)The 2D-Star type is similar to the 2D-Box type, but instead of growing to the edges Picture06
Tutorial
Picture01
Picture02
of the UV coordinates system, it grows to the corners. It’s like a diagonal 2D-Box. (Picture 07) Finally, the 2D-Four Corner type is a bit weirder. It creates a linear gradi-
along a surface. Are they useful? Well, they can be, if used in objects that show, somehow, that they are solid, like when we use booleans. So, if you take slices of those objects, the "inner" color, calculated by the volumetric gradient will appear. When you choose any type of 3D gradient, a new set of options becomes available: Start, End and, for Spherical and Cylindrical gradients, Radius. For 3D-Linear gradients, the Start and End parameters (X,Y and Z components) define the start and end coordinates of the gradient, as a vector. For those not familiar to vector, let us say that a vector is a line with a defined starting point and an end point. Besides having a specific length, it also has a specific direction. (Picture 09) If you have the Space parameter (at the bottom) set to Object, the coordinates you type in the Start and End parameters relate to coordiPicture09
Picture07
Picture03
The 2D-Radial type produces a gradient that is just like a "radar", turning around a center that is located in the center of the U and V coordinate axis. (Picture 04) The 2D-Circular type will produce a gradient that spreads out from the center of the U and V coordinate axis. (Picture 05) The 2D-Box type is great for creating frames as it creates a gradient that grows linearly from the center of the U and V coordinate axis to the
ent from the center of the U and V coordinates axis to the corners. The colors it uses for the corners are the colors of the first four color swatches of the gradient. (Picture 08) Ok, these were the 2D type of gradients. What about the 3D types? Picture08
They are gradients that are calculated as a volume, not as a flat surface that is wrapped around or spread
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nates relative to the object. So, if you move the object, the gradient moves with it accordingly. If you set the Space parameter to World, the Start and End parameters relate to the world coordinates. If you move the object, it will move through the texture, making it appear to flow on its surface. This Space parameter applies to all other types of gradient too, of course. For 3D-Cylindrical gradients, the Start and End parameters define a vector that is the center of the cylinder. Since the Start and End parameters define the location and direc-
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D By Rui Batista
tion of the cylinder, the Radius parameter defines its radius (obvious!!). (Picture 10) For 3D-Spherical gradients, the
Picture12
Tutorial
Picture10
Start parameters (no need to use the End parameters as they become dimmed) define the center of the gradient. The Radius parameter defines the radius of the virtual sphere where the gradient is created. (Picture 11) You didn't know all this stuff about the types of gradients, did you? The
Picture13
Picture11
Gradient shader is proving to be more powerful than it looked at first glance and you can check out some examples of the not so orthodox uses of it in the samples files I provide. Ok, on with the remaining parameters. The Cycle parameters, when on, allows the gradient to start over once it goes over the end (and also when it goes prior its start). This is specially useful when the material that contains a gradient is tiled. (Picture 12 and 13) The Turbulence parameter, when set higher than 0%, introduces "noise" in the gradi-
ent. It’s almost like steering the usually neat linear gradient. I always like to add some turbulence, even if as low as 1-3%, to move away from
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the clean, accurate computer-graphics look of the linear gradients. The Octaves parameters defines how accurately the turbulence is cal-
Procedural Shaders in CINEMA 4D
Tutorial
By Rui Batista
culated. Setting it lower will require less calculations, but will render a coarser turbulence. Setting it higher will improve the detail of the turbulence, but will increase calculation times.The Scale parameter should be named Detail. Increasing it will create smaller details in the turbulence. Decreasing it will make the turbulence appear larger. So, just think of it as an Inverse-Scale parameter. The Frequency parameter will animate the turbulence, setting how many changes will occur during a second of animation. Even if you set it higher than 0 (zero), you will probably see nothing different. You usually have to render your scene as an animation to see the results, but you can check out the animated turbulence in the gradient before rendering. Just right-click the thumbnail (Command+click on the Mac) and choose Animate from the contextual menu. Don't forget to turn off the Animate, as soon as you don't need it, because it consumes a lot of time and resources when you modify any parameter.The Angle parameter will only work for 2D gradients (for 2D-Circular will do nothing, of course). With it you can rotate the resulting gradient. When the Absolute parameter is on, the gradient refers to the Turbulence only, and not to the entire span of the texture. Let us say that it creates an even distribution of the texture, lowering the contrast. I already talked about the Space parameter briefly, but I will now explain all the options a bit more in depth. When set to Texture, the gradient is applied to the object and moves/scales/rotates with it. It is applied considering the projection parameters of the Texture tag. When set to Object, the gradient is applied to the object and moves/scales/rotates with it. It
ignores the projection parameters of the Texture tag. When set to World, the gradient is calculated in world coordinates and the object moves/scales/rotates through it. It’s almost like the gradient is being projected by a slide projector to the object. Setting the Space parameter to Camera, the gradient is calculated as a camera projection. The object moves/scales/rotates through the gradient, and camera movements also move the texture around the object.The Screen mode calculates the gradient in the screen space, including Z depth. The object moves/scales/rotates through the gradient and camera movements also move the texture around the object. Finally, the Raster mode calculates the gradient in screen pixels space and has absolutely no depth information. The object moves/scales/rotates through the gradient and camera movements also move the texture around the object. Well, all the parameters are covered. There are a few hidden parameters though... The gradient parameters that only appear when we unroll them, by clicking the triangle on the left of the gradient color band. I will not dig into those here, because they are not really parameters of the Gradient shader. My advice: play with them. The Interpolation parameters set to None is particularly useful. We reached the end of this article. I hope you liked it and learned something about the apparently straightforward Gradient shader. Much more will be covered in the following articles. Stay tuned and... Keep on Attacking :) -Rui
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Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend Hello Attackers!
Tutorial
This tutorial will cover the basic settings you need for putting up an architectural ambient. We'll cover all the steps, from importing your original drawings/plan, setting up your layout, modeling your ambient, setting up the lights and finally rendering your desired views. I assume you have a basic knowledge of the main tools and commands in C4D. I’ll also provide the complete file used for this tutorial. Please do not use this file or tutorial for any commercial purpose. Thank you. Let's start by importing your drawings... 90% of the time when you model an architectural ambient you'll start by using plans you import from AutoCAD or some other 2D software. C4D has the ability to import files from Illustrator and open it, enabling you to use the lines... For those of you who ignore that, Illustrator can open all .dwg files, maintaining all layers and properties, which can be pretty useful as you will see later on.
Illustrator. I saved the plan in vers8 (fig1). Let’s go to C4D. Open a new file, click on open, and select the Illustrator file. You'll see that the file
Fig.1
opens, and you have access to all the lines you've drawn previously (fig2). Two things are to be considered; C4D seems to ignore the lay-
A small note concerning importing and opening files: C4D can import Illustrator files with version no later than v.8 As for Illustrator, it can import files from AutoCAD ,but no later than v2000. Therefore, make sure to save your AutoCAD files in version 2000, and your illustrator files in version 8. That said, let's start working... For this tutorial I’ve decided to model my room up in the mountain... it’s more of a small study with a bed in it. Anyhow, I took some basic measures, planned it in AutoCCad, then passed it to
Fig.3
Fig.4
Fig.2
ers used in illustrator; therefore you'll get a whole bunch of lines under 1 group (fig3). We'll proceed as follows: 1. Select the group in the object manager. 2. Go to the object coordinator and reset the settings in x y and z to zero moving your plan to the center of the space. (fig4) 4. Go to the top view (do this by clicking F2 or select it manually) and make a rotation of the group of -90
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degrees on Y. 5. As you have noticed, we need to rotate some parts of the plan in order to create a virtual cube (basically rotating the elevations we made earlier). So select the set of lines with the rectangular live selection tool (fig5), cut it (ctrl x) and then paste it, this will allow us to select the specific lines easier, put them all under 1 group (alt + g)(fig.5a). Then rotate change the rotation value on P to ZERO (fig.5b) 6. Do the same with the other sides we need and rotate them by 90 degrees to form the virtual cube (fig6) (Change the names of each
Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend
Fig.5
elevation to Side and Front). The final step in setting our layout is to “close” the virtual cube we’ve created. We will do so in 3 steps: Select the object axis tool of the side elevation. Go to its rotation values in the attributes tab. Reset the value to zero (fig.7). That will allow u to rotate the gizmo back to its normal position. Fig.9
Tutorial
Fig.7
Fig.5a
Go to the snap settings tab, and enable it to Snap 3D, deselect GRID and GRIDLINE, and select POINT. (fig.8). That will allow u to move and snap the object directly from the perspective view to any point.
Fig.10
Fig.11
(alt + g) and call it 2D References, then go to tags, and add a Protection Tag in order not to make any mistakes with it later on.
Fig.5b Fig.8
Fig.6
Select your object move its gizmo to the inner corner (the outer 1 represents the thickness of the wall) (fig9), then select back the model tool and move it near the inner corner of the plan view… it will snap directly to it. (fig.10) Repeat the same with the remaining elevations. (fig.11) Once you’re done with that, select all the groups we’ve created and place them under a null object
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Now that we have set our elevations and plan, let’s start modeling it. There's no specific way to be followed. In this tutorial I’ll introduce the way that suits me most. Before starting, a small introduction to snapping... snapping is very important at this stage as it will be quite useful to build the ambient.
Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend
Tutorial
Snapping can be done in 3 modes in C4D (3d snap, 2.5D and 2D) we are going to use the splines imported from Illustrator as guides and snap to it to create our lines... You'll ask yourself now, why are we not using the splines already imported from Illustrator; well for many reasons: Even though the file we're using now is not complicated, when you import files from illustrator you'll usually find yourself with a whole bunch of lines which are difficult to select or connected in weird ways. I find it safer to rebuild above it. This way you'll get clean lines, just the way you want it, and your original plans will be intact for a future change or reference. Let’s start by creating the floor… Make sure that 3d snap is enabled and the point tab is selected. Turn off all the elevation groups you have and leave the Plan active (fig12) Then directly from the perspective
Fig.16 Fig.13
Fig.14
same way you’ve created the floor, using snap to point, start building your spline (fig15) (Remember to snap to the inner corner and not the outer one).As we did with the floor, create an Extrude Object with all Fig.16a
Fig.15 Fig.12
view, start by creating your spline, snapping to the respective corners (fig13) Once done, make sure to check the “close spline” tab, and drag into an Extrude Object (fig14). Reset all the values to zero, so you can get it completely flat. Your floor is created. Don’t forget to change the name of the Extrude Object to Floor. Now go back to the object’s manager, hide the Plan group, and unhide the Left Elevation. Then with the
values ZERO and place the spline in it. Rename it Left Wall Repeat the same thing to create the rear wall, and the right elevation (fig16 and fig.16a)) Now up to the front wall. Enable the Plan group, and the Front Elevation. Then draw the spline using the 3d snap, and perform an extrude on Y of 850.That will get it exactly to its limit on the front elevation. (fig17). Do the same with the 2nd window (fig.18) Now select the last 2 splines you’ve created, copy paste it, and move them on the Y axis to Y 2660 m (fig.19).
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Fig.17
Fig.18
Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend spline, snapped to the four upper corners of the elevations we did. So make sure snap 3d is enabled, with snap to point selected and draw your line. (fig.22), then just drag it in an Extrude Object with all values ZERO. Rename it to Ceiling. Now all our 3d Volume is finished (fig23) The next step is to put some furni-
Fig.24
Tutorial
Fig.19
Perform an extrude of -425 (fig.20) Now that we’ve got our windows settled, let’s create the remaining walls by drawing the splines on the Plan, as we did previously, and extrude with a value Y of 2660 (fig.21)
Fig.25
Fig.22
position it according to the plan, like we did previously. Your bed is done. Select all the components and put them all under 1 group (alt + g). Rename it to bed.
Fig.23
Fig.20
Fig.21
Now that we’ve built all our walls, we just need to create our ceiling. We can easily do this by creating a
ture in. I’ve kept it quite minimal in this tutorial, just to give a general idea. Let’s start with the bed. Go to the top view (F2), create a cube, and enter the following values in its properties: X 1920, Y 106.5 and Z 2130. Position it good in top view in order to match the plan. Then go to the Right View (F3) and fix its position there as well (fig.24) Rename it to Bed’s base. Now copy paste it and change the Y value of the new cube to 266 m. Enable fillet, with a radius of 40 and a subdivision of 5. Reposition it like we did with the base. (fig.25) Now to make the bed’s feet, copy paste the “Bed’s base”, and change its values as follows: X 1920, Y 43 , Z 2130. Then
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On with the night tables. Draw a spline over the plan, using 3d snap to point, then put it in an Extrude Object with an Y value of 400 (fig.26) Repeat the same operation for the left night table. Don’t forget to rename it.
Fig.26
Same thing for the table, draw the spline using snap, (don’t forget to close the spline). Once your spline is drawn move it up by 768 (Y value
Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend 768) that will get it to its position according to the elevation. Then extrude it with an Y value of 80 m. (fig.27 and 27a).
for the floor material, I went for a normal wood texture, just added a bit of reflection and a slight bump. You can play with these settings till it suits the mood you want to show in your project. Give big importance to the Illumination tab as it highly affects
Fig.27
Fig.29
The last source to add is an omni light inside the house. That will help
Tutorial
Fig.27a
I’ve also added a Corbusier chair I had, a mac I modeled fast, and a small office chair in order to fill up the room a bit. You can add any object you might have. Now that we’re basically done with the modeling, let’s put on some textures… I’ve used some basic textures here. Dark wood for the night tables, bright for the bed, a different 1 for the table. You can be quite free with these. The important thing is to get the right texture for the wall… When you’re using radiosity, basically you’re bouncing the light all over the room, and blending all colors… which gives you the realistic aspect you see in every day life… Now a good trick to keep your walls white and not that affected by the other textures is to play with the illumination tab. I basically created a white shader with a 100% brightness, and in the illumination tab, increased the Generate GI strength to 150 and lower the saturation to 70, which will keep the bright white. (fig.28) Apply this material to all walls. As
Fig.28
the colors and diffusion of light in your render. 1 last touch. In order to speed up the rendering time I’ve added a Compositing Tag to the Mac object and to both the Chairs, and I have unchecked the Seen by GI tab. This will allow C4D to exclude these objects while rendering. Now, after setting the textures, we will set up the light environment… To simulate radiosity I went for 3 light sources… The first is the sky… Create a sky, then go to materials, make a new one, uncheck the color tab and the specular, enable just the illumination and lower its value till u get a blueish light color. This material will simulate the sky light diffusion. (fig.29) Then I added the Sun, which is basically made of a distant light, with Hard Shadows enabled, and I lowered the intensity to 65%. Place this light on the windows side, quite far from the model. (fig30) Rename the light to Sun.
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Fig.30
you diffuse the light easier. Ill keep a very low brightness here of 8% (this value varies depending on what you need, a dark atmosphere a bright… etc …) I’ll also enable Soft Shadows, to help add a realistic look to the ambient. Once you’ve created all these light sources, group them together, and rename the group: Ambient settings. Now that we’ve set our light, let’s create a couple of cameras to make our shots. Create a Camera with target, position it as in (fig.31) and give it a focal length of 18. This will allow us to have a wide camera angle, and will give more depth for the room. These “cheating” tips will
Ar c hitectur e Tutorial By Blend Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, in another tutorial we will deal with a
Fig.31
Fig.33
help you get a nice view of your perspective. Once your camera is set, go the Camera’s tab on your perspective view and switch from Editor Camera to Scene Camera. Position it till you get the desired angle. (fig.32)
these you have to play around with the min and max resolution values in the radiosity tab. The default values are 3 and 70, make these settings higher and test your renders till you get the descent result :)
Tutorial
Now go to the Render Settings tab.
You can add a couple of cameras, and render different views (fig33a). You can see here different shots I made of the room, some with additional objects (poster, printer, closet)
Fig.35
Fig.36
more complex architecture, and see an in depth view of how to manage textures and lights! Keep on Attacking! -Bled
Fig.32
In the General tab, put antialiasing to Best, this will allow us to have clean sharp renders. Go to the Output tab and select the desired resolution, I went for an 800 by 600 pixels with a film format HDTV.
Fig.33a
, some with minor changes such as the table’s form or the window’s size (fig.34.35.36)
On with the Radiosity settings, enable Radiosity (standard) and leave it with the default settings for a start. Finally, in the Options tab, unselect the Auto Light tab. You’re all set to make the first render. (fig.33) It took me 5:30 min to render it on a P4. 3.2 Ghz, with 1 giga of ram. Now, as you can see ,we have some splotches on the corners… this is normal. In order to get rid of
Fig.34
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MAXON USER MEETING IN COLOGNE
Interview
By Mark Gmehling aka Macling
On October 15/16, 2005 - MAXON invited their users to Cologne, Germany where the 1st MAXON User meeting took place. A registration fee of 50? covered workshops, project presentations, a catered luncheon buffet both days and all the non-alcoholic beverages one could drink. (We did the alcoholized meeting on Saturday and Sunday evenings on our own around the Cologne Dome- When we came back to our hotel around 4 AM, we started our laptops and did C4D talk! All registrants received an identity card with their real name, forum name and company. A cool idea, but the execution could be improved. While the MAXON logo was in large bold type, the registrants name and forum name were really hard to read. This made it a bit difficult to identify people with whom the only contact you have ever had is on a forum. Though, it all worked out in the end. On both days of the event, CINEMA 4D Workshops and Presentations took place and were a great success. There were a few difficulties in the beginning, but MAXON made corrections quickly. The first workshop was very crowded. People were standing or sitting on the floor next to the 20 laptops provided by Intel. To make is possible for more registrants to attend the workshops comfortably, MAXON had to acquire larger rooms. The BodyPaint workshop I joined was in a very crowded little room and the instructor wasn’t a CINEMA 4D user, so he wasn’t able to provide answers to more indepth questions. MAXON reacted fast and the following workshops took place in larger rooms and were done a few times a day. The tutors (mostly maxon trainers) were really
good. All of the workshops covered the basics and were interesting for the new user or crossing over from other applications. The project pre-
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sentations took place in a big room with 200 seats. These presentations were really interesting for the more advanced user, where our project
MAXON USER MEETING IN COLOGNE
Interview
By Mark Gmehling aka Macling
related questions were answered. The 3D-crowd was entertained by some Speed challenges with different topics, like shader developmentmodeling- lighting- logo animation etc. The 4 challengers workspaces were beamed on the big screen. It was a lot fun to watch their workflow. The speed modeling sessions lasted 15 minutes and the crowd was the judge. Lenno successfully represented 3D Attack in the shader development challenge and won a handy holder for his desktop. During the shader challenge, many people gathered around Lenno to
see his work. This was a great opportunity for us to give away 30 3D Attack Year One Collection CD’s. We were delighted to find out that about 90% of the users knew of 3D Attack and subscribe to the magazine. They love it! All in all, the MAXON user meeting was a great success! The CINEMA 4D Community consists of a 100% friendly people. It was great to meet so many 3D addicts. It was especially fun to meet and talk with old-virtual friends in realtime. This is proof that we are not
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alone in dreaming about splines or thinking about poly count when we look at a tree! Here’s to waiting for the next User meeting!
Modeling and Texturing a Chainsaw Part 3 By Jamie Hamel - Smith
Well, here we are, at the final part of this tutorial. Start with the Chainsaw-Part 2-Finished.c4d File
Tutorial
Modeling the ‘Pull Start’ Handle This is a very simple object. It is TShaped and very primitive. For this object, we will simply start with a cube and extrude faces until we have the shape we want. I just scaled the cube down and started at the base, then extruded a bit, scaled a bit, once the shape is roughed out, drop the cube into the HyperNURBS group and you can rename it and add any additional cuts you may need. (Image-01)
bridge tool. (Image-04) Now that we have the grid laid out, we can select the polygons where we want to make the holes. (Image-05) And bridge the polygons. Once that’s done, I dropped it into the
Image 02
Scale the cube down, then make it editable (C) we will then extrude and rotate the faces until you have something looking like this. (Image03) Then we will switch to the top viewport and scale the object along the X-Axis until it lines up in the
Image 04
Image 01
Modeling the Spark Plug Cap The Spark Plug Cap (rubbery looking thing with a wire leading out of it on top the unit) This part is pretty much the same modeling method as the handle. Just start with a cube and using the Extrude, Move, Scale and Rotate tools, just box model your object from there. (Image-02) Modeling the Forward Handle This is again, a very simple object, but I will take you though it step by step. Starting with a Cube, and working in the Left Viewport, we will rough out the shape of the handle.
Image 05 Image 03
underlay. Notice that there are holes in the handle (check the reference photography or the Top Viewport. To get these holes, we need to create some knife cuts at the edges of them and then we will use the bridge tool to create the holes. Using the knife tool (either in Line Mode or Plane Mode) make these cuts in the top viewport to create the geometry where we will use the
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HyperNURBS object and then I looked at the reference photography and I noticed that the handle tapers a little towards the top, so I then adjusted the shape by selecting the points at the top corners of the object and scaling them on the XAxis. Once that was done, I used the knife tool in Loop Mode to harden up the center area. (Notice the extra edges running vertically along the center of the object.(Image-06) The final component of this part is
Modeling and Texturing a Chainsaw Part 3 By Jamie Hamel - Smith
The Engine Cover This part will be a HyperNURBS Object that we will create by cutting a cube using the knife until it fits our needs. Start by creating a cube, scaling it down to fit the area we are working with (orange engine cover) and making it editable, (Image-08) (1) we will want to delete 2 faces from the cube. The Front face and the bottom face. (2) After doing that,
Tutorial
Image 06
the bracket that holds it on, if you switch to the Right Viewport, you can clearly see the metal bracket that this forward handle attaches to. Create a New Polygon Object (Objects > Polygon Object) and using the create Polygon Tool (NGons) trace the shape of the bracket. Afterwards, simply extrude it a bit (with the ‘create caps’ option on) and bevel the edges a bit. A nice tip for this part is to select the N-Gon on one side, then Ctrl-Click the Edges Mode, that will convert the Polygon Selection to an Edge Selection and then you can bevel the edges using the Bevel Tool. (Image-07)
Image 07
Image 08
go to the top viewport (F2) and position the left and right faces so that they encompass the cover. (3) Add Knife cuts (line mode) where the details are in the cover, remember to cut straight through the object when doing so. Do this from the Top Viewport and then from the Left Viewport. Move the points so they follow the contour of the orange cover and then Drop the object into your HyperNURBS group. (4) Once you have the cover taking the shape of the orange cover, and it’s in the HyperNURBS Object, you may notice that the top is too smooth and curved. We need to add 2 more knife cuts. One on each edge, switch to the Perspective Viewport (F1) and using the Knife tool in loop mode, make these cuts. This will harden up the edges to give a better representation of the way it really looks. (5) Once you have done that, you can check the Left and Right View ports, you need to move the lower points up to meet the curve of the cover. (6) You may see some
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areas where you need to insert additional knife cuts to get more points and edges to make the curves on the sides fit better, just remember that when making these cuts you must cut straight through the object. Loop Mode is very effective at doing this. Once you are done cutting it up, you will need to make some additional adjustments so your other objects don’t intersect it too much. Muffler (exhaust) This object will once again be a HyperNURBS Object. We will start with a cube then scale it down and make it editable. Position it near the exhaust area. And drop it you’re your HyperNURBS Group. Now I can’t really see the exhaust too well from the photos, so we are going to model it a little rough. It looks like a capsule shaped housing with some fins on the top. Just scale and position the cube so that it fits and add knife cuts in the general areas that I did. By now this should just be 2nd nature, so just run with it. (Image09) For the fins, I just used some cubes and copied and rotated them so
Image 09
they looked ok. I don’t want to get too into modeling this part because
Modeling and Texturing a Chainsaw Part 3 By Jam Hamel - Smith
it’s sort of sketchy from the photos. You do get a nice view of it from the Left Viewport however. As you can see, I also rounded the edges of the fins. (Image-10) That’s enough detail for the body of the chainsaw, this tutorial would be way too long if we got into all the details and this is already the 3rd
Tutorial
Image 10
part, I’m sure it’s beginning to get tiring. Let’s finish up with the rig for the chain on the blade. Now it would be a whole extra tutorial if I were to break down the XPresso we are about to use, so instead I have created an XPresso that I use when I am doing motorcycle chains and I will teach you how to merge it into your file and use it correctly. The Chain! Now, to start off, open the supplied file called Chain-XPresso.c4d this is a file that I have created to make the implementation of the chain as easy as possible. It’s an Expression that I created a while ago to animate motorcycle chains, we will modify this file and use it to create the chain for our chainsaw. It consists of a spline that the links follow and an inner link, also an outer link. Below these are instances of the links. They all have ‘Align to Spline’ Tags on them. The expression controls the align to spline values and as more copies of the instances are created, more links are evenly distributed along the spline. So, let’s do
it! Merge the Chain-XPresso.c4d file with your chainsaw file from the File Menu, Merge command. Once it appears, go to the Left Viewport and select the Spline Object, choose the points tool, and select all of the points, then delete them. We are going to draw a new spline that follows the contour of the chainsaw blade. Create a new spline by CtrlClicking in the Left Viewport and trace the shape of the blade. Now, we could just create a whole new spline, but that would mean fiddling with the XPresso tag and I’m sure we don’t want to do that. Once you have completed drawing the spline with its new shape, switch to the top view and line it up with the blade. Now, in order to make sure that all of the links are pointing in the right direction at all times and that they don’t flip around as their rotation changes, we need to add a Rail Spline to the Align to Spline Tags. Copy the Spline in the Object Manager by Ctrl-Dragging it and once you have copy, delete the children and the XPresso Tag from it. This will be our Rail Spline, so you can rename it if you like. Now, you need to move the Rail Spline along the Z-Axis as shown. (Image-10) Now, the rail spline will ensure that the X-Axis of all the links always point towards it. To make this the rail spline, we need to select all of the Align to Spline Tags and drag the Rail Spline into the Rail Path Field. (Image-11) Once this is done, we can create more copies of the link instances. Select the 4 link instances and Ctrl-Drag them to copy them, make sure that they alternate, inner link, outer link, inner link, outer link etc… keep copying them until the entire spline is filled up with links. Switch to the Left view and zoom in on an area of chain and you will see when they line up.
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Image 11
(Image-12) Once you have done all that, you can then edit the 2 original links to create any type of teeth on the
Image 11
chainsaw blade that you like. Get a little creative with it, remember since the links are instances, once you edit the 2 original links, all the others will show the changes too! You can even add additional objects as children of the links and they will also copy with the instances! Well, that’s it for my Chainsaw Tutorial, so as always, Keep on Attacking, and if I have missed anything, just contact me on the forum or create a new thread about the issue. Bye Bye - Jamie
VITAL DISCLOSURE - BP2 Insider Secrets
Training DVD Review
By Mark Gmehling
Vital Disclosure BodyPaint 2- Insider Secrets Volume One
and brush presets that are used in the later project, furthermore, a look into customizing the layout.
Team Vital shows the needed steps for creating tileable textures using Photoshop for later usage in BP.
The expectation on this DVD was really high considering the guys who wrote the BodyPaint manual developed it. The DVD was offered at a high discount for early purchase. Many people took advantage of the early purchase, but the Vital team had a hard start with their first Training-DVD-publication. Some of you may have heard about some shipping trouble and resolution criticism. To make it short: The Vital Distraction team took some harsh feedback, but served their clients well in the end.
Chapter Two (UV’s): Using the set-up wizard: This allows you to map lots of meshes simultaneously. Interesting for more advanced BP Users is the workflow that first UV-sets up all meshes and later goes back and increases the texture maps size using the setup wizard.
Texturepaint: Shown here is the usage of the Photoshop created tileable texture inside BP.
Simple Interactive Mapping: This section is dedicated to optimizing the wizards UV layout using the interactive mapping method and stitching the UV’s together.
Creating Layers Text Tools: Shows the steps to create the needed layers/material channels to work with.
At their own cost, Vital shipped a second highres-version to all their clients. They were finally able to get some great feedback (well deserved) about the content!
RelaxUV/ Magnet Tool: The relax UV/magnet tool comes into play when optimizing complicated areas of a head, for example, the ear and eye area or to get an even interpolation of the UV’s here and there.
This is a double DVD package. DVD 1 contains the workshop video files and the needed codec. DVD 2 contains all project files. Cinema Release 9 is used, but all steps are easy to follow with older versions as well. So, now let’s talk about the content: The DVD is separated into three parts. Let’s take a short tour through the chapters: Chapter One (Interface): UV’s in general: Explains what UV’s are and why it is needed to unwrap meshes to avoid overlapping when it comes to paint detailed texture maps. Close look at the interface: Walkthrough the material-, layer-, color-, attributes, uv- manager, color
Complex Mapping: The complex mapping chapter is dedicated to the mapping of the characters cloth, using different interactive projection types. Team Vital pays attention to some needs for UV mapping cloth to maintain an even fabric flow. UV Terrace: Team Vital demonstrates the UV terrace command to automatically place some UV’s you might have missed during your setup to their right places in your UV map. One more timesaving little helper that advanced BP users may have not realized.
Resizing Textures: The setup wizard in material mode is used to resize the UV maps/textures to sensible resolutions.
Layer Masks/ Blending Layers: This is a walkthrough of BodyPaint's Layer Manager and its features, including working with alpha layers. Projection Painting: Shows the power of BP’s Projection Painting feature that allows you to roughly texture a head using some photos. Cloning: Demonstrating ways on how to optimize photographed material for texturing the project-characters head. Advanced Projection Painting: Team vital shows ways to detail the texture of the project characters cloth using photographed/scanned textures that are tweaked inside Photoshop.
Chapter Three (Painting):
Accurate Texture Painting: Deals with some copy/paste bitmap methods to detail the characters cloth further. In addition to that, BP’s clone tool and brush tool possibilities are featured here.
Photoshop:
Multichannel vs. Layers:
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VITAL DISCLOSURE - BP2 Insider Secrets By Mark Gmehling
Team vital shows the fast forward method to create bump and diffusion channels out of the painted colormap featuring some of BP’s inbuilt filters.
Training DVD Review
Multichannel Painting: Here is the usage of custom brushes and BP’s powerful multi-channel painting feature to push the project characters texture map forward and adjust the results by using the layers blend mode options. Burn and Dodge: This chapter is dedicated to the burn and dodge tool most of you might know from Photoshop. Team Vital details the created textures and lightens/darkens specific areas here.
Store and Remap UV: Here Team Vital shares some tricks they explored and show how to adjust UV’s in an already painted texture without having to repaint the adjusted areas. This is one more chapter that may be interesting for the advanced user. All of these topics are covered in about two hours. I would say the motto of this BP tutorial is: “quick and efficient”. Team Vital didn’t want to bore the audience ;) Team Vital demonstrate the fast-forward method to UV-Setup and texturing a whole character, including cloth, as fast as it is possible. The English is good and understandable, even for non-native-English-speakers. All steps are well explained, as you would expect from the guys that wrote the BP manual. The “Insider Secrets” DVD is a good start for people who are experienced with modeling, but new to
BodyPaint, I think more advanced BodyPaint users might get some additional knowledge here and there, but most of the content covered is quite common texturing work. Team Vital demonstrates the fast-straight-forward method for texturing using photographed material and optimizing it to fit the needs for usage in BP. I hope the next releases will have a better functionality of the embedded video window. I had problems with pausing the video and working with the Alt-Tab Shortcut to bring CINEMA in the foreground. The Video window is always in foreground, thus making it difficult to switch between application and video. The price of 85 US dollars seems quite high compared to the playtime of the DVD. Due to the price and playtime relation, I give this training DVD a 4 out of 5 Attack Points. Please don’t misunderstand this: The given informa-
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tion is topnotch- all is well explained- but I think they could have recorded one more hour showing some more into-depth tricks for the more advanced user, furthermore the “workspace-behavior” is improvable. Visit HYPERLINK "http://www.Vitaldistraction.com" www.Vitaldistraction.com to have a closer look at the coming C4DTraining DVD’s. (In the meantime a teaser clip, some screenshots and a chapter teaser are available) Team Vital is now shipping their Cloth Training DVD ($85 including shipping and handling) and are working on a third DVD, of which the topic is yet to be announced. A bundle containing the BodyPaint and Cloth DVDs is offered for $129.
Sound Driven Animation By Chris Montesano
Sound driven animation
menu "New Node->XPresso>Calculate->RangeMapper". Click on the RangeMapper node and in the Attributes Manager set the "Input Lower" field to -32767 and the "Input Upper" field to 32767. Then set the "Output Lower" field to 10 and the "Output Upper" field to 200. [pic003] Wire the Left output port of the Sound node to the Input port of the
Image 001
Tutorial
There seems to be alot of interest in sound driven animation, and it's fairly easy to do with the XPresso sound node. The sound node has a couple of main functions. The first of which is the ability to programatically play sounds in the editor, for example, when two objects collide. This is pretty useless in my opinion, as there is no way to render out the sound. The real usefulness of the sound node lies in it's ability to output the amplitude (volume) of a sound file for any given sample or time. An important thing to remember is that the sound node can only use uncompressed WAV or AIFF sound files. MP3s will not work. Ok, let's try it out. Start with an empty scene and create a primitive sphere. Right click on the sphere in the Object Manager and add an XPresso tag. The XPresso Editor should open automatically. Now drag the sphere from the Object Manager into the XPresso Editor. This will create an Object node that is linked to your sphere. Now create a sound node by right-clicking an empty part of the XPresso Editor and choosing "New Node>XPresso->General->Sound" from the popup menu.[pic001] Click on the newly created sound node and take a look at the Attributes Manager. You should have two fields: Filename and Probe. Click the button next to the Filename field and select a WAV or AIFF file. Now create an input port on the sound node for Time. [pic002] Create a Time node with the popup menu "New Node>XPresso->General->Time". Wire
Image 002 Image 002
the Time node's Time output to the Sound node's Time input. This tells the Sound node to use the document's time for the position of the sound file. Now on the Sound node, create an output port for Left. In this example we will only use the left channel of the sound file, as we will only be driving one parameter. With some simple math, we could use both channels for this (add left and right together and divide by 2), but for the sake of simplicity we will stick to the left channel only. The output for a single sample can range from about -32767 to 32767. So how do we make this usable? With the help of the RangeMapper node. The RangeMapper takes a number in the input range (in this case -32767 to 32767) and maps the resulting number on another range of numbers. So now add a RangeMapper node from the popup
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RangeMapper node. On the Sphere node, create an input port for Object Properties->Radius and wire the Output port of the RangeMapper node to the Radius input port on the Sphere node. Now play the animation in the editor. The sphere should be changing size based on the amplitude of the left channel of the Sound node. To adjust how the sphere's radius responds, tweak the RangeMapper's "Input Lower" and "Input Upper" values. This method can be used to animate almost anything, but it's just a start. So experiment, get creative, have fun and Keep on Attacking!
-Chris
ZBr ush - Intr oduction P ar t 2 By Mar k Gmehling INTRODUCTION INTO Z-BRUSH PART II (by Mark Gmehling) Basic texturing fast forward method
Tutorial
Hi there Attackers- In the september issue the first ZBrush introduction tutorial was about creating tileable textures within ZBrush. In this second part I want to show one possibility to basically texture a (C4D) mesh using photos or self made files within ZBrush. In the ZBrush tutorial folder you’ll find the C4D-scenefile pear.c4d, that is a quickly blocked out mesh to show you the basic steps of quickly creating a base texture. If you’re interested in its modeling process, check out the file blockingoutthepear.swf that is found in the tutorial folder too.(I used the extrude and extrude inner command by shortcut (Extrude=D and extrude inner=I)) In the end I exported the pear mesh as an .obj (Wavefront) file for further use in ZBrush- this obj file is also found in the tuts folder. The second video file, ZBrushtexturing.swf, is about applying/projecting basic texture onto the model- a method you may know from BodyPaint. But before doing that, I adjust the imported mesh’s UV’s to avoid overlapping- this is done by a few clicks inside ZBrush: To import the tool I go to the Tool Palette – Import- Select the obj. file you wish to import. Draw it onto the canvas and push the edit button or just use the shortcut T. To bring the UV’s in order, I go to the Tools Tab- Texture field and click the Check UV button: As expected, the UV’s behave ugly- the overlapping areas are indicated with red color- the mesh will not be paintable
like this. So I decide to use the AUV Tiling, which means ZBrush lays out the UV’s automatically in checkerboard style- so each UV has the same size- The only disadvantage of this layout is that you’ll not be able to paint further in another 2d paint application than zBrush, because the texture maps UV’s are not in continuos order. Only thing to do is click the AUV Tile button and then the UV to texture button- voila- nice isn’t it? To be honest I don’t care about only being able to paint in ZBrush because its 2D possibilities are that powerful. ZBrush automatically creates a default color texture to demonstrate the UV layout. If you like, go to the Tools Texture palette again and check the UV’s again by clicking the check UV’s button: No red there- all is in best order ? As I haven’t assigned the desired texture size/resolution, I go to the Texture tab and fill the size fields with the pixel proportions I want to create- I choose a 1024x1024 pixel size and press new- a new white texture is added in the texture palette and is automatically applied to the pear mesh. At this point I end the edit mode by clicking T again and clean the canvas Ctrl-N. No fear- The UV edited mesh(ZBrush calls it a tool) remains in the tool palette ;) Now I import a self made texture(not quite sense making in this case) by going to the texture palette- import. The imported texture is active automatically- In the same palette I click the Crop and Fill button to fill the canvas with the active textureZBrush checks if you really want to
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adjust the canvas size because the imported texture is bigger than the current canvas size- I click “ok” and the canvas is adjusted and filled. To be able to see the whole canvas I zoom out using the +- Keys or the button on the right edge. Now I select the pear tool from the tool palette, draw it on the canvas and go in edit mode as before (T)The tool automatically uses the active texture- doesn’t matter at the moment. I drag the mouse outside of the geometry holding the shift key to snap to an orthogonal view. To project the background onto the mesh I just go to the Transform palette and use the 3d copy command- voila -our background is projected onto the pear mesh. I rotate my mesh again- click 3d copy and repeat this two more times to get the whole pear hairy ;). Of course you can do this from perspective angles, but at this time I only want to basically fill the mesh. You’ll notice that the texture is updating automatically after each projection. By clicking Ctrl-N I clear the background that isn’t needed anymore. Now I want to get rid of the seams that came up at the tangential areas during projection: I rotate my mesh to get a good view on the problem areas and go to the projection master(G) –The default settings is ok for now, as I only want to paint color so I hit the drop now button. In the tool palette I choose the clone Brush that behaves like Photoshop's Stamp tool most of you may know. Before painting, I disable the Zadd channel because I only want to affect the colors of the texture. In contrast to Photoshop, Ctrl-clicking in an area defines the texture you want to clone to another area. To rotate the pear mesh I hit G again
ZBr ush - Intr oduction P ar t 2 By Mar k Gmehling and click the Pick up button. Then I rotate to the next ugly seam, hit G and drop the mesh to be able to use the clone brush in projection master mode- I repeat these steps till the texture appears seamless.
Tutorial
To export the texture as colormap I just go to texture- export and save it as a psd file, for example. Furthermore, I export the UV_edited pear mesh by going to tool export and save it as an obj again to open it in C4D. Back in C4D I open the just exported UV edited pear mesh, and in its materials color channel I load the exported ZBrush Texture and wonder why it’s looking odd when I render ;)- I just have to select the material tag in the object manager and go to Texture- flip vertical and all is in order. Not a artistical render indeed, but I think it shows one technical approach to texture a mesh fast and efficient. It was not a sense making example, but working with higher resolution photos to basic texture a head is an interesting way to texture fast forward. I hope this was interesting and we see you on board! Keep attacking! Mark Gmehling
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Sudden Attack - A UFO Report By Georg Niedermeier aka sad
Is this the end of days? Have we finally reached our destiny? It all started in Chesaning, Michigan where several UFO sightings have caused car accidents and at least one elderly individual was brought to a local emergency room heart attack symptoms. It’s a miracle that no one has been severely injured. We have managed to talk to 86-year-old Booh Gahontas, who luckily survived his heart attack.
Report
3D Attack: Mr. Gahontas, would you please describe what you have seen? Mr. G.: Well boy! I haven't seen nuttin cause it was dark outside and in the house. And outta nowhere came that strange sound that woke me outta a dead sleep. First thing I saw was these strange lights. First thought is that it was the sewing machine. My wife, ya know, she’s always forgettin to turn that thing down. She's been a seamstress for her whole life. Look at my trousers, she made em, she's very gifted with that. Even the neighbors come here and ask for assistance with their clothes. Even Mr. Carpenter, our blacksmith, boy you should take a look at our garden gates, it's just, well, anyway, he created it and he asked if mama couldn't... 3D Attack: Well, that's very interesting, but what did you see? Mr. G.: I have been watching Stan, umm, Mr. blacksmith. I saw how he made my garden gates. Boy I tell you, he is one hell of a blacksmith! 3D Attack: Mr. Gahontas, did you see a UFO? Mr. G.: In Mr. Carpenter's garage? Boy, you are talking nonsense! How
would a UFO get in his garage? He’s not that talented! Let me tell you, your shirt could use some refinement from my wife! You know, she's a very gifted seamstress! 3D Attack: Did you see a UFO? Mr. G.: Let me just standup and show you where I saw it. My old bones ain't what they used to be. When I was young, I was good at sports. I was a good dancer and boy... masses of girls were after me. But those days are gone for a long time now. Over there above the hills, right where the tree is. No, not this tree, but that one.
view. We really weren’t getting far with Mr. Gahontas. Fortunately, many of our readers have provided us with evidence that humanity is facing its biggest challenge. It has yet to be determined whether the visitors from the sky are friend or foe. Don’t push the possible reality of Visitors from space to the back of your mind. It’s far too important to ignore. Mr. Rorki was the first to report a sighting in Scotland. He had big trouble taking that photo due to brain waves from space. They made him want to paint the backyard of his office with pink stars.(Pic01) Image 01
3D Attack: The left one? Mr. G.: No, the right one! 3D Attack: What did the UFO look like? Mr. G.: A lampshade! 3D Attack: It looked like a lampshade? Mr. G.: I wonder how my lampshade got here into my garden? Let me just bring it back into the house. This must have been the work of my dog Dottie. She's one nasty little beast, but I really love this honey. Mama didn't like her, but I did, and always will do. So, is that all you wanted to know about the UFO? Boy it’s getting late and mostly they come at high noon. No wonder I can’t show you one right now. You want some whiskey? Boy I forgot, not while yer on duty, right? That's the youth of these days. Rude behavior wherever ya go. And it's getting worse. At that point we stopped the inter-
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Flying barrels seem to be the next step up from flying saucers. This snapshot was taken by Elmata. The aliens even waited while the streetlights were red. (Pic02)
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Sudden Attack - A UFO Report By Georg Niedermeier aka sad
The next photograph shows a crucial step in the beginning of the invasion on earth. Is it by chance that it's another sighting in Great Britain area?(Pic03)
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Report
Obviously the aliens are not only interested in Europe.(Pic04)
noises the UFO became visible. Something in that spaceship must have been broken during the incident. Do the aliens posses a working cloaking technology?(Pic06)
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Bluepulse took an amazing picture which shows the first meeting between humans and aliens. The child spent about two hours in communication with the aliens. Afterward, the kid fluently spoke French and Russian.(Pic05) Nils Meier from Germany has an interesting theory about this picture. He thinks that most of the tourists in Berlin must be aliens. The day he took that photograph he wanted to go through the Brandenburg Gates and ran into an obstacle that he couldn't see. After some strange
Paul Hankin took a spectacular picture right at Big Ben. At the very moment of the flyby, Big Ben started playing its well-known melody backwards. The next time the melody played, everything was working normally.(Pic07) Here is evidence that the aliens are not quite talented with steering their machines. Obviously the alien wanted to park in front of the wall, but it didn't include the wind in its calculations, therefore it parked in the wall.(Pic08) More evidence that most aliens are
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not very good at flying their flying saucers. Silversurfer took a snapshot of an alien ship crashing. (Pic09) Image 09
Sudden Attack - A UFO Report By Georg Niedermeier aka sad Image 11
One of our top-secret agents, Mr. PVP sent us another great photograph which portrays the aliens interest in historical buildings. (Pic10) Image 10
Report
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Nutriman was taken by the aliens. They wanted to learn all they could about skiing and winter. He had an interesting conversation with them, though he didn't understand their native language. It seems that they have been talking to him using PSI. Unfortunately the ship contained no wc, and due to the fact they fed him tons of Humpclicktacktack and about 25 glasses of fake lemonade called Tyloclickmockpick, which tasted like molten paper, he had to leave due to human necessity. (Pic11) Here's another interesting picture taken by Greg Brotherton and Ralf Leeb. We are happy they were able to film that situation with their DV-Cam.(Pic12)Pixelstone made another sighting in Great Britain. Hundreds of curious people have come to see the source of some strange music that is impossible to describe. We can only try to word what he has listened to: ”It sounded like a helicopter and a car having an argument, and a little cat trying to arbitrate while green peculiar images run for cover under a shower”. (Pic13) Mr. Raid from Germany didn't follow the mass panic in Berlin. He remained calm
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and took this picture. Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Schaeuble, alias “rock-androll” greeted the visitors and invited them to a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the aliens don't drink coffee because it's toxic to their bodies, so they made up some excuses and ran ...err... flew away.(Pic14) Smokey43 took a quick snapshot of a high-speed flying saucer.(Pic15) So if you ever see a UFO or an alien, please don't run away, but take a photograph! We have to research whether or not the aliens are a threat to humanity. Thus far we’ve come to the conclusion that they are here to offer friendship. We want to believe! Obviously the above article is fictitious. The images in the article were created
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by some of the wonderful members on our CINEMA 4D discussion forum at www.3dattack.net during our most recent Sudden Attack. What is a Sudden Attack? Every once in a while (suddenly) we will throw up a mini competition where the entrants are given a few basic rules and theme with the opportunity to win some great prizes. During this Sudden Attack the entrants modeled UFO’s and made some very nice compositions. We wanted to include all of the great images, but there were so many entrants in this Sudden Attack we just didn’t have the space. Take a look here: http://www.3dattack.net/forum/showt hread.php?t=3721. Be sure to keep an eye on the WIP forum at 3dattack.net. Another SUDDEN ATTACK is sure to pop up soon, where you will have the opportunity to show off your skills, learn and win some great prizes. Feel free to join any running Sudden Attacks as well.
Compositing Tutorial - A Walkthrough By Jeff Hogan
This is a tutorial done by one of our Sudden Attack “UFO” guys. It is more a picture tutorial than text based. The tutorial will give you some tips and tricks on “compositing” with CINEMA 4D and Photoshop. Please also visit the forum and have a look at the entries in our “UFO” Sudden Attack! http://www.3dattack.net/forum/showt hread.php?t=3721 Here we go!
Tutorial
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Compositing Tutorial - A walkthrough By Jeff Hogan
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Tutorial
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Artist Spotlight Matthias Bober aka “Bobtronic”
Name: Matthias Bober Age: soon 32 Country: Germany
Spotlight
Software: CINEMA 4D 9.5, Silo, Paintshop Website: http://www.bobtronic.de Favorite resources on the web: 3dattack, cgtalk, c4dportal, silo forum
I was born in Berlin - East Germany on December the 12th in 1973. I had a happy childhood and was always interested in painting, science and music. It was hard to get a place of study in East Germany, so I became an electrician (it was a good paying job though). Meanwhile, East and West Germany were re-united again and I was able to get my first computer, a C64. Then followed by several AMIGAs. I started to learn coding in Assembler and made some of my first graphic demos, not really exciting things :) At this time I got interested in CG and began using some of the classic 3D applications on the AMIGA. For example, Reflections, Real 3D and also CINEMA 4D (I believe it was version 2.5). At this time computers were slow and I lost interest in 3D. When I got my first PC I started with 3D
again using the program Imagine. Then came the Open Source boom and I started using Wings3D and Blender. For the first time I was really able to make things how I wanted them. Some years ago MAXON released CINEMA 4D CE+, which was a great chance to get an awesome program for little money. Since
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then I’ve used CINEMA for all my 3D works. In addition to CINEMA I use Silo, which, in my opinion, is a great modeling application. I’ve always enjoyed creating Characters. It gives me great satisfaction to bring something to life. I admire the human body and try always to capture the beauty of it. Maybe that’s the
Artist Spotlight Matthias Bober aka “Bobtronic”
reason I can't make horrible monsters :) Another thing I really enjoy is coding plug-ins. CINEMA's SDK is very powerful and easy to use for someone with a bit coding knowledge. I like to experiment with shading, that’s why most of my plug-ins are shaders. It is also a nice feeling to make other users happy with my plug-ins. It's my way of giving something back to CINEMA's community which, in general, is very helpful and friendly.
Spotlight
In the Spring of this year I was asked by MAXON to become beta tester, which of course I gladly accepted. I will be always grateful for this. For the future I would like to make my living doing 3D. Here and there I’ve done some smaller jobs. Here’s to hoping!
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Using DPit to Create Grass Created by a “Bubbles4d” member
Hi all. Here’s a little tutorial that will help you simulate hair or grass using Deep Instant Tree: "http://www.dpit2.de/" http://www.dpit2.de/
Interpolation: Allows you to choose between 3 modes: None: Splines keep their original aspect Natural: Splines will be curved with rounded angle Uniform: Splines will be curved with sharper angles. Intermediate points will be placed equally along the spline.
The version used is the 2.5. Well, before we get started, here’s a little “tour” of the different functions that we are going to use. Plantage
Tutorial
Open CINEMA 4D and run the plugin Deep Instant Tree. We’re going to use the ‘Plantage’ object.
It will help us create more or less splines ( or polys) onto an already existing object.
Create a »planar object » and make it editable. Put it in the ‘ plantage’ (make it a child) object and you will see that splines are automatically created!(pic-003)
Pic004
Intermediate points:
In the tab shown above, we can see several options. Let’s explain some of these.
Allows to choose the level of subdivision..
Render only:
Polygon Selection:
This option is going to help you in case you have alot of objects in your viewport/render.
Allows to create splines on a selection (in our case of our planar object).
Load h.dept.settings:
For example:
Allows you to load pre-made setups.
Select some polygons of your planar object (in poly mode) then in the selection menu choose ‘set selection’ (Pic-005)
Non destructive: Allows you to display/disable the supporting object (the planar object). Random: Allows to random the position of splines on our plane object.
Pic003
Choose the ‘plantage’ object in the object manager , several setup tabs are available. (pic-004)
As mentioned above, we can produce splines or polys. This is made possible through the ‘mode function’ which allows you to choose one of the two. You should use the spline mode by default (we’ll go into detail later on how to make them visible in your final rendering/viewport ) Don’t change the “View type” let it be in default mode (unlimited)
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Pic005
A new tag appears next to our planar object, name it ‘01’ (Pic-006 pic-007)
Using DPit to Create Grass Created by a “Bubbles4d” member
Pic006
selection tag.
according to a vertex map.
Density:
Example: Choose the planar object, switch to point mode, and with the live selection tool paint a point selection (the vertex painting selection must be set to 100 (or else) (pict-012)
This function allow you to setup the density of splines on our ‘planar object’ (pict-010)
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Let’s get back to our ‘plantage object’ and put our selection tag in the ‘polygon selection’ option (pic-008)
Pic010
Tutorial
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Density editor : Density render : Those functions will allow you to set the density for your viewport/editor or final rendering. The smaller the value the more the density will be. To go further, we have to choose between 2 modes to set the density (pict-011)
A vertex map tag appears next to your object in your object manager, name it “density” and put it in the density map option. (pic013 to 015)
Pic013
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As you can see, splines are only ON our selection (pic-009).
Pic014 Pic015
Pic011 Pic009
Before we continue, erase the
The density map mode: Allows you to random the density
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Using DPit to Create Grass Created by a “Bubbles4d” member
You can see that the density of splines is much higher where painted areas are at 100. (pict-016a)
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you increase the value, here’s what you’ll get: (pic-021) Pic018 Pic016a
Tutorial
Great, now erase the vertex map tag and lets have a look at the ‘distance mode’. Distance: Allows to set up the density depending on other objects.
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Example: Set the start distance option on 0 and the end option on 100. Create a simple sphere and put it in the object option.(pic-017)
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Set the “section editor” value option on 13 (splines will be rounder), set this value also in the “render section” option to get the same result in your final rendering (pict-022)
As you can see, the spline density where our sphere is located is a lot higher now. If you set the density min map option at 2, the density around the sphere will be even higher. Put that value to 50 and there will be no more splines around the sphere ( that option is also working with the density map mode).
Pic022
Ok, erase the sphere and lets get to the appearance tab. (pic-020)
Length: Set’s the length of our splines
The appearance tab:
Length map: Allows to random the length of the spline by painting a vertex map on a planar object.
Pic017
Nothing happens… Set the start distance option on 90 (pict-018 pict-019)
Distance variation: Allows us to smooth our splines giving them shapes more random. If
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Using DPit to Create Grass Created by a “Bubbles4d” member
Example: Take the planar object and get into point mode. With the live selection tool, select your vertex map (strength at 100) and the vertex painting option set. (pic-023)
Well, let’s erase the vertex map tag and go to ‘alignment. tab’ Alignment: That tab allows us to set up the gravity and direction of our splines. With the setup shown below, you
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Tutorial
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A vertex map is created, name it “length” and put it in the option ‘length’ . (pic-024 pic-025)
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parameters as they are really basic. Put the plantage object in the plant volume object. Your spline will get « thickness» and will be visible in your render/rendering. Now is the right time to “render” and should
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should obtain this (pict027-028)
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Set the option length to 100 and the length map to 10. Observe the result (pic026) Pic026
That’s all! Now, it will be interesting to check our splines/grass rendered. To do so, we are going to use another instant tree object, the: “plantvolume
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object” (pict-028)
Thanks and Keep on Attacking!
Plantvolume
Length variation: Allows you to random the spline length.
look pretty similar to the picture shown above.
This object will allow us to “thicken” our splines.(Pict-029) I’ll let you explore the different
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Spline Tools - Plugin b y Rena to Tar a bella By Gar y Zullo PLUGIN REVIEW: SplineTools (By Gary Zullo aka Mr. Pixar)
power comes from a super-simple attribute panel for the SpT generator (seen below).
Plugin Review
Hello again my fellow 3D Attackers!!! Here we go with another review for your reading pleasure. This time I am going to review Renato Tarabella’s latest plugin “SplineTools” which we’ll refer to as SpT for the rest of the review. As we’ve come to expect with all of Renato’s plugins SpT offers tremendous value primarily in the area of workflow. As I’ve come to know the man behind the plugins (having had the pleasure of reviewing several of them), I’ve come to know that every one of Renato’s plugins is born out of a single reason. First and foremost it’s workflow-workflow-workflow. Renato typically develops his plugins to ease the shear amount of work _he_ has to do related to modeling and animations. This is simply another tool in his toolbox; and now ours as well. Thankfully Renato sees enough value in his work to share with the rest of us mere mortals ? SpT itself is surprisingly straight-forward to use considering the power it yields. SpT is a generator that allows you to procedurally join, connect, project and subdivide…can you guess….that’s right…SPLINES!!! SpT will save you, simply, from having to connection and joining potentially _many_ splines in your project and losing editability in the process. Not to mention the headaches that can ensue from spline manipulation within a complex scene (we’ve all been there). Well, SpT allows you to handle a collection of any number of splines as though you were handling any other generator object (e.g. Cube, Extrude NURBS, etc). All the
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splines, joined together they form a circle. (Image 03-04)
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Yep that’s it. Can you believe that’s all there is and yet it can do soooo much? Me either! I found SpT easy enough to figure out that I didn’t have to go fiddling to get things going. I was able to immediately use the features. Just got right in there and was using the thing. How’s that for workflow performance enhancement? There are really three main “object properties” in which SpT will work. Those are: 1) Closed: This works just like it does with splines natively in C4D. It will simply close the resulting spline so that it is no longer open (and all points will be connected). Each spline is independent of the others, so each spline will be closed within itself unless you also use “join” below (Image02) 2) Join Spline: This mode will join the ends of the splines (i.e. the end of spline1 will be joined with the beginning of spline2 and the end of spline2 will be joined with the beginning of spline3, so on and so forth). For this feature think of 4 arc
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3) Closest Ends: This is a truly powerful mode in SpT. In this mode SpT will intelligently determine the best path in which to join your splines. Whereas you would normally get a horrible join (meaning your shape integrity would potentially be destroyed) most times SpT will join in such a way as to preserve your desired shape. (Image05) SpT also has some other important features such as: Collision Object: This field allows you to specify a polygon object in
Spline Tools - Plugin b y Rena to Tar a bella By Gar y Zullo CINEMA”. So, to conclude: I really liked this plugin’s capabilities, but it may not be for everyone. If you do any work with more than one spline “ever” then you should definitely buy this gem.
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Plugin Review
which SpT will attempt to collision detect with. Unfortunately, object generators are not yet supported, nor are parametric primitives from what I understand; only polygon objects Projection Direction: This specifies the direction of project that SpT will use if there is a collision object defined. Collision Distance: This is the offset to be applied in the collision direction Subdivision: After a projection is computed SpT can then subdivide the resulting spline
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Summary: If you do a lot of work with splines you know what a pain they can be to manage and so forth. SpT is an excellent workflow enhancer in that regard. However, if you don’t do much work with multiple splines then SpT may not give you any benefit. That being said; Renato has clearly demonstrated (again) that he is very good at getting to the point with this plugin and simply exposing GREAT functionality. As with most of his other plugins, I find myself oft wondering “Why the heck “that” feature isn’t native to
Also included is all the standard CINEMA support for splines for things such as Spline type, Plane, Intermediate Points, Number of Points and Angle. So there you have it. SpT in all its wondrous simplicity. Below I just wanted to include an example of the spline projection abilities of SpT. So, you can clearly see that with a few settings and a little tweaking you can project a spline (or series of splines) onto any polygon object you so desire. I am thinking lots of repetitive details could be “modeled” using splines and adjusted to suit a particular project’s need. Object re-use; more workflow speed enhancement ? (Image 06)
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At 44 EUROS it will pay for itself the very first time you try spline projection . SpT gets the “Me Likey” seal of approval.
Price: 44 EUROS Url: http://www.tarabella.it/c4d Version: 1.01 Platform: PC/MAC Support: R8.2+ Rating: 4/5
Best of CINEMA 4D Some of the best artists around the world using CINEMA 4D
Artist Comments: The bathroom of a small apartment in Punta Mita, Mèxico.
Image: Bathroom Artist: Juan Carlos Pèrez Ponce Country: Mexico Date Created: August 2005 Website: www.infograficagdl.com Software: CINEMA 4D and Photoshop
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Image: Grimm Artist: Jacob Saariaho (Cpt. Jack) Country: USA Website: www.cptjack.net Date created: april 2005 Software: CINEMA 4D
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Image: Illness Artist: Adam Benton Country: United Kingdom Website: www.kromekat.com Date created: 9/24/05 Software: CINEMA 4D R9.5, Poser, Photoshop
Artist: Comments: An interpretation of what it is like to suffer an illness of indeterminate duration. The original was originally created rotated 180째, but I felt this perspective intensified the theme, by making it more uncomfortable for the viewer.
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Image: Meched and Haunted Artist: Armin Schieb Country: Germany Website: http://home.arcor.de/drakath Date created: September 2005 Software: CINEMA 4D 8 & Photoshop 7
Artist Comments: The evolution of that scene was really hard, turned out very nice. Models are made in CINEMA 4D; Photoshop was used for composition, clouds/dust and colors.
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Image: "Detail" Artist: Fredi Voss aka rollmops Country: Germany Date created: October 2005 Software: CINEMA 4 D 8.5 and 9.5
Artist Comments: The image is a compositing of a background image I made for this picture and a cg-foreground. No global illumination was used. Two lightsources and ambient occlusion.Textured in BodyPaint.
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A COMIC BY SEBASTIEN FLORAND
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© 2004-2005 3D ATTACK TM