41_agosto_2007 by Hiba Dweib

Table Of Contents August 2007

Page 3

Editors Notes

Page 5-10

Interview with Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” by Tavy Pasieka

Page 12-18

Boxmodeling a Character Part 3 by Mark Gmehling

Page 19-22

Getting The Job Done - Job Report by Thomas Pasieka

Page 24-26

Total Recall X-Ray Effect Tutorial by Rui Batista

Page 27

Cineview Quiz - Enter to win the latest Plugin by Christopher Montesano

Page 28-33

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 - The Parts by Mark Glass

Page 34

CINEMA 4D - Frequently Asked Questions

Page 35

CINEMA 4D News

Page 36-39

Prize Fight Round 2 Final by Tavy Pasieka

Page 40-47

Best of CINEMA 4D Gallery

Page 48

Last Page and Contact Information

Editor Notes August 2007

HAPPY AUGUST ATTACKERS!

CINEMA 4D ONLINE TRAINING - CINEVERSITY

Yeah, I know that was a little lame, but OH WELL! Anyway, August is always the month CINEMA 4D users start sharing their hopes that MAXON will make some kind of big announcement at Siggraph. I've had lots of fun reading the posts on various forums from the C4D Community concerning that very topic. I have no idea if MAXON will make any BIG announcements, but I love watching you all wait with eager anticipation hoping something is coming. I suppose we just wait and see!

Now Over 600 Tutorials on Cineversity!

Starting with this issue of Attack we have begun to run a new series of articles, "Getting The Job Done". These articles are about real jobs, using CINEMA 4D, by real 3D professionals. They will give an overview of the job and how they did. If you are interested in sharing a "real job" and how you did it, feel free to drop us a line a 3dattack@3dattack.net. KEEP ON ATTACKING! Tavy

CINEVIEW Cineview is an advanced preview tool and assistant for CINEAM 4D brought to you by Christopher Montesano with 3D Attack. Cineview has a wide range of optimizations and options that you can set to ensure that you get the fastest previews possible. For more information, videos, screenshots etc. visit: http://www.biomekk.com/index.php?page=1&amp;cat=107&itm=22

As of today, there are now over 600 tutorials live on Cineversity! At only $295 to join, that calculates out to less than 50 cents a tutorial! http://www.cineversity.com/ GOODIES All of your goodies for this and previous issues of 3D Attack - The CINEMA 4D Magazine can be found here: www.3dattack.net/goodies/

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 Contact Information: 3D Attack 158 S. Saginaw St. Chesaning, Michigan 48616 - USA E-mail: 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 CALLING ALL WRITERS If you have a knack for writing and would be interested in writing tutorials and/or articles for 3D Attack, feel free to drop us an e-mail at 3dattack@3dattack.net net for more information.

Featured Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” By Tavy Pasieka

Name: Stephen Roy Meyer Location: USA, TN, MT Juliet Age: 41 Occupation: CG artist, Animator, Website: www.embreostudio.com Favorite Resources on the Web: WWW.C4DCAFE.COM WWW.3DATTACK.NET Tavy: Thanks for taking time to speak with 3D Attack today. Why don't we start with you telling us a little about you and what you do? Stephen: Well, I am really just a beginner to CG software. However, I have been in the world of 3D for about 20 years. I began using CAD programs and progressed to Max and Maya, then came to C4D. Before the world of CG software, I had been a free-hand artist. I could draw better before I could even write. Because of my ability to draw, I went to Art school to perfect my talent; however, I never finished due to some personal developments within my life at that specific time. My free-hand drawings are more comic book style, and I even worked with some friends on drawing for local comic books. Things changed as I grew older and had more commitments to wife, family and myself. I had a job that required a lot of heavy lifting, which ultimately caused nerve damage within both arms, thus causing pain when I would draw. So, instead of drawing, I turned my talent toward CAD and graphic programs. I used tutorials to learn these programs and ended up loving the modeling aspect of CG, which is why I believe I can speed model so quickly.

My main work is for my Church, Joy Church International. Our Pastor loves to bring situations to life and demonstrate new ways to help people. I help to do this with my computer graphics and animation using C4D. I have learned a lot about burning the midnight oil with this work, meeting time tables, and making changes to accommodate updates from the Pastor throughout the week. I am truly blessed to have this Job, as my second job is being a fulltime dad to my 5-½ year old son. Tavy: When did you first discover CINEMA 4D and why is it your 3D Application of choice? Stephen: Well I first discovered CINEMA 4D when version 1 came out. At that time I was doing CAD work, so I went back to CAD apps, but always missed the things that the 3D apps could do, especially the renders. I continued to do more research, until one day when I was reading an online magazine (the name escapes me) then I saw version 9 and all of the wonderful tools it had within its package. I wanted the best CG for the money, so I downloaded

Featured Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” By Tavy Pasieka

the demo and fell in love with the ease of the program. CINEMA 4D has the most tools, and standard equipment for the money and, in my opinion, is the easiest of all 3D software programs to use. Tavy: What other software applications do use in your workflow? Stephen: I use BodyPaint, Hexagon, Poser6, Byrce5, Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Vegas, Media Builder, just to name a few. Tavy: This may be a broad question, but of all your creations, what one are you the most proud of and why? Stephen: No, not at all. I am most proud of a little bear named “Baabear.” When my wife Laura was pregnant with our son Seth I designed a bear just for

him. Sketches and drawings grew to murals on his walls and developed into a short story. I wanted to bring this story to life so I turned to CG to do this. I completed “Baabear” and his story using the C4D Studio Bundle 9.5 and even learned how to utilize the Hair Module. I entered my rendering in a 3D Attack contest, but did not win, as I was still new to the modeling world. However, this contest really inspired me. I still want to bring “Baabear” to life within a CG DVD.

Featured Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” By Tavy Pasieka

Tavy: Please tell us about the new training DVD you recently released. Where can our readers order it?

Stephen: Yes, I have plans to start work on a 3 DVD set covering character modeling, rigging and animation for beginners. I think this set will be another win for the beginner. I will again share my secrets and tricks to help people build better 3D characters at a quicker and more effective pace. Keep an eye out for them, more to come!

Stephen: I decided to make the DVD because, us folks on the Café, find all kinds of tutorials on modeling in Maya or Max, etc, but few for C4D modeling. Many of the people I talk to on the Café say, “How do you model so fast, and how can I learn how to do what you do?” This inspired me to create this DVD. I want to help the new artist learn how to model. This DVD will help the beginner to learn speed tricks, setting up reference images, modeling vehicles and creating the “final” render.

Tavy: Who are some of your favorite CINEMA 4D Artists and why? Stephen: Well, I really do not have one, but if I had to pick the one that comes to mind is Gianluca Mattia. His work on “The Hulk” is very good. Tavy: What is your favorite feature in CINEMA 4D?

The DVD can be purchased at www.embreostudio.com The reviews have been great and I have received a lot of e-mails from fellow designers.

Stephen: My favorite feature would be the way you can make your own tool bars, anyway you want them to look and work. This is incredible!

Tavy: Can we expect more training material from you in the future?

Featured Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” By Tavy Pasieka

Tavy: If you could have one thing implemented into CINEMA 4D, what would it be and why?

We build Lego’s together, play games, go to movies and just talk. I also do have to get my “fix” of playing “Call of Duty” on line with several friends a few times of week!

Stephen: That is an easy one to answer. A tool or application like zBrush or Mudbox would make the character world of C4D explode.

Tavy: Thanks for being our Feature Artist Stephen. It's always a pleasure to get to know members of the CINEMA 4D Community a little better. I'll give you the last word...

Tavy: Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years artistically?

Stephen: I would like to see myself running my very own animation studio with the help of my best CG buddy, Doug Carr. With this studio I would like to produce a new type of comic book and/or graphic novel that could possibly change the way we view comic books currently.

Stephen: I would just like to close by saying thanks for this time to share my story! I am still new to CG and continue to learn every day! I never give up hope and never want to stop learning. I encourage everyone to do the same. You only live once, so keep on moving forward and keep challenging yourself. Don’t let the CG world pass you by. If you are new to CINEMA 4D, keep plugging along, it really does get easier…your dreams will come to pass. Peace and a Joyful life to all!

Tavy: What do you do in your spare time for relaxation and enjoyment? Stephen: I don’t have much, but I do find some to spend time with my son Seth and wife Laura. 9

Featured Artist “Stephen Roy Meyer” By Tavy Pasieka

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

Hi there attackers, this is the 3rd part of the box modeling simple characters series. In the previous parts we have box modeled our character and did some things to optimize it (like setting up selections etc.) for an easier painting process.

UV's. First of all I create a new material, rename it BODY and assign it to the body mesh by dragging it onto the object manager’s body mesh. I then switch to the BP UV editing menu by using the dropdown menu from the Layout Button in the upper left corner. Inside BP I press the paint setup wizard’s button.

In this issues tutorial, I want to show you how to unwrap and paint this character inside BodyPaint. You should be able to follow this tutorial with every version of BodyPaint, although some steps are more time consuming with older BP-releases. So let’s start to bring out a simple paint on our character.

In the popup window I leave all settings at default, choose the BODY mesh and hit the next two times leaving all settings at default. Notice, you can adjust the size of the texture you want to paint in this menu. If you think the resolution of the default 1024 pixels is not enough, increase this setting! Take a look at PIC_02 to see what CINEMA’s setup wizard comes up with by default.

PIC_01 shows you the actual state of the character: it is still in symmetry mode and it will stay there while we finished the unwrapping of its 12

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

The next UV's I want to "collect" are the inner mouth polys, so I use my INNERMOUTH selection tag, select it- choose select polygons in its attributes and again, with the selected innermouth polys, I go to UV-commands and start interactive mapping.

I use the default flat projection again and press the stop interactive mapping button. As some polygons are over-lapping I go to the Relax UV tab and deactivate the Pin border points field and hit apply. Again I mirror the UV's horizontally by pressing the mirror U button from the UV commands menu. After that I move these UV-polys to the side as well and deselect the poly selection. (PIC_04)

To bring in some order to the UV layout I select the BODY- Polygon selection tag- and choose “select polygons” from its attributes. In the UV Commands menu I choose “start interactive mapping” and use the default flat mode.

I go on and repeat the process to the teeth selection tag- select the TEETH polys; UV commandsStart interactive mapping; default flat mapping; Stop interactive mapping; Mirror U; moving (E) UV's to the side and deselect them. The next part is the exhaust selection tag- again I repeat the process from before, but I choose cylindrical mapping after I started my interactive mapping command. I leave the default projection map, hit stop interactive mapping and move the UV-polys to the side and deselect them. (PIC_05)

I use the rotate tool (R) to rotate the projection plane 90 degrees (holding shift to snap to 90). After that I press, “stop interactive mapping” and move (E) the projected UVs out of my UV window to the side. This gives me a clear view on the remaining UV's. I notice that I projected the right half of my character so I decide to use the mirror U button to flip the UV's (the UV polygons still selected). I click somewhere in the empty space of my UV layout to deselect the UV's. (PIC_03)

The last UV's remaining quite messy are the ARMS polygons. I use the ARMS selection tag, or the rectangle selection in the UV window, as these polys are isolated already to select them 13

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

and start interactive mapping. I choose the flat projection again and rotate(R) it 90 degrees to project straight from above. I hit stop interactive mapping and move (E) the arm UVs out of sight. (PIC_06)

Now I move (E) the selected UVs away and flip these UVs vertically by using the mirror V command. I use the rotate(R) tool to align the moved polys roughly and the select the polygons at the relating edges (take a look at pic_08) to use another nice command: UV terrace- clicking this button stitches the UV's together at the seam.

OK the UV window looks a bit more in order, but I still have drastic over lapping on the arms and the body.

The next steps are switching to UV point mode and tweaking the placement (using move (E) and rotate(R)) of the arms points to give them a continuous flow. (PIC_08)

To finish the arm UV layout I switch to top view (F2) in my editors window and use the rectangle selection to select the top UV's of the arm (...make sure the rectangle selection attributes are set to select visible only!). I realize that I need to fine-tune a little bit by hand and use the live selection to make sure that only the top polys are selected. (PIC_07)

Next step is separating the leg UV's from the BODY UV layout. I loop select (UL) the top loop of the thigh and the use (shift clicking) fill selection (clicking anywhere inside the leg poly area) to select the rest of the leg. Notice: this works only in 14

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

(move tool (E)) I get rid of any over-lapping in these areas. I only need to adjust the points around the seam we stitched to maintain an overall continuous polyflow. I use the move tool (E) in UV-point mode for this.

general polymode (NOT UV-Polymode!), but when you switch back to UV polymode the new selection is applied to the UV'S. I move these polys out of sight for now. In side view (F3) I use the live selection (set to visible only!) to select the UV polys shown in (PIC_09/10). Again I start a flat interactive mapping, adjust the rotation and move the polys to align the to the rest of the BODY UV's

The last tweak I want to do to the body is isolating its bottom. So I live select these polys in normal poly mode, switch to UV poly mode and start an interactive flat mapping from straight above and move it to the side as always (PIC_11)

roughly. Just like I did with the arm, I select the edge UV-polys of the seam and use the UV terrace command to stitch them together. To relax the armhole and the eye UV'S I use the relax UV command after selecting these UV-poly areas (This time using the pin border points option!). With some slight tweaking in point mode

To finish the unwrapping part I take a closer look at the leg: First I select the top foot polys and interactive- flat map them from above.

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

I do the same procedure with the sole of the foot. After that I use two interactive mappings from the side, splitting the leg and stitching the seam with the UV terrace command. I select the already isolated leg UV-polygons and ctrl- (de-)select the inner polys (take a look at PIC_12).

and run the UV terrace command. Then I tweak the points with the move (E) and rotate (R) tool. Ok, I think this will be ok for now. I use the move tool and try to align my unwrapped work to one side of the texture area using the scale (T), move (E) and rotate(R) tool. I select all UV-polys, go to the object manager, select the symmetry object and make it editable (C). After that I mirror U the selected UV polys and move them to the empty side of the texture area. (PIC_13)

I apply another flat interactive mapping to these polys, rotate the rotation plane and mirror the result horizontally (mirror U). Then I select the remaining UV's of the leg and do another interactive mapping from the side. The next steps are the same procedure as the stitching of the arm parts. I just select the relating seams in UV-poly mode

I think you know what comes next: Selecting the seams and hitting UV terrace. OK, when all points 16

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

are stitched I add another layer to the default material and make the background invisible using the checkerboard transparent display to check the continuity of the UV unwrapping. For sure there are some areas that can be optimized by moving the UV points or applying a relax command to certain UV-poly areas. Keep in mind that UV unwrapping is always a compromise. You need to have in mind what areas need higher resolution and where you want to hide the seams etc. (PIC_14)

Boxmodeling A Character - Part 3 By Mark Gmehling

I hope you had fun following this tutorial and take part in the next to paint the character in BodyPaint and set up the skeleton for rigging. Don’t hesitate to post on the forum if you have any problems following this tutorial or if you have any further questions. Keep attacking! -Mark

“Total Recall” X-Ray Effect By Rui Batista

In this months tutorial I will explain how to do one thing that at first glance seems very complex, but actually is quite easy.

Now, for all objects that will appear solid and as xrays, maybe because they will appear sometimes in front of, beside, or behind the x-rays panel, you need to have duplicates. To one of the objects (or set of objects) you apply regular materials. This will be the one that will show up when not seen through the x-ray panel. To the duplicate object apply the x-ray material (or materials).

Some of you may remember the movie "Total Recall" with Arnold Schwarzenegger. There was a particular scene where, at a kind of airport, people had to walk along a pass way, behind a panel where they would be seen in x-rays.

For the x-ray panel you can use any regular material with only one requirement: it needs to have some transparency. Any value will do as long as it is not 0%.

If you check out the movie pertaining this tutorial that is in the Goodies folder, you will see a similar effect. In the movie the panel is the one that is moving, but what I will teach here is a way to create the panel itself. What you do with it (if things travel behind the panel or if the panel travels in front of things) is up to you.

Now, to make all the magic happen we will use Compositing tags. To all objects that need to appear as solid, add a Compositing tag and set the Seen by Transpar-

To create this particular x-ray effect you will need a few things. Let me enumerate them: - You will need the objects that will be seen through the x-rays. If the object will also be seen as fully solid (or some part of it will be seen as solid and other part as x-ray), you will need a duplicate of the object. - You will need an object that will be the viewing screen for the x-rays (usually a plane). - You will need the usual materials for objects that are seen as solid and specific materials for the objects that you want to appear as x-ray images. - You will also need a material for the plane (or other object) that will serve as the x-ray visor. In the Goodies folder I provide a file with a set of possible x-ray materials that you can use in this tutorial or in any of your projects. So, set up your scene and be sure to add the xray material to all objects that you want to appear as x-rays when seen through the x-ray panel. You can add different x-ray materials to different objects if you want to simulate different density materials, for example.

“Total Recall” X-Ray Effect By Rui Batista

ency option to OFF. Also, drag the x-ray panel(s) object(s) to the Exclusion list. Turn on all the options (the Transparency option is OFF by default) and make sure the Mode is set to Exclude (Image 01). This Compositing tag arrangement will make sure that these objects will not be rendered when seen through the x-ray panel object. To all objects that will appear as x-rays (this also stands for all duplicates of objects that are seen as solid), add a Compositing tag and keep the default settings. Well, you can turn off the Cast Shadows and Receive Shadows options as they don't really apply to x-ray images and this will also speed up the render. The only real change to this Compositing tag is that you should drag the x-ray panel(s) object(s) to the Exclusion list. Turn on all the options (the Transparency option is OFF by default) and make sure the Mode is set to Include (Image 02). This Compositing tag arrangement will ensure that all x-ray objects will only be rendered when seen through the x-ray panel object. Using the Compositing tags in this way (using the Exclusion list) will allow the inclusion of other objects that have transparency and even refraction in your scene and everything will still work as expected. If you hadn't set the Exclusion options in the Compositing tags, all solid objects would disappear behind any transparency in the scene. Also, all x-ray objects would appear when seen through any transparency in the scene.

course not! It is INSIDE another object. It will only show up when seen through the x-ray panel because the body will become transparent. So, you would need a skeleton (without any Compositing tags) and two bodies, one with a regular skin material and the correspondent Compositing tag, and a duplicate of the body object with the x-ray material and the correspondent Compositing tag.

If all this seems a bit complex (it isn't, as soon as you understand the logic), take a look at the scene I have provided in the Goodies folder. Dissect it to see how things were done.

You can also watch the movie of the scene I provided that is in the Goodies folder. I apologize that the x-ray scene file and the x-ray materials file are in r10.x format. I don't have release 9 installed on the computer I write the articles with. If you like you can open them in the demo version of R10 if you really want to see what makes them tick.

You will notice that one of the objects, (the bomb), has no Compositing tag. It doesn't require one as it is hidden inside an object that will turn transparent as soon as it is seen through the x-ray panel. This is true for all objects in this situation. So, for example, if you have a skeleton inside a body, it will not be seen in a regular render, will it? Of

Until next month and Keep on Attacking :) Rui Batista 25

“Total Recall” X-Ray Effect By Rui Batista

This month 3D Attack is pleased to give away Cineview, an new plug-in by Christopher Montesano with 3D Attack, to one lucky reader. Cineview is an advanced preview tool and assistant for CINEMA 4D. How can you win this "must have" plug-in? It's easy, just answer the simple question below, and tell us how you would use Cineview in your work-flow. E-mail, both the answer to our simple question and how Cineview would enhance your work-flow, to 3dattack@3dattack.net. It's that easy! We will then pool all entries with the correct answers and then pick one random winner on September 1, 2007. Remember to tell us how Cineview will enhance your work-flow. We will notify our winner via e-mail and on our CINEMA 4D discussion forum at www.3dattack.net. QUESTION: What are the names of all of the plug-ins offered at http://www.biomekk.com/index.php *3D Attack staff and/or their immediate families are prohibited from entering this prize giveaway.

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

This month we will be making the Tailpiece, Bridge, strings, and Neckrest.

further. Keep cutting/moving until it matches the template in both views. Then make one loop cut along the z-axis, again adjust the new points to match the template view.

Starting with the Tailpiece; load the 'Tailpiece template.c4d' file from the goodies folder. This has the side and top views of the template with planes, and also the background view. Choose whichever you would prefer to work with.

Also, make a loop cut at each end. This will help flatten the end shape when it's put into a hypernurb object. See Image 1 for a wireframe overview.

Create a cube and resize it to the extents of the tailpiece. Set the X segments to 2, then make it editable and delete the points on the left side so we can use the symmetry object later.

The cut along the z-axis will not only allow us to curve the top of the tailpiece it will also put two polygons around the string holes, which we will now create.

Move the points to beginning defining the shape. Use the 'Knife Tool' in loop mode and cut the object in half along the x-axis and refine the shape 28

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

normals. See Image 2 for an overview of creating the holes for the strings. Select the top and bottom polygons that cover the holes and do an inner extrude with the 'Preserve groups' off.

Make the tailpiece a child of a symmetry object. The tailpiece is now ready to be scaled and positioned on the violin. See Image 3 for the completed tailpiece.

Select the new points and move them to line up with the string holes. An easy way to do this is to un-tick the 'Only select Visible Elements' in the Live selection tool so both top and bottom points are selected, and then move the points in the top viewport. Adjust the points in the right viewport as well to maintain the curve of the tailpiece. Select the Polygon tool. The polygons created with the inner extrude should still be selected. If they are not, select them. Ctrl-click on the Edge tool, this will select the edges of the currently selected polygons. Switch back to the polygon tool and delete the selected polygons.

To make the Bridge start by loading the 'Bridge template.c4d' file. Make a plane object and set the orientation to +X, width segments to 1 and the Height segments to 16. Move the Points to model the center curves of the bridge.

Go back to the edge tool and click on 'Stitch and sew' from the structure menu. Hold down the shift key and click and drag between the top and bottom edges of each hole. This will fill in the gap between the selected edges.

Create 2 additional planes and do the same as above to model the other two curved parts of the bridge. See Image 4 to check your progress. Select the three plane objects and connect them. Use a combination of 'Edge extrude', bridge or

Go to the polygon tool and select all the faces to be sure the new faces are pointing the correct way. If they are in blue, press u then a to align the 29

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

weld to create polygons to fill in the rest of the bridge. Make sure you keep the polygons as quads if you want to make it a child of a hypernurbs.

pieces. (Don't forget the center part of the bridge). See Image 6 for a view of the bridge.

See Image 5 for an overview of the process. Make the plane object a child of a symmetry object. There are a couple of ways you can add thickness to the plane object. if you have the MOCCA plugin you can make the symmetry object a child of a cloth nurbs, and then set the subdivisions to 0 and adjust the thickness to the desired amount.

The Bridge is now ready to be scaled/positioned on the Violin.

If you do not have the MOCCA plugin you then make the symmetry object editable and make a copy of the object.

Create a Helix Spline and adjust it so it wraps around a tuning peg. Now make it editable.

To create the Strings we will be using the SweepNurbs object. Add the Tailpiece and bridge to the Violin, (Use the Template images from last months tutorial to scale/position them in place).

Select the points at one end along the top of the nut and delete them so you are left with an end point, just curving over the top of the nut.

Move the copy to the desired thickness of the bridge, select all of the polygons and reverse the normals (press u then r).

Select this point then right click and select 'Hard interpolation' from the menu.,Drag this point to the bottom edge of the hole in the tailpiece.

Select and connect the two objects. Change to the Edge tool and select the outline of both parts. (Press U then Q and shift click the outline of each piece).

Now add a point and drag it to the top of the tailpiece hole and add another point and position it at the top nut (End of fingerboard by the tuning pegs). Finally, add a new point by the Bridge and move it upwards so it lies along the bridge. Add-

Now select Stitch and sew from the structure menu and shift click/drag from one edge to the other. This will bridge the gap between the two 30

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

ing this point at the end will ensure that the rest of the string stays straight along the violin. Repeat this process for the other strings.

Make a Cylinder object with Radius = 250, Height = 70,Height segments = 1,Rotation segments = 12, and Cap segments = 2.

Add a circle spline and set its radius to around 1mm. Add a SweepNurbs and make the Circle, and one of the splines, a child of the SweepNurbs. Make sure the Circle is above the Spline in the hierarchy.

Make the cylinder editable, select all the points and optimize it. This will weld the caps to the main body of the cylinder. Untick the 'Only select visible elements' box in the Live selection tool and select/move the points in the top view to shape the neckrest. See Image 8.

Add sweepnurbs for the three remaining strings, reducing the radius of the circle of each one. The highest radius on the left of the violin and smallest on the right. See Image 7 for a look at how the string should be on the tuning peg.For the neck rest load the 'Neckrest template.c4d' file.

Tick the 'Only select visible elements' box, Select the center point and move it down the Y-axis. This will create the curve of the neckrest.

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

Create a cylinder with Orientation = +z, Raidus = 6, Height = 8, Height segments = 2, rotation segments = 12. Make it editable and select the middle edge loop then scale it in slightly. Next use a spline to connect from the tailpiece around the cylinder. Make a spline circle with a radius of 1.75 and add the two splines to a sweepnurbs object. Use the same spline method to create a clamp to hold the neckrest on. See Image 10 for a close-up on the back part of the violin.

Select and move the bottom points along the front edge of the neckrest to create a curve along the bottom, see image 9 to see how this should look. Put the Neckrest as a child of a hypernurbs then Scale/position the Neckrest on the Violin, again see Image 9 to see how it should fit on the Violin. You will probably need to adjust some of the points to fit the curve of the body and around the tailpiece. Now that the Tailpiece and Neckrest are on the Violin we can add the fittings for them to complete the Violin.

You should now have a complete Violin, ready to be textured.

Modeling a Violin - Part 3 By Mark Glass

If you have any questions/suggestions please post them on the forum -Mark (NoxAnima)

Frequently Asked CINEMA 4D Questions June 2007

Q: This is a strange issue that I haven't found an answer for yet..my help menu doesn't bring up any topics. The typical help window pops up when I click it, but there are no topics and it won't let me type anything in the search bar. Any ideas on what I could do to fix this? Thanks.

it needs rotating. The problem is that when I rotate it, it skews it at the same time!.....What am I doing wrong? Please help? A: Assuming you are using the texture tool, lots of times for product models you can use a flat projection, and under the tags in the object manager, select fit to image.

A: In R10 you need to go to the Help menu and select install language then navigate to the Manual on your install disc.

That way the proportions are correct for type etc. Anyway, you can rotate it in position, and if you need to scale it up or down make sure you do so by clicking in the middle of the scale widget so that it highlights and then drag. It will stay constrained to the aspect ratio.

Q: I´ve just started with CINEMA 4D R10 and I´ve created a tft-screen. Main idea is that the camera travels towards the tft and while it does so the picture on the screen changes. Now I´m having a hard time making the picture on the screen change (something like first 15frames *picture1 and 16-to-50frames *picture2 and 50-to-90frames *picture3). Any ideas?

Q: When we rig a character ... do we have to rig its own clothes we modeled with the Clothilde tag so that when we pose the character the clothes move with mesh? A: You will have to "belt" the cloth to your character, not to "rig" or weight them. The cloth will be calculated as secondary motion that is influenced by your rig/joints or movement of the mesh parts the cloth is "belted" on. Check out the belt tag.

A: Add the first material to the screen. In the tag section of the texture tab the name of the material will appear in the material box. You can keyframe this. Just control click the little dot at the left hand side.

You can finetune the cloths behavior by applying vertex maps to the cloth's attributes to define where your cloth is heavier, more bounce etc...

Move the timeline to where you want the material to change, drag the new material from the material manager into the Material box in the texture tag and set a keyframe. Q: How do I animate points along a spline? Any suggestions? A: If the spline doesn't have many points, I prefer to animate Nulls and then I attach the points of the spline to the Nulls using XPresso. I guess I prefer to have keyframes for position in the timeline, instead of PLA keyframes. This way I can even adjust the curves of each coordinate (X, Y or Z) independently. Q: I'm currently working through a tutorial to make a Remote Control (Yes I'm new to C4D). I've got through the modeling part of the tutorial with relative ease (NOT!). Now I'm on to importing the textures - My problem is that when I import it, 34

CINEMA 4D NEWS By Tavy Pasieka

CINEVIEW Cineview is an advanced preview tool and assistant for CINEAM 4D developed by Christopher Montesano. To order this "must have" plug-in visit: http://www.biomekk.com/index.php?page=1&cat=107&itm=22

3D FLUFF TRAINING DVD Mash and Janine have released their latest and greatest training DVD for CINEMA 4D. 3D Fluff Volume 6 - Of Bees and Flowers - Animation in R10 is loaded with nearly 7 hours of training material for the CINEMA 4D user. Get your copy here today: http://dvd.3dfluff.com

SILVERBULLET 4D Remotion has released their new CINEMA 4D Plug-in "SilverBullet4D". SilverBullet4D is a new, fast and easier to use Rigid Body Dynamic System. Check it out here: http://www.remotion4d.net

CINEMA 4D SERVICE UPDATE On June 21 MAXON released a new service update for CINEMA 4D R10. If you haven't done your update be sure to visit MAXON's website and get it today. www.maxon.net.

MODELING WITH OD1 Stephen Meyer "OD1" has released a new training DVD for CINEMA 4D. Follow along with OD1 and model a low rider truck. For more information visit: http://www.embreostudio.com

The “PRIZE FIGHT II” Round 2 Results By Tavy Pasieka

In the July 2007 issue of 3D Attack – The CINEMA 4D Magazine we updated you on the progress of Round 2, the modeling round, of “The Prize Fight” Fire and/or Ice competition, sponsored by MAXON and 3D Attack. In this Round our entrants had to model and texture the Fantasy Character/Creature they sketched for Round 1. On July 31st we will begin our third and final phase of the “Prize Fight” Fire and/or Ice competition. All contributing entrants from Rounds 1 and 2 will have opportunity to make their character/ creature move in the animation round. They must battle their way through Round 3 using CINEMA 4D to create their animations in hopes of winning the CINEMA 4D R10 Studio Bundle. Round 2 ran approximately eight weeks, and was just as exciting as Round 1. Our entrants took their sketches and brought them to 3D life in CINEMA 4D. Round 2 showed just what these guys are made of; creativity, talent and sheer skill! It’s one thing to sketch out your ideas, but to bring them into a software program and model and texture them to perfection is entirely another animal. Our entrants did it with ease proving just how talented they are and what a great 3D Application CINEMA 4D is! It wasn’t an easy decision, but the jury has spoken. Mark Gmehling, Andre Richter and Jochen Stuhrman, all hailing from Germany, proved they have what it takes and executed their skills beautifully. The metallic creatures worshiping their fire shower god, the tiny figure skater on her fiery music box and Mr. Freezer and Boss Man Stove stole the hearts of the judges. Congratulations to Mark, Andre and Jochen! Round 3, HERE THEY COME!

The “PRIZE FIGHT II” Round 2 Results By Tavy Pasieka