expressomech

Hi Archon, Many thanks for confirming my suspicions. You'll be pleased to know I have been able to solve the issue, by making use of the Point Cache tag and throwing the resulting, animated objects into a Cloner. I am in the process of creating a Python Effector, that features objects falling into dustbins, the lids of which open and close, depending on the proximity of said objects. I want this to be cyclic, with the objects randomly starting in different positions along the Z axis, thereby allowing them to fall into any of the bins. I now know I can achieve this. That said, it would be good if MAXON would make the standard dynamics work in the same way as cloth dynamics, when they are cached, though! Thanks again. EM.

Hi everyone. I am wondering if there is a workflow for changing the initial position of dynamic objects, after they have been cached? This can be done straight away with cloth dynamics, but there appears to be no way to do it with the standard dynamics, unless I have missed something? I have tried baking in the Timeline and have also tried using the Point Cache tag, but to no avail. As always, thanks in advance for any advice given. EM.

Hi everyone, I have a problem with hair dynamics. I have the 'Rigid' option checked (I need the hair to be rigid as I am using it to build a bird's nest) but the hair guides are still falling limp when I run the timeline or hit the 'Relax' button within the Dynamics' Animation Tab. Anyone else had a similar problem and know the solution to it? It may be that I have done something whilst working with the hair/hair material that has caused this to happen, as when I first started work on the project, the Rigid option was actually working. As always, thanks in advance for any help offered. EM.

Is there a specific reason you need to do this in Python? The Ray Collision node in Xpresso is probably a better bet.

Hi everyone, Does anyone know how to align the tangents of a bezier spline to the normal direction of a polygon? It seems incredible that this cannot be achieved via Xpresso, as it appears that you would only need to pass a rotation vector from a polygon to the rotation vector of the spline tangent, for a selected point. Anyway, has anyone achieved this using python? As always, many thanks in advance for any advice offered. EM.

Hi Guys, I need to be able to stop the timeline running, once a condition has been satisfied, within a python effector. I know that i need to use the following: c4d.documents.RunAnimation(doc, stop[, forward]) What I don't know, is how to implement this. That being so, I am hoping that someone has used it and can offer some advice. Thanks in advance, as always, for any help offered. EM. *** Update *** Managed to sort this part out, by simply creating a variable: stop_animation = c4d.documents.RunAnimation(doc, True) The thing I now need to do is reset the timeline to zero. I thought this may be achievable using the following: min_time = doc.GetMinTime().GetFrame(doc.GetFps()) start = doc.SetMinTime(min_time) Unfortunately, this doesn't work. If anyone has any information, I'd be grateful for it. I'll carry on looking at this and update again, if I manage to find a solution. *** Update 2 *** Cracked it! The following two lines of code did the job: start = doc.GetMinTime().GetFrame(doc.GetFps()) - same as before, so this was correct. doc.SetTime(c4d.BaseTime(start)) - key piece of code, executed at the correct time.

LOL - I have already looked at this, but again, it is no real use because the RangMap doesn't use a spline, so there is no SplineData used within it. This is what I need a working example of, but there appear to be none out there.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting, but no real help with what I am trying to achieve, unfortunately. Just wish MAXON would put more working example code in the SDK.

Hi guys, Does anyone know how to get c4d.SplineData to work? Specifically: SplineDate.MakeUserSpline. The documentation states that you can feed it any valid formula and either -1 or a specific number of points. Well, I've tried this and it causes an error: spline = c4d.SplineData.MakeUserSpline(100*math.exp(-0.02*1)*math.sin(15*1), 20) So, I want a damped sin wave (formula works with Formula Spline Object and also with Formula Effector), with 20 points. The error I get is: TypeError: descriptor 'MakeUserSpline' requires a 'c4d.SplineData' object but received a 'int' Okay... So, do I need to do some more work, using other aspects of the SplineData class, in order to get this to generate the spline I require (I want to use the spline within RangeMap)? The documentation for this is worse than useless. No examples. Nothing. How on earth are we supposed to learn and make use of this stuff? As always, thanks in advance for any advice given. EM.

Thanks guys - exactly what I was looking for. I did actually do a search in the manual, but didn't come across this. The only thing I did wrong - it appears - was omit the brackets around the word 'spline'. Had I have used them, I would have found the above!

@ natevplas: LOL - this was one of the things I came across on my quest for the info. Brilliant, but not what I am looking for, unfortunately. A damped sine wave looks like the image which can be found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sinusoid_decreasing_Q%3D10.svg

Hi guys, Does anyone know how to express the formula for a damped sine wave in the Formula Spline? Been trying to find out with no success. Thanks in advance for any help offered! EM.

This is very sad. I have never owned Navié FX, but always admired Samir's work - it's a fantastic achievement. Hopefully, all will be well with him and if he has had to shut down, MAXON will buy FX and continue developing it.