MikeMac

Thank you, this is a big help!

I have no experience with VF, but I am about to rectify that. Thanks!

Hey all..this seems like it should be easy, but my C4D chops are pretty sparse, so some advice on the best way to approach this would be very helpful. Not looking for step-by-step, but a description of the best way to achieve the following: I just want blocks to fly together in z-space, or possibly build up from the ground, to form a word. I would like the blocks to be decent size (maybe a stack of ten would be as tall as the type) but I would also like the final form to follow the shape of the type including curved edges, counterspaces etc. This means not all blocks would be perfect cubes, some would have curved edges or sections punched out. I'm guessing cloning blocks and using type as cloner object, then using fields to animate the assembly would be the way to go, but I'm uncertain how to get the clean edges I am looking for, and not have the final type look all jagged and blocky. Hopefully this description makes sense, and any help is greatly appreciated! EDIT: So I'm trying to figure this out on my own, and here's where I'm at and what problem I am encountering. I made a wall of bricks with a cloner object, and I made extruded type using Motext. I combined these with a Boole and I am almost there, at least in terms of creating the object. However, my Boole is leaving out some surfaces as you can see in this screen grab. Assuming a Boole is the way to go, how do I fix this?

Seems like most of my errors originate somewhere between the chair and the keyboard. Very helpful, thanks for this!

Hello all... I am trying to model a simple parking lot, and perhaps I'm going about this the wrong way because I am having a real problem. It is basically a floor object with an asphalt texture. For the lines I have multiple plane objects that have a white texture that is cut by an alpha channel. The problem I am having is that while the alpha channel appears to be working in terms of where the white texture is applied, but the parts of the planes that do not have the white texture applied are not transparent but very dark, darker than the asphalt floor beneath. This should be visible in the still example I have provided. As I said, I am probably going about this ass-backwardly, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Simplified project file can be downloaded here, if anyone is feeling generous with their time. I am, pretty obviously, on the lower end of the C4D skill spectrum. https://www.dropbox.com/s/inaiytgfruyge40/C4DCafe.zip?dl=0 Thanks!

Thanks man, I really appreciate the help! I'm digging in to this now.

It is. I've worked around all the issues except the lower counter space of the letter R filling in. Any suggestions? Thanks

Hey everyone... Working on this project and I have a couple of problems that I cannot seem to figure out. There is a line of type that wraps around a circle ("Blockbuster Event") and I am experiencing two problems with it. The first is the letter R is filling in on the bottom. The second problem is more perplexing. I am using a plain effector to move this same bit of type along the Z axis, so that it emerges letter by letter from the column it is placed on. When I do a quick screen render, everything seems fine, but when I do a full render, the type has already partially emerged from the column at frame 1. Any help is greatly appreciated, I am on a deadline for this. Thanks! Archive.zip

I knew it was something simple like this, thank you so much!

Hey everyone... I suspect this is just some basic setting that I am screwing up. I'm working on a fairly simple setup in R20, and for some reason I cannot move objects in the Objects Menu. I can move them around in the viewfinder fine, but if I want to change the order in the menu, or make something a child of a null, I get the "do not" symbol over my cursor. Project attached. Thanks! BatteryTires3.c4d

That's very helpful, thank you so much!

Hi everyone... I have a bunch of car models that I am working with, and I wonder if there is an easy way to simplify them. They are being used as simple white objects, small but cloned many times. The models I have have all sorts of unnecessary (for me) geometry on the inside, and I'd like to know if there is some way to simply solidify them as they appear without all the unnecessary guts. Thanks! OK I have a part two of this question. I have scaled each individual model so they are all the right sizes relative to each other (this is just a mix of free models from Turbosquid), but when I drop them into a cloner they all revert to their original sizes and orientations. Is there a way to manage this? Thanks again!

I knew it would be something simple like that. Thank you so much!

Hey everyone... I'm following along Ciniversity's Space Station tutorial, and I have become hung up on the first step (a very frustrating way to begin a 16 hour tutorial). The task is very simple: using the Spline Pen, draw a series of straight line segments: a mix of vertical, horizontal and angled; then switch to the Spline Arc tool and draw a rather large arc. This should all be a single spline path, and that is no problem until I come to the arc part. I draw my straight segments no problem, then I switch tools while the existing spline is still active, and the Spline Arc starts drawing from the last point I created. So far so good. Using the grid for reference (with various snap functions enabled) I am able to drag the arc over to where it needs to end, but as soon as I click to commit to a point at that position it simply deselects the spline I've been working on without creating the arc section. I have done and redone this several times and am ready to toss my workstation out the window. What basic thing am I getting wrong? Attached is my project file, as well as a screen grab from the tutorial showing what I am trying to create. Any help is greatly appreciated! -Mike Station 01.c4d

Got it, thanks again.

Actually now that I'm digging in to how you did it I'm not sure this will work for me. You have the horseshoe-shaped piece as single unclosed spline, but in my source file it is an outline of the whole shape, a closed spline. Did you modify the spline I provided or is there some C4D function that does that?

Thank you for this, that is exactly what I was hoping for! I had a feeling my technique wasn't the right one for this. I've been using C4D for years, but only occasionally and my knowledge base is pretty spotty and I basically have to relearn it every time. Thanks!

Ok, here it is boiled down to one section that does what i want, plus the spline I want to animate in similar fashion. Big R_0001.c4d

Hey everyone... I'm trying to animate a logo build and am having some difficulty with what I suspect is a very simple process. I have a logo that is an Illustrator file and I have no problem importing it into C4D and working with the individual pieces. I want each part of the logo to reveal along a path while extruded the whole time (see my very simple demo animation). I've been exploring Spline Mask and can make this work for some of the simpler shapes, but for some of the more complex shapes (think horseshoe shape) I'm having a very hard time getting any kind of smooth motion without weird spikes arising from probably not enough keyframes in my point level animation. My process was to create a closed spline around the horseshoe shape and create a bunch of keyframes expanding the spline shape to reveal the horseshoe element by way of Spline Mask. This seems like a pretty common need and a pretty convoluted process. Am I going about this all wrong? Is there any way to reveal extruded splines in a manner similar to my demo file? Thanks! demo.mp4

That's huge, thank you!

Hi everyone... I've been asked to create a room to place the attached image of a sectional sofa into. I'm trying to match the camera angle by eyeballing, and I can get sort of close but not quite good enough. Are there any techniques for achieving this, or am I stuck trying to eyeball. I'm thinking there might be some sort of camera matching functionality within C4D but that my image would not be a good candidate for this. Any help is greatly appreciated!

I guess I forgot to point out that, although I've been using C4D for a few years, it is very sporadic use and I still consider myself a noob. I'm sure I could recreate this from scratch more easily than I could learn nodes. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

Thanks, that is helpful. is there any way to bring the existing parameters of this material into a new material?

Is there no way to modify this with the channels I usually see in other materials?

Here ya go