EAlexander

I don't think there is a way to automate the tag cleanup, but I'd love to be pleasantly wrong about that and learn. Is it possible to put the assembly into a Connect generator instead of Connect Object and delete? Would keep it parametric in theory.

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Not at a computer right now, so bear with me. I don't believe there is a key modifier for this, but in the preferences, you have some control over where new objects get placed e.g. Right above the current selected object or right below the current selected object. But.... This will affect ALL new objects, not just generators. Look around, can't remember the exact location of this in your prefs.

Hi, Probably a few different ways to do this, but I would start with a spline and a very small circle and put them into a sweep - then you can animate the end growth of the sweep and the cone will "draw" itself for you. See attached. I would make a luminous texture for the cones "light rays" that would use an opacity mask to drive where we see it and where we don't. The original lines that draw the cones - I would think of those as separate geometry from the cone - so it could be a cylinder or a cube even that was animated to rotate around the bottom point and aligns with the sweep revealing itself. Hope that points you in a direction - others might have more efficient ways. Only downside of this is the sweep circle has to have some radius, so you don't get a true mathematical point on the cone, but it could be small enough that no one would notice. Cones_01.c4d

Very nice work Matthew!

Nevermind - I'm dumb. For future reference, If you right click on a Layer name - there is an option called: Take Assignment. Why do I always find it right after I post 🙂

Is it possible to use layers with Takes? I have a bunch of geometry scattered about the object manager in a large scene and I'd like to put them all in a layer and then control Viewport and Render visibility on/off of that layer in various takes. Is this possible? I can't seem to sort out how. Thanks in advance! -Evan

looks cool! Let us know how you get on with it!

Hard to say without seeing the scene or the models in question. Of course, adding bump and displacement makes for more math, more light calculation, etc. But I would hardly think that is the tipping point. Are the car models all triangulated meshes? You could run remesher on the major parts (body, Hubs) to try to get to better quad topology and reduced numbers. There are so many factors at play with lighting setup, material builds, your hardware specs. You might have to do it in smaller batches and then comp together in post.

I did wonder about that (the Matrix approach) as I've seen other studios do that workflow. Is it more efficient? I've never tested it out first hand. Curious what others think.

Hard to troubleshoot this over the forum, and it seems obvious, but make sure to simplify each model as much as possible. Is there interior geometry that isn't needed/seen? Is there undercarriage stuff that can go? Dashboard controls? While Cinema can handle a ton of polygons, I've found it to struggle with lots and lots of objects, so the more you can combine and simplify the individual models, the better. Definitely optimize your texture maps too. Are you using Multi-instance on the cloner?

The AI image here is dark and theatrically lit. Your render is presented more schematically with a neutral background and 2D people. I always provide my customers with both, so yes - texturing and lighting are always the make it or break it thing in a rendering - especially lighting. I present lit concepts to show the mood and vibe of the final product, but do the clay renders or stylized ones like you're showing so all the details and items can be properly seen and discussed in reviews and design development. Your texturing here looks pretty good - some quality 3d scanned people, dark background and more theatrical lighting would really make this pop and not take too much more time (though yes, one day is always tight turnaround for anything). I do my best work when I can make renders and then put them away for a day or two and come back to it with fresh eyes, take notes, and re-render. We don't always have the luxury of that time though. One other though on this render - you've got your camera angled with probably a wide lens, so you're getting this tapered effect for the whole set which takes away from it's presence and power. Try zeroing out the P(itch) of your camera and Use Film Y offset if you needed to make sure you are keeping your vertical corners vertical. This can really make a big difference in how the set feels and presents. Also - I don't always go for photorealism - I quite like stylized renders and I do think there is a tipping point on renders that I reach for where the client isn't thinking about the rendering and only focuses on the design. I'm not anti AI, quite the opposite, but the time spent getting things the exact way you want them and thing clean and in the right places are usually better spent and easier in 3D from the get go. At least for things like this. My $.02.

Here is an incredibly hack-y way to achieve this if you're desperate 🙂 Lots of little problems, but maybe this will help lead to a solution. Probably better with a Cone driven by the light rotation instead of a cylinder for the Boole. -evan 07_31_24_Light_Material_hack_v01.c4d

I have to do this a lot as my clients tentbti give me Sketchup to rework amd render. No great magic to it, but here are some tips (perhaps you know these already). I group objects I want together and then hit S while hovering over the object manager to find the new null. Copy and paste will bring this to the top of the stack and then I rename it and hide visibility. I repeat this until I have everything organized. I always do this in a separate file and only once it's all organized do I bring it into my master working file. Hope that helps some.

Also feels like the back of the jawline (between the ear and chin) is to wide.

This is a tricky one. I'm so used to her with long blonde hair, maybe throw that in to get the face right, then transform her into Furiosa? Just a thought. The black forehead makeup will make a difference too. Maybe mock that up.

@Hrvoje Thank you so much - this is doing exactly what I want. I have some questions as to how you built it, but I haven't done a proper deep dive into it to see if I can figure it out myself. I appreciate you putting this together. It raises two more questions from me though: 1. Is there a way to share a file or Character object with other users where they can use the file or object without having to save/load the template? Not baking, but something like that where they can just copy the object into the scene and go. Curious how I could share my final product with other users in the best way. 2. Every time I add a new segment, it also adds a new (duplicate) material to my material browser. Is there any way to avoid this, assuming the base template components are textured. Thanks again! e.

Open Hrvoje's file and save the Character template. Now Load Character Template and choose the file you just saved. Make a new Character and in the Template dropdown, the VP_Roadtest will appear.

I believe it's included so their plug ins that auto load the materials don't spit out an error on missing maps.

Thank you so much! I will look this over and come back with any questions. Really appreciate your time!

Hello! I'm trying to make something similar to a fencing tool inside of Cinema. The idea is the user could add segments by pushing a button and they would be added, connected to the previous item. So, for example, they might hit the "straight segment" button 5 times to add 5 different 8 foot long pieces of straight fence and they would build off each other. Then you might add "90 degree corner right" segment and then more straight segments, etc. I want it to be more then just a kit of parts, but for the user to be able to add segments from a menu of buttons. I've seen similar plugins for pipes and HVAC systems in Cinema using the Character tools, but I am unable to find any kind of tutorial on creating this kind of system. Cinemas documentation says the tool can be used in this way, but I find no guidance. Anybody have a thought on where I should look or even know what I'm talking about 😂 Thank you in advance! -Evan

I'm guessing you want to do this "in house" but if you're interested - MotionLab has new Wispy smoke VDBs like this. https://motionlab.net/assets/#! e.

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These look amazing! Nice work. Will definitely pick these up for my next interior project. Thanks for porting to Corona!