jbatista

Well this is quite a sensitive matter because i think users will defend their software of choice. In this matter, Maya users will always say their software is the best in the world, and because there are a lot of Maya users their numbers make a difference. Personally i prefer to give credit to the artist instead a piece of software. A strong modeller will always be good in almost any kind of software just because the user's experience is the best tool. Regarding that list i would put Modo and Blender ahead of maya and even houdini. Zbrush is more a sculpting software so i wouldn't compare with others besides mudbox or 3dcoat.

Well In an old post from Cactus Dan i saw this His FBX exporter could bake into pc2 format. But i really don't know much about it. Hope it helps

Hi Can't really help with your questions about the unity - c4d bridge, but regarding the PLA a know that are a few more options besides CV smart export. Steady Bake and Nitro Bake are two plugins that are really good at baking stuff inside c4d, with or without deformers. Nitro bake is a paid plugin and i never worked with it but seems powerfull, but steady bake is free and it seems to work ok. steady bake: http://tcastudios.com/?p=19 Nitro Bake: https://nitro4d.com/product/nitrobake2/ cheers

At least for now we have a few official clues about things that are going to change. https://www.MAXON.net/en-us/news/MAXON-blog/article/modernizing-and-moving-forward/ For the new stuff i believe that proRender will get a deeper integration within all shaders (hair, mograph, etc). The system inner core from single to multi thread in some of the C4d modules (i don't believe that the entire software will be multi-threaded in this release but at least several of it's modules). More viewport enhancements since this is something that they are working since R17. I know that MAXON is trying to get a share from the Character animation market (since xsi died), and so i believe they will continue to develop tools like the new weight manager, skin tools, etc. Vr stuff because now is trendy :) And i would like to see integrated some plugins that wil never be updated again like Cactus Dan plugins and Navie. That would be awesome for the c4d community.

Height Map Generator The Height Map Generator is a free Xpresso tool that optimizes the making of Height / displacement maps. It's concept is based on a Blender plugin called Easy Height Map (https://www.blendernation.com/2018/02/21/easy-height-map/), and it's a tool that i think it is very usefull when you need to create simple or complex displacement maps in a fast production rate. The plus in this tool is that we can create both single or animated sequences and use them in displacement maps, displacer deformers, shadding effectors, sculpt tool as stamps maps, etc. Photoshop can do this kind of effects as well but there things that are better made with 3d tools (particles, cloners etc) Due to file size, you can download it from the link bellow. The zip file includes: Heigh map generator file, an example texture, an example project, instructions, and basic commands. https://drive.google.com/open?id=15M4jYk1trNU2lhNwHSeVaJsGg71coAq_ This is the first release so if you find bugs or if you have suggestions for enhancements, please post them. Hope you enjoy it Cheers Jbatista HEIGHT_MAP_GEN_v01.c4d

Hey I managed to do the effect but i made a small change. The clamp point was not working properly in this example so i switched to surface wich is a polygon clamp and it worked ok. It's basically the same but with a single face. Due to file size i could only export the dummy and the telephone. Copy it into your scene. Cheers TestingC4Dcafe2.c4d

Probably it's better to create a new null with a new constraint and adapt it to the model , than copy it from the example i sent you. If you want you can send me a file with the hand geometry only and I could try from here. Cheers

Have you setup your clamp point like this? (screenshot)The standard settings of the clamp won't do it but like this it might.

Hi there Well i already tried to that using the normal port in the point node in Xpresso, but until now I've been unsuccessful. If you are willing to try a different approach you can do it with constraint > clamp > point. I think the effect will be similar but it uses constraints instead of point position. I if you need a fast solution, this might help. File included. I PS: i have animated a sphere then i deleted the points but one. I clamped the null on that point and that also gives me position and rotation. I 've duplicated the sphere for u to see the motion. Cheers Via constraint.c4d

Hi There objects that are indeed complex and have many ports. But like in 3ds max Material Slate editor, nodes can expand and retract if you want to show more options or less. So in this case, Xpresso subfolders could have that capability as well. Also we have the delete unused ports feature that would eliminate the useless ports when we want. I also give the example of houdini were nodes are even color coded in their ports to help you connecting to compatible ports as well. @borg I don't think the other softwares "suck" with that approach. Color codding, multi-port display, backdrops (like in nuke), are usefull features when you work massively with nodes. C4d xpresso's have little display options and actually i think is bad to think that all the others are wrong and this is the only software that is right. At least give the users the option to decide wich approach you want. That would be great for c4d to be more node friendly. Thank you all for your replies Cheers

Thank You That way it's certainly faster however it could be nice to have that possibility. Usually other softwares display all ports (maya houdini max) and sometimes that is usefull. And because xpresso nodes have a"remove unused ports" feature, it could be faster to get rid of the useless ports. I think xpresso is a great tool but it's interface needs a serious upgrade, or at least more options. jbatista

Hi there Is it possible, or does anyone knows how to to display all input and output ports in Xpresso nodes, instead of enabling one by one? That would be a great help to visualize the entire connection possibilities. jbatista

Hi Dave Thanks for your idea. I never imagined this tag could have such rich features. However this system also clamps the position of the object between 0 and 100% wich limits the move of an object in a closed spline. My ideia with the enhanced follow spline was to enable the possibility of making a object move along a closed spline (exp:circle) in a infinite way, positive and negative. But i think i can also do the same xpresso with the camera crane and un-clamp the position. It could be a nice feature. thanks for tip Jb

Hi Everyone So, if you are tired of using the the same Align-to-spline TAG because it sucks when it comes to loop or to go negative (and also loop negatively) and don´t want to buy plugins, or using mograph, or spline constraint (because this one also sucks) , don't worry. I created a simple tool with Xpresso that does the job in the ways we need. The instructions are simple: just merge the file (EFS.c4d) or copy from other file, and then move the Align-to-spline TAG to the object you want to align. Then child the null or leave it. You'll always need these two objects (tag and null) for each object you want to align, so merge as many as you need. The controls of the tag are in the null (enhanced follow spline). There is also a layer called EFS just to hide unnecessary items. By the way, i don't know if there is a similar tool like this out there (hope there is) , but since i found none just to say that i didn't copy this from anyone's work. That's it. Hope you enjoy it. Jb PS: if you have questions about it, just say it EFS.c4d