Mike A

Just try to forget you paid a good upgrade fee back at R19 for 'tomorrow's technology'...

https://support.MAXON.net/kb/faq.php?id=108&lang=en_US

OK - that's good to know. I'd only seen demos with flat colour shading - and as it's a 'tech demo'... Do Redshift materials work?

Is it possible to texture scene node content - other than flat colour shading?

I understand it's a 'tech demo' but could you kindly expand on this - what do you mean exactly by 'no way to control objects in the viewport'? - and I had similar thoughts on the skills required to drive the system. I hope all the artists are up for a crash course on vector manipulation and matrix mathematics... 🙄

Interesting discussion. I've been a pro freelancer for a long time. One of the main things that is rarely considered enough in these threads is the value of your time. Why am I still using C4D? Do I think it's the greatest? No, I don't - but it provides adequate tools to do what I need. Are there better tools out there for me? Quite possibly: Maya, Max, Houdini, Modo, Blender... What about renderers? I use Redshift. Maybe Octane would be better, or Arnold, or Corona or... The issue is time. There is an opportunity cost for that. I can earn, or I can explore. Every hour I spend learning a new software is an hour of income I loose. That is where the big cost is to me. I'd love to be able to spend time exploring alternatives, but it gets expensive in time, and therefore cost, very quickly. Learning a new package or developing skills in the current one is a tricky balance to strike.

One thing to note that is relevant, in case you don't know: Redshift is bringing out a version for Blender. It's in alpha testing at the moment.

I strongly suspect they are doing this so big companies - games companies, tv production studios, etc etc - dont just hire 'freelancers' with indie licences, to avoid the cost of buying full commercial licences. I'm pretty sure those big companies would be the prime targets of the Autodesk legal depatment for any infringements. I think you'd be pretty unlucky as a small time freelancer with a range of small clients to get the call.

OK - I stand corrected! That is sneaky.

My honest opinion: If you're seriously financially constrained... if you are freelance and don't need to use a specific software to work with your customers... if you're happy to devote the time to learn a new software... if Blender has the tools you need... I'd go Blender.

I think you're misunderstanding the terms. The $100K limitation is not per project - but your gross takings as a freelancer / indie person, per year.

OK that's good to know - thanks for the heads up. I'll contact them and see what happens. Nevertheless, I won't be relying on them again. I could well be back in the same situation in January. Cairyn's python solution works for me.

Cairyn, 'Thank you' sounds quite inadequate. I'd actually been trying to code some python tokens myself this morning, but was messing up somewhere. Your generosity stands in clear contrast to MAXON's current 'screw 'em for anything you can' approach.

Over recent years with the MSA I've had a Cineversity account. However, I am, and hope to remain, a perpetual licence customer. One of the things I've relied on for good organisation within my studio is Cineversity 'CV tokens' for automatic file naming. Having date and time automatically embedded into file names is an important component in my job management - and a basic requirement for a professional level software IMO. Yesterday, 31 August, my final MSA / Cineversity membership expired. I now find I am unable to use CV tokens - "A Cineversity subscription is required to use CV tokens" I have, this morning written to a MAXON contact to complain about this - in the hope that they might release CV tokens free to all. This 'Subscribe or else' approach leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth - particularly when it holds back basic functionality like this.

There is a built in feature - not sure if it's quite the same, but maybe of use, see my quick demo below: With the move tool selected, Ctrl (Cmd) right click on required axis and snap that back to the axis origin, then left click drag to the required vertex or other element you want to snap to.

The memories come flooding back : )

I'm just thankful I 'colour in' for a living : )

Yes, I had one too ! : ) It was not uncommon that my pen or the cog would slip - usually very near the end of the drawing LOL! There was a 'C4D Spirograph' file posted on facebook a few months ago. I've dropped the author a msg to see if he will post it here. ---------- A: Because it's two radiuses away from the centre? EDIT: Having now looked it up I've made a mental note of 'R/r+1' to confuse the next 10 year old I come across... Quite interesting:

@jed I've only just seen this - been snowed under with work the last week. Oddly enough out of all thang's video this elliptical gears one was one I watched! As you say, quite impressive that C4D handles this so well. Thang has some incredible knowledge of these mechanical designs.

I very much enjoyed that Jed - and you would have made a great maths teacher! If you concentrate on that red spinner above it's quite hard to convince yourself it's not moving left or right : )

Thanks Jed - I'm always interested to see files like these. Facinating stuff. You might enjoy this youtube channel that I stumbled across today - a retired Vietnamese engineer making animated video of various mechanical setups - over 3,000 of them I believe! https://www.youtube.com/user/thang010146

Quite fascinating. Are there any real world objects that use an epicyclic trammel? ...and if If "Epicyclic trammel" are not a rock band, someone really ought to form it : )

Listening to the presentation yesterday, comments from MAXON staffers and Beta testers here. Are you suggesting otherwise? : ) If so, I hope you're right and I'm wrong : )