Vizn

The tips in this older thread might be worth checking out:

Is it not possible to serve ads to non-members? Let them read-only with ads. Disable downloads. Limit them to the first page of thread only. Many newb questions are answered quickly within 1 or 2 replies. It is the advanced topics that take more conversation, so to me that is the distinction between paid and free. Free assumes you are a newb and gives you limited access. Paid is if you want to go deeper, have more complex questions, or want to share your own insights.

There are different techniques for this depending on which renderer you are using, which typically falls under the umbrella term "Multi-pass Rendering". Using multi-pass techniques range from fairly simple to complex depending on the desired result. The main idea is that if you set up multi-passes correctly, you can often get all of the different utility passes in a single rendering session, which is very efficient for complex projects. However, for this, my suggestion is to simply put solid black on ALL of the objects, except the ones you want to see, which you put a luminous white material instead. Disable any objects that would occlude, so if you did have spheres in a tube, you would disable the tube because it would be solid black, thus hide the white spheres. BUT, if you have something in front, like the animation is behind something that should be seen in final, you want to keep that enabled, effectively baking the mask into the matte. Rendering will be all black, except for the objects with white, giving you a tracking matte of the spheres, which you then overlay in compositing app, change color, blur, etc to finalize. Here is a video showing the techniques to put different materials using Take system, so the main beauty take is not destroyed and also not having to use multiple files: He is using 3 colors only to get control over all of the different materials, so the important bits here are how to use Takes and set materials for this kind of output. I hope this makes sense!

My take from the video is that it appears to be spheres running through a tube with a semi-transparent "frosted" material on it, with a luminous material on the spheres. The frosted material makes a soft glow near the sphere. If you wanted to enhance this look in post all you would do is render out a black & white mask pass of the spheres, then use that in compositing app to add further blur / softness to the light. Of course, depending on the complexity of your project, this may not be efficient enough, but at least it is an option. 🙂 Edit: Sorry, I think I may have focused on the wrong part of the video. I am referring to the loop in the foreground.

Select the Move tool. Restrict X, Y, or Z (press x, y, or z!) depending on which axis you wish to rotate around. Grab one of the bezier curve handles and have at it! Hold the Shift button if you want to move just one side of the curve. Edit: If you want to rotate off or away from the world axis, don't restrict x,y, or z.

Hi. In order to join multiple splines, first you need to select them all and do a 'Connect Object + Delete' command, which combines them into a single spline object. Then go to points mode and look at the spline colors. You will see that they run from white to blue. If they all run in the same direction, move on to next. If any run white to blue in the opposite direction, select one point on that spline and right-click and choose 'Reverse Sequence' to flip it to match the others. Does not matter which point you select, it affects the entire spline. Next, use rectangle select tool and drag over where the points are overlapping to select 2 points. Right-click and choose 'Join Segment' command, which welds the two points together into a single spline. Repeat wherever there are overlapping points. When you have done them all, the spline color should run from white to blue from end to end. For constant motion/speed control along a spline, be sure to set the spline intermediate points to 'Uniform'. This vid talks all about it:

Depending on which axis you are trying to grab, turning off the other two (pressing x, y, or z) should make this possible. Once you have the two other axis turned off, you can click anywhere in the viewport to drag just the one axis you want and the others will not be affected. You don't have to "grab" the handle. But I am very curious as to why using a viewport from the side is such a no no for you? It literally takes 1 second to switch view to side. F1 = perspective view, F2 = top view, F3 = side view, and F4 = front view. Or, click the middle mouse button to switch to quad viewport layout and see all of them at once. Have fun!

Agreed. I have found that when using Takes I have to be very diligent about what camera i am in vs Take vs Settings before attempting to render. It is so easy to forget and then suddenly find that I've messed things up. I suggest to use the Annotation tag to help remind you what is what in terms of takes. Set the appropriate annotation to show with each Take. Set the Annotation to show in the viewport and you will have a nice visual reminder of where you are at / what you are doing. It especially comes in handy when you need to come back to a project and have lost the familiarity with how things are set.

Anyone have experience doing modeling and rendering via RDP over a VPN? Or perhaps there is some other preferred method for working with 3D from a remote terminal. I would be using Max with VRay. The idea is that I would not need a powerful computer at both home and office in order to work. I imagine the cons probably include some input / round-trip lag, depending on the stability/speed of the VPN link, but just how bad could it be? I wonder what other caveats might crop up. Could I reasonably expect to be able to use the IPR or RT? I'm really hoping this is a viable workflow. It would mean that I don't need to carry a flash drive back and forth (or, rather, forgetting to carry it and then doubling my commute to retrieve it!).

Can't speak to the usage of xrefs, but it is pretty typical for a file to take longer to open, or save, the more generators / deformers there are and the level of detail to objects being affected by those. Remember that the CPU has to work through the hierarchy of objects/generators/etc from the bottom of the list to the top. If you are using lots of cloners, ticking 'render instances' on them can save some active memory and cpu cycles, theoretically shortening save / open time. I've noticed saving can be instant sometimes on large files as well, but usually it takes a minute, which feels long when you just want to keep working. No solid idea why, tho. Maybe when only settings not directly affecting objects have changed? I haven't tested this idea.

Puget got a lot of mentions, so I will start there. When it comes down to it, I don't mind building something custom, so all options are still on the table. Thanks for the input, everyone!

Hello! Work has given me the go ahead to upgrade my rendering workstations. I would like to consider some pre-built options. While I have built all of my own computers since 1995, I am not really a technophile. I have always just stuck with reputable brands and picked the parts based on reviews and my budget. I am wondering if there is any real benefit to pre-built workstations in terms of increased performance and stability for 3d Arch-Vis rendering in particular? Which builders should I check out, or seriously consider? Unfortunately, I will be moving back to 3DS Max with VRay, with C4D remaining to do conversions, access old projects, etc. It's time to get back to Arch-Vis industry standards! 😉 TIA

Hello. Yes, Spline Wrap position can be a little confusing at first. First, make sure the Spline Wrap arrow is pointing in the correct direction for the object you wish to wrap on the spline. Understanding wrap alignment means getting to grips with the bounding box settings (pic 1). By default, the deformer will auto-fit itself to the object (Bounding Box Size) at the object's center point, not it's axis. You shift the deformer by entering values into the Bounding Box Center fields. The values will be relative to the object's center, thus negative 1/2 the size on Y moves it to the bottom, etc. Where the deformer's center lies will be where the wrap lies on the spline. NOW.. the problem with this method for doing curbs is obvious when you look at hard corners (pic 2). Plus, low-poly won't curve nicely at the rounded parts (without high segmentation). So, here is my method for curbs: Use the existing spline that you are trying to wrap. Make a copy first. Then use the Create Outline command to expand it into a closed spline. If it expands the wrong way, just undo and do again with negative value. Now just extrude it up. Give it a fillet cap if you like. Done. While setup may be a bit intense depending on how much curbing you need to do, this method is much faster to adjust later. Plus you don't have to faff with high-segmented geo and fiddly spline wraps! Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4

It appears the walls object (I can't read the name) is already editable, so in polygon mode simply select the face(s) you want and extrude (D).

I have not, but I'm sure it is possible. The current solution is enough at the moment. Client wants to see the windows open at different heights and doing it manually the first time was annoying, so this works for that purpose. In my full scene, the upper window crosses into the header above when open, but it's easy to just bump the whole thing down a few inches in order to maintain a correct appearance. For fun, here's a look at them in the scene. Will be adding a bit of detail at the columns to suggest the slide track, as well as recessed thresholds.

Well, I was able to get the hinges to stay where they should by moving them in the hierarchy. Here is my adjusted version for posterity. Bi-fold Window Rig_R18_VOORN_0001.c4d Thanks again!

Brilliant, @Christoph Voorn! Once I figured out what was happening, I was able to place the hinges where they should be, as well as put it all into a new parent/group to move/rotate the whole thing. Thank you for this solution!

Reference image should be clear. I need help to quickly rig a way to open / close this articulating window system, but I don't have the time to dig in and play around until I figure it out. I started by watching a rigging video tutorial, but quickly got confused with all of the settings and controls for joints. Attached file has my model. I am really interested to see how to constrain this rig, so where it hinges in the middle will stay aligned, and the top and bottom will pivot accordingly as the bottom is moved up. Thanks! Bi-fold Window Rig_R18.c4d

The screenshot looks like you want the model reoriented, rather than "folded". A fold is technically an acute bend, but it looks like you want it flattened out and not bent over on itself. For a speedy fix, I would just remake this simple object as a Spline Wrap, which means modeling it straight (not curved) in the orientation you want it to be (flat). Either convert an edge of the current mesh to a spline (Edge to Spline) for the curve, or draw a new one. If you haven't worked with Spline Wrap, it can be a little tricky to get a handle on at first, but ultimately so much faster to model curvy meshes. And if you have to texture that object, having the base mesh in a straight orientation is a huge time saver, rather than having to unwrap the curved version.

There is also this little drop menu in the Tag section of the Attributes (see pic): Show In Manager is supposed to scroll to the material in the manager, but it only has that thin highlight. However, choosing Select Element will select the material, which highlights the name as well, making it much easier to see.

Do the polys need to be all connected, or to be more specific, do they need to share at least one edge? For example, think about a branch with leaves. Would the leaves need to be modeled as attached to the branch, or could they be separate, either as separate objects, or all one object just disconnected?

Thanks for quick reply, @Cerbera I should have just kept going with what I was doing... Discovered that I can edit it in place after putting it in a SDS and turning on isoline editing! 😅

Greetings! Is there a method for in-place editing of the object being wrapped along a spline? In my pic, I want to select the appropriate edge ring loops in the wrapped state in order to add some extra sub-divisions to help even out the curves where they are a bit chunky. If I enter edge mode, the object displays in its non-wrapped state, forcing me to count the divisions in order to find the right loops. File: vizn-spline-wrap-R18.c4d

Are there any AO settings that could be causing it?

True, I haven't delved into the power of the Bevel tool either. The most immediate use for advanced functions I can see is making piping or seams on furniture upholstery. I always used the bevel tool in Max for this, but coming to C4D it wasn't immediately apparent I could do it with the same tool, so I've been using a different technique. I will use it the next time I'm modeling furniture. Thanks for the heads-up and primer info, @Icecaveman!