HappyPolygon

I wonder if a standard Destructor at the end of the spline would work on TPs. I've never used those forces on TPs.

Hmmm... It depends how much time you want to invest. Is it a big commercial for TV or will it be one render shot for a magazine ad page ? What kind of angle do you intend to use the product in ? Will it be a close shot or a far one ? Depending your answer to those questions you might need to model something detailed or just throw that image on a simple plane with a normal map for the creases... Decide which method you want to follow and we'll guide you further.

Thank you very much for this simple explanation Fritz ! By ML do you mean Machine Learning ? Have you ever heard of hybrid renderers ? Is there any studies or development in such renderers where they both Raytrace and Raymarch the scene and then auto-combine it in a composition step ? (I guess there could be some technical difficulties handling shadows/reflections casted from a raytraced object on a reaymarched object and vise-versa...) OR I could ask a better question... "Is a Raymarching algorithm a superior to a Raytracing one ?" in the sense that one can render all the things the other can and cannot render ?

There wasn't a generic Technical question about this so I just threw it in the Python section ... I didn't want to post this under the Discussion forum either since it's not that much of an artistic topic ... This isn't a programming question. But it can attract people knowledgeable to the topic. So we have had metaballs since 199X in computer graphics but only in the last 3 or 4 years I've heard about Signed Distance Fields (AKA Volume Builder in C4D) being used. Are Metaballs a different thing from SDFs ? Do they belong to a different CG field/theory ? Also, I know SDFs are pure mathematical constructs that's why we need the Volume Mesher to polygonize them. Are Metaballs the same ? I'm asking this because in the old Bryce app (1998) metaballs didn't seem to have visible geometry flaws, and it's hard to believe they intended to generate such dense geometries or implement some camera dependent tessellation algorithm back then. Example rendered in Bryce.

None of what I wrote were meant to be interpreted as aggressive. I apologize if my writing is interpreted that way. I just asked if the scripts in Python are have those capabilities. I assumed C4D was automatically adding the animate circle infront of parameters and made the interface live-previewed (I thought this was the main reason Maxon abandoned COFFEE).

Does being rewritten in Python 3 make the parameter dialogues animatable or interactive (live preview) ? Yes, some of his scripts were rewritten, but not all. Knots some attractors and many more haven't been updated.

Mathematical Wonders Difficulty Level (8/10) (I put 8 just because of the extensiveness, actually it's about 3 or 4) Even if this is a recent suggestion to Maxon I don't think they will consider ever doing anything like this because there isn't much usability for it. So there's this lovable chemist called Jürgen Meier, who has compiled more than 100 scripts for C4D R5,7,8 full of mathematical surfaces from the topology field and chaos theory. The scripts (I think work up to R12 I'm not sure, I don't remember the latest version of C4D I tested them on, could be just R6 and R8). As those were written to work in R5,7 and 8 their dialogue interface isn't interactive (C.O.F.F.E.E. scripts). This means that the user usually has to fill manually more than 5 parameters and press OK to generate anything. And of course those parameters aren't animatable. So, if anyone is up to the task of modernizing, grouping and updating all his scripts under one single plugin (or Scene Nodes Asset - nice challenge), and help some users visualize math as art - that would be great. BUT as mentioned in his site So, take some time to contact this guy and ask for permission (I know math are not copyrightable, but it's his code) if you are considering updating his code. He answers fast, I've talked to him once. Take a look here.

Nope. Never heard of these sites. And both sites are Italian... To be honest it's hard to keep track of C4D plugins. It's clearly a marketing thing. If a developer doesn't promote his work to all major 3D/C4D related forums it will not be widely known. I used to search a lot in the internet for C4D plugins during the R12-R20 period and never came across those sites.

Measure & Construction Tool II Difficulty Level (9/10) (the level is so high just because of the complexity and because I think it's hard to compute volumes and conic angles) This plugin aims to provide a visual aid during editing as well as in rendering for CAD/CAM oriented projects. The old Selection menu is unproductive. Measures don’t get named from user, can’t be deleted or deactivated in bulk unless they are converted to objects. This redesign enables access to all measures easily from a list and introduces new measurement capabilities and visual tools for CAM/CAD renders. Also it’s not a tool anymore. It’s an object in UI paradigm of the Volume Builder. Creating a new Measure adds a new Measure Object in it’s list and under it’s hierarchy. The Measure & Construction Object acts like as manager for bulk editing. There are 4 types of Measures - Length, Area, Angle, Conic Angle and Volume. Length needs an Edge Selection of at least 1 Edge. Area needs a Polygon Selection with adjacent polygons. An angle needs a Vertex Selection of exactly 3 points. A Conic Angle needs a Vertex or Edge Selection where all Edges must have a common point (origin). The volume gets a closed polygonal Surface. In the case of the Length of more than one Edges, Angle and Conic Angle, the Rotate button will change the point of measurement. In the case of Length it defines the Edge where the Value will be positioned. Custom Input is available only for Length (one Edge) and Angle. Start-End for Length, Origin for Angle. The new Measure Object uses splines for visualization and can be a child of any Spline-altering Object. Sketch&Toon can be applied for non-physical rendering. Values change automatically unless user enters a custom one. An artistic render of how a tool like this could look like:

1) You either do it like Igor suggested and texture the geometry accordingly or 2) Your unwrapped label isn't correct in the first place. Try carefully to unglue the label and place it flat on a scanner. Trace the label in a vector program insert it in C4D as a spline, convert it to geometry using a Lathe, choose grid subdivision, make it enough dense, try again with your method.

META GROUPS Difficulty Level (6/10) This is an odd idea. I'm still not quite sure if it's helpful or not. MetaGroups is a tool for manipulating a number of objects scattered across the Object Manager in different levels of hierarchy. It’s a little bit of crossbreed between a Group, an object reference manager an Exresso rig and a Take System. As an Object reference manager, this object doesn’t require any object under it’s hierarchy. The user only has to drag the objects in the Metagroups’ manager list. There could be an AutoGroup option (right click) where all objects under a group or all objects in a scene can be put under a usual group object based on their material or object type. From inside the list the user can have direct access to the properties and tags of the selected object. Inside the list a Group Folder can be created where objects of the same type can be placed. Once inside a Group Folder, objects cannot be changed individually. The user can now choose the Group Folder and have access to all common properties of the contents as if it were just one object. Changing one parameter will effect all objects inside the Group Folder. Each parameter of a Group Folder has a that, when enabled, will prevent that parameter to be affected by the MetaGroup giving users some extrafreedom for diversity. Higher priority over object properties has the MetaGroup Object. Any property with a lock enabled under it prevents the user from changing values under the original object’s attributes. MetaGroups can be enabled or disabled. Any object parameters change will not be reverted when the MetaGroup is disabled unless their state is cached as a saved state and later retrieved from a cache tab. As a Group this object can be very useful for animations were objects have to be moved under a new pivot point like a piece on a Rubic’s Cube. This can be done when an object belongs to multiple MetaGroups. Only one MetaGroup can have influence on an Object that is referenced in many Metagroups. Enabling a Metagroup with a duplicate reference will automatically disable the other.

I think the correct solution involves an operation like the Poke Node as the first step. The center of the Radial Cut will first create a point inside a polygon and then extend linear cuts outwards. Then it just cleans up/melts the unnecessary edges created on the first polygon due to the Poke operation. I think C4D still can't cut a polygon "free-hand". It has to be a through and through cut all the way from on side of the polygon to the other in a straight line. It can't create intermediate points inside a single polygon. If it can do what I call "free-hand cut" then it will be much easier to cut odd numbered slices and it can also be done in screen space.

RADIAL CUT TOOL Difficulty Level (8/10) (Even cuts is easy to do, but odd cuts is tricky) Similar to the Plane Cut tool. It offers a Radial functionality in all three planes (XY,XZ,ZY). As a power bonus it also provides a Radial Offset. One for the radial array and one for the center.

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that,

CLONER SHADER Difficulty Level (8/10) This procedural shader emulates a 2D cloner. It was easy enough to make this using Material nodes but hit a wall with the Scatter context node intersecting clones and not having a clue on how to randomly apply different colors to each fragment. The shader includes all the usual attributes of a cloner with the main exception that instead of accepting objects it accepts closed splines as clones. In addition it contains an Outline for the clones and possibly a Bevel Outline option. An input shader for the background and a Fill Shader for the splines and also a Random Color Fill as demonstrated in the last example below.

RELAUNCH APPLICATION OPTION Difficulty Level (2/10) There are times when users need to relaunch the application. Reasons to do this: App acts weird App got heavy during PC hibernation Regular tests of plugins during their development Regular tests on configurations taking place at start-up

SAVE/LOAD COMPRESSED PROJECTS Development Difficulty (7/10) If developed by Maxon it would look like this: C4D files are very compressible. I wonder why Maxon hasn't come up with a more compact file format. It might have to do with memory and CPU usage during saving and loading a scene. Useful plugin for users wanting to limit space on their HD, or share their projects very often with low speeds or store them online in limited storage hosts. (Project assets like textures are not compressed)

So there is some common ground between XPresso and SceneNodes. The question is, with which tool is this common ground easier and best practice to deal with ? Would it be more sensible to move any node associated with time to XPresso and pave a workflow paradigm where the user should procedurally model/arrange in SceneNodes and then bridge the outcome to XPresso for procedural animation and or Material Nodes for texturing ? Could a 3-Layer Node UI offer better management to the users ?

Pixel Stretch Development Difficulty (5/10) If developed by Maxon it would be an extra option in the Material Tag properties. As a plugin I guess it can have the form of a Tag or Material Node but probably a Shader is best. Enables boundary pixels of textures to stretch on all directions filling the rest of the space. Available in all projection modes except UVW Mapping and when Tile and Seamless are disabled. Example 1) Original texture. 2) Pixel Stretch disabled. 3) Pixel Stretch Enabled (actually in viewport the pixel stretch effect is present as a side-effect at least up to R23).

Over the years I've sent MAXON hundreds of requests for small and big new features, additions and enhancements. Some where considered seriously, some were dully noted, some were too ahead of their time, some were stupid. Here I will be posting some of my old suggestions that haven't been implemented or conceived by anyone yet. I think developing a plugin is something like being an artist, sometimes you have the energy and the talent but you just don't have the inspiration. This is the reason why I make this post. To help spark some of you to create something that will help you and others. Just don't forget to call dibs on a project to avoid unwanted competition... If you like an idea and considering implementing it for free just mention it to raise a hype 🥳 Not all are ideas for plugins, some can be templates, XPresso rigs, Material Node setups or Scene Node setups, the final form is up you. A warning though... I don't guarantee any of these have never been scheduled for future development from MAXON, or they won't reconsider implementing them if they see them here... But I assure you I wont be posting suggestions I sent them last year...

Is this possible using XPresso ?

This was definitely done with AE with "special" retro plugins. it's impossible to have that kind of light behavior in 3D physical render. I have some theories that could work in any 3D DCC though... The text's outline is NOT flat but has wavy irregularities. Using a simple rotating multi-light rig around the text would give some contradictory reflections. But in order to make the text look flat you should render it from an orthogonal view to eliminate any perspective revealing the irregular surface of the text, A simple noise bump/normal texture could also work. This makes any geometry editing redundant. The next hard step is to emulate the NIGHT reflections See that reflection making an ark downwards ? It's impossible to do in 3D without a concave geometry. The texture has to be designed this way. For the letters N,I,H,T can be the same but the G needs it's own design. You could still fake that using a normal map for each specific letter, that would also make the texture react naturally to the environment, but I don't know how one could make an emboss normal letter texture (totally possible) and if it's even possible using Material Nodes in C4D (I'm interested about that, not sure if possible at all, (it's been long since I asked for an Emboss node)).

I Noseman did something like this inspired from Entagma. He used Field-driven Vertex Maps to deform the big orbs' surface