Hrvoje

There will certainly be some language exposed at some point but we are still deciding what would be the best option, or options. In meantime, Nodes themselves offer huge amount of programming possibilities which are yet to be exhausted before using some language 🙂

Nobody ever mentioned OM removal 🙂

Thanks, much appreciated! You will be pleased to know that most of this is already possible but one has to build it. For example, anything builder related is same logic and hopefully you saw my road builder which is a simple example of building something with predefined blocks. If I recall @srek had some examples of parametric buildings. Now, when you say controlled asset placement you are referring to distributing objects in numerous ways, right? There are many distributions in Neutron plus you can build any you imagine. Way more on your list that can be done already than not 🙂 For example, here is a log spiral distribution. Point is that, if it is based on any logic or math it can be built

@Shrike @MikeA Guys, when you say "we need to get away from playing and thinking with cubes and spheres, and into something practical," Please give me an example of that so we can try to build it with nodes 🙂

Yes, scene nodes are new core. They are a base for everything but will not replace existing workflow. What you now see is core used in nodes. That same core can and will be used for "normal" manager. So you will be able to use nodes, managers or both in future, depending on your preference. The familiar and easy to use object manager workflow we all like will definitely stay.

This node group or asset is created purely by nodes. I made the indicators by constructing lines (splines). Here is the scene file 74_Ray_Collision.c4d Of course, it is just a basic algorithm but it works for most and is good display of what is doable, however it would make much more sense to get a default ,robust raycast and related node

Ah, you want value manipulation on the node itself, yes, of course we are aware of that 🙂

I will take a guess and presume you enabled tablet and high res tablet in Cinema prefs? Disabled windows ink in tablet properties?

I am not really into rendering at this moment, but I would certainly expect a synergy with render engine. There is no point being able to have millions of objects running in viewport smoothly and then not being able to render them in reasonable time frame 🙂

Can you elaborate your comment a bit more in detail?

But it is legacy, has to be replaced by one which will not suffer from performance issues we want to eradicate 🙂

Shrike Thanks for the effort, that is very detailed feedback! Here are some setups with Nodes that are quite difficult to achieve without them in current MoGraph or other context. Sure, the setup is more complex due to it being nodes, however I haven't took the effort to pack the functionality in single asset with simple front end controls, so what you are looking at can in fact be a single node with inputs and outputs Clone Blending Clone_Blending.mp4 Radius Aware cloning Radius_Aware.mp4 Recursion Recursion.mp4 Road building Road.mp4 Poly Unfold effect Unfold.mp4 I already have built a library of roughly 100 Nodes scenes and in fact have 3 more volumes of training recorded (intermediate, advanced, master - have to find time to edit them) where I will show some really nice stuff with them. As extreme example, with nodes you can build very complex things like ray collision node: Ray_collision.mp4 So yes, it is early days but system is incredibly capable at this point and I am very excited about the future since it will only get better. Much better 🙂

@jonmoore Constructive criticism is always welcome, especially on Cafe 🙂 Due to very things you mention we opted to label it as tech demo. Unfortunately there was simply no more time to build some more nice assets but I plan to make a few once some spare time is available. Of course, I will share with community. For example, a "Cloner" asset pops to mind or similar. Neutron is simply a TD tool at this point, but we indeed see assets as something of crucial importance. Simple to use, human readable, user friendly node assets which everyone can use will certainly remove some of the apprehension artists have from using nodes at least up until the point where beloved manager workflow is delivered. I urge you to post your findings whenever you feel the need to do so. Even though design team did methodical, rigorous and extensive homework on this subject, feedback is always welcome!

I too certainly can't provide actual details about future features, however, It would be really shortsighted move from our side if we haven't accounted for future development and market needs 😉

@stoecklem There is a temporary disconnection between old and new now, which is to be expected. Nodes are in fact new object system and as such are simply v1.0. Rest is to follow quickly along, meaning all the usual workflows and usability you are used too will be made possible. We simply couldn't not release this (even as tech demo) to showcase new core. Rest is following but there is major benefit of getting into nodes this early because they are here to stay "underneath" it all 🙂

Thanks @jonmoore and @Shrike for extensive effort in posting valuable feedback. @jonmoore We are much more inclined into friendly workflow than cryptic nature of something like Fabric. There is nothing in your post that we don't agree on or haven't explored already. Now it is just time factor involved 🙂

Time constraints. Focus was to get system stable and performant and we want to do all the things the right way :)

Nice read, hope you get more time with nodes to discover some other cool stuff. Rest assured that we are fully aware what is missing in Nodes (and with them) and am glad that our ideas correspond to real world usability findings from experienced node user from other apps. Nodes are young but rest assured we are on them with intentions to match and exceed similar systems. Btw, you can in fact type this into name of value node. {{in}} Then the node will display the value from incoming input to it. Console is also your friend until proper debugging and vis tools are made

Here is on more taste of power of Nodes - one can actually build L-systems in it. For example you can build trees and various plant like structures (Xfrog inspired) 🙂 Tree.mp4

You can, here is simple example Legacy_Morph.c4d

Answer is simple - yes 🙂 Everything will be node based and also manager based for people that are not really interested in nodes. They will simply use managers as object manager and not care about node network being made in "background". As said in other topic one will be able to choose to work with object manager, nodes or both. Nodes are actual core in it's first iteration and everything in it is new, including primitives. We will not build new stuff using old tech. You can use legacy object import node to import any "legacy" object into Neutron and anything it produces. I am really glad that you guys figured out how impressive nodes are, even at this early stage and am looking forward to any Nodes questions very much 🙂

No, as said in other topic, object manager is something that C4D is known for and will continue to be integral part of it. Managers will follow and will offer same advantages nodes now offer in terms of performance and functionality. So, if you are node apprehensive you will have the option to work in manager and simply don't care what happens underneath with nodes, however, I would strongly suggest trying nodes themselves because such workflow offers advantages to manager based one. For example, already now in R23, someone can simply build a complex node setup and present it as a single node with some exposed controls which anyone can use. One node with some parameters which makes some stuff which one can render and animate as usual See a preview video here for a taste what nodes can do https://www.c4dcafe.com/ipb/store/product/24-scene-nodes/

Nodes are base for future, they are new core. That core can take any "shape" needed. You already probably know that from official MAXON statements, but manager based workflow is in the works, so that means you will be able to work as you are used too. So, you can used nodes, manager workflow or both, nothing is enforced. Nodes are simply what is there in version 1.0.

@Lieber Ok, so no password protection, but you are most likely interested that internals are not exposed and that is possible! Asset can be encrypted so that one can't see internals

Thanks, glad you liked it 🙂 Regarding protecting assets with password, that is not available at the moment and I don't know if this is planned or not but thanks for pointing out such possibility