3D-Pangel

Watched a few more of the Cineversity R19 feature videos last night and then went to bed....and then it hit me as I was trying to go to sleep. Will the new Object Insertion Modifiers work with the connector tags? That is, could I create a structure with MoGraph (say a brick wall), make it editable, and then with Object Insertion modifier put a connection tag on all the individual bricks with one-click? Do I have to make the MoGraph object editable and just place the connection tag on the cloner? Not really sure how the connection tag works but I am hoping it is generic to more than just Voronoi fracture objects. Either way, this really opens up the possibilities for more realistic looking dynamic simulations....with the hope that it can be used outside of object shattering simulations. Very exciting possibilities if it were true.....I foresee many a sleepless nights playing with R19. So two things are evident: 1) This is probably the new core in action and the new core is really showing itself in R19. Can't wait to see what's next. 2) A little concerned that I am thinking about C4D while lying in bed. Honestly, it is a little frightening....if not just plain sad. Dave

Would love to see the machine specs with each of these demo's. Just outstanding....almost too good to be true. At 0:43, was emmissive materials used to make the dandelions glow? Is that a native capability to C4D or were you using Cycles 4D? Dave

Just saw the Cineversity video on the veronoi fracture improvements. And after watching that video it finally occurred to me why C4D users are both dedicated to the program and mad at it at the same time. The improvements made to Veronoi fracture prove just HOW AWESOME MAXON can make something. The words "powerful", "logical", and "easy to use" are not just rhetorical phrases that get tossed around to create press buzz....here they actually mean something. So when you see this level of quality in the improvement of a tool, it naturally creates a rising expectation about what is "next". What else are you improving that we can expect to be just as good, just as useful, just as smart? That's why we are always asking: What is next? Time and time again, you guys prove that when you set your minds to improve something, you do it right...so please just improve everything!!! Unfortunately, when "what is next" does not happen yesterday, we get frustrated. Now the elephant in the room are the UV tools. My understanding is that UV is inherent to the new core and as such foundational to the entire program which is unfortunate because the most anticipated improvement is probably going to be the last to be released....but I would imagine that when it is released it will be mind-blowing. Sorry....but that is what you have trained us to expect. I know....quite a lot to live up to. R19 is turning into a bit of a pleasant surprise and quite honestly, I need to step on my feet to keep from getting too excited about R20.... ...but the way I see it, creating that level of anticipation and high expectation is MAXON's fault, not mine ;-) Dave

Hmmm...just saw that video about what is new in the Content browser....the realistic head is definitely something to deep dive into. Would love to see some dynamic voronoi breaking examples as well (that wood plank video was pretty cool). Will Cineversity have a few scenes to pour through? Dave

Can we do better than that? I would hate to go through a 40 minute render only to find out that I had inadvertently left it on ProRender rather than switch back to Physical render and now my image is lacking something (eg. whatever effects aren't supported). A warning message that ProRender doesn't support something is a simple thing to prevent that mistake. You can usually determine what render options you have selected in the first few buckets that get rendered. But while I haven't seen ProRender in action, I would imagine that you may not be able to determine it is in use right away (particularly if you are using CPU rendering). Now if you can, then it is not an issue. But if not, then you really need that warning screen as I would imagine that could be a mistake we all make. Dave

First reaction: "Hey....there are a few pleasant surprises after all!" Second Reaction: "When you consider everything...even what we knew about....then R19 is certainly better than R17....and worthy of being a full point release" Third Reaction: "Why didn't they announce earlier? People are going to want to see the viewport enhancements in action at Siggpraph...certainly they would want people to get advance word about that to boost the foot traffic to their booth?" Fourth Reaction: "Ha! So there was a falloff effector in MoGraph! I knew it all along! They probably renamed it to Noise Falloff after the inadvertent leak with that video and to protect Hrvoje's cover story (it's a conspiracy I tell you!!!! A conspiracy!!!)" Fifth Reaction: "Can I still trust what Hrvoje tells us?........hmmm......The answer is yes. ;-) What I am most delighted about NOW: The voronoi fracture enhancements...in particular dynamic breaking. So my assumption is that chunks will stick together until some force is reached. Can the also be controlled based on collision order or key frame (these chunks break on first collision, these break on the next collision or keyframe....etc) What I hope to be most delighted about LATER: The viewport performance. Can't get too excited until I see it on my machine. I have an nVidia Quadro K5200...so I am hoping it will be impressive. Biggest Question: So while all the features of ProRender are not implemented, I would assume that there are gaps between ProRender and Physical camera. So how does that work when I take a pre-existing scene and want to render it in ProRender? Does a little warning screen come up and say "These features are not compatible with ProRender"? If so then what? Scene does not render? Features get turned off? So how does C4D handle all that? Overall....please give MAXON a slow clap at Siggraph for me. Dave

Carbon Scatter has an option to scatter instances or objects....not sure why Surface Spread does not have the same option (I don't have the plugin but it would seem an obvious feature). But if I am understanding your concern, it is that boolean cannot work with instances. So I decided to do a quick test as I did not think that was the case: As you can see, it does work with the instance of the cube. So is it that you want to actually use the boolean function or just kill those instances that are going on the pavement (not boolean but delete)? Now if the issue is that you want specific control for putting down grass, then I think Grass Painter 2 might help from C4DZone as it as some good painting and masking controls. Certainly cheaper than Carbon Scatter. Dave

Honestly....the fact that MAXON hasn't announced R19 before Siggraph is not a good sign. Given the costs of a booth at Siggraph, if MAXON was proud of the new features in R19 then they would have announced it by now to create buzz and foot traffic. Now they could still announce within the next 24 hours, but it doesn't look good. If the R19 features were really outstanding, then they would not wait to right before the conference. Now there was a post earlier in this thread that R19 was going to be delayed due to problems with the core. No one paid much attention to it and rightly so because it sounded like fake news.....but, just to cover all the bases in this discussion, that could be another reason for not hearing anything and R19 is going to be a crackerjack release. You decide.

About 10 years ago there was a tremendously kind and generous person at MAXON USA named Rafi Barbos. She no longer works there. She was responsible for getting me into C4D Studio and what I remember about dealing with her is that she had a heart for the hobbyist and enthusiast, especially relative to the cost of the program on the budgets of those who are not earning a living from the software. Well...I got an incredible deal on an upgrade to Studio and will be forever thankful. Very sorry when she left. Now the MAXON USA office is a great bunch of people to work with but here is my hope: That MAXON has a long term focus when dealing with new licenses relative to the MSA. I am sure that Rafi gave me a great deal on my Studio upgrade because she already knew that I have been using the program for a few years now and would continue to use it, therefore give me a price break now on getting into Studio because it is a trade off for future years of higher MSA prices. Remember, there is nothing better than a recurring annual revenue stream. Companies love that as it locks in their cash flows to some extent so it is better to drop the prices of the core program if it produces a steady stream of higher MSA revenues in the future. Yes, I saved a huge chunk of the upgrade cost for Studio but as I have been in the Studio MSA program for 10 years now, I am sure that they got their money back. So if you have been in the MSA program for a few years now on Prime or Broadcast and thinking about upgrading to Studio, call your MAXON office and make that same argument (especially if you are a hobbyist): "I have been a loyal customer in the MSA program and would like to upgrade to Studio but can't afford it. Can you help me out on the upgrade cost to Studio - I am sure you will make it back on the higher MSA costs over the years". If R19 is going to pack all the punch of R17, then now might be a good time to make that argument as MAXON may be prepping for a loss of customers (which I expect they are, otherwise why have that blog on the MSA program). Dave

at last!! Another Excel user in the forums! If I could use C4D with the same skill that I use Excel....I would be a MAXON beta tester and giving demo's at Siggraph. As proof, here is an old game that I wrote in Excel (Excel 2007 ) Yes...it has macros but they are virus free. Unfortunately, my more recent work with Excel 2016 is all work related. The_Knights_Tour.xlsm

And we will accuse Hrvoje of colluding with the Russians to get it removed from R19!!! ;-) ...okay....time to kill this thread! Dave

But we all love the intrigue it creates....trust me, should Falloff not appear in the MoGraph menu when R19 is released, it doesn't matter that Hrvoje was right all along....the new spin will be why did MAXON remove the falloff effector from MoGraph!!!. ;-)

Just got some emails about some upcoming sales that I thought I would share. These sales are probably in response to Siggraph, so hopefully there are others out there for people to share as well. Evermotion.org - 50% off all collections for Wednesday (7/26) only Nonecg.com - 30% off all models "this week only" .... so not sure if that ends on Friday (end of workweek) or Saturday. Dave

Did they announce!!!! Did they? Huh...did they? Go back to sleep Dave Hrumphhhh.....I hate "MAXON Eve" ;-)

Glad I could help. Designing the house on a CAD system was a really fun time...doing all the floor plans, structural cross sections, exterior views and plot plan. Great bonding moment for my wife and I as we visualized our dream home. The builder we contracted with was really impressed. What he liked the most was that all the structural dimensions were in multiples of 4 or 8 because all lumber, plywood and drywall comes in those dimensions....so there was little waste (if you design and 11 x 15 room, you're really paying for a 12 x 16 room). We sold our existing home, moved our stuff into storage, and moved into my fathers apartment. At about that time, the builder called and said that I over designed it and that I could save some money if I made some changes. So we met, marked up the prints and he would then re-quote it. From that point, it gets really interesting, but to make a long story short what the builder did was to take so long to re-quote that the original quote expired so that he could hit me with a $20K increase. What happened is that the housing market exploded. All available lots in that town sold out (it was a town on the NH sea cost and NH only has 4 miles of coastline...so very desirable)- I know everything sold out because while waiting for that idiot to re-quote, I was looking for another builder. There was nothing and the builder thought we were trapped so he could stick us for the extra money. Well, I fired him. So no, we never had the house built. Dave

I love the modeling, lighting and texturing ...and the furniture is spot on. The new staircase (while improved) just looks too big for the room. Caleidos4D actually has a plugin that does all sorts of staircases. The steps you have now are also a bit off....the step run (or length) looks too big which is probably what makes the staircase bigger than it needs to be. I did design my own house (full architectural drawings) and I think I used an 11 inch run with a 7 inch rise. Not sure, but there are equations on the web. Also, when I look at your kitchen, I think the refrigerator needs to be closer to the sink and/or oven. There is a rule used in kitchen design that if you consider the refrigerator, oven and sink to be the three ends of a triangle, the total perimeter of that triangle should not exceed 20 feet. Anything longer than that, and you will begin to feel fatigued going back and forth to get, wash and cook food. Kind of makes sense. Also, you mentioned that you want to live in an area that has more than 3 months of summer and lower taxes. You must be from Massachusetts!! Dave

The truth about why or if MAXON moved a CA tool (falloff) under the MoGraph menu. Sorry, but that explanation doesn't pass the sniff test. All will be revealed in a matter of days.....or possibly hours! Dave

Okay....grabbed this screen image from that tutorial and compared to the R18 interface. Is Falloff new?

My respect for Chris' C4D skills aside, I would also love to hear more about the size of his Lego collection! ;-)

Hmmmm..... you could say that....or come to a completely different conclusion

The other downside of personal attacks is that I am sure it keeps MAXON employees from getting involved in the discussion....and for a topic like this, we desperately need their perspective. Even though they never go into features, they do help balance out the speculation. One MAXON employee who left the Cafe, never to return because some posts became too confrontational was Srek. I don't blame him for leaving, but we could all pdefinitely benefit from his perspective right now. Definitely a loss to the Cafe. Dave

Sooooo......how do I get this job if I am willing to work for free? Getting paid for this would be a dream come true but small steps first (yes...in addition to some practical experience, there is passion here that probably makes up for lack of formal training). :-) Dave

So essentially, big changes to the SDK may not always immediately indicate big changes in functionality to the user (the single to double precision change in R12 is a perfect example.) but are introduced as they create a more powerful foundation to future plugin development. Yes...makes perfect sense and while we should always temper rumor with facts, please understand that the years of anticipation MAXON has cultivated over the new core can create an over-whelming desire for unbridled speculation. Please don't fault us for that or MBryne for not containing his excitement better. Also happy to know that MAXON developers are watching this thread! Dave

Would that review be written using the demo or would you be seriously considering purchasing an R20 license? Just wondering if there is a possible future where you come back as a current (and up to date) user. Here's hoping for that day because should it happen then MAXON must have released an amazing version. Until then, we will keep the light on for you! Dave

Next year? Trust me, the "R20 wish list" thread will be brought up in a little over two weeks on August 1, the day after R19 is announced at Siggraph.