dast

Well, seems I was mislead by R19 locking up on start up, and the first few lines of the SDK documentation mentioning the minimum requirements. In the end I couldn't reproduce the lock ups I encountered the first few times. Maybe something related to ProRender requiring initialization. Not sure. PolyGnome (built with R17 SDK) does run on R19, so I finally focused on writing the documentation. Release version, including documentation and some sample libraries have been sent to beta tester for final approval. Next step was to build a MacOS version of the plugin, which has been sent to Rick for evaluation purposes. Awaiting feedback before officially provide the plugin via the C4DCafe store ... Will keep you updated.

Built release candidate 2 last night, with only the documentation to be completed before release. Unfortunately, as I just found out installing R19, this latest version of Cinema requires a complete new development environment. Bummer. I am in the middle of projects, and can not afford the risk to install another Visual Studio. The release of PolyGnome will have to be delayed to work with R19.

Not sure what you would expect to be different on spheres, so I created a short demonstration video. Of course, due to the curvy surface of the sphere the results depends on how your assets are created (if that is what you were referring to). The next video shows different sphere types using "flat based" assets. If this doesn't demonstrate what you intended to see, please feel free to discuss in more detail.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I haven't been active in this thread anymore since I started one more applicable to the context of plugin development, here: https://www.c4dcafe.com/ipb/forums/topic/99471-polygnome/ Beta testers have received the almost final version of the plugin. While waiting on their evaluation and feedback, I am finalizing some minor things to get the plugin ready for its release. More information (and beta progress) available in the above PolyGnome development thread.

With the GetSubContainer you are only setting up the menu layout, to actually add the plugins, you need to register each plugin. Your "subsubmenu_2" (and the others) would actually be your plugin IDs. This way you connect your plugins to the menu entry. When a users select such a menu entry the plugin ID associated with it will then be called by Cinema 4D.

Now, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But, boy, oh boy, this has been a roller coaster project ... and we're not there yet. But close! Really, really close. A big thank you to the beta testers for finding all my stupid implementation mistakes so far. And I apologize in advance for the next bugs I have introduced ;-) Anyway. Not to bash MAXON, but I am sure the Polystein Kit could rely on some solid functionality of the MODO SDK (or API) for the features needed. I haven't found everything I needed in "our" SDK and thus had to come up with quite some workarounds. But that's maybe my fault for not knowing where to look, or not being smart enough to know how to use the tools at hand. But then again, Seamilar was not different in that regard, so I guess that's the way to go to implement "speciality products". But enough of the trash talk. Here's a preview of beta 6, which even beta testers haven't received yet. I am too excited, having reached this stage of the plugin, I couldn't wait for beta testers' feedback before showing it to the world (... mwhouhaaahaa!) Minor technical detail (I won't bore you with "under the hood" explanations): My original concept used a single window, containing both the library of assets, as well as the controls to apply the assets onto the source object. In the end it turned out that this was a bad move, as the user interface became too cluttered. Instead I now went for a two window concept, where one window hosts the library of assets (nicknamed "Junkyard") and the other window hosts the controls to apply the asset. I went totally overboard with this control window and turned it into a graphical ... Well, I haven't yet decided how to call that window. Or maybe I'll just go for PolyGnome & Junkyard. Seems to fit the story.

Beta 3 of the plugin has been sent out to beta testers. In the meantime here's a short demonstration of some of the new features added.

Thanks. Yes. As the introductory video shows, you will be able to add you own created assets.

Ah, I see. Well, I thought my original video demonstrated the rotation. But obviously with a symmetrical asset it's quite hard to notice the rotation ... Sorry about that. Next short video should demonstrate what you mean. Again, apologies for not noticing the useless symmetrical asset used for rotation purposes.

Before starting to work on any plugin I have a two step "design" phase. The last step before implementation is writing down the design, but before that a large amount of time is spent on pure mentally imagine using the plugin. Finding out what works, what doesn't ... in terms of workflow. Of course a lot of things changes throughout the different stages. But it's during these first two steps where I skip a lot of "bad" ideas. Not bad in general, just things I think won't work, or are to complex for a nice user experience. I love it when people then come up with request which I eliminated from the start ... confronting me with decisions I made, realizing I just don't know squad! Here is one of those "bad" ideas I had: When rotating an asset, there are two possibilities to match asset and object. I went with the one where you don't alter the main object, and adjust the asset to match. From your explanation, I understand you now want the opposite: matching the object to the asset. I went with one of the possibilities in order to limit the option jungle ...

Yes, any selection of polygons (1x1, 1x2, 2x3, 3x3, 4x1, ...) is currently supported, the 2x2 used in the video was just for ease of demonstration. Sorry, I don't understand what you mean with your second point, related to rotation. But assets rotated by 90/180/270/360 will keep their base edge points, and not result in twisted polygons. If that is what you meant. As for the direct editing, I thought this might indeed be useful, but I haven't yet made up my mind how to provide these options without turning the user interface into a jungle of checkboxes ... So in order to keep it simple, I have kept it simple, and just skipped these options for now.

[Edit - Note: this thread should be located in the "Programming - C++" section of the forums. It ended up in the "Python" section by accident during one of the forums reorganizing sessions] A while ago the Polystein Kit for MODO (see https://www.c4dcafe.com/ipb/forums/topic/98647-polystein-kit-for-cinema-4d/ ) was introduced to me. From that moment the idea kept growing in the back of my head to provide something similar for the Cinema 4D community. Once other priorities were out of the way, I started working on some scripts to test out the feasibility of my interpretation of the idea. Once a working concept was obtained using several scripts, I contacted William Vaughan, the original creator of the Polystein Kit, in order to obtain approval to take his idea and turn it into a Cinema 4D plugin. Working from the scripts made earlier, I started implementing this new plugin, which I named "PolyGnome". Explaining the choice of the name would be a story too long to tell here, so I 'll prefer to leave that for long, cold and dark winter nights ... The current state of the plugin does use it's own library implementation, instead of using the Content Browser. There is more than one reason for this, but since quite technical, I'll omit to explain these as well. As mentioned in the video demonstration, the current beta version requires a two step preparation of assets. I have some ideas to automate these steps, but more important features need to get implemented first. The plugin will be available for Windows and MacOS, R17 and above (hopefully R19 won't break anything SDK related ... fingers crossed). Possibly R16, if there is enough interest. Depending the feedback from beta testers the plugin will be available sooner or later. Release date and price to be announced. Here's already a teaser, explaining the different steps: As for my other plugin(s), which all have their dedicated threads, I'd like this specific one to be the home for discussing anything PolyGnome related.

I found this comment quite offending when it was posted. And I still do. Something might have been lost in translation, but as I had made clear I was working on this plugin I would have expected cheering ... instead of bitching. People seem to expect things to be done for them immediately these days. Not appreciating all the time and effort it takes ... ehm! Well, for those who do appreciate ... here's a short video demonstrating the first beta. While basic features are implemented I would prefer to polish quite some things before release. After finalizing the script concept, I contacted William Vaughan (author of the original Polystein Kit for MODO) in order to obtain authorization for making this plugin based on his idea. While there was legally no need to obtain his permission, I found it only logical to at least let the man know about my intentions. However, my implementation of the plugin is only inspired from the idea, and hence might not provide the same features available in his or others version of the plugin.

Sorry, cannot help here.

Tried my hands on making a prototype/conceptual script to start feasibility tests for a new plugin. Working title: PolyGnome Short concept video:

While I support this hope of one day having 3DKiwi back at the Cafe the way he used to be, I don't think we'll ever see that day. No offense meant, and in no way am I judging. But I guess he's more happy using MODO than he ever was/will be using Cinema 4D ... of course, I am only assuming here. To each his own, and while we would like to prefer otherwise, we have to accept the decision made. As for a written review (or any other format), I would really be looking forward to that. Be it using a demo, NFR, beta ... or what not. Now, back to your regular R19 discussions.

I have long time debated if participating in this thread would be worthwhile, as most of the discussion is just over the top of my head. While I am no beta tester and but a small developer, I can only confirm what I know. NO R20 SDK is available right now to developers. Not even the R19. As far as I know, the only SDK available is the one that ships with the released version of Cinema 4D ... or there should be some hidden developer conspiracy, which I don't know about. The mention of R20 SDK being available was a surprise to me, and I quite spend some time on the plugincafe (the official MAXON's 3rd party developers website/forum). Still haven't found where they're hiding the R20 SDK download button ... or the R19 one for that matter.

And ???? What happened? Or is it too early to say?

Not sure what answer you expect: a simple yes/no? Or a more elaborated reply? I have worked on a personal animated short project for the 5 past years, put most of my spare time into it. Storyboard was completely drawn, animatics etc ... Voice over / dialogues were recorded. All characters were modeled, rigged, textured. And then "suddenly", I dumped the whole. That was about 8 months ago. Even after having done the entire pre-production and them some, the direction this project was taking didn't suite me anymore. I still don't know which direction I want it to take, so the project remains shelved. Not sure if it was 25% into the project, and I am not really into doing the math, as that might mean another 15 years to complete the project ... So yes, been there, done that. Which means that (at least for me) even by doing your homework and evaluating the whole, you still might end up with a dud.

This looks very interesting, and something I could really use myself. Besides using it, it also looks like a very challenging and fun project to implement. Someday I'll sure want to try my hands on writing something like that. Thanks for sharing the info.

I don't know how to reply differently then I already did. All is shown in the code in my first reply. You create the quicktab via the AddCustomGui, then populate that with groups and gadgets. As for the lack of documentation: welcome to the world of Cinema 4D plugin writing.

I have a Space Navigator, and have assigned SHIFT and CTRL to the two buttons. Wish I could justify the purchase of a pro version, with all the keys and heavier grip. ... One day !

if this is what you want (see reflectance layers) you will need to create a quicktab subgroup # create a quicktab subgroup gadget per layer bc = c4d.BaseContainer() bc.SetBool(c4d.QUICKTAB_BAR, True) bc.SetString(c4d.QUICKTAB_BARTITLE, 'title') bc.SetBool(c4d.QUICKTAB_BARSUBGROUP, True) subgroup = self.AddCustomGui(<some id>, c4d.CUSTOMGUI_QUICKTAB, '', c4d.BFH_SCALEFIT, 0, 0, bc) # create a group to contain all the gadgets, this in order to simplify # the hide/show of the gadgets when the parent quicktab subgroup is collapsed/expanded self.GroupBegin(id=<some id>, flags=c4d.BFH_SCALEFIT, cols=1, rows=1, title='', groupflags=0) ... Of course you will need to keep hold of 'subgroup' as this is how you will show/hide the gadgets when collapsing/expanding the quicktab subgroup

Well, seeing the abundant feedback (*) of the Octane version of SPETI, I have reverted to my original thought: "never gonna happen". The offer has expired, and I am focusing on a release of the regular version instead. I have noticed that non Substance Painter users were kind of afraid of dipping their toes into the waters of this plugin. As the name of the plugin implied that it seemed to be specific to a workflow involving Substance Painter. Because of this, and with the issue of changes in the Python SDK between R17 and R18 I have decided to provide a more generic version of the plugin. Meet TINA (Texture Importer 'N' Assigner), the identical twin sister of SPETI. It shares the exact same DNA, but is meant to work with R18 and refrains from referring to SP. Next to this shiny new sibling, SPETI will remain R17 only and jauntily refer to Substance Painter. As they both rely on the exact same code (slightly modified per Cinema 4D Release) they of course both can handle textures from any origin, be it Substance Painter or different. Due to quite some abuse in the past, I have refrained from providing a download link to the plugin. Instead, I will provide the plugin on request only. To obtain this I will need the requesting person to provide me (via private message) with a valid serial number of Cinema 4D (first 11 digits only of course), and an e-mail address. The plugin will then be sent by e-mail. Additionally, I will include a link to Paypal, but will leave it up to you to decide if you want to donate something, something more, or nothing at all ... Whatever you feel this plugin is worth to you. It's a new scheme I am trying out, in order to avoid the abusive downloading and distribution of work, some unrespectful take credit for. Depending the serial number I will provide you with SPETI or TINA ... yes, I know how to read serial numbers ;-) (*) I know, sarcasm doesn't translate well in written words.

Well, I think I didn't explain correctly. What I meant with the fading, was to fade from black background with the white character to the white background with black drawn lines. The idea behind this would be to indicate that the stress situation (black background, white outlines) slowly fades away into a peaceful situation (white background, black outlines) ... while taking a deep breath.