Camtasia will automaticall set the Bit Rate for you, but in some instances you will need to set this manually.
In those cases use:
96kbits/s
Make sure that Fast start is enabled
If exporting from Camtasia, you will want to load cv_Emboss.png as the image to use for the emboss.
If exporting from After Effects, Premiere, or similar, then make sure to apply cv_Emboss.png as a layer on top of your project.
Once you have created the .mov duplicate it and change the extension of the duplicate to .mp4 (If you skip this step to files will not populate to to the streaming network)
UPLOADING VIDEOS
To access the Cineversity backend go to: contact pgoski@maxon.net
Along the top bar there will be a menu called “Publish”
Choose the “tutorials” from this menu.
Start by filling out the Title.
The URL will be generated automatically based on the title, double check that the URL has populated correctly, remove unwanted underscores and dashes, etc.
The URL should be clean and readable.
For the long description try to be as descriptive as possible on what is covered in the tutorial.
The search system on CV uses the title/short/long when it is finding videos, so the goal is to make the descriptions search friendly without just being a huge collection of keywords
Toward the bottom you will find a field called “upload video files”
Click the little picture icon, this will open the upload dialog.
Click on the “Upload” tab in the dialog, this will allow you to upload multiple files.
Click on browse to locate the files and then upload to add them to our server. (make sure that you have changed the extension from .mov to .mp4)
Once the upload has completed you can select the file you wish to link to the tutorial.
When you have linked the video you can click the submit button to save the changes to the tutorial.
After you have linked the file go to the row of tabs along the top, don’t worry about the date, we will change that.
Categories should be selected, refer to the style guide for additional information on that - If you have questions please ask.
To create the other tutorials go to the “edit” menu at the top and choose “tutorials”
this will display a list of tutorials on CV, you can use the filters to find the one you just created.
If you take a look on the right hand side you will see a button called “clone” clicking this will create a duplicate of the tutorial.
clicking the tutorial name will let you edit the cloned tutorial.
Update the relevant areas, title, URL, Short / long description, and categories.
To link a video click on the picture icon again to bring up the dialog, if you go to the browse tab you should see the video files you previously uploaded.
Again, if you have any questions please contact pgoski@maxon.net.
Please use “CINEMA 4D” (all caps) or “BodyPaint 3D” (mixed case) the first time you reference the application in the Long Description. It’s okay to use “C4D” or “BP” in the Title, Short Description and subsequent references in the Long Description. Do not use any other abbreviations for CINEMA 4D or BodyPaint 3D. Similarly, any third-party applications should be referred to by their proper, trademarked name the first time you reference them in the Long Description (“Adobe After Effects”). The Title, Short Description and subsequent uses in the Long Description can use generally accepted abbreviations (“AE”).
In general, specific CINEMA 4D editions (Prime, Broadcast, Visualize, Studio) need not be mentioned unless the tutorial pertains specifically to that edition. Individual features can and should be mentioned, as well as “feature sets”. Please remember that CINEMA 4D no longer includes modules, so titles of new tutorials should refer to the “MoGraph feature set” or just “MoGraph”, not the “MoGraph module”. Please refer to the application for the proper spelling and capitalization of individual features.
This should be a descriptive title that uniquely describes the tutorial, and should match the title card of the tutorial (though for existing tutorials it’s ok if it doesn’t match as long as the CP title is more descriptive than the title card). Note that in Cineversity 2.0 tutorials are not as clearly linked in a linear or project fashion, so rather than using a title like “Installing the Plugins” that infers the user knows about the series it’s better to call the tutorial “C4D ZBrush Pipeline, Part 01: Installing the Plugins”. Similarly “Quicktime Preview” is not a good title - “Intro CINEMA 4D R10 Tutorials, Part 03: Quicktime Preview” would be preferred. Titles can be up to 100 characters - use them.
Standard title capitalization should apply.
So the title card would read:
This is a Title, Part 1:
This is the subtitle
and the title would read:
This is a Title, Part 1: This is a subtitle
In practice the title card placed at the front of a video should look something like this:
Image:TitleScreenCV2_2012.jpg
The title as entered on the tutorial creation page should read:
This is a Long Title, Part 01: This is a subtitle offering more information.
This should include some supporting information about the tutorial.
The Short Description appears only in the bubble popup that appears when the mouse is over the tutorial title in the tutorial search results. Its content is searched, along with the Title and Long Description when using the search box on the main Cineversity site.
The short description could be as simple as copying the subtitle, but do feel free to use alternative text to increase searchability.
The Long Description should clearly describe what the user will learn watching this tutorial. For tutorial series, the first paragraph can recap the overall goal of the series, while the remaining paragraphs should describe the goals of the individual tutorial. Please write complete sentences.
It’s okay to include links to other Cineversity tutorials or external sites within the long description using standard HTML syntax. Links to external sites should include target=“_new” to insure they open in a new tab/window.
The Long Description appears in the bubble popup that appears when the mouse is over the tutorial title in the tutorial search results, and to the left of the tutorial video. Its content is searched, along with the Title and Short Description when using the search box on the main Cineversity site.
Make sure any applicable tools or features are mentioned in the Long Description. For instance “This tutorial shows two methods for painting with displacement maps” is not a good description. The two specific methods “Raybrush” and “Displacer” should be specifically mentioned. Otherwise, users searching for those terms would not find the tutrorial.
So better description should read:
“This tutorial shows how to interactively create displacement maps in BodyPaint 3D using BP’s Raybrush feature or the Displacer”
Should list the major-release version used to create the tutorial
The earliest version should be set to the earliest application version which contains the features necessary to complete the tutorial (for BP, use the related C4D version by adding 7 to the version number).
The latest version should typically be set to the most recent version in the list. This will be changed by the admin as necessary to denote tutorials that can no longer be completed due to drastic changes in interface or removal of specific features or preferences.
“Always Works with Latest Version?” should typically remain set to Yes. Again, the admin will switch this to “No” as necessary to denote tutorials that can no longer be completed due to drastic changes in interface or removal of specific features or preferences. If the layout or menu structure has changed, but the overall method and technique is still intact, we continue to classify the tutorial as working.
For the purposes of Works With, we assume that users have upgraded to the latest available free update in a release cycle. So a tutorial that works with 12.021 and not 12.016 would still simply say “Works With R12 and greater”. A note can be added either in the Long Description or Comments/Notes field explaining that the update is necessary. If for example a tutorials works in R11 and R12, but does not work in the latest R11.5 update due to a bug, it should still indicate that it Works With R11 and greater, with a similar note in the Notes/Comments field explaining the issue.
These appear in the Notes section to the left of the tutorial video, and should only be used to clarify the tutorial in response to viewer feedback or interface changes.
Comments are not searched.
Any feature sets, plugins or external applications that are required or prominently featured in a tutorial should be checked. You can be somewhat generic with features, especially since this list would be ridiculous if it listed every feature. If a tutorial describes a technique both with and without an external application, the external application should still be noted here (it’s not a list of requirements - it’s more like “if you’re interested in x application, here’s a tutorial that shows it”).
Also consider the way an application or feature is used, a tutorial that merely shows an image in Photoshop would not necessarily indicate that it utilizes Photoshop, but if a technique or process is shown in Photoshop it would. A tutorial that shows extracting a plugin does not need to list WinRAR, WinZip, 7-Zip or any other extraction app as it’s a general process that can be accomplished without that specific app (in fact it can be done completely in the OS). WinRAR would only be mentioned if a special feature of WinRAR is intrinsically used for the tutorial.
Note that if a single tutorial within a project series uses Photoshop, only that tutorial should be marked as using Photoshop, not the entire series.
When adding new feature sets, plugins or external applications to this list, please always use the full proper name of the feature or application (ReelSmart Motion Blur NOT RSMB). There’s no need to distinguish between free or commercial versions of plugins or applications (ie Riptide). Plugins for third-party applications should not be specified here. Simply indicate that the tutorial utilizes the main third-party application. List any necessary plugins in the Long Description or Comments / Notes.
Note:
If there is not an applicable option for Utilizes/Feature set be sure to check “None”
Check any disciplines or industries for which this tutorial might apply.The Character discipline includes both Character Modeling and Texturing. Technical Director discipline would include rigging, scripting and xpresso tutorials. The texture painting discipline primarily pertains to BodyPaint 3D. In general, tutorials that are referenced-based may not have any discipline because the feature applies to a wide variety of disciplines. In this case, be sure to check “None”
Check any of the processes that apply to this tutorial. The “Support” process only applies to things like installation and configuration, not anything you might have gotten a support question for.
If a process doesn’t apply to the specific tutorial be sure to check “None”
A project-based tutorial is primarily focused on accomplishing a task. It will commonly be part of a larger series, but could be an individual tutorial that covers a project. For example, the Comedy Channel Promo and Power Integration Tour tutorials would all be project-based.
A reference-based tutorial is primarily focused on describing a feature, technique or concept. Most of Dr. Sassi’s Daily Tooltime tutorials are reference-based. The MoSpline Turtle Basics tutorials would be reference-based, while the Tournament Bracket tutorials which describe advanced MoSpline concepts in the context of creating a tournament bracket would be both reference and project based.
A resource tutorial describes or includes a plugin, script, preset, layout, scheme, etc. Basically a resource tutorial is about something that you download and install to extend C4D. Typically a resource tutorial will not also be project or reference-based, although for instance a tutorial about how to write a Python script to generate Xpresso tags that also includes the final script would be a reference-based and resource tutorial.
Tutorials of this type include marketing-oriented videos for each new release, trade show presentations, and archives of Cineversity live shows. Most presentation tutorials will also either be reference or project based.
Be sure to note that Resource-type Premium tutorials are NOT accessible to Trial users.
]]>The trickiest part of dealing with animation tracks in Python is the concept of DescIDs.
DescIDs are actually used throughout CINEMA 4D, but they’re especially important when working with animation tracks. A DescID is a multi-level ID structure for individual description elements. The DescID can define multiple levels of data, like with UserData, where the first element of the DescID is always ID_USERDATA and the second element is the index for each userdata element. The multiple levels of a DescID are also used for subchannels, like the individual vector elements of a Position, Scale, Rotation or Color element.
Each element of a DescID is a DescLevel. The DescLevel also has three elements - in this case, they are the id itself, the data type and the creator.
Let’s look at some examples:
If a description element doesn’t have sub-channels, the DescID is simply the ID of the description element.
# Track for Object Enabled Boolean enabled = c4d.CTrack(op, c4d.DescID(c4d.ID_BASEOBJECT_GENERATOR_FLAG)) op.InsertTrackSorted(enabled) # Track for Light Brightness Real track = c4d.CTrack(op,c4d.DescID(c4d.LIGHT_BRIGHTNESS)) op.InsertTrackSorted(track)
Note that each vector element has its own track, just like in C4D’s timeline. The DescID for each contains two levels. Level 1 in each case is the Position track itself, which has a VECTOR type. This is the parent Position element you see in the timeline. Level 2 is the vector element for this specific track, and has a REAL type.
trackX = c4d.CTrack(op,
c4d.DescID(c4d.DescLevel(c4d.ID_BASEOBJECT_POSITION,c4d.DTYPE_VECTOR,0),
c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_X,c4d.DTYPE_REAL,0)))
trackY = c4d.CTrack(op,
c4d.DescID(c4d.DescLevel(c4d.ID_BASEOBJECT_POSITION,c4d.DTYPE_VECTOR,0),
c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_Y,c4d.DTYPE_REAL,0)))
trackZ = c4d.CTrack(op,
c4d.DescID(c4d.DescLevel(c4d.ID_BASEOBJECT_POSITION,c4d.DTYPE_VECTOR,0),
c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_Z,c4d.DTYPE_REAL,0)))
op.InsertTrackSorted(trackX)
op.InsertTrackSorted(trackY)
op.InsertTrackSorted(trackZ)
When you create userdata or iterate through the userdata container, the ID you get is the DescID. However, for elements with subchannels like vectors or color, you still have to add individual tracks for each subchannel. This code sample elaborates on DescIDs and DescLevels through some print statements and also contains a custom function that creates the appropriate tracks for certain userdata types. Not all possible types are considered - it’s just a start.
import c4d
def CreateUDTrack(op,id):
tracks = []
# element0 is always UD group
# element1 is the UD itself
ud = id[1]
dtype = ud.dtype
if dtype == c4d.DTYPE_VECTOR or dtype == c4d.DTYPE_COLOR:
# get datatypes with subchannels and add multiple tracks
for v in xrange(c4d.VECTOR_X, c4d.VECTOR_Z+1):
descID = c4d.DescID(id[0],id[1],c4d.DescLevel(v,c4d.DTYPE_REAL))
tracks.append(c4d.CTrack(op,descID))
else:
# just add the single track
tracks.append(c4d.CTrack(op,id))
return tracks
def main():
for id, bc in op.GetUserDataContainer():
# id is the DescID, bc is the container
print bc[c4d.DESC_NAME], id
# look at each DescLevel
# this isn't necessary, just instructive
for level in xrange(id.GetDepth()):
print "Level ", level, ": ", \
id[level].id, ",", \
id[level].dtype, ",", \
id[level].creator
# Create tracks using custom function
tracks = CreateUDTrack(op,id)
# Loop through returned tracks and insert
for track in tracks:
op.InsertTrackSorted(track)
if __name__=='__main__':
main()
In Release 13 and greater, you can use FindCTrack to find an existing animation track for a particular DescID. It’s a good idea to do this if you’re not sure if the track exists. Otherwise, C4D will just create additional tracks for the same parameter.
# Track for Light Brightness Real
dBrightness = c4d.DescID(c4d.LIGHT_BRIGHTNESS) #assign the DescID to a var for convenience
tBrightness = op.FindCTrack(dBrightness) #find the track
if not tBrightness: #if track isn't found, create it
tBrightness = c4d.CTrack(op,dBrightness)
op.InsertTrackSorted(tBrightness)
Once you have the necessary tracks, adding keys is relatively simple. All the keys are applied to an F-Curve, which is a CCurve object in Python. So first you have to get the CCurve, and then you can use AddKey or InsertKey to add keys to the curve. Note that you can use the CTrack method FillKey to fill a key with the default values for the track, setting the appropriate interpolation. Also, you should use SetValue when setting a float value, and SetGeData when setting any other data type.
#Get the curve
curve = track.GetCurve()
#Add keys using AddKey
#Creates the key at the proper time
#Then you modify the key
keyDict = curve.AddKey(c4d.BaseTime(0))
#keyDict is a dict with key=CKey and int=index
myKey = keyDict["key"]
#Use FillKey to fill the key with default values (interpolation)
trk.FillKey(doc,op,myKey)
#Use SetValue or SetGeData to set the key value
myKey.SetValue(curve,1)
#myKey.SetGeData(curve,1)
#Add keys using InsertKey
#Define the key first
key = c4d.CKey()
#Use FillKey to fill the key with default values (interpolation)
trk.FillKey(doc,op,key)
key.SetTime(curve,c4d.BaseTime(1))
key.SetValue(curve,.5)
#key.SetGeData(curve,1)
#Then insert it
curve.InsertKey(key)
A similar task also involving DescIDs is setting the Keyframe Selection for an Object. You can use this in conjunction with the record button to create tracks, but the direct method specified above is more robust. You might however wish to enable keyframe selection on specific description IDs if you’re generating a rig or other object in Python which the user will be animating.
# Put the "Position" desclevel in a variable for convenience pos = c4d.DescLevel(c4d.ID_BASEOBJECT_REL_POSITION, c4d.DA_VECTOR) # Set Keyframe selection on each vector X,Y,Z op.SetKeyframeSelection(c4d.DescID(pos,c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_X, c4d.DA_REAL, c4d.DA_VECTOR)), True) op.SetKeyframeSelection(c4d.DescID(pos,c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_Y, c4d.DA_REAL, c4d.DA_VECTOR)), True) op.SetKeyframeSelection(c4d.DescID(pos,c4d.DescLevel(c4d.VECTOR_Z, c4d.DA_REAL, c4d.DA_VECTOR)), True) # Update the C4D Interface c4d.EventAdd()
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Typically, axis orientation is something to be aware of when you are working with hierarchies of objects, and you want the objects in that tree to work together as a cohesive group. This is especially true when you are building skeletons of joints for character animation. (Note: “character animation” can refer to organic creatures as well as mechanical objects that require a skeleton to perform the way you intend, whether or not a similar thing in the real world would have a skeleton.) Joints have a preferred direction, and they point along their Z axis. Should joints get created that do not point along their Z axis, you will need to re-orient them to correct that. In addition, it is possible for joints to point properly along their Z axis, but be misaligned with the other axes, as defined by their parents. For chains of joints to behave properly, all of the joints in the chain need to have the same orientation. In other words, if front is Z, then top is Y, and all of the joints in the joint chain need to honor that axis alignment.
Quite often, you will create scene elements that differ from the world orientation of Y up, Z front. If possible, you will have a much easier and more predictable experience if you orient your objects similarly to the world (unless you have specific reasons not to).
In all, stacking up objects in a hierarchy can really play with your head when it comes to controlling rotation values, due to the complexities of the math involved (see, math is important—you should have paid more attention in class!). There are many resources online which discuss the topic of rotations and their behavior, but the best discussion comes from Cactus Dan, a favorite among Cinema 4D users. Look up his character tutorials. There’s real gold there…
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The axis is the representation of the coordinate system in use. When positioning an object, you are typically working in world space, child space, or local space, depending upon the location of the object within a hierarchy. Objects not associated with a hierarchy are said to be in world space. Objects with parents are said to be in child space or local space. This concept is important, as the numerical readouts for each axis will differ, depending upon what they are intended to show. For example, if you have a child of a parent that has not been moved, it will read X:0, Y:0, Z:0 for position. If you choose to move the child, or offset its position, you will then see the relative distance from the parent in the numerical position readout. Now, if you were looking at the same object, located in the same place but not parented, you will see drastically different information for X, Y and Z positions, as you will be seeing the actual world space location information for that object. If all you do is model or make poses, and don’t animate much, then the impact of the previous will be limited in your case. However, should you choose to animate more than occasionally, it suddenly becomes very important for you to have a good idea as to the previous. This is particularly true if you are writing expressions with Xpresso, using math functions, writing scripts or rigging characters and working with joints.
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Three: 1.00 for the air, 1.33 for the water in the glass, and 1.52 for the water glass. That will get you the ballpark result. Why just ballpark? Well, the straw would also have an IOR, as all materials in our universe have an IOR, even those that we may percieve as opaque. Even opaque materials have some penetration of light, which is why you can use Fresnel shaders and SSS shaders on anything. Fortunately, you can decide when to say when, and concentrate only on those materials that really need to react to light with the proper IOR.
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There are many different color spaces in use in DCC apps today. Adobe Photoshop has a fairly complete list of color spaces in that application’s color system. Not all color spaces are created equal; in fact, the reason that we have so many color spaces is due to the fact that there is no single color space that addresses all of the needs of those using computer imaging. Some color spaces are very similar, if not identical, such as Hue, Saturation and Luminance (HSL) and Hue, Saturation and Value (HSV). Incidentally, if you are working with lighting values, and you wish to animate them (like nightclub lighting), use HSV or HSL, as you can change color by animating the Hue—otherwise the color luminance and saturation will change, which is not typically something you want. And herein lies a good example of why you would want a color space other than RGB.
Typically, synthetic imaging like 3D rendering applications, tend to favor RGB, HSV/HSL and to a lesser degree, CMYK. Renderers always render in linear space.
Some color spaces favor certain colors or values over others. RGB favors brighter colors, and as a result, darker colors will show banding, requiring you to use dithering options if available. You can see how color systems favor colors in a curve plot. Further, were you to overlay different curve plots for different color systems on top of each other, you would clearly see that some colors in some systems are not even available in others. RGB and CMYK are examples of this, as are color spaces operating within different bit depths. Prior to the transition to digital television, the NTSC color space was shifted from the RGB spectrum. This was clear whenever the color orange was present, as orange is very strong as a color in the NTSC color space, while strong oranges in RGB are harder to achieve.
Fortunately, most of those problems are a thing of the past now. Digital displays are displacing analog tube-displays (CRTs), even though the analog displays can offer truer color rendering than liquid crystal displays (LCD). Fortunately, display manufacturers are adressing these issues. This discussion has long term impact, since theatrical projection is now digital in many markets, and will be in all markets soon. Digital projection systems have different color characteristics than your typical computer monitor (and they are much more expensive), so its wise to have a color check in a facility with the proper equipment if you are doing feature film work. If not, you might end up with some very upset clients on your hands.
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