Cineversity

Sassi,

I think I’m not understanding something with PAlignment.  Yes, I’m able to make particles from one emitter all point at a null, I got that and think my “tp 19 (PAlignment).c4d” exercise file illustrate this, but at the end of the tutorial, you mention the PPass AB example from the help file.  I’ve followed the instructions in the help file, tinkered with the settings and can see particles from group A being affected when they come close to group B—> PPass AB / Distance Type: Inside / Distance: 100.

Maybe I’m not reading this right, but “Here we take one group of particles and work out the normalized velocity vector using PGetData and Universal: Normal. Then we use this direction to affect the direction of another group of particles, so that particles of both groups travel in the same direction.”  The results I get don’t come close to living up to how I imagine this playing out.

From what I understand, both particle streams should affect one another and normalize their direction, so that two streams set to collide at a 90˚ angle would form something of a Y shape.  Am I completely off the mark?

Jerome

Hi Jerome,

File 01
The PALinment node works like a target object with the option to allow for some slow adjustment for the individual particle. The “Help Content” uses a flock of birds to explain this. So the “Axis” allows for setting up the leading bird for example.

File 02
Set the “Laziness” for the PAlingment to zero to observe the result. Your setting is just high enough to occlude the distance effect. In the image the value is of Laziness is zero and you can’t see any red-particle that is not vertically aligned (Inside of the orange circle). I hope that makes it clear. :o)

Enjoy your exploration.

Sassi

Yes, I was able to see those things already.  I guess I’m just trying to bite off more than I can chew at the moment and need to slow down and accept that learning this is going to be a long process.

Peace.

Jerome

Never stop, as long as you have fun. As most NLP people say it, there are no mistakes—only feedback. As long as you can ask questions you are making progress. (Only total confusion leads to an inability to formulate questions)

I see in your files that you go the step further, you don’t just copy stuff. This is the key of CINEMA 4D, the endless combinations, here is the real magic. This is similar to the way I personally define the base of creativity: it can’t exist in a vacuum. You need a huge library (instead of a vacuum), randomly filled with anything that interest you. (You must have interest in it—otherwise it is just dead information).

In the moment all of this starts to work, when it creates combinations, which are for the procedural brain just illogical “ideas”, then you start making the progress you are after. This is the state when fantastic things happens in your imagination. It is hard to see—first, but after a while it is effortless fun. You are on the way to it. Keep going. :o)

Thank you for the kind words, Sassi.  The only issue was setting unrealistic expectations for myself, instead of just going with the flow and enjoying the process of discovery.  I’ve set aside the expectations and am now just enjoying the process.

Also, I’ve started to mix up my lessons with some “let’s make X” tutorials which complement your approach very well as I can see more clearly what each tool can produce—I think this is what was missing from my curriculum, the positive reinforcement of actually making stuff that I can relate to.

Thanks for the feedback, Jerome.

The problem with training is always that we have a lot of different variables in the mix. What is known already (e.g., math for example), how much motivation is there and is that on par with the attention span. Is the speed and depth of the tutorials in sync with the one who uses them.

On the other side, some want just to get some ideas about a tool, some want to learn it, and others have a burning (deadline) problem with a tool and search the fastest and shortest answer. All of that can’t be predicted and even that some people think that one size has to fit all, it is only possible with some interactivity, from my point of view.

Expectation management is certainly what I try to include more than often, but if you just learn a brand new part of something, it is hard to predict precisely. As I mentioned before, what is easy or difficult for one, might be not the case for someone else. No one can tell you that. So, to adjust from time to time is only a sane step, toward getting it done anyway.

In a nutshell, don’t lose your expectations, but perhaps, if you put yourself under pressure, it will show in the quality of your knowledge, and that might be harder to fix than to slow down as much as it will allow for the most fun. If you feel great (hence my “have fun” thingy), your memory will be better about the content. Stress makes stupid, and stressed people never get something valuable on the long run, it will be always less than what it could have been otherwise.

So, seriously: ENJOY. :o)

Sassi

I will / am.  ;^)

:o)