I’m in the process of trying to create a cluster of hundreds of balloons that will all be cinched together at the bottom per the attached screen capture. I’ve figured out how to create the hundreds of balloons, but I could use some help figuring out how to “tie” a string to each one and have the strings dangle down to a cinched spot at the bottom without the strings intersecting the balloons. This will ultimately be a still image, so I do not need to animate the balloons or strings.
I’ve attached both an example screen capture and my C4D file. Thanks for your guidance!
Thanks for the file and the link. I’m not signed up at pinterest, so I hope I could see what you wanted me to show. Pixar’s UP. I use DropBox and Amazon. BTW: I’m always happy to create an upload link. I use the free DropBox account, works nice and I clear it often.
Please have a look at the file below. This is a difficult task, as it can’t be just set up and then roll out the ropes (More about that later). Which might be an idea, but for a still? Why not paint the ropes? Anyway, the way things could get sorted out is via Hair. This needs to be set up with inverted Gravity, a clear size of the Hair, Hair to Hair, and Surface Radius, as well for the Balloon in the Hair material the Thickness. The Hair can be then set up with the Relax button, set it to 50 or 100, then set as Dynamic and perhaps switch the Hair>Dynamics off. With the Current State To Object you can “harvest” a copy and delete maybe some “error object” as in intersecting balloons.
Could that work for you? … and yes, my settings are just sketches, that needs some attention.
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Another way would be, also here as a quick sketch, like rolling out the ropes, as mentioned above. The idea is here, see scene file, that little spheres are placed on the bottom of the balloon. Then the balloons become colliders and the spheres have to search their way down. Since most balloons push to the inside (they want up, but the cluster of ballon pushes them out, kind of). In that way the single rope has less power, as it would have with a single balloon. So, the sphere idea might come close.
The spheres become traced and via a cone shaped to a final center. Some escaped and need later on attention. So, set the Animation>Play Mode to Simple, and have it run from frame zero. Then copy the tracer and make it editable. Correct some splines, and perhaps use a Hair Material or just make them an object, e.g., Sweep them.
I hope one or the other might work for you, fingers crossed.
Thanks for sharing this info., Doc. I’ll explore your solutions over the next few days and get back to you if I have any questions. Enjoy your weekend!
Both are not very straight forward, but the best I can come up with right now. I remember reading about the Pixar’s BTS when they had set up the balloons, but I can’t remember where. That they had something developed to make that happen is in my memory.
I followed each one and came up with a C4D file that seems like it’s so close to working, but I can’t solve one problem. The Tracer (from tutorial 2) that is supposed to be attaching the hairs (strings) to the tip of each balloon is not attaching. I’ve watched and re-watched, but can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I’m hoping you can take a peek at my C4D file and help me figure out why the Tracer isn’t creating a connection to each balloon.
I’ve attached both my C4D file and screen capture showing the unattached hairs.
Here is you file, I created an XPresso to define the Spline (Tracer) that you wanted to have for the Hair. I colored it green. Somehow this file feels corrupt. But the new Spline follows the Balloons now.
Please check with the author of this nearly one hour material (I know how much work that is…) for further question. He might be eventually interested if something doesn’t work. I feel uncomfortable to go further with this: I don’t like to comment nor critique other people’s work, this is like talking about someone critically who is not in the room, not my style. OK? Thanks.
Thanks for working on this, Doc! That’s good advice about contacting the author of the tutorial. I’m going to keep playing around with this, but have a feeling that I may wind up painting in the strings by hand. I appreciate you, Doc!
Thanks for understanding. As much as I love to support and help here, in the moment I would respond to any 3rd party tutorial, I open a can of worms. AKA: sitting between the chairs. Why would I do that at all? There is with no doubt a lot of good material out there, and I really do not want to dis-encourage anyone by even commenting public-ally on content. It is so easy to trash someone’s work un-intentionally, and the mood goes down … I leave that to starters to find out and to explore this while “making critical comments” and wonder why some great opportunities are always going to others. It’s not a big society to get un-noticed.
I have updated the MoGraph version in #2, and yes, the Hair options are more or less complex to adjust, switching back and fore between Hair and instances.
I work as well a lot in Ps. Sometimes, the “post-production” in Ps seems faster than developing a specific automated set up. When and how to switch among applications can be tricky to evaluate of course. In a pro-environment time (i.e., money) is certainly an indicator/motivation for that. Since Ps allows for “click shift click” to produce with the pen/brush a straight line, I think 200 ropes are done a 2-5 minutes. And yes, to redo this takes the same time, I know. But here I would do it that way. Anything else seems ridiculous for a still image.
I agree with all of this, Doc. After unsuccessfully trying a few other C4D solutions this morning, I’ve officially arrived at the conclusion that I’ll be painting the strings by hand in Photoshop.
I think that the line tool or the brush/pen will deliver quickly what you need for a still.
If it would be for a feature film, where R&D time is a given (based on how I see it, or, at least using the time until the art-direction has a final verdict), I might would have checked out something else. Mostly, I go target based, since I see Cinema4D more like a production application (rendering based) than a game engine …even if it is nice to see that it works.
The key is always to separate one self from reality/natural set ups towards what sells the shot, and with how little effort one can get away with. Post #2 were certainly more towards the “play it” version, too much inside of the reality, hence too much trouble.
Anyway, my current idea is to separate the balloons in outside, second lower layer from the outside, and inside, whereby the first group has a rope, the second has one but also several on the sides, like 12 ropes around the “belt”, and the complete inside which is the majority of a large pile would have none. Which limits the problems and keeps things simple for dynamics. Just brainstorming. (But for now, I will focus this weekend on my current art series. Time to give a rest for a moment.)
However, as I mentioned, it is all a little bit more difficult. Example, since the balloons interact with each other, the ropes do so as well. Think of the changes that occur if only one rope is pulled. If it was kind of loose before and the contacting balloons shaped it accordingly, now the rope set a new position to the balloons in contact to it, which triggers a chain reaction, and changes perhaps as well the balloons forces that is on the end of the rope. It goes on and on. Endlessly perhaps.
That’s very nice of you to ask, Mark. Currently I have two series in work which I haven’t shown anywhere, and I do not intend to share them first in public. These are series that I want to be shown in a Gallery again. …to get a glimpse about my direction: (even these two series are kind of different, check out the link below). There is nothing more thrilling than to see one’s work on the big silver screen or in an exhibition in large rooms.
Please note that the images online have only ~1% of the pixels of the original work. Hence why I resist more and more to post those at all on the web, it doesn’t represent what I do. Think of 10x5 feet images on a white wall, with the crisp resolution of a normal photo print. Then you get an idea of my target. Immersion.
In the late ‘90s I used the Polar filter and other stuff, and bad quality was the result, today I have better tools: e.g., Cinema 4D as a 2D tool for 30K images
Thanks for sharing your work, Doc! I can feel your passion and very much relate. Keep challenging yourself and pushing those creative boundaries, my friend!
Thanks a lot my friend! Mark, to keep going is the only way and to push constantly to get out of what is called the norm, the rules, or “this is how it has to be done”, etc., I agree to 100%.
We live in a time where the tools to produce (digitally) are easily accessible. There is no excuse to not create whatever one can imagine. Just keep going, is my work-mantra.
…even if it is nice to see that it works.