Problem: The point-node of Xpresso doesn’t read the Alembic point information. (Or any generated object fo that matter. E.g., Sweep + Connect to weld points)
To get this information, we need to place the MoGraph matrix object inside the pipeline. Now each point can be read by Xpresso.
The number of points must be the same for this to work.
LOL!!.. I just downloaded the MM talking.. Wonderful..!!.. Great job.. To be honest, I was a bit lost with your explanation about Xpresso.. Sounds like a coffee to me. Not sure if your FBX was suppose to work, but it doesn’t…
I tried to get Simlab to add the .abc format but they said they did not get many request. But they do, its just asked for in a different way.. No one might have asked for the .abc format, but many have asked for animated springs etc..
We have been using their Simulation feature ever since it was released. Consequently were have found what works well and what doesn’t work… Its a great way to animate but it’s full of restrictions. We tried to explain that a animating a digger bucket or a robotic arm was really hard or impossible to simulate.. If they added some kind of bone/riggings, linking the sub-parts, it should be much easier and so many more animations could be made. They said they could do it, but we have been asking for this for a long time…
Simlab Composer is a great software app, but unless they listen it will always just be a very basic software app.. Most animators of engineered part use Solid Works or other high end apps.. That is because SLC does not do it..
They added Flex Bodies into Composer, but all the flex bodies need to be made outside of Simlab Composer.. Some of the models are really expensive!. If they keep doing this then they need to provide support to allow more flex bodied animations to be added… I had a vision after they first announced Flex Bodies, that I could create a VR with human animated organs for science .. But it would cost a fortune to buy all the animated 3D models. Much cheaper to buy a plastic human to show the inside..
Poser can export the FBX and the .abc but nothing we export in the FBX will work in SLC.. We do not have the option to add a .abc.. and it seems we never will..
But, we can still learn more about C4D.. At least we can use it better than we can Maya.. We get nowhere with that software.. Its far too complicated for us..
I am working through your video frame by frame.. Just to get some ideas .. but I really need to hang onto my last few working brain cells..
I took Friday off, since I was not feeling well. The Prep teacher was away, no feeling well. Then I began to feel unwell.. Another teacher went home not feeling well.. All those teachers have been tested and came back negative. So I do not think I need to get tested. Besides, I am feeling a lot better. its not a fun time at all. We are all feeling so venerable. I sent two students to the office to be looked at on Thursday and both were sent home.. I just have to hope I am Ok by Monday.. To be honest, I am fed up of being on edge with all what is happening.. Are main priority is keeping our daughter safe.. Working with this 3D media, give me a change to think about something fun.. So I really appreciate all your support. Even though I only understand a fraction of it.. ..
I am still working on learning how to add materials and saving as an animation.. But I am getting there. I have just saved two animated springs, as mp4’s with a basic colours..
C4D has everything. The rendering speed is just awesome.. The quality of the video is great.. If I render a movie in SLC it takes sooooo long to render. But at the right settings it can be quicker and the quality an be very nice, as you have seen in my Showcase. I really do like SLC, it has some really great simulation tools, but.. here is a thought. Perhaps C4D could export as a 3D PDF, WebGL and have the option to create and export 3D Virtual Reality.. Then C4D has it all.
I really like C4D.. I just need to work out how to use it more proficiently.. Its very engaging!!... At the moment it very overwhelming.. Information overload!!..
I hope you burn up just anger about the situation while not feeling well. It would be sad to catch the virus. I just stay at home, get food delivered, and risk nothing. It is not worth it. Your family should always be safe, first and foremost. In 2002 I was made a widower after a year of 24/7 support, and I think it goes without words that cut deep. So, I have zero understanding to gamble with this. Sorry to be so clear here, but I lost too many people in my life on self-inflicted nonsense.
I will not say anything about your choice of software. What I can say is what software would do what you need and, more importantly, what is best for your student’s future. Keep always in mind, the highest investment in software is not how much it is; it is the time one invests in it.
This formula comes into the game: invested learning time x difficult-level + cost = real investment.
This investment will be lost to a certain degree if the software is not an industry standard.
My personal view is that learning new software after a different one has two parts: You can take the parts that are universal, but often one needs to unlearn the old one first to see the potential of the new software. The mix differs for everyone.
I have downloaded SLC, but there is very little motivation to invest time. Sorry, I will have a look into it! I have Unity here, where I get more questions about, and they provide a full version for everyone who likes to learn. Your comments about SLC that it can’t do this or that is not helping my motivation either.
Flex bodies, most examples I have seen, could be done either with Xpresso or even with an IK System (Inverse Kinematic). I know it should all be built like in reality, but all I’m interested in is the rendering, the final output, not setting up a game. So I always look for the most stable and straightforward system. I would not even try to do it in Dynamics, as mechanical connections follow formulas. Which brings up the next point: Xpresso
If you want to get far in Cinema 4D, explore Xpresso. You will soon see how much power it has and how little effort is to examine it playfully. One can start small and ignore most of it, and grow from there. Take every day one node and read up on it. If you have a question, ask.
I was typing the answer, when your next message came in, Tesselaar.
I’m delighted you like Cinema 4D. So, if you have any problems or questions, I’m just a few clicks away.
Please note that I’m on Pacific Time (US), but I usually try to answer 16/7 (not 24/7 )
Yes, overwhelming, but you will get there. After a while, you will not feel that way anymore, except you want to learn it all.
If I make a movie using SLC, the mp4 will not work online until I filter it using a web movie converter.. Even so, the video file will still be quite big. However, my first animation using C4D, the movie file is just 1mg.. and its 1200 x 900.. It worked without having to filter the video online.. http://tesselaar-romanoff.com/C4D-Animated-Spring/AnimatedSpring.html Very pleased with myself..
Yes, just one click away.. Your support is World Class!!. Never negative.. Always advisory and supportive.. We do not know all there is to know, that is why we chat on a forum to learn.. However, some users of other software tend to be negative. Particularly with our suggestion to use a sequence of obj’s. We realise it not the best option, but how else can we get a 3D animation into a 3D Virtual Reality Scene.. Yes, the file size might be big, but most of the animations will be a max of 30 frames… Often less.. We need to place a 3D Animated Object into a 3D Virtual Realty Scene, so we can walk round it, fly over it and interact with it.
Just a pity that SLC cannot understand what we have tried to achieve.. Who knows, they might see the light..I am sure most users would want to add their own models and animations to add into a 3D VR..
Sure hope we get the result we are wanting… Simlab might think there is no need, since no one has asked for the obj’s sequence or the .abc file extension, but what users are ally asking. “Can I add or make an animated spring in SLC..” Which many have asked for….
To get what you want, you have to check if you communicated the idea in the shortest but precise way. Perhaps with a mock-up.
IF you want to have a good quality, do not render in mp4. Render uncompressed and in 16 bit. Then use After Effects and adjust the color, contrast, and perhaps some other options for the absolute final step use compression. Please note that I do not click on links other than Dropbox, Amazon, Google, Adobe, Apple, or Wetransfer. For videos, YouTube or Vimeo is fine. Never a shortened URL, I say that just in case. Yes, I see it caries your name, but I just don’t make any exceptions. One good mad at me a while ago, but I share too many files here, and being under NDA, I can’t take any risks. Really sorry.
If you compress, you can check what you got quickly, it the quality is not excellent, you can compress again without rendering again.
I do not see negativity as a tool to achieve anything. Let me tell you why I answer in the way I do. In 1994 I learned to use Archicad; I repurchased a copy then. Using computers since the early ‘80s (wrote the first code for an architectural program, while studying architecture. I was the first to use a computer back then for my first Diploma.), I was not afraid of anything. Even things were quite rough at times. Since Archicad had not the best render back then, I checked the output list. So, I went from through the list of render engines: Atlantis, ElectricImage, and of course, RenderMan (Showcase). It used a Bridge to get from a to b.
The rendering was more about the command line, then based on an interface.
The support in Berlin (PandaSoft, bankrupted shortly after) who promised me to help me with the first set-up was all of a sudden insulting me, just because I called the second time.
I just invested $10K (which was a lot back then), and I get insulted. I never wanted to be such a miserable guy.
Well, 200 software packages later (most of them EOL, or melted with another app), I have learned a lot, especially how to acquire a new app and how it feels. From continually hitting the wall, I think I’m getting there, to I know it [sic] and feel like I should move through it like a hot knife through butter, to finally get closer to master it. ETC. Always the same.
So, nearly 30 years of learning CG and having seen all kinds of manuals, close to 7000 tutorials, and countless comments on fora. Needless to say, one gets a good sense of what is going on in the stuff presented.
So, do I know it all? Not even close, I try to learn as before constantly, to keep this newbie feeling fresh, which helps me here and to stay positive.
I have an excellent idea of how educational material should be, and what is just pushing people into a high with the following tutorial hungover.
After all, I have been nearly in everyone’s shoes, while learning a software.
Keep in mind, I either have an answer, then it is easy to share, or I don’t, it is time to explore it.
However, if possible, I try to deliver a few different options. As there is not THE WAY, and everyone likes to have it a little bit differently.
After doing Fora work now for 16 years, every single question has helped me grow, and I guess you have the same experience with the students you support.
Dr. Sassi.. I really appreciate your openness and honesty.. You really have seen it all over the years, and taken a few hits. But you have remained on the whole, very positive. That really shows strength of mind and what makes you a fantastic moderator and.. person.
I understand what you are saying about the urls I have added. I will share the results of the Poll with you as they are recorded.. and try to remember not to add any more urls.
Our question we had many months ago, is: How do we get an animated 3D morphed object into a VR or even a 3D PDF or an interactive WebGL.. Our first idea came from our experience with animated 2D sequences using Flash.. It worked very well.. So to suggest a 3D Sequence seems to us to make so much sense.. But then you came into the scene, and suggested .abc.. and you totally understand what we were trying to do.. Some animations we need might only be 20 frames. We need the 3D animation, so we can create the Actions to start/stop the animations. The VR is a 3D environment. So video is not the answer. Most users of 3D export as video.. So they do not see beyond that. We need the actual 3D objet to interact with..
When I see for the first time, a little students become immersed into a 3D VR, their entire body and expressions light up.. We have learnt to hold onto them otherwise they can think its so real, they fall over.. We only make very basic 3D VRs.. But it is still enough for our needs… We are not industry we are educators trying to engage students in using new media.
Quick question. I created the helix, then the circle section. I highlighted the circle then clicked on Sweep. I keep messing this part up. Do I drag the circle to the helix or the helix to the circle. I get it right by guessing but then forget what I did to make it work.. Basically no skill, I simple guess it, tail and error… LOL.
Its OK.. I worked it out.. I drag BOTH into the Sweep at the same time…. ;/
Just amazing that after creation of the spring, I can edit the coil and the profile. C4D is great!!, so much flexibility.. Once I know what I am doing..
Yes, we need to see these tools like support and not as an obstacle. They are not there to feed the ego (even they can do that so quickly), if used as the base of one’s art, especially Cinema 4D, it can push one’s communication of their visions to an extraordinary height. That’s what counts.
I think the best current (information-wise) tutorial that I have seen so far, that uses 3D animations (FBX) while allowing for triggers to go from one to the next animation is this one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEIaakl9vJE
It is on the point, has a good flow, and showcases differences for some critical settings.
These animations can be set up with poses/Blendshapes in Unity.
I’m with you on that the VR tech is coming big now. In the early ‘90s, I explored VR. Shortly after that, I traveled with my Prof to Vienna to discuss the idea. (Prof. Zamp-Kelp). I created my MOFA as it is called here (Masters Of Fine Arts) work about a VR center. Developed the whole thing and represented it to 130 guests with the following public exhibition of my models and graphics.
Here is a “reprint” of Berlin’s largest magazine, who gave me a page to showcase my work. https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/GjL3hzmko5bNGRyBjiFx3Oqms2XXx9KBpTDi1KFRQeI
Just to showcase that I’m really excited about this.
I’m really excited that we have now the tech available that allows all of that today to do so quickly (compared to 1993 )
It doesn’t matter if you drag both or one by one under the Sweep. It doesn’t create a problem when you mix the sequence up (initially), as you can just drag the lower one up to the Sweep. When it is in the right order: Sweep (parent), Profile (child), Path, (child), and optional: Different Path (child), as a rail as the lowest in this group. (Rail? See help below->)
You will get used to it, just allow for a certain time to get the muscle memory.
The parent is the top, under it and a little bit to the right is a child. Another object, like the first child, is often called sibling (both child object share the same hierarchy then, as needed for the Sweep).
The Sweep is a generator (color green), and typically, the information provided below is used to generate what the generator can use as information (Sweep uses Splines, not polygons). Some Generators have lists or fields. So, one can drag the information object into those fields, which keeps the information in the object manager, and doesn’t need to be dragged under it.
When you have the Sweep object in the object manager, right mouses click on it and call up the Help (from the fly-out menu. This helps works in 99% of the cases, perhaps 98%.
Sweep > Show help… https://help.maxon.net/us/index.html#OSWEEP
Quick question. I created the helix, then the circle section. I highlighted the circle then clicked on Sweep. I keep messing this part up. Do I drag the circle to the helix or the helix to the circle. I get it right by guessing but then forget what I did to make it work.. Basically no skill, I simple guess it, tail and error… LOL.
Tesselaar.
tmath129 - 29 August 2020 04:03 AM
Its OK.. I worked it out.. I drag BOTH into the Sweep at the same time…. ;/
Just amazing that after creation of the spring, I can edit the coil and the profile. C4D is great!!, so much flexibility.. Once I know what I am doing..
Not sure if your FBX was suppose to work, but it doesn’t…