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Writing normal angles to a vertex map
Posted: 24 November 2020 07:49 PM   [ Ignore ]  
Total Posts:  5
Joined  2020-09-30

Ok, here’s a fun one that has me stumped!

I am using a curvature node in Redshift to expose the blending of two materials. My geometry is bending, and at the radius of that bend, a new material is exposed. This bend is not constant, and so the newly exposed material disappears when the geometry flattens back out. I would instead like to “save” this state so that the new material remains exposed. Essentially, once the “bend” condition is met, the second material remains exposed.

I was thinking that I could try and write the curvature to a vertex map, and use a freeze modifier in Fields, but I cannot write to a C4D Vertex Map in Redshift.

So I am now thinking could I somehow check the normal angle of the geometry and write that to a vertex map, freeze it, and then I can use that map to feed into a curvature node?

Thank you for reading! Please let me know if I can be more clear..

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Posted: 24 November 2020 10:52 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
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Hi ncorrao,

So far, I assume that questions about the specific application should be handled in the forum created for it. Even I feel more and more the pain to split this.
In this case, it would be the Redshift 3D forum.
https://www.redshift3d.com/forums

It sounds like you are asking for the LPEs which were announced during a previous Siggraph.


My best wishes

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Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
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Posted: 25 November 2020 07:08 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
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Vertex Curvature Map

I checked since you asked, and so far, anything that connects Vertex maps to Redshift moves from the Vertex map to the Render engine. Not the other way around. I went through all nodes of RS, just in case I missed something. Even your idea is nice; obviously, it seems not to be a mainstream workflow, to say the least. Perhaps create a suggestion to Maxon to enable this.

For now, I believe this short procedure is the way to go. It took me around a minute from start to finish.

Screen-capture, project file:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/zfzrRb3luUqzY2NBB0wrmnafuAo0S2Hv7s5j4svm0Fv

You could just average the results in the Freeze or,
you can create a second Vertex map and blur the whole information if needed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMHaVszxidg
The second one gives you lots of freedom to change things without any danger to the initial data set.

ENJOY.

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Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

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Posted: 25 November 2020 05:34 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
Total Posts:  5
Joined  2020-09-30

Dr. Sassi - thank you so much for that response. I agree that the redshift portion of my question should probably be asked there.

I am trying to automate the setting of vertex weights based on phong break selection, and I do not see an obvious way to do this with Xpresso. When done manually:

Select deformed object > Phong Break Selection > Set Vertex Weight

I have an Xpresso setup (see file) that checks a point selection and sets a value constant but I must set the Phong Break Selection manually. Is it possible to check this phong break per frame? ... this would then set the point selection and subsequently set the vertex weight.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hkgzn4o6u8285sl/Phongbreak_select.c4d?dl=0

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Posted: 25 November 2020 07:32 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]  
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Hi ncorrao,

A Phong Break of an edge is not related to an angle. It is a definition of an edge if it takes Phong calculations into account or not.

What I got from your post so far was that you like to recreate the Curvature effect from Redshift inside of a Vertex map.

The Tool I have shown you above has a lot of functionality already. But you could “record” this action with the Script Log and turn this into a script. This script can be run with a short cut.

Here is a screen-capture (Amazon showed problems, perhaps you have to download one)
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/IZ9oCd4Dn6M9d4WjmJBZUI3psmlxBoJ60b39dhXI76i

For any Python-related questions, please check the Developer forum of Maxon.
https://plugincafe.maxon.net

All the best

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Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

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