Cineversity

P.S.: Going by the next deadline, I explored options to keep what you have but improve the result quickly.

Here is an example:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/QGZ14KXtxH9kF7PvA3RJrjzIxEKJaopj5n3FmWijQFe

It keeps the top layer as it is, including the animation of the connecting channel animation. However, it goes a little bit deeper to unveil a static and modeled layer with the soil texture only on it. Sin, this is only soil. Based on your video, it can be easily animated as well, as the texture wouldn’t suffer so much. Let me know if that works for you.

My best wishes for your project

P.S.S.:
A little bit more details were added to this version. I hope it makes sense. (The scale is for sure off.)
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/jPHJKHFkxtqyBpbw49XhGsaYBfYfg1xmSVSsGRnry7z

Hi williams.7489,

I know you have a presentation tomorrow, so this link will perhaps not do anything for you right now.

However, I hope I have already given you some hints, how your scene, with some selections, could move from your current “basic and scientific aesthetic”, as you called it, to something more that you might have envisioned.

I got late into the project, so I can’t really tell what process you have used and how to improve that for the next project. Which should be a discussion with the instructors/trainers you have.

Anyway, I hope this link gives you some motivation to push through and get what you wanted. (I have time marked that link, as I feel you currently have very little time, but I encourage you to check the whole clip later on. There is also material in the Content Browser (if downloaded): So, no need to invest money right now.

https://youtu.be/oyHOXiITsNo?t=3077

For tomorrow I hope you have a good time.

Cheers

Thanks for your help with this! Especially the Vertexmap Tag. I figured it out enough to get the water flowing in the correct directions still using one plane. I also used the Vertex Color Tag to add a little interest to the land.

Here is the final…
https://youtu.be/ixOgOzZC4SY

That .AEC file still didn’t work, but the TIFF sequence was already set up in AfterEffects, so I just kept replacing that.

The words are in blue and I have no idea why. The material is white with nothing but Color applied to it. No reflectance, but still they would only render in blue.

I also spent an entire day trying to have mostly transparent water (so you could see the channel, achieved this) but with a blue tint to it and I could not get it. It would go from totally transparent to a blue plastic look and I could not find an in between.

Here is the final file with the textures, which for the most part I ended up not using. My “Texas Land” material node was set up exactly the way I wanted it, but when applied it looked terrible. Not sure how to make it not look as stretched and ran out of time to figure it out. It was easier to keep it basic looking.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/OMCM9YWDukKcXIALO2rVV03pRtIHkB7jJdWnkKg1K6A

Thanks again for the file, williams.7489.

As well as for the Youtube link.

I have checked the file, and in the Render-Settings> Save> Compositing Project file, the 3D option should be checked to get the Cameras as well into Ae.

When I save an aec file out, I can open it in Ae. I want to make sure we do the same: I double click in the project field and select the aec file. I get then all data needed.
You could also save the file as Cineware and check if you can open this in Ae. From there, you can drag the C4D file into a comp. In the Effects are, you can then extract data from it. This extracted data will not be updated. It needs to be redone if you create changes. Perhaps check this with a new scene, just a cube, a light, and a camera, all perhaps animated, and just a second of animation. We can exchanges those files faster.

The blue on the letters is based on Sky Object. When you switch it off, you will see that the Letters are black now. The sky object, as in reality, fills the shadow areas with blue diffused light. The remedy could be in a single light source that affects only the Letters. An alternative would be to switch on the Luminance channel of the MoText objects.

I saw that you have used the Water as is. Perhaps you set the Roughness to 0% in the transparency (no noise and faster), or the Layer Sampling higher (located a little bit below the roughness), nicer but slower.
The problem with water is simple but yet complex. Water is invisible. What you see is reflection and refraction, or “contamination” with dirt or air bubbles. Try the file below. You use your setting, but set the Sky object to a more cloudy preset. A mostly blue sky has very little to offer.
OR place a Disc in the sky with a luminance material on it. To place specular highlights on the water, explore the Main Menu> Create> Light> Lighting Tool. It helps to create precise placements of light sources on objects. When the light is placed, the disc can be placed there well, a little bit behind.
https://help.maxon.net/r23/en-us/Default.htm#html/TOOLLIGHTPLACER-MDATA_MAINGROUP.html#MDATA_LIGHTPLACER_LIGHTONLY
PERhaps apply some displacement (noise/waves) with the Displacer, so the surface shows up while you use this tool.
Example file:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/n0eQfA9JKX47Wyaf9GJYmfn20nRcSUgTRWuh3z8vgPP

The Texas Land Material, I assume that is based on the stretched Polygons. I will have a closer look into that afternoon.

I hope I got all questions. Let me know if I missed something.

All the best

Hi williams.7489

I have explored a little bit the “landscape”. My suggestion would be typically to set textures with a proper UV map.
Since the Polygons are stretched along the rivers, the texture is stretched as well.
Here, in this case, I would suggest limiting the Displacer for the polygons above the water, so the stretch is more below. Since I understand more about the project, I would try to keep the polygon amount much lower and only have an increased amount in the animated side-channel.

The water area could have all polygons removed that are not visible. In the v21_b, I have sent you a version with an Alpha channel to exclude them from rendering. I would delete them at the moment we do not rely on any PoseMorph anymore. It was in the file, so I’m not certain how you will continue.

I have placed a gradient into the material that I assume will be close to the water area. It blends now. Some polygons needed to be cut, to ge a claener edge.

My best wishes and enjoy your weekend.

P.S. I have sent the link to the Private Messages, it is just a large file, so I sent it without textures, which would make it useless here for anyone else to explore (which I typically love to have here.

Still going through all of the posts. I have a final-final version I am working on now. I sent you the node-material that I made on a simple plane to the Dropbox link you sent in PM.

Thanks for the file, williams.7489

I have sent the Node-set up back.

It is simply to use the UV-Transform into the Diffuse> Context.

All the best

P.S.: I haven’t suggested it, but check out the Triplanar Node. Two reasons for my hesitation: I’m not a big fan of it (please ignore this!), and secondly, it might not be the best fit here, with the diagonal rivers.
https://help.maxon.net/r23/en-us/Default.htm#html/TRIPLANAR_D41D0525_5DC6_4877_AB83_5862D4C88E43.html?TocPath=Node Editors|Individual Assets|Context|Triplanar|_____0