Cineversity

Hello Sassi - I hope you are going well.

I need your advice on whether it’s possible to loop the movement of a noise animation?

In the scene file below, I have the cranal noise looping every 4 seconds. I have set the movement on X to 1 with a speed of 1%. So while the noise is animating, it is also rotating/scrolling to the left.

Is there some math or formula that can be applied so that the movement is also looped to make it seamless?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rmel4posg40xcdq/noise-loop.c4d?dl=1

Thanks, David

Hi David,

I hope you are doing fine as well. Thank you. Thanks as well for the file and for using Dropbox.

There are two options to animate the noise (true for nearly all Noise types).

One is for loops, and the other one to move the noise pattern “through” space.

The first one is the one you want, based on your questions. The two parameters are
•Animation Speed
•Loop period

The Loop Period is measured in seconds. So for your 125 frames (Australia = Pal, 25fps), you get the same frame as zero after 125 frames. Since we start with frame zero, frame 125 is the same as zero. A perfect loop would require a duration from 0-124.

The animation speed is how fast the noise moves from 0-124 (or 125, if you will). That is a little bit abstract, as the start and end frames are the same. I think of it as more details are created between these two frames, like drawing a circle freehand on a chalkboard. With a lot of effort, it is nearly perfect. Not a lot of movement if you look along the line. Then you start at the same point, but draw a circle while also drawing a wild zig-zag, and ending at the same point, with a very nervous circle.

The second option is to move the noise “cloud”.
• Movement
• Speed

Movement is not the amount of progress it makes; it is a vector. You point with your arm to something, which is then measured in X, Y, and Z. The vector is defined of the X, Y, Z is, e.g., 1, 3, 6 units long, if cm, inch, meter, or mile, etc., that doesn’t matter.
The Speed is then applied in the direction of the vector.

Think of noise like a cloud and an object as a surface that cuts the same volume from that cloud, where more moisture is, it is white, and where is none, it is black (or blue to use the cloud idea).

Yes, you can combine both, but then you have no loop anymore in most cases.

Let me know if you can work with this information.

Here is your file back
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/yZv0xPQjnpWh0nP2YEu3FJgjJAUyod9gRmJDrjfBEBm

https://help.maxon.net/r23/en-us/Default.htm#html/XSLANOISE-ID_SHADERPROPERTIES.html#SLA_NOISE_TIMEPERIOD

My best wishes

Hi Sassi - thanks for the quick reply. Yes I understand the animation of the noise and loop duration in seconds. I was trying to see if the movement distance could be looped but following your explanation I could simply rotate the sphere 360 degrees, over the same time period, on its Heading while the noise is animating. I was trying to control the rotation so to speak using movement and speed but that’s just trying too hard and unnecessary.

Thanks, David

Actually, forget that idea too, rotating the sphere does not solve the problem…

Thanks for the reply, David.

I often write a little bit more detailed, as I write in a forum, and each question is addressed to anyone reading along. Please never think that is an evaluation of your knowledge. I far away from even being able to do so.

Noise has different ideas about the surface. Rotating the sphere will work if set accordingly.
https://help.maxon.net/r23/en-us/Default.htm#html/XSLANOISE-ID_SHADERPROPERTIES.html#SLA_NOISE_SPACE

Several of them will not work for the rotation of the sphere; object-mode will work. However, if you deform the sphere and come not back at, e.g., your frame 125 with the exact same deformation, or any change of the mesh, the Noise will not loop!

Example
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/QukfPyAp7swlMSghhYHrufpCCyoNL1vthaQddyNFMh9

Let me know what is not working. I will have a look in the morning into it.

The rotation here is frame zero 0º, and frame 125 is set to 360º. The clip that needs to be rendered for the loop is frame 0-124.

Enjoy.