Cineversity

Hello Cineversity

I would like to know if there is a way to animate the modeling of a object using the polygon mode instead of point mode , ie the multiple extrusion of a cube , adding bevel, extrusion, scale a polygon etc..\
I have try by using a plug-in called a MagicMesh from NitroMan but it only remember the steps without having the possibilities to morph between the steps, like a hold keyframe animation
What i’m looking is to have a full controls over the steps , either by using a point mode cache or manually,  I have try to bake the magic mesh tag and nothing works,
Thanks for your help!

Hi Gregg,

Interesting Question. If I get this correctly, the final animation should like like a screen capture of your modeling, but rendered in C4D of course.

The problem with e.g., Extrude is, that it produces new geometry and moves this at the same time. If there is only this information, before and after, tehn the can’t be an interpolation. But interpolation is animation here.

Edit: instead of pulling an e.g., extrusion out of a polygon in one step, do only a little step, then pull on the axis many times, each time you get something like a keyframe with the index. Then animate the index—you are aware how his concept of “Steps” in this plug in works, right?  However, plug-in support should be given from the developer, so I’ll go with native ideas ahead./edit

Besides Python (or plug ins?) I have no idea how to produce a point for an object over time. Which would be the base for such an animation. The polygon mode is just a mode to get polygons selected to work with. On the end all boils down to the points in a scene. No points, no polygons. (Please add information if I misunderstood you in that)

The idea of animating an object that is build over time, can be done in methods such as:

From the end to the start
Here you model your object, e.g., from a cube to an Horse, by extruding and such. When done, you have all point that you need and go with PLA back to the state of the cube. To make that more comfortable, you store “Key-states” of your model, so you can use theses as guides to push the points back.

Step by step
You model in steps, if you add more points, you make a copy and the new points shouldn’t make a difference from the frame before to teh frame where you switch to the “new” object.

Morph
Similar to version one. With a Cloner Object and Blend /Modify (e.g., Plain Effector) whereby you need perhaps two versions with one always a step ahead or copies etc.

I will go ahead and check out the Magic Mesh information, even I like his ideas and create, I certainly can’t effort to buy everything I like ;o) Edit: I just saw it is for free, so I will check it./Edit

Please share a little bit more about the start and final model if you can (NDA etc…I understand the limitations)

All the best

Sassi

Thanks Sassi, As always you light my path when I’m stock with a situation !
As I can see you understand very well what I try to put in my concept. The only thing that bug me with your solutions is I want/need to play with the F-curves between states, I want it to add the Wiggle deformer between states enhance my animation, having , so do this with a Frame by frame approche wil be a bit time killing ! because I would like to create around 30 object with this idea !

I like the idea of the blending mode with a cloner object , put again I wont be able to play with the F-curves ! .. I know the NitroMan do a NitroBake plug-ins maybe this works, i’m still waiting for confirmation from is side.

Let’s hope C4D r15 will have this features !

Hey Gregg,

You’re welcome.

The idea of an F-Curve is to interpolate between two values. These values have always the same parameter. You can’t interpolate from something that doesn’t exist to something that exist. Points are there or not. (Taking about polygons, not about Python or C.O.F.F.E.E.)  In the moment they appear, they can be moved. When they can be moved, there is the option to manipulate the move over time—the acceleration or slow down of that change from start to finish, or key 1 to key 2.

If you take a EXTRUDE process for example, that is normally a process that produces new information and moves this new information to a new place. The information was given based on the selection in the first place, but the new points don’t know that. In fact you could even delete these points without affecting the new ones. So there is the problem.

It can be solved with and extrusion of zero offset (step A) and then move the current active pouts or polygons to the target place (step B). Now you have something to interpolate. With that comes the options to use F-Curves of course.

To use his plug in, perhaps with the technique above in mind. You create for each index step one copy, which can be done in one step. To change the step Index, you need to select all and type into the index field “num+1”.
Then blend between with the modify slider of the effector. This can be then change in the f-curve of the effector.  I haven’t tried it and I write this here jsut down. As I do not have your model idea here, I can’t test this.

If you have later on a change, save the original mm2 file—select all plug ins at ones and load the new mm2 file into them, increase or decrease the amount of copies and again Num+1.

Good luck with it

Sassi

P.S. I get the impression that he did an automated Object Cycle animation storage application. Not something that would allow a morph. Perhaps he can implement in v3 an algorithm that checks if an index point cloud is equal to the next and morph between both, if it is not, a hard cut will appear.

Here is an example, as this would be the same with native objects I think it is worth the exploration.

Notice the jump in the middle, the “blend” misses the same point structure, and can’t interpolate. The last extrusion I pulled the extrusion, but moved it back to zero. Which means the points are doubled on this position and if you lose the selection, you can go only via Structure Manager to them.

It is quite simple, but it takes some modeling discipline to get that animation nicely. (I’m aware that any use of HyperNURBS might create anotehr step of complexity to this kind of animation) ;o)