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mesaticus
01-21-2005, 05:14 PM
I'm just getting into C4D, so I apologize if this is a lame question. I found something very similiar to what I'm looking for here, so I guess I just want some confirmation:

http://cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=163711&highlight=caustic

I just have the core C4D app. In render settings I see "Caustics" and "Radiosity", but they are highlighted out. Now, based on the thread above, do they become "unhighlighted or accessible" if you buy the AR plug-in?

If that is the case, that seems a little lame. Usually when things are "greyed out" it's because the tool you want to use is in the wrong mode or something like that, but to highlight stuff out that you haven't "bought" yet, seems stupid. I mean, why not only list what I paid for in the render settings, then, when I buy the AR, ADD that to my list of options. Right now...it's just a giant tease.

Hopefully I didn't rant for nothing, so if somebody could confirm or deny that.

I'm trying to achieve a Global Illumination effect because it seems to be a great way to recognize small errors in your mesh. Using an old 3dTotal mag, I followed a tutorial on setting up a "light dome" which seems to work well, but I'd like something better.

I've also just found links to http://www.toxicengine.org (http://www.toxicengine.org/) while searching for my original question, so I plan on giving that a look also.

All in all, I'm just looking to create a nice "clay" render as I progress on my models, so any tips or tutorials people could pass my way, would be great.

Thanks.
AdamT
01-21-2005, 05:21 PM
Yes, those options only become available if you install AR. One of the nice things about Cinema's modular approach is the integration of the modules into a seamless program--so that it feels like it's all of one piece. Plus I guess it would be a lot more work to design different UI elements depending upon which modules you've purchased.
mesaticus
01-21-2005, 05:38 PM
Well I do love the modular approach. It gives me time to work on my modeling and such, before worrying about rendering, animating, etc. That was one of my major reasons of looking at Cinema. Besides the interface and layout (which I love), the fact that I can add-on as my skills (and budget) increase is a huge huge plus.

I guess when working in software, I assume "greyed" out, means that option isn't available in the toolset from which you are working, but "might" become available under different circumstances (not through buying). Does that make sense? Furthermore, when I do decide to buy the AR, I'd expect it to say "thanks for purchasing, now look in your render settings and you should see a few more things added to the list for you to choose from".

That's just me. I'm totally new to this 3D stuff, so that may be the way these programs work. Being a longtime user of Adobe and Macromedia software packages, they just don't seem to work like that.

Sorry to seem like I'm ranting over something so stupid. I am a big fan of C4D so far, so I'll stop and get back to modeling.

Thanks for your help AdamT.
LucentDreams
01-21-2005, 06:25 PM
I understand your logic, and really the AR features seem to be the only settings that do this (radiosity/caustics and their settings in the rendersettigns dialog, light object, and material manager) I'll put in a mention to maxon about whether these can be taken out, but I think its a matter of how those settings appear compared to others like Sketch and toon or pyrocluser which have an area in post effects to be added or removed.
bobtronic
01-21-2005, 06:45 PM
I've also just found links to http://www.toxicengine.org (http://www.toxicengine.org/) while searching for my original question, so I plan on giving that a look also.

Hi,

I played some weeks with this renderengine too. The results are very nice but it takes a too
long time to convert your Cinema4D scences into the toxic format (its xml based). A decent
exporter or renderconnection would change things but I don't think someone will spent the time
and work to make a connection.

Bob
mesaticus
01-21-2005, 07:58 PM
Wow, so many quick and nice answers.

Bobtronic, thanks for the heads up on Toxic. It's in my bookmarks, but looks like it may be over my head for a while. For now, perhaps I'll stick to my lightdome that I learned from 3d World magazine, its seems to do an okay "clay like" render, fairly quickly.

Kaiskai, it's nice to know that is one of the only aspects of the program that does this. I'd hate to be wondering how to gain access to certain modeling tools, only to find out that I can see them....I just have to buy them to get them to highlight :) Kidding of course.

Thanks again everybody.
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