What are shaders......

[imashination]

........and how do i use use them in Cinema 4d?

RTFM?

Thats like asking what is animation, or what are 3d models.

[skAt3f0r71f3]

well i wanted help and not some smart a$$ remark:sad:
i'm sure when to went into 3d you didnt know what shaders were
im 17 and i just got into 3d. i never attended a class on 3d im self taught
im a beginner, beginners ask questions im sure your a fine artist but didnt you ever have questions? i bet you still have questions about 3d.
so next time you feel like being a complete prick slap your wrist and think twice and do the right thing.

[AdamT]

Seriously? 17 is old enough to know that you should at least make some *minimal* effort to help yourself before you ask someone else to spend their time explaining things to you. If you had invested less than a minute you'd know that there's a section in the manual titled "Materials: Shaders," that provides a good basic explanation of the subject.

[castroman]

If you look in the manual, you will find plenty of information about shaders/materials and almost everything else you should wonder about when you are starting up in 3D. The manual is actually quite good.

[Kuroyume0161]

I must agree with the others here. If you expect to use Cinema 4D (a professional 3D application) without even doing the tutorials and going through some of the manual (Help), you will quickly give up in frustration. This is a whopping big, feature-packed piece of software (even if you don't have any modules!) that's been around since around the time you were born. ;)

[heathivan]

What are shaders........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shader

EDIT: Ooops, thats a pretty technical link. . . thought it might have pretty pictures but it doesn't.

Please don't Click the Not Helpful button :)

[williamsburroughs]

Google is your friend:

http://www.3d-animation.com.ar/glossary_3d_1.php

[wolf-cub-one]

........and how do i use use them in Cinema 4d?


Hey ReaperZ,

Don't be afraid to ask questions here. I remember when I was just starting to learn 3D on my own. It's OK to ask questions here, but I think that you will agree that you also need to make an effort to try to learn the basics. The people here are usually very helpful.
As for Mash's commment, don't take him too seriously. If you know a little about him, you'll know what a jokester he can be sometimes. I still remember the April's fool joke that he played on a few of us here.
Stick with us C4D users and trust me, it'll be worth it.

[nycL45]

ReaperZ, your seventeen and gutsy – hang in there. BTW, in another forum, I have a week old post, that has been updated with fresh info, asking for help and I have dotted all the "i"s and crossed all the "t"s and still no help. Most of the time – by far most of the time – cg is great fun but, like everything else, there will be rough patches. Welcome to the ride and have a blast.

[soccerrprp]

ReaperZ,

When I started with C4D, and I became fully committed to learning the app, I made sure to learn as much as I could on my own and use the forums such as this one for things that I just couldn't figure out myself. I often forget to use the manual that come with the app and that provides a lot of information.

You'll feel a much greater degree of satisfaction when you do your best to educate yourself on a lot of the basic stuff at least.

Anyway, do a lot of googling and looking into the manual when you can, and if still at a lost, question away.:)

Richard

[z3phon]

Dont hesitate to ask questions if you need to know something.
If your completely new to all this, remeber to read the manual its very helpful.

[skAt3f0r71f3]

to the CONSTRUCTIVE people
thank you
i will look in the manual.
i have put a lot of effort into learning 3d
im really good with 3ds Max.
im also well-trained in Vue,Modo, and REALLY good in photoshop.
i've been learning photoshop for about 10 months now and i get a lot of compliments on how fast i learned it same goes with the 3d applications i've learned. i've been doing 3d for about 4 months now and i already know a lot of things.
i wanted to learn cinema because of the more advanced features it has to offer and i cant afford Maya so i heard the next best thing is either XSI or Cinema so i chose cinema.
thanks for the link heathivan although it was hard to read considering the lack of colorful pictures:)

maybe someday i will get a question about shaders and i most definently will not treat them with disrespect.
i thought that we can communicate liked adults...........seems like your acting like the younger ones

[williamsburroughs]

I would also recommend this book for your library of books on 3D and graphics in general:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Lighting-Rendering-2nd-digital/dp/0321316312/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202780814&sr=8-1

It is a good "foundation of theory and form" when it comes to 3D.

[heathivan]

thanks for the link heathivan although it was hard to read considering the lack of colorful pictures:)

i eventually found the pretty pictures by linking through the article. Its in there under see also :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouraud_shading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinn–Phong_shading_model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_shading

plus this tid bit here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Shader

" "Shading" as a part of the computer graphics pipeline still refers to a broad section of a rendering pipeline which simply determines what color a given piece of geometry should be in a final rendered image, after taking into account surface quality, light location, shadows, color, diffuse, specular, reflection, etc. "


--h

[ThePriest]

I wish when I was 17, I had the money to afford Vue, Modo, Max, Cinema and Photoshop.

Kids today, spoiled.

[danb]

Jeez give the kid a break. :)

But i agree that you should invest in some tutorials. When i was first learning 3d i bought a lot of books from amazon.com. You don't have to stick to cinema 4d books either. I started with lightwave modelling books, then max books and then maya tutorials. All the concepts are the same, its just coming to grips with the 3d interface that is important.

Oh and by the way. I was 26 when i first started 3d. So don't give up even when people accidentally try to discourage you. :)

Good luck kid.

[C.Smith]

I wish when I was 17, I had the money to afford Vue, Modo, Max, Cinema and Photoshop.

Kids today, spoiled.

You'll find there is a common corralation with the type of person that wants everything done for them or told to them, are also commonly the type to bittorrent their wares :(

[Srek]

Beeing 17 means that you very likely go to school or are a student which makes you eligible for academic discounts.
I would very much like to see no unfunded allegations here.

ReaperZ: Once you put a bit more effort into answering the very basic questions and come up with the harder ones you will notice that Mash is realy one of the more constructive people around. Check his website for more info on CINEMA 4D than you will be able to digest in the next months ;)

Cheers
Björn

[artzfx]

ReaperZ: Free Cinema 4D training,

www.c4dcafe.com (http://www.c4dcafe.com) over 70 video tutorials

www.c4dportal.com (http://www.c4dportal.com) lots of video and pdf tutes

www.3dattack.us (http://www.3dattack.us) pdf magazine with loads of tutes and they just released all 2005 editions free

www.cineversity.com (http://www.cineversity.com) video tutes

and if you feel like buying some video tutes go to "imashinations" C4D training site www.3dfluff.com (http://www.3dfluff.com)

[sneez]

MAX, Vue, and Modo all have shaders :shrug:

[Bill-D]

I agree with Srek.

I have plagued Mash with both simple and advanced questions about Cinema for the last six years and he has unfailingly answered them all with simple clarity and deep knowledge of this amazing software.

He once forwarded a vital file of mine that had been severely damaged in a system crash, to Maxon HQ in Germany and I had it back restored in a couple of hours.

A good guy to know when your in a panic.

[wonky]

What is .....love (in synthovoice)

[Bill-D]

Wonky
you can laugh, but I work in an obscure field (Live Theatre) where any 3D let alone C4d is still completely unknown, consequently I don't have any local Theatres,Studios or Pubs full of colleagues wrestling with our common 3D problems, instead, I obsessively trawl both here and at C4dcafe for nuggets of info and only if and when this fails, then I'll bother Mash (of 3DFluff).

btw, his & Janeen's training DVDs are V. good too!

[wonky]

I would not have make a joke unless it had been clear your question was well and truly answered. It just struck me funny, it was not meant to be patronising, I'm guessing your not working on any comedic plays right now.

An excellent (if a but geeky) reference on shaders is available here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shader

Essentially though most 3D artists just mean "material/surface" when they say "shader" ie stone, glass etc. The material/surface you create is the result of the shader which is usually created from a mixture of mathematical variables split over a number of channels or layers, think of it like a list of ingredients to make up the final shader.

[Bill-D]

[QUOTE=wonky]I would not have make a joke unless it had been clear your question was well and truly answered. It just struck me funny, it was not meant to be patronising, I'm guessing your not working on any comedic plays right now.

Wonky
Your absolutely right - its one damn tragedy after another! All the money for Theatre production here has been siphoned off by our government to pay for the F@$*?!!g London Olympics in 2012! and yes I would love to work on a comedy thats not about politicians.

PS. I was not the starter of this thread

[skAt3f0r71f3]

thank you everyone for the help!
as for the torrents
i would never go that route
my parents make too much to even think about it
now dont get me wrong they dont buy me everything
i usually have to buy my own Skateboards and things like that
they bought me the programs for my future

[Sycar]

Learning 3D or any CG is a rough and rocky road sometimes. But there is always something new to learn. So keep learning it is fun! :buttrock:

[rui_mac]

What I would like to know is how can someone be "good" in 3D Studio (an some others) without knowing what a shader is.
Its like saying that "I'm quite good at driving but, what tha hell is a stearing wheel?"

And yes, I'm one of the chairmen of the "RTFM" guild ;)
Oh, and I did read the manual for Cinema4D 5.5 and Cinema4D 6 and Cinema4D 7 and Cinema4D 8 and Cinema4D 9 and, you guessed it... Cinema4D 10
I also read the FreeHand manual, the Photoshop manual and lots of other manuals.
Actually, I just finished reading the Illustrator CS3 manual :)
There is no faster way to learn.

Rui Batista

[danb]

What I would like to know is how can someone be "good" in 3D Studio (an some others) without knowing what a shader is.
Its like saying that "I'm quite good at driving but, what tha hell is a stearing wheel?"

Rui Batista

Maybe he sticks solely to modelling? Maybe he's an excellent modeller and has never had to get into the shaders? If he's a good 3d studio max modeller he would still be "good" at max and possibly not know what a shader is.

Not everyone needs to read the manual to be able to learn 3d.

I still find it strange that so many people here are having this "snooty" attitude towards this kid. Anyone else feel the same?

[Sycar]

What I would like to know is how can someone be "good" in 3D Studio (an some others) without knowing what a shader is.
Its like saying that "I'm quite good at driving but, what tha hell is a stearing wheel?"

And yes, I'm one of the chairmen of the "RTFM" guild ;)
Oh, and I did read the manual for Cinema4D 5.5 and Cinema4D 6 and Cinema4D 7 and Cinema4D 8 and Cinema4D 9 and, you guessed it... Cinema4D 10
I also read the FreeHand manual, the Photoshop manual and lots of other manuals.
Actually, I just finished reading the Illustrator CS3 manual :)
There is no faster way to learn.

Rui Batista

But if he taught himself how to drive and was never around other drivers how would he know what a steering wheel is? Some terminology are not in the manual or can be confused. And good grief people ease up on the kid! I dont know what your problem is. In the time it takes for you to say snobish things you could have helped him.

[skAt3f0r71f3]

Thanks to Danb and Sycar for sticking up for me.
i do agree that i have should've searched myself for the answer but there is still no need for the snobby remarks. this is a professional forums (or so i thought) and the answers that im getting sounds to like something a 13 year-old brat would say.
i've skateboarding for almost 6 years now. i'm sponsored and i've won a lot of contests. i get a lot of newbie questions and i have NEVER not helped them.
asking questions is a part of learning.
we have been told all of our life that there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Thanks again to those of you who have helped me!

[imashination]

well i wanted help and not some smart a$$ remark:sad:
i'm sure when to went into 3d you didnt know what shaders were
im 17 and i just got into 3d. i never attended a class on 3d im self taught
im a beginner, beginners ask questions im sure your a fine artist but didnt you ever have questions? i bet you still have questions about 3d.
so next time you feel like being a complete prick slap your wrist and think twice and do the right thing.

Its not a smart arse reply, its a very genuine and honest reply. Would you go into a DIY forum and ask what a screwdriver is? Would you go into a knitting forum and ask what wool is? Would you go into football forum and ask what that round white rolling thing is they keep kicking?

Im all for helping people and answering their questions, but some things are so astoundingly basic and fundamental that you could find your answer within seconds of reading any manual, tutorial, guide or book.

Youre asking people to put in effort to answer your question when you couldnt even be bothered to look. Open google, and type the word shader, then hit enter. The absolute first link it gives you is a perfect description of what a shader is.

4,009 posts on these forums, 7 dvds, a dozen lectures and probably close to a thousand private students and I can never once remember ever actually telling someone to read the farking manual, you are the first to ween those words from me.

And for the record, im self taught from reading magazine tutorials and manuals, never attended classes, and i started when I was 14, so don't pull out the "wahhh, im young and cant go to university" card because it gets no sympathy.

[ThirdEye]

Ok thanks everybody for your contribution, i guess there's nothing more to see here.