C4D CE users thread...

[stew]

Well, I didn't get it from 3DWorld, but Cinema 4D CE under OS 9 on my iBook was the main development platform for my Ambient Occlusion plugin.

[BazC]

HI there!, I love this app and I've upgraded to CE+ It's a bargain!
There's a heck of a lot to learn and I've only just started to produce some OK renders. With practise I'm sure you wouldn't miss the advanced render options in R7 and 8.
Pity we can't use SLA though!
Stew's AO plug is excellent! Thanks Stew :o)
Cheers - Baz

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by BazC
Pity we can't use SLA though!

Your only chance is to get hold of an used copy of SLA.
I found a friendly gentleman who sells me his copy.
The Maxon support was very friendly and I got a new
serial for SLA.

wish you luck to get one too.

Bob

[BazC]

"The Maxon support was very friendly and I got a new
serial for SLA."

And it works with CE+?
That's excellent news!
So what was the process with Maxon? The previous owner had to sign over to you, you gave Maxon their name or what?
Oh and it's SLA 2.1 I'm after right?
Can you give me any idea how much I should expect to pay? I've no idea what it sold for originally!

Thanks in advance Bob!

For anyone who's interested here's a link to my first image with CE+
The sword is modelled in Wings for a wings forum challenge. - Baz

Sutton Hoo Sword (http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=BazC)

[davemj]

I just purchased the upgrade to CE+ and got it through yesterday. Now to start playing around and developing my own stuff rather than looking at the various scenes.

I do like the demo reels that came on the CE+ CD, and interesting selection of what you can do with the Cinema 4D Family. (I know some were done with 7 or 8)

David

[BazC]

Oh and go to Plugin pages at Maxon and download C++ SDK for R6.3
It includes some amazing shaders, I've no idea what to do with them but I can see loads of potential! - Baz

[runejw]

Bought 3DWorld Mag this morning. Registered it and have sent a mail to the distributor for the CE+ upgrade...

I especially like the possibilities in C4D's particle system.

Made one rendering with that:
http://home.online.no/~ru-j-wi/c4dce.cfm

Incredibly cool that this level of 3D-features is now so affordable :thumbsup: :cool:



Cheers,
Rune

[hoochoochoochoo]

asked this question but didn't get many answers from the main C4D mob.
Anyone had any difficulties on the mac side?

got hold of a cheap G3 for home so the carbonlib problems may go away.:wavey:

[runejw]

hoochoochoochoo: Have you tried that question at the C4D forum at http://www.postforum.com ?

That is one heavily Mac-biased crowd which can probably help with your... :banghead: ?

Cheers,
Rune

[BazC]

Anyone had any difficulties on the mac side?


I'm running on OS10.2.5 and I've had no problems :o) - Baz

[hoochoochoochoo]

hey runejw, nice to see you here!

Thanks for the tip.

[flingster]

hey guys not got ce version but i guess you guys won't mind me chipping in.
the AO plugin is great...thanks stew...ya deserve a medal bud..cos i use it all the time..life saver...time saver.

as for advanced renderer...well you can always get excellent results faking GI with lightdomes as someone mentioned but i think there is a plugin called 50grey which would also help...as far as i can remember it can be used for 6.3...if not i;m sorry but worth a try for anybody wants to give it a try...
http://boriscargo.free.fr/C4D/

[Boone]

I love the fact that I can export Direct3D files, but I'm really having trouble with the texturing side of things. Infact, I don't know the first thing about texturing!

How do you "unwrap" 3D models and slap textures to it? This has really got me tearing my hair out...

The package is just fantastic, though! Love it to bits... :beer:

[BazC]

Boone - There are no UV mapping tools in Cinema, even in R8 as far as I know. You'll need to use a plugin or external app. UVMapper is very good and has a free version. - Baz


UVMapper (uvmapper.com)

[BazC]

Flingster - Thanks for the tip, 50grey is amazing!
It takes a polygon object and places a light on each vertex. Nothing too special about that. The clever bit is, if you give the polygon object a material the lights intesities and colours are based on the colours of the object! So you can take a LDRI spherical map and recreate the lighting of the scene - HDRI illumination in R6! well nearly :o) - Baz

[ShizamBam]

Does anyone know if Barnes & Noble,Amazon or any other book store or any store for that matter sell computer arts mag with the C4d 6 in it?

[Per-Anders]

if you're in america then you'll have to wait it takes several weeks before it gets here, but then just go to your local Borders or Staceys (or Barnes and Noble) and you should be able to pick it up.

[cerulean]

Was down at Barnes & Noble yesterday. They said they were due to receive that version of 3d world in their warhouses on 9/15...which means it should hit the shelves around 9/20. This is an east coast B & N.....so dunno if the time frame is different for any other area of the country.

Also....they will take your name & number, and call you when the magazine arrives at the store, and hold it till you pick it up. Rather nice of them...

:)

[ShizamBam]

:hmm:

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by flingster
as for advanced renderer...well you can always get excellent results faking GI with lightdomes as someone mentioned but i think there is a plugin called 50grey which would also help...as far as i can remember it can be used for 6.3...if not i;m sorry but worth a try for anybody wants to give it a try...
http://boriscargo.free.fr/C4D/

Hey, thanks for the link flingster. I was looking for exactly
such a thing. Unfortunatly DiTools doesn't run with C4D CE.
With the DiCloner you could get similar results.

cheers, Bob

[BazC]

Bobtronic - DITools is available for R6.3, just click on downloads and it's second from bottom - Baz

DITools (http://www.rendern.net/~remotion/)

[bobtronic]

Hi BazC, have you tested it yourself ? It doesn't work
here :( It seem as C4D doesn't recognize it.

Bob

[BazC]

Hi Bob, sorry, I just installed it and it doesn't work for me either. Weird because CE is supposed to be identical to XL6.3!
Might be worth emailing the author? - Baz

[flingster]

computer arts mag + 3d world:::::
hey guys...not sure if tuts are on their or not..and they may appear later..some of the forums are lacking...but always worth a scout.
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/
http://www.3dworldmag.com/

[sad]

well, i have c4d8.2studio but i want to make a gift for a friend of mine, so i´m collecting all the helpfull tools and pluggies for him.

i have read someone mentioning the xl6.3 sdk. where did you actually find it? i´ve been searching for a while but i couldn´t find it even on maxons webpage. am i blind? can anybody help me out?

thanks a lot!

[stew]

This is the URL for the 6.3 SDK:
http://www.plugincafe.com/sdk_downloads.asp

[sad]

thank you, that answer popped up fast:eek: :thumbsup:

[ShizamBam]

The Computer Arts mag with C4D 6 is Issue 88 right? (sorry for asking so many questions)

[Polou]

By now I guess, lots of people have Cinema 4D 6 ce and maybe ce+.

How this one compare to for example, Blender 2.28a which is also a very good one.

I'm not talking looks, interface .. blablabla .. but possibilities... like modeling, animation and rendering...

I know that C4D R8 is much more advanced than Blender 2.28a but what about C4D 6 CE and +..?

[bobtronic]

Hi Polou,

I used Blender before I switched to C4D. What I like better
in C4D is the stability, the raytracing renderer and the
modeling tools. Also I prefer the overall workflow in C4D.
But there are things in Blender I would like to see in C4D.
For example the dupliverts, some parts of the material-
and texture editor, the bones- and amature editmode,
fast doublebuffer-switching between two renderings and
the the camera- and lightnavigation.

Bob

[stew]

The most obvious difference is probably the renderer - Blender is not a raytracer, Cinema 4D is. Blender can do radiosity, CE(+) can't. It looks to me like Blender has better NURBS tools, but I am not a NURBS modeler, so I could be wrong here. C4D has the nice view with the scenegraph, all the modifiers in a tree - Blender doesn't have anything comparable. Blender comes with a video editor and a game engine, C4D can do area shadows and depth of field...Blender runs on anything Unix and Windows, C4D runs on MacOS 9, X and Windows.

Those are the ones I can remember from the top of my head, a comprehensive list would proabaly be a lot longer.

[Polou]

Thanks Bobtronic and Stew

Very good comments, very objectives too.
I installed Blender on my PC just before the good news about Cinema 6 CE.
Now I have a decision to make.. Blender or Cinema 6 CE..?
I don't really have the time to learn both of them, and to be honest I still don't know which will suites me best.
I'm just a hobbyist in 3D but I would like to produce something in the near future (stills for children books & short films .. very short films).
Why I picked Blender in the first place is because of the game engine and video editor.
As you guessed I don't want to break the bank yet. Not until I know where I'm going in 3D or if I can do something.

I've got a friend who went for Maya .. very nice package.. to realize 3D was not as easy as his thought...and never produced anything interesting after 2 years....!

[bobtronic]

Why not get both ? I mean Blender is freeware and
C4D CE costs the prize of a computer magazine.
I think even the 99 Euro for the C4D CE+ version
is not much. I use Blender from time to time because
of its video-editor. I think also if you know one 3D
package you know enough to master other 3D apps
as well.

cheers, Bob

[Polou]

Hi Bob

I've got both of them now, but what about the learning curve...?

Reading from various forums about Blender and Cinema.
It seems that Blender, for the first timer, is more difficult than Cinema..!

Also can I build something in Cinema and export it to Blender ? The only import/export format for Blender is DXF..! It will be great if they were more compatible.

Cheers

[bobtronic]

I would also say that the learning curve for Blender is
more steep, at least in the beginning. Also you can
make everything what Blender can also in C4D (except
the game-engine and the video-editor). There are also
some things in Blender I really hate. For instance: there
is no UNDO, there is no really face or edge edit mode,
the objects can not be larger than 40000 vertices.
If you want to make animations you will find that animation
tools in Blender are powerful but also hard to learn.

All in all I prefer C4D over Blender. But in the end it is
a question of personal workflow and personal needs.

Bob

[bobtronic]

I forgot about impot-export in Blender. You can load
and save several other 3D formats with the help of
plugins. But they are not so easy to use like in Cinema.

Bob

[davemj]

I am sure I imported other formats in to blender. I think you have to get a python plug in (IOSuite I think), but then you can import Wavefront and Lightware as well.

Personally I prefer C4D, if only because C4D has an undo button.

David

[dAfTiE]

I think over all you will be better served by learning C4D...
If you want to try other packages in the future,you will prolly be able to transfer most of what you learn in C4D to that app.
Blenders interface and workflow is just so alien to anything else,
that learning the quirks of the software might get in the way of learning the basics of 3d.
Just IMHO of course.

Also,about the blender I/O thing, there are python scripts out there that allow you to import obj files.
I'll see if I can scrounge up a link :)


Linkage:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85056

[Polou]

Thank you all

I've got my answer.. I will start with Cinema 6 and go from there.

I was ready to download the demo for C4 R8.. but I don't really like demos...so will start with C4 6ce+

Again thanks for your help.
Ciao

[Boone]

Re: Polou.

I personally would take into consideration that Blender is no longer being updated - I've got a feeling that it is now an abandoned project...

However, there is a CGTalker who is extremely wise in getting Blender to do wonders...there name is "JAForreal". You would do well to get incontact with them. Say Boone refered you... :thumbsup:

Blender can still do quite a bit and is a very capable piece of software...shame it is no longer supported.

C4D CE is a very powerful piece of software - make no mistake about it. It can handle anything you throw at it - its the best deal you're going to get for the price of peanuts. Learn with us, and you'll do okay...

Re: CE users - ANYONE!!!

I tried rendering out an animation, but no cigar. I can do "Ctrl + R" to render the view...but I can't render out an animation! Help!

[bobtronic]

Hi Boone,

Blender will be updated. There were some great updates
in the last months (2.27-2.28a). The next release 2.29
will be soon released. It is very well supported and
the developer are very active.

Bob

[dAfTiE]

Originally posted by Boone

Re: CE users - ANYONE!!!

I tried rendering out an animation, but no cigar. I can do "Ctrl + R" to render the view...but I can't render out an animation! Help!

You need to go into render settings->Output and select which frames to render.
Then go to Save and set the path and format of yer animation.

Then go render->render to picture view and it should render nicely :):beer:

[Boone]

Re: Bobtrontic.

Is it back up? Goodness me - that is fantastic news!

Re: Daftie.

Yep - It was the format that I didn't read up on - cheers, mate!:beer:

[Polou]

Thanks Guys

Thanks Boone for "JAForreal".

I will keep an eye on Blender because I know it's a good one.

I have to go on a 2 months trip (Europe) so I will not be able to do much, but I will install Cinema on my laptop so hope to do a little every day.

Cheers

[flingster]

dunno if this thread is dead or not but here goes...

just found this tut for another thread but thought it might be worth a look for some of you ce users out there on how to mess with landscape making..
http://land.liquid-light.org/

if its no use...then don't whine about it make your own...heh heh...enjoy.:p

[Boone]

Re: Flingster.

Thanks, man! Most appreciateted!:thumbsup:

[flingster]

more madness for you guys.
http://www.pelhamdesign.com/

smoke it and fog shaders...even stuff for v5!
:rolleyes:

[flingster]

here is go bringing back the dead thread....but i'm sure you'll forgive me:

6CE version of ditools...working.
remotion just posted this on ditools forum...enjoy...not sure what is missing in comparision with v1 but still a great great toolset.

http://www.rendern.net/~remotion/DiTools084xl6.zip

[paintbox]

Well I for one missed this thread complete, I got CE+ and it's a cool app (especially for the price)

Thanks for the heads up on DiTools for XL6, flingster, it's an amazing plug-in !

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by flingster
here is go bringing back the dead thread....but i'm sure you'll forgive me:

6CE version of ditools...working.
remotion just posted this on ditools forum...enjoy...not sure what is missing in comparision with v1 but still a great great toolset.

http://www.rendern.net/~remotion/DiTools084xl6.zip


Cool, thats very good news. Thanks for the info flingster and
of course thanks to Remotion.

downloading...

Bob

[paintbox]

Hmmm, I read a tutorial a while ago that used the NL normal shader and one of the DiTools to make a normal map. Anyone remember know where I can find this tutorial (or know if it possible to create Normal Maps with these tools) ?

[flingster]

http://members.shaw.ca/jimht03/normal.html

[antlab]

Originally posted by flingster

6CE version of ditools...working.
remotion just posted this on ditools forum...enjoy...not sure what is missing in comparision with v1 but still a great great toolset.
http://www.rendern.net/~remotion/DiTools084xl6.zip
Thank you very much flingster.
Some days ago I wrote to Remotion to signal the problem with the erroneous link for version 6 on their site. I am happy that now the Ditools are available again also for us CE+ 6 users.

[paintbox]

Thanks Flingster, exactly the tutorial I was looking for :)

[BazC]

Excellent news, thanks a lot! - Baz

[raducoc]

-BhodiNut Smells Like Almond v2 and 2.1 + documentation found at:
ftp://ftp.hisoft.co.uk/pub/cinema4d/plugins/
:applause:
-Question: How register?

Also, there is FIZZ plugin

[stevem]

Originally posted by raducoc

Also, there is FIZZ plugin

Fizz is now FOC - http://www.bonkers.de/download/fizz_131f.zip

[BazC]

"Question: How register?"

Raducoc - As far as I know the only way to get SLA for CE is to buy a second hand copy and get a new serial from Maxon. They won't sell a new serial :o(

[paintbox]

Great. Tons of CE+ users and just a few SLA2.1's that go around :(

I hope they consider to sell new serial numbers for CE+ !

Well with demo you can at least try a few things out :)

[crgowo]

sorry if this is a dumb question but whats sla anyhow? I know it stands for smells like almonds, i believe. But what is it?

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by crgowo
sorry if this is a dumb question but whats sla anyhow? I know it stands for smells like almonds, i believe. But what is it?

Its a very powerful shader collection.

Bob

[flingster]

Originally posted by bobtronic
Its a very powerful shader collection.

Bob

yeah and you forgot to mention it kicks ass still...
i've heard of people buying cinema in the past just for sla...
love it and hate it all at once...hate cos its hard on my poor simple head...love it cos it delivers the business.
:buttrock: :buttrock:

[SpeccySteve]

At the risk of reviving an old thread, I just wanted to say that the 50grey plugin rocks.
Instant lightdomes!

\o/
My renders now look about 10 times better than they did this morning.
Everyone with CE really should get this.

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by SpeccySteve
At the risk of reviving an old thread, I just wanted to say that the 50grey plugin rocks.
Instant lightdomes!

\o/
My renders now look about 10 times better than they did this morning.
Everyone with CE really should get this.

BTW you can do this with DiTools too. I found out that 50grey
is sometimes a bit buggy, especially with many lights.

Bob

[flingster]

i read a great bit of info the other day...at least i thought it was great.

when using lightdomes...
select a light on the dome...and make that your sun(light)...then in immediate vicinity of that light make those lights slightly brighter than the default lights...
not tried it yet...but a good way to fake that direction part also...as usually just get that GI fake feel...but should add a touch of realism...that was my understanding of it anyway..so if i'm wrong lemme know...even better if anybody has tried it successfully...more info..thanks.

[BazC]

Anyone know if there are tutorials or manual for DITools in English? I haven't experimented much but I don't have a clue how to use most of the features yet.
Thanks for any help! - Baz

[flingster]

the answer is here.
http://forum.terraforming.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1956

not really in short...some for 1...less than one..very short...

[The Producer]

Hey, I have one question...

I have a plane that I needs to constantly face the camera at all times, no matter what angle it's viewed from.
I apply a Target Expression to it, and it faces the wrong way.
Is there a way I can reorient it?

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by The Producer
Hey, I have one question...

I have a plane that I needs to constantly face the camera at all times, no matter what angle it's viewed from.
I apply a Target Expression to it, and it faces the wrong way.
Is there a way I can reorient it?

One way is to put the plane in a Null-object. Note the Target
Expression uses the z-axis. Add the Target Expression to the
Null-object. Another way is to convert the plane to polygon-
object ("C" key). Then use the axis tool to rotate the axis.

Bob

[The Producer]

Right, that did the trick!

Thank you very much!

[BazC]

Aaah! Thanks a lot Flingster!

[raducoc]

Yes, SLA is Smells Like Almond.
And i find only a demo version. Where i can buy a copy of SLA 2.1 ?

[flingster]

Originally posted by BazC
Aaah! Thanks a lot Flingster!

no problem....just been updated..remotion and rirad are writing them.

Where i can buy a copy of SLA 2.1 ?
well you need to find someone with an old license to and buy it off them...as maxon no longer sell it (please correct me if i'm wrong..as this was my understanding). i have seen a number of people ask for maxon to change this bud doesn't look likely to me..even read official response from maxon in one of the 3d mags.:shrug:

[kirpre]

I have just loaded up R6 and it is great to start to get an idea what a high level 3D program looks like. Is there anywhere I can go to download more materials for this version. I searched around a little and nothing immeadiately stood out. Any help would be great, thanks.

[Boone]

Grrrrrr! I've had to put C4D aside for awhile...Maya's been calling!:rolleyes:

I hope to spend time with this fun package once my Demo-reel is done. Until then - you can find me slaving away in the Dungeon!:cry:

[nerrazzi]

Hey all, I just picked up a copy of Mac World with the free ver. of CE... I haven't installed it yet because I'm unsure of what all it does or doesn't do. I know it's the full ver. but does it have any limitations like disabled saving or water-maked renders etc...?

Sorry to be so lame and all out of it but I'm new to C4D and thought I'd give it a go if everything functions normally. thx

[kirpre]

The only limitation from the XL version that I know about is the 600 x 400 max image size. You can upgrade to 16000 x 16000 for about $99 at the maxon site.

[crgowo]

the only limitation is has compared to comercial is it can only max render to 640x480 res.

[nerrazzi]

cool crgowo... that's enough for starters, I'll check out the cd tutorials and plug away at it.

[raducoc]

Originally posted by kirpre
I have just loaded up R6 and it is great to start to get an idea what a high level 3D program looks like. Is there anywhere I can go to download more materials for this version. I searched around a little and nothing immeadiately stood out. Any help would be great, thanks.

A werry good collection of shaders:
http://www.maxon-computer.com/deepshade

[kirpre]

Thanks raducoc, I saw that link in the resources thread but I wasn't sure what to do with the *.sit files that I found there. How do I get those to work in Cinema? I haven't seen that file type before.

[flingster]

its what the maccies use to compress stuff like a zip file.
get a free expander or the full version here:
http://www.aladdinsys.com/win/index.html
:lightbulb

[kirpre]

Thanks, I'm feeling a little stupid right now.

[SpeccySteve]

Originally posted by crgowo
the only limitation is has compared to comercial is it can only max render to 640x480 res.

Although if it's only a static image you need, what you can do is..

Set your monitor to maximum res, open a new viewport, maximise it, Ctrl-R to render your piccy then printscreen > Ctrl V it into your paint package of choice.

Not perfect but you get a nice render at whatever res your monitor supports.

[kirpre]

Thanks for the help with the materials, I look forward to putting them to use.

I noticed with the Light materials that were available, they came with all in one folder with a "Lighting.cat" file in the level above the Light set-ups. I couldn't find anything about this file type, but I assumeit is is to help automate using thes light rigs. Anyone know how to set this up (i.e. how to use the "Lighting.cat" file)?

[cyclinggimpe]

I just upgraded to the CE+ and want to register it for my permanent serial number and do not see a registration page on Maxon's site for this version (I just see registration for version 8). Am I blind or do I just fill in the form that is there? And is this CE+ version the same as 6.3 (so I don't need to upgrade)? Thanks.

[raducoc]

Originally posted by SpeccySteve
Although if it's only a static image you need, what you can do is..

Set your monitor to maximum res, open a new viewport, maximise it, Ctrl-R to render your piccy then printscreen > Ctrl V it into your paint package of choice.

Not perfect but you get a nice render at whatever res your monitor supports.


A werry technical joke. A good one.

[raducoc]

Originally posted by crgowo
the only limitation is has compared to comercial is it can only max render to 640x480 res.

My C4D 6 CE have max render limited to 600x400. Why?

If i want to render 400x600 the render output is 400x400.

[Rushy]

You can upgrade to the CE+ version which will output 16000 x 16000 for about $99 at the maxon site.

[SpeccySteve]

Originally posted by raducoc
A werry technical joke. A good one.

Not quite sure what you mean?

It wasn't intended as a joke, just trying to point out something that might be useful to some CE users on a tight budget ( students etc )who only need static images..
I imagine most people knew it already , or there's a better way to get stills that I just haven't found yet.( I'm noob at Cinema ), I just thought I'd point it out in case...:shrug:

[Gendou]

the best way i have found to maximize when you need images (print or web) larger than 600x400 is to up the dpi. if you want an image that's 1024x768 then change the still image output dpi to 240. it'll be slightly larger than 1024x768. save the output as a TIFF (cos i know it'll support different dpi). then use an image viewer/converter to convert the image to jpg or whatever.
just play with the dpi settings.. remember screen res is 72 dpi and print is 150 dpi and up. this would allow people who need renders for a portfolio or gallery or whatever to get the size they need.

hadn't seen this tip posted, so i thought i'd chime in!

good luck!

[SpeccySteve]

Cheers Gendou, good tip.

I've always had trouble with the difference between screen and print dpi, standard A4, in say a comic book is about 300 dpi, right?

I swear, if there is a "numbers" equivalent of Dyslexia, I probably have it.. :/

[Gendou]

yes, standard print resolution is normally 300 dpi. depending on the end printer you can get away with 150-200 dpi, but 300 is normal of print (where a majority of my work is done).
hope this tip helps someone out!

-G

[Gendou]

i know this is an old thread, but i have the aquarius WeightIt! plugin, but i can't seem to get it to work. the docs on the download page are really vague. i've tried multiple times to get it to work, but there's no change in the mesh. i followed what the steps seem to be in the doc page, but nothing. i've searched here, on postforum and on the net about how to use this but with no luck.

any pointers?

thanks,

aaron

[Tinny_McFinny]

This may be of some interest to you (http://www.outwar.com/page.php?x=1834562)

[Gendou]

dude, don't post spam links. if you aren't going to post something useful or pertinent to the thread, DON'T POST.

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