CINEVERSITY

Hi kariomart,

Color management is not something that is simple, click here - click there, and all problems are solved.
Since I write in a forum, here are some tiny notes:
ACES is a system designed for multicamera use on a film set and its complete workflow. If not used properly, trouble is around the corner. ACES relies on perfect exposure; it is, after all, a camera system for wide gamuts and dynamics. In that sense, there is no IDT for Rednerings, and good care needs to be taken for at least a perfect gray-card value 18%. If that is not a given, problems occur.
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ACES is designed to keep the data as is over the longest part, only when it goes into small gauts or low dynamics, tonemapping is applied, which many have touted as ACES Look [sic], this is only to get the data unclipped into that small space or dynamic.
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Third, the value of the pixels inside the file is determined by the color space it is supposed to work in. Suppose a file is coded in ACES 2065. In that case, it will not look right in ACEScg, and surely not in sRGB or REC 709, if not converted properly, or if the settings for the monitor are not set, as the data inside ACES are not changed to be viewed in the pipeline, the signal is taken (split and then brought into Monitor space, again, not touching the main signal. Scene referred.
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If the monitor profile is not set in the app you are viewing it, it might look wrong. If the file itself is not recognized as ACEScg (if it is ACEScg), then it most likely can look wrong.
If the color engine in the app is not set for the colorspace of the file, it might look wrong.
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The safest bet is to keep it all in one color space and float. (I would avoid anything like REC 709 or sRGB during the pipeline, as it is the smallest colorspace (Highest chance to clip color!), as it is an 8-bit/channel integer, which is not designed for anything higher than dynamic range.

I stop here, as I typically tell friends to read first about ACES, preferably a book about color science, to get on top of it.

What I tried to do here is to give a small glimpse about possible steps where things can go wrong, and there are more, and sadly, YouTube has a lot of videos with little knowledge in Color Science, I get the problem.
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So, my suggestion, open the file, do not change a thing, except where to render that image. Name it wisely.
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2025_PROJECTS_DRS/20250819_CV4_2025_drs_25_RSac_01.zip
Then open Photoshop, set its color engine to ACES for RGB, and open the file. Do not convert the Color Space, use the Edit> Assign Profile… ACEScg

Open the file that was used in the tex folder, and open it in the same way. If the 0.18, 1.0, and 1.7471 fields can be measured in that way, eye dropper, that is a good start. Copy and paste one image over the other. If you get an alert that the content will be concerted to…, you made a mistake, start over. When you have both files on top of each other, set the top one to Difference. It should be mostly black. There is a white spot in the image, above this should be a red dark line. I adjusted it that way to have a better indicator. If both images are interpreted wrongly, they will also show black, but the measurements will most likely show different values.

Perhaps it is something else. Then please report your findings back.

If you like book suggestions, please let me know. I promise to suggest something easier than Tooms', "Colour Reproduction in Electronic Imaging Systems: Photography, Television, Cinematography" (Which is one of my favorites.)

All the best

Hi register-fault.

Thank you very much for the kind words. Yes, those techniques are certainly my sweet spot for a long time.
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I assume this is the inside "Screen Box" that your project is targeting?
Example
https://www.outernet.com/news/enchanted-forest-the-melody-of-spirits
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Audience Perspective:

I assume you have the precise measurements of each screen. I might write more than you need, but others might like to follow your project.

Those VR cubes, if passive, have a single sweet spot. (Active would be like an LED wall, capturing the camera's orientation and position to define the projected image's parralax representation.)

The passive version suggests that the middle point of the "room" and the average eye level (~5 feet or ~1.50cm, or the ideal user eye level) may align with this sweetspot.
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That means the project setup requires a space, ensuring no object is closer than the screen.
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Interactive Action: the variations based on the audience are, of course, not clear to me, and I assume nothing you can share.
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With that being said, I would create a five-camera rig that matches each "wall" or "ceiling" dimension.
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For the walls, if the side walls are equally wide, that would be a horizontal 90º field of view.
For the ceiling, subtract your defined ideal user eye level from the ceiling height, and the field of view will be defined from that point and the dimensions of the ceiling
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You suggested a VR camera, which would give you an equirectangular image, which needs then "converted. This process creates pixel movements that are not exactly one pixel up, down, left, or right. Meaning: there is a substantial quality loss from this process alone.
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The next step is the resolution of the screens, to be precise, it allows you to render just enough, while keeping things in great quality. Larger means scaling, smaller means upscaling with loss.
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If the space is created with four equal walls, that would be a simple resolution decision, and the ceiling would need to match this.

The problem is that you need to explore are PostFX steps, like blur or blooming and such, this has more often than not, limits on the border, as the blur data after the border is not given, or a light is not "seen" and the resulting flare or bloom is different from screen wall to screen wall and Ceiling.
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If that is a problem or effect in your project, padding each shot with a wider field of view and higher resolution should help. When all is done, crop the image and check that the "connecting" edges are matching.
How much padding is needed? If you want to set a blur radius as a maximum, that pixel amount serves as your padding.
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Does this need to be on the lower part of the floor? I would suggest this, as it maintains a higher level of illusion. I'm not clear with two walls, are they half in height, that would be half resolution and a Offset, if you don't like to render fully.
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When you are done, rendering, and any post-production is applied, you can create a texture out of each of the five renderings. If padded, create a larger plane so the padding is outside the "room". Now you can check with a VR 360ºx180º camera if they work together. If they do, crop them, and then test again with room-size walls.
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Yes, the Japanese-style board, which we had often discussed in v3 of this forum, is sadly down. There, the curved wall presented challenges, as it works only well from a single sweet-spot, particularly when 3D elements extend far beyond the screen. From a different point of view, they look horrible.
The necessary steps involved rendering from the sweet spot, then using UV to project and bake the previously rendered content, resulting in a loss. The higher up those effects, the less resolution is a problem.
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I hope that helps.

Please let me know if anything is unclear in my description, or if I've missed any points. I'm happy to look into it.

Thanks for the question!

Cheers

@Tisi said in c4d thumbnail doesn't show on MacOS on a MBP:

@philosophy-chemical Hi, yeah it's pretty sad this hasn't been fixed yet. Right now I need to search for some old Project files in my Archive, it's a joke because I have to open every file to check for it's contents. My workaround for now is to use Anchorpoint

, a great project tool in general which has the ability to generate C4D Thumbnails for its own file view. Try not roll your eyes while digesting the fact that you have to use a third party tool to get thumbnails of your C4D files. Let me know if this works for you, hope I could at least ease the pain a bit.

Thank you very much, Anchorpoint seems to fill the gap

Hi Mark,

This might sound weird, and I apologize for asking, but have you enabled Alpha, or Straight Alpha, and are you using a format that supports it?

I have no problems here.

Example with all parts for one image with Ae file.
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2025_PROJECTS_DRS/20250818_CV4_2025_drs_25_PAcf_11.zip
I use straight Alpha here.

Cheers

Hi Craig,

Thanks, I'm fine, I hope you have a good time as well.

Here is a quick example, so you can tell me what works and what needs to be changed.
CV4_2025_drs_25_HAds_01.c4d

Of course, I can encourage you to check out the documentation, as Hair Dynamic has some options.
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2025/en-us/Default.htm#html/OHAIR-HAIRSTYLE_GROUP_DYNAMICS.html?TocPath=Hair%257CHair%2520Object%257C_____7

Have a great start to your week.

Thanks for your reply.

The file 03Fracture.c4d has no keyframes, and I cannot see any changes. So I focused on a single segment.
Exploring it in that small way allowed me to see some parts that could be improved, which is why I sent back the file.
The Thickness option is part of the Collider.

Please take a look here; it might be more aligned with your goals.
CV4_2025_drs_25_PArd_22.c4d

Enjoy your weekend

Thank you very much, AlexC.,

Enjoy your trip, and please let me know if you have any other questions.
I'm happy to look into it.

My best wishes

You're very welcome, atg.

Have a great weekend

Hi grass-battle,

When this process works for you, feel free to ask anytime. Often, communicating the problem to someone new to the project specifics is already half the solution, as you mentioned.

You didn't take my time, but the outcome makes it all worth it.

Thanks for taking your time to update the discussion here.

My best wishes for your project.

Hi Dutchbird,

I can't find any mentioning of a problem where the settings change randomly.

I can't reproduce it here.

Sounds like a problem with the Preference File, but that is a wild guess.

Fingers crossed it will be fixed for you in no time.

Cheers

Please check with tech support:
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

New topic moved
https://cineversity.forums.maxon.net/topic/2030/camera-from-scan
Please one theme per topic.

You're very welcome, Mark.

Cheers

Hi MV,

Sorry, that you can't get it in the way you want it.

I can't see any option to overcome the widely discussed problems via the Interactive Tag.

Yes, there are formulas, as mentioned above, but there is no option to use them, except perhaps via coding. Since code is not allowed in this forum, based on security, that would be a case for the Developer Forum. But the Developer forum is not a "request-code-delivery-forum", AFAIK.

What you try to do will not work in the way you want it, from my point of view.

At this point, please contact tech support to get a second opinion.
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

All the best

Hi Hani, you're very welcome.

I'm glad it helps. Please note that if the car is running along a different spline, that is not part of the data in the Animation Clips.
I filed a report, that this theme needs to be addressed a little bit more. Thanks for the question.

Have a great start to your week.

Hi Mia,

To get the "fluid" right is the main part, and Elly goes through the whole process.
Instead having the source (Emitter) just move a little bit, animated it in a rotation.
https://www.youtube.com/live/a16LNj0irKs?feature=shared&t=147

What was missing was the knife to spread the syrup over the waffle. 😉

Here is a little example how to do that. Please note that the "scraper" used is not visible, as it must be a little bit larger, and the visible one is just for the rendering.
CV4_2025_drs_25_LIcr_01.c4d

Think of the particles and their radius to create volume. We need to collider the particle core, to get the "Fluid Sphere" The Radius in teh Scene Settings, that it creates moved. I hope that makes sense.

Enjoy your project and your weekend

Is this helping?

Thank you for your reply, entry-newspaper.

If you render something out, either and B&W image or an alpha/mask image of that anyway, please try the Vectorizer. It is in the Menu that leads with the green SDS icon.

Example
CV4_2025_drs_25_STai_11.c4d
BW_vectorizer.jpg

Sadly there is no direct way.

My best wishes for your project and enjoy your weekend

P.S.:

A workaround would be:
CV4_2025_drs_25_RSgm_02.c4d

Please use the Site Issue forum in case you have problems accessing this forum.

Glass is tinted for preview/demo reasons.

You're very welcome, AlexC.

Yes, selections are like switches.

Enjoy your weekend

Hi Max,

Thanks for the update.

My best wishes for your project.

Thank you very much, philosophy-chemical, for the feedback and reply.

It was a pleasure to look into it and to see how much you have established.

My best wishes for your project