CINEVERSITY

Thank you very much, appointment-insect, for your reply.

It was a long story to fix, meaning, thanks for your patience and keeping it so super professional, even I know how frustrating that was.

There is a quality in this thread despite this annoying problem, that makes it all very motivational to do these things here. Thank you for that.

Enjoy

Perfect, thank you, Craig, for the reply! 🙂

If there is anything else, please let me know.

Enjoy your project.

Hi Eric Siegel,

I went through all eleven reports/tickets. As far as I could, I have tried to recreate the setups; some had files redacted (an NDA was mentioned), so I couldn't.
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Two things stand out: your reports are clear and fair, and the tech support replies mirror that. Thank you for staying so professional. With your long-time expertise in this field, it might be second nature for you anyway to work on that high level. Nevertheless, thank you.
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The common message I found was that the Tech Support team did everything they could to move it forward to the developers and shared as much information as they were able to.
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The common ground here is that both sides understand what is needed, wanted, or possible (which doesn't mean they agree or consider it favorable), but some things are not moving forward.
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That bugs me that more tickets get the attention is a common practice, but keeping something for too long is not cool, I get that.
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OFFTOPIC (Regarding File Preview)
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With anything below, I might mention things that you already know, and you might roll your eyes at me for even bringing it up. I have seen your website, and I have no derogatory thoughts on my mind here; if that comes across as such, I apologize, as that was not my intention.
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As I mentioned, I went through some of the steps, but I was unable to reproduce the user Data/take problem; it worked fine. [2026.0/Mac]
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The Height in the Text parameter does not match the Coordinates Size numbers manager; there, I found an answer that could have cleared the situation. My perspective is that one shows the object's dimensions, the other the type height.
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The Watermark is annoying, and nope, this is not OK.
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The Text in the lower part is cut; I miss the files, sorry, no idea.
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Photoshop Files with adjustment layers; here, I would suggest something different than a decade ago. Color management-based. Whatever you adjust here might not look the same in another colorspace. Wild geusss here here - as I have no examples from the report/ticket. I have been using OpenEXR for over a decade, and if possible, I already work in the final Color Space.
Besides, when I merge layers in Photoshop, they often produce weird things – in Photoshop itself, and that has been the case for a very long time. I've been using Photoshop for in my forth decade now, and I love it, but it has its limits. I wouldn't expect any third-party app using PS files to process large setups better than PS itself—my two cents.
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I haven't found any File Preview mentioned in the Ticket Numbers, but you made your point clearly; some things are delayed for too long.
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I hope that you can see that we care, and my exploration today has shown me that the File-Preview feature has received more attention internally than others. I hope that we find something that will work across platforms and, as much as possible, be backward compatible.
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Thank you very much for your tremendous effort with the ticket numbers.

My best wishes

You're very welcome, smckenzie.

Please keep asking questions, as I believe that a problem comes back until it is solved. So, I try not to avoid anything here, and please never take my "moderation" (AKA keeping things organized) personally. New theme, new thread. Same question, old thread. Yes, yours was slightly different the second time; hard to find the right balance.

So far, I have answered Cinema 4D questions over 35,000 times in a Forum. The times I had to say there is no option (AFAIK) are very low. You can check even the past twelve years at Cineversity.com.

I'm sure that I do not know all, as I might find tomorrow a solution for something I was not aware of today. However, each question leads me to explore, and I'm under the impression that there is no failure, only gained experience. I assume I have some experience. 😉
So, I am happy to get your and other questions; they lead me to things I wouldn't have explored otherwise. I also try to understand the overall tendency and put this in discussions during our meetings into the mix. I try to be a voice for our members here, but please use the "Share Your Idea option; otherwise, I sound like someone who generalizes things without factual background. Thank you.
With that being said, I tried today several other options. But even if you use the path of the Sweep and cut that, the resulting shape with have straight edges in x, y, or z, per clone, staircase-like, not tilted as the spline asks for...

Here is a little example with a cube shape. I have left the problem in it. Move some points, and it is gone. A typical problem but easy to fix, even with nearly invisible changes.
https://stcineversityprod02.blob.core.windows.net/$web/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2023_PROJECTS_DRS/20230304_CV4_2023_drs_23_MObo_01.c4d.zip

Cheers

Thanks for sharing, schnoidl!

I love to see what you did with the characters!
I hope you get the deserved success with it.

Enjoy!

Hi Craig,

I have separated the Joint hierarchy in the file below, not as a suggestion of best practice, but to demo the function.

CV4_2023_drs_23_ANsm_01.c4d

Joints are nothing else than objects that move points around.
Polygon objects are based on Points; when those points are moved, we move the edges and, consequently, the polygons. As a result, the mesh gets deformed.

If two or even more Joints influence a certain area, it is typical that each influences the system a little bit differently. This is the weighting.

This must always be, with no exception, 100% in total. Sadly that is often not explained why, other than it needs to be 100%. If it is less than 100%, even the slightest bit, a moving forward caharter would leave these parts more or less behind. If it is more than 100%, those parts are moved fast forward.

We have sadly no movie younger than ten+ years that shows that.
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaytut/weight_painting_part_1
I encourage presenters to show it. But well, Bret, the master (I mean it as I say it here!), does this with no effort after 05:30 [min: sec]

All the best

Hi Boo Boo Chicken,

Please have a look here; this is a simplified setup—press play. Also, disable the Cloner to see the two Torus Objects.
The Blend between the two is based on the Modify Cloner.

CV4_2024_drs_23_MGmc_01.c4d

So, why have I used many Splines, then? These blends are Linear; in other words, they do not move points on a curved Path. With many of them, that is not so visible, and the illusion of an organic motion is provided.

All the best

Hi thought-priest,

Try a smaple rate of 0.1 to compare if that is the problem. Yours was pretty small.

You write in a contradiction way if I get this right. Let's try to solve that.

Since I write in a forum, I surely will share what you might know for long, but I need this preamble to move on:
What looks right is not something that exists on an absolute level.
As artists, we observe and explore how visuals work on our audience. The main term here is conditioning. Not to start a long discussion; this is not the place for it, but what we consider reality is often a mix of impressions. As a trained artist, one has to recognize and lift these conditionings.
Since that is not fully possible, we rely on a mix of facts and individual impressions, both of what we think is real and of what our audience might buy as real.
For example, suppose a kid has only had artificially flavored strawberry ice cream so far while the artificial flavor is maximized. First contact with ice cream based on real strawberries might make the kid wonder what that is.

So, what I think looks like Gold and what you have in mind might not match, but perhaps it does…

The question would be, what references do you have, and what is the difference between them?
Often, we have seen more images of something than the visual directly, e.g., explosions in space.
There is a difference between Hyper-real, Photoreal, and real. What is it that you are after?
I cringe when artists take reference images from the web. Why? Because it is not clear what process they used. Worse, Xero's request for noise is the result.

Perhaps if it is photoreal, what does the glass in the lens create from the highlights, what artifacts are produced, and is that what we believe Gold looks like? Do you miss the Depth Og field in it, or the little imperfections that limit the reflections while keeping them sharp as an impression?

Similar to that is the idea of what is filmic. I have heard uncounted theories over the past decades.

In short, to get where you want to be is an arti direction call. Can you write it down without any constraints? In a log line.

Visual result in a render (while technical information, e.g., Puzzle Matte can be different)

The Sphere is set to be only visible in reflections, so no AOV shows the Sphere itself. If you could see it, you would see it from the outside—not useful, of course.
This means you have to set up a node system that shows only the front site. (Since I have flipped the Normals of the Sphere, inside is outside.) But even then, if it is visible during the rendering, a simple mask/alpha would allow you to separate it. If you don't want to see it, you can have it in one go.
https://help.maxon.net/r3d/cinema/en-us/Default.htm#html/Ray+Switch.html?TocPath=Shaders%257CUtility%2520Shaders%257C_____14

The result of the object's reflection is an AOV.

Perhaps you need to set up the Gold differently
https://help.maxon.net/r3d/cinema/en-us/Default.htm#html/IOR_To_Metal_Tints.html?TocPath=Shaders%257CUtility%2520Shaders%257C_____7

Consider post-production, and get some depth passes to vary the effect along Z. Render one with reflection Roughness and one without, then use the Depth Pass to blur the difference between the two.

Or explore the Post effect Bloom, it adds "light" to the scene and tames the contrast of the reflections in that way.

Have a great weekend

Thanks a lot, Adam,

Cheers

You're welcome, GegBollela.

It looks like you found your workflow. Yes, Remesher is a good idea. I will add the file to the screen capture. It works with Split and Thicken, while the Fracture can provide even colors.

Enjoy your weekend.

Hi erwin,

Thank you so much for sharing your great results and giving even credit.

Your result looks great; I'm glad you pushed it that far.

Yes, I'm no longer on Instagram. Sorry. My images are not for AI training, and to show up as fragments later in work I might not support.

Enjoy!

You're very welcome, stretch-equal.

If you have more questions, please never hesitate to ask.

The offer to get chocolate from Switzerland is super tempting. Literally, very sweet of you! Thank you very much! But it certainly is not allowed to send food to the U.S.; I don't want to bring anyone in trouble.

Your offer made me smile, as I have visited Friends in Switzerland often or had the pleasure of being there for a while while traveling to Italy or France. (I lived in Berlin and Munich for two+ decades. So that was easy)
Your offer made me think about the decades of traveling in Europe and the little mountain of chocolate I ate. 😉 That is already a gift.

I wish for your project and look forward to the movie. Thanks for the offer!

ENJOY!

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

Very kind of you, road-conclusion, thank you.

Thank you very much, Henri.

I will keep this in mind.

Buona notte for you as well, it will take a while before I can call it a day.

Hi David,

You are in good hands with Noseman.

Please remember that UVs are one of the most avoided themes, but if you walk through this material, you will feel empowered. Fingers crossed, you will enjoy that feeling very soon!

Cheers

Thank you very much, AlexC,

I'm glad to hear that it works for you.

Enjoy!

Hi there,

Remember that OCIO is a framework that is supposed to be installed centrally or in synch with the workflow provided, and OCIO is updated occasionally. This means OCIO, old or newer, is perhaps not the same as the installed one! It can't find the one defined in the file if a different version was used than the installed one.

Please always check the outcome. Typically, the use of ACES causes trouble if the RRT/ODT function is not understood for low dynamic/gamut outputs like REEC 709 or sRGB, which will show up especially with artifacts in 8bit/channel. Typically, the use is connected to wishful thinking about the filmic outcome, which changes if used for higher dynamic and larger Gamuts. Tone mapping or gamut compression is unnecessary, and the "filmic" effect [sic] is gone.

Setting the OCIO to your installation might not create the outcome envisioned by the external creator of the file.

Please check with support if you have a problem with a file created in your unchanged setup.

Cheers

The tech is not the problem.
We at Maxon have other concerns.
Until we can't clear those…