Hi Greg,
Of course, no problem. My hope is always that exploration leads to a better long-term memory of the findings 😉 But I'm happy to share whatever is needed and wanted.
The main problem is that clones have a single channel for colors, not two or more.
Your request is a two-channel effect. Hence, we need a way to share the two independent pieces of information with the Material.
Image information can be used to blend between two Cloner child objects. That works on an object level but not on the attached node-based Material.
The process is simple. The Cloner child objects (Clones) can blend where they have matching parameters, which can be UserData (e.g., a single channel, e.g., Color is not blended).
This means an Effector or field can share information (Modify Clone). The example file below shows a plain Effector. Parameter> Others: Modify Clone. Use the slider to see the effect.
CV4_2024_drs_24_MGbc_01.c4d
Since the second channel is gray-values 0-1, that can be done with a single User Data entry.
This can also be done with User Data. Compare the file from above (v3). One User Data is 0%, and the other is 100%. The Modify Clone results in a 0-100% value, which is equal to the value of the Modify Clone.
The Modify Clone can be driven by a Texture (e.g., Shader Effector or Shader Field in an Effector [like Plain Effector])
So we can move the information along, and the user data Node can read it. The key here is that both User Data entries need to be the same, name-wise.
Are you familiar with creating User Data?
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2024/en-us/Default.htm#html/5826.html
Inside the Material, the single channel for gray values from the UserData can be requested via Scalar user Data. Click on the node, and the parameter tab will allow you to enter the user Data's name.
The other Colordata (RGB) is done similarly, with a User Data node set to MoGraph> Color.
The two are connected in a Color Correction Node, and the Gravalues "run" the Saturation values.
As mentioned above, the Shader Effector and Shader Field provide a single RGB value to each Clone. A common misconception is that the Shader Effector would texture "Images" to the clones. In fact, just one Color is given for the whole.
Please let me know if that works for you. Yes, it is a wild mix of many little techniques, so please ask if something is not clear.
All the best