Inquiry About Smoother Conveyor Belt Animation Using Cloner Offset

[Gloria]

Dear Dr. Sassi,

I hope this message finds you well.

I'm currently working on creating a conveyor belt animation using the offset function of the Cloner. I’ve done my best to minimize the gaps between the plates, but I’m still encountering visible spacing at the turning points of the belt.

Would you happen to know if there’s a better method to achieve a smoother result?
Any suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

C4D file: https://we.tl/t-eaMsLD1aOB

Thank you very much, and I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,
Gloria

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Gloria,

Thanks for the file and for using Wetransfer, very much appreciated.

Looking at the elements, it seems like they work like a bicycle chain and not like plates.

Plates have the problem that they move their start and end of themself on a curved spline differently than on a straight one – as the "bow" or arc is always longer than the straight line. Meaning they move away or into each other.
Which made me exclude several options, as they would require a lot of simulation.

To take the Plates Apart and create a single element seemed a possible way, but even then, the curves vs straight might be an obstacle.
The Plates had the Axis not where the rotation point would be, and the Spline that is supposed to drive them was not clean.

I have outlined the Spline and smoothed, as a Conveyer belt would have, as sharp "corners" created mechanical forces, that would wear down the whole thing. A copy of the new Spline (moved in X) is used as a Rail.

My suggestion:
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2025_PROJECTS_DRS/20250722_CV4_2025_drs_25_ANcb_01.c4d.zip

I have calculated the Spline and the Plate axis to Axis, then set up a Spline Wrap.
Inside the Spline Wrap, I have animated the Offset. The Keyframe is set to linear.

Place the content into your scene so it connects the material sources.

My best wishes for your project.

[Gloria]

Hello Dr. Sassi,
Thank you for your support. I think it's a great idea to work in this way.
I tried using an emitter to place several objects on the conveyor belt and let them move along with it.
However, the software became very slow, and it seems that the rigid and collider tags are not functioning properly.

I would really appreciate any suggestions or guidance you may have.
Thanks again for your time and assistance.

https://we.tl/t-GXWxUZXxxJ

Best,
Gloria

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Gloria,

This is a new question, which should be in a new thread, otherwise, people looking for a specific answer have to read through perhaps related but not targeted information. Thank you for considering it in the future.

My computer would not even start, and gave me an Alert.

From a general observation: There is the idea of just placing Simulations on things, and all is solved while it stays fast and stable.
The number of parts and details the conveyor belt has in your example is quite large. When the object comes in the hundreds that need to be calculated, it will take a lot of computer power, but also with the increased complexity derivation from the hoped result will show up earlier. Also in general terms, more often that place a Sim on things works. So, the artist is required to decide when to switch to a dual (split in technical and visual) set up.

For 3D animation, from my earliest hands-on classes, I tried to help people overcome the idea that what you see is what needs to happen in the Scene. That is cryptic when shared in that short way. For your project, being a very detailed animation model, I would suggest splitting the animation into the simulation.
As in the first file, I used a proxy for the editor view to give a reasonable playback speed for the Scene. For the rendering, the fully detailed part was then used.

Here I would leave the animation as is and reduce the Conveyerbelt to a single Plane object, animated in the same way, so you could even connect the Offset values from one Spline wrap to the second, right mouse click (RMC) Expression> Set Driver, second instance RMC Expression> Set Driven Absolute.

Next step, the Scene scale is important for the simulation to be more optimized. Your objects are small. So I used the Scene> Simulation> a small scale.

When you are in the Scene settings, I left the Draw options on, as I used for the Collision Shape of the "Particles", the Box option, which is surely the fastest. (The Draw can be switched off, they have no other function that to inform you.)

The Speed in the Particle Emitter plus the Gravity creates only problems, while moving away from realistic behavior. I set the Speed of the Particles to zero, and switched the extra Gravity off; the Scene Settings have a Gravity setting already.

For the Collider set up, I increased the friction while also setting up a Stick Modifier. Explore what is needed.

The Particle Geometry has a lot of Selection Tags, each will add data to the Scene. Are they all needed?

In short, the Simplified Conveyor Belt has no need to be rendered; it is just needed as information. In this way, you have a stable animation and a fast simulation. A tiny bit more work, but it will save time.

Here is an example
CV4_2025_drs_25_SIcb_01.c4d
CV4_2025_drs_25_SIcb_02.c4d

All the best