Alembic animation in Cloner – instance count issue + time offset per clone
-
Hi everyone,
I’m working with an Alembic animation inside Cinema 4D and using a Cloner to duplicate it.
At first, only one instance was visible. After changing the Instance Mode, I managed to get 8 clones arranged in a grid, but I was expecting a total of 9 instances.
Another issue I noticed is that during playback, an additional “ghost” or missing-looking cube appears in the middle of the animation, which makes me think one instance might be missing or not properly evaluated.
My main question is about the animation behavior:
I would like to offset the animation timing for each individual clone so that the motion plays in a staggered or randomized way, instead of all instances being synchronized.
Is this workflow possible in Cinema 4D 2026, and what would be the recommended way to achieve it?
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thank you!
https://imgur.com/a/y6ZxTKz -
Without the Alembic File and your project there's not much I can do to help you solve the issue.
This should just work without any issues, unless you happen to come across a bug. In that case you need to contact Maxon Support. -
Sorry, this is the project file. Also, I figured out why the Alembic file wasn't working properly. The issue was that I forgot to enable Global Coordinates when exporting the Alembic file.
Alembic animation.c4dMy goal is for each cube to start its animation one after another without overlapping with the previous cube, so that all cubes eventually move from point A to point B and stop in their final positions.
I tried using a Step Effector to offset the animation timing, but the clones are triggered according to the Grid Cloner's default indexing order (row by row). What I need is a different trigger sequence, so the cubes animate in the order I want rather than following the default clone numbering.
order:8 → 7 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 0
What I actually need is for the animation to be triggered by columns instead of rows. For example:
8 → 5 → 2 → 7 → 4 → 1 → 6 → 3 → 0
(top to bottom in each column, then moving to the next column).
Is there a way to customize the clone index order or create a custom sequence for the Step Effector's Time or is there a better approach for creating a custom animation sequence with Alembic clones?
-
There is no direct way to change the sequence BUT you can use a spline that flows in the direction you want and clone on its points. Clones will assume the order of the points. Just make sure the Cloners are cloning on Vertex.
How you generate these splines is not important, so you can have huge setups by cloning splines to create the cloning pattern.Go here: https://maxonvfx.com/askthetrainer_projects
and look inside the "Clone index using Splines" Folder for two samples.Please let me know if that helps.
-
Hi Noseman, Thanks for your help,
But I cant find the "Clone index using Splines" Folder ? -
Oh, haha, sorry it's in the Cineversity Forum Folder
-
Thanks a lot, Noseman.
I’m using clone index with the Spline method, and it seems to work. However, I can’t offset the animation for the cubes. Also, if I try to extend the animation beyond frame 90, it stops. What should I do?
Just to clarify, I want the cubes to start rolling from point A with an offset, and then come to rest again when they reach point B.
I’m trying to achieve something similar to this animation by Oscar Pettersson:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Xxie8NBqO/If you have any idea that could help me achieve something similar, I would really appreciate it.
Alembic animation_0002.c4d -
can you also upload the alembic please?
-
Here is the file. I thought the C4D file would contain it as well.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zO9CBRcUZ0XUtyirGHFxj4Ot8ThSTkPB -
The key point is that Multi instances will not work in this case. Also you had a Step Effector with a Step field. That will not work.
Here's a setup with a Plain Effector offsetting the animation timing by 20 frames.
The expectation that they will continue moving is incorrect. You can loop the animation but each cube will return to the starting position as the motion is baked in the alembic and Mograph has no idea where each cube is...Go to the same folder and download "alembic-animation_offset.c4d"
-
Thank you so much.
Is it possible to make the Alembic follow the spline direction? while its in the cloner?
Also, could you take a look at this animation and give me some tips?
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Xxie8NBqO/
Best, -
Not directly. The animation of the Alembic is defining the Position and rotation in your setup.
To achieve that, you would need to just do the rotation and then find another way to move the cubes.
Is there a reason you are using Alembic? Are you planning to replace the cubes with with something else?
As far as the Instagram post, I have no idea how that was done... it's an interesting setup but without some sort of information I need to do a lot of experimentation to figure it out... at the end of the day, would you know if the hand animated every individual cube?... -
As far as I know, it's a rolling cube animation that was baked into an Alembic, and later the end frame of the Alembic was changed.
To be honest, I'm not sure how that was done or exactly what the creator meant when describing the process. -
@Kh said
As far as I know, it's a rolling cube animation that was baked into an Alembic, and later the end frame of the Alembic was changed.
You cannot change anything in an alembic. It's all baked. UNLESS the Alembic was only the Rotation Not the movement. That animation has many more details not explained in that answer...
Some cubes stop, wait and then change direction. Some cubes Roll into place while others slide into place. -
lets say that i have a baked rolling animation can I make it moving along a spline, or its cant be done, see the pic, I want the cube to move on x axis and then down on y axis? while its rolling?
https://imgur.com/a/S7OtzR4 -
You can use the align to spline to move it on a predefined spline, but I assume you want it to appear it's not just moving, but rolling properly. As I mentioned above, this is not as simple as just moving on a spline or a surface.
Are you trying to replicate the instagram animation? -
Yes, I am trying to replicate it, so I can learn more.
