multicoloured brick art...cloners?

[lightningad]

I have a project in mind that i am unsure how to achieve...

I have replicated in C4d, some tiny real world, lock-together building bricks, that are used to create coloured pictures and models.

When i put them in a Cloner object I can increase the numbers to give a large matrix of bricks. My problem is i do not know how to change the colour of individual or groups of bricks within that cloner.

It would also be useful to be able to switch off/make invisible certain bricks throughout the cloner. Is such a task possible?

Then my next problem - if i animate the Cloner to increase the number of bricks, they expand outward in both + & - directions from a central point....Is there a way to lock the first brick and increase the number in a single direction?

thanks
Adam

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Adam,

Please make one request per thread, if possible. Thank you! It is easier to search and find others. Multiple-part questions lead to mixed threads.

If possible, an example scene is reduced to the core question, so I can see exactly what you want and can set it up, if possible.

Please check out the MoGraph Selections and the related function
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2023/en-us/Default.htm#html/TMGSELECTION.html?Highlight=hide%20selected
Hide selected, for example.

With the brick idea, there are several options to grow in one direction, which would also be easier with a demo file.

We have set up the attachments here to allow for ".c4d" directly. No zip files anymore. Thank you.

All the best

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Adam,

Since I have not heard back from you about a project file,

Please explore the Shader Effector, Shader Field.

There are certaintly more options, but without an example file, this would be a list that takes more time from you than provide what you need.

Cheers

[lightningad]

@Dr-Sassi sorry for the delay getting back to you...been away from the office computer for a while!
Simbrix matrix 1.c4d

This is a model i built that is accurate to the real world brick. Using the Cloner and settings of 6.5mm for distance between the bricks i can create a large matrix of the bricks.

Colouring them is where i get stuck! I can add multiple different coloured bricks to the cloner, but cannot position them to create a pixel art effect...like this

.they just repeat in sequence....

hope that makes a bit more sense than my original post!
thanks
Adam

[lightningad]

just been looking into the Mograph Selection Tool - looks like exactly the tool i need!
Problem is i cannot get it to work at all. Just following a Youtube video that shows how to use it but no matter what try, i cannot get the selected clones to react to the effectors.

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi lightningad,

Please have a look at the file
https://stcineversityprod02.blob.core.windows.net/$web/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2023_PROJECTS_DRS/20230315_CV4_2023_drs_23_MGpm_01.zip

I have used an 18x18 pixel image here, which requires setting the Sampling to None. (Shader Effector>Shading> Shader> Sampling)
There is also an Alpha check box; switch this off.
The colors show up, but the MoGraph Color Shader is needed to render those.

You might notice that I have set up the Cloner Matrix to 18x18x1, as the image has 18x18 pixels. It will also work with larger images, but one pixel per clone gives you the based control.

All the best

[lightningad]

Fantastic!!
so much simpler than i expected.

thanks very much for showing the concept in a way thats easily replicated and opens up so many further questions (on a new post!) and avenues to explore.

regards
Adam

[Dr. Sassi]

Thanks a lot, Adam.

Yes, please share your questions in a new forum thread. Very much appreciated!

My best wishes

[lightningad]

a further question related to this solution - is there a way to tell the Cloner Object to use the alpha channel of the image used to colour the clones, to create object clones or leave a spaces when the alpha channel has a cut out?

Not all the images i'll be creating have rectangular shapes - many have complex edges with no flat sides.

thanks for your great advice!

[lightningad]

I have answered my own question...by creating a plane with the diimensions (pixel number multiplied by brick size), then setting the Cloner Object to Object mode and using the plane as the object (set to polygon centres) i can create the pixel art. Then i select the PLane, swicth to points mode i can delete the polygons that are not needed. This also works when applying your motion animation templates.

[lightningad]

@lightningad Flying Simbrix with alphas.c4d

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the update. However, the c4D file can't be downloaded. Please check the upload. Thank you.

All the best

[lightningad]

I don't know why the file keeps throwing an error. If i upload a c4d file it just says error, if i try upload it as a zip, i get a different message telling me the filetypes that can be uploaded.

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Adam,

The ".c4d" file should work, but only in small sizes.

We have zip files for security purposes disabled. It can unpack harmful data.

Can you access Dropbox, Google, Apple, Adobe, or Wetransfer cloud services? (I do not touch anything else for downloads.

All the best

[lightningad]

@Dr-Sassi here is the wetransfer link...the file is only 1.6mb so don't know why it would not load to the forum.

wetransfer link

[Dr. Sassi]

Thanks for using Wetransfer, Adam, and sharing your file! Very nice.

Yes, 1.6MB shouldn't be a problem; sorry about that.

It seems like you got all you need. Let me know if there is anything else.

My best wishes for your project

[lightningad]

I do have another question - you knew i would !!

When the bricks are animating, i know they are moving based on the Object iD number...is there anyway to set which brick has which id?

i ask because on the animations where i have deleted faces from the plane to match the image shape, the bricks fly in to the top row and bottom rows out of sequence, and because we are using this to replicate a real world scenario where you build up a picture connecting to the previous brick it makes no sense to build up unconnected sections then join the groups midway through a build up...if you see what i mean!

[Dr. Sassi]

Hi Adam,

There are options to use a different Cloner first and then Inherit this to another, but that is limited and not useful for this work. In short, there is no native option to change IDs.

You might request this feature ("Share your Idea"), perhaps how you would like to do this, e.g., with a list like a Look Up Table (LUT) or an extended VAMP version that maps one to another.
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

All the best

[lightningad]

ok - thank you...i will ad a feature request as i can see this ability being a useful one.
regards
Adam

[Dr. Sassi]

Thanks a lot, Adam,

Cheers