Thank you very much, Mark, for the feedback.

My best wishes for your project!

Thank you very much, Vincent, for the reply

I'm glad you got your setup running.

Let me know if there is anything you would like to include.

My best wishes for your project

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.

Hi PSCGI,

I believe that doing it reverse is a way to go, as the distribution in the letter is mostly even, as shown in our Quick Tip.

My tip produce Particles inside the letter and animate those in any way you like. Have a multi-segment spline with starting points all over the Object that contains the particles and their movement.

At one point lower the animation force, and perhaps switch off the Collider. While a little bit earlier, start with a Follow Spline. During the start, set Follow Strength to zero, start shortly with a negative value, then slowly increase to positive (Alternative, use the Mix slider, but there is no negative). If the animation looks right, cache it, then use the Time Mapping for the cache, perhaps just right mouse click, and use Flip Horizontal.

The Time mapping also allows for fine-tuning the animation timing, perhaps a good option to get a good dynamic into the mix.

Here is a simple sketch, perhaps that triggers some new ideas.
CV4_2025_drs_25_PAip_01.c4d
and an example with "Mix" and more along the QuickTip, cache it then reverse.
CV4_2025_drs_25_PAip_11.c4d
With cache, etc
https://projectfiles.maxon.net/Cineversity_Forum_Support/2025_PROJECTS_DRS/20250721_CV4_2025_drs_25_PAip_21.c4d.zip
All the best

Hi atomician,

Please have a look here.
The Main project
CV4_2025_drs_25_RSds_01.c4d
The XRef
CV4_2025_drs_25_XRef_01.c4d

The colors are here to see that this setup works independently for each object/material combination, but in concert with any object, in the scene or XRef.

Set the colors to black and white and eventually use a Ramp to define the progress.

Please test this carefully, as I have not used this in production with XRefs nor with 100K items.

My best wishes for your project.

Hi Vincent,

Got it. Thanks for the extra explanation of what you like to have.

Please have a look below:
CV4_2025_drs_25_ANsc_03.c4d

The evaluation of the position is just another "If/then/else" formula, as above, since that would calculate back and fore if left on around the zero point, I have placed the if/then/else into another, to keep it zero when it is zero ( the final reset state).

The two values -5 and 5 are to speed up the reset. This causes a little over-swing if these numbers are set too high, like 25 and -25

I have set up the whole formula now based on degree and converted it then to radiance, which the indicator needs. Based on the frame rate of the scene, you might change the progress in the Run parameter accordingly.

My best wishes for your project.

Hi Vincent Parot,

Thank you for the kind feedback, very appreciated.

Please have a look here:
CV4_2025_drs_25_ANsc_02.c4d

I have no clear idea what you mean by "via right, via left". Should the result be oriented to the left or right, or do you have buttons in mind?

I used a formula to get there.
?($1<628;314;942)

Which reads If the input one is smaller than 628 (half hour), then output 314 (pointing right), otherwise use 942 (pointing left)

The numbers are based on the setup; they might be different for other setups. Here, 628 was the half hour.

The Module added here was needed, as the reset to the left would always start then with 942, and the formula wouldn't work. In this way, the counting starts always anew.

Tip: while the project is not running, but the XPresso tab "run" is active – pressing the "a" key shortly moves it one increment forward, holding the key continues. (Refresh the scene "a", triggers a new run through the XPresso set up, hence the update)

All the best

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the file and for using Google.

The Light source in some cases is pretty much tangential, and the Phong Angle of 0º is not helping either. While the mesh needs some attention, more below.

However, these stripes look like artifacts to begin with; they should show up that way.

When I cmd-drag the Inlet to make a copy and switch the original to invisible, I get no problems.

When I use the
Main Menu>Mesh> Add> Subdivided in Smooth mode
With a single or perhaps two subdivides, the floor looks right.

Similar to that, the white triangles that do not receive shadows feel like a problem turning those into triangles, which happens for quads one or the other way, depending on their "bend". When I cut the one marked in one direction, it seems to be fixed, then later it shows up, whereas the other cut direction would work. That is not a fix, just an exploration.

If I place an RS Render Tag on it, switch on the Geometry and tesselation, the floor looks right.

I checked it in both cases with the Material provided, but also with a new one, while I used for the final test also Red Emission as the only output from the Material. The floor stays.

The white long triangles are artifacts in my book; they should not show up to begin with. If you delete two zeros from the Plant (RS Matrix), you can see that effect. When they get a shadow, it seems like they disappear.

As a side note, those light setups should be done with a parallel light (Infinite), while the Inlet can be used as a Target. Besides that, have you considered to use an Random Effector for the Scatter, to avoid obvious repetition.

All the best

Thanks for the reply, Pitichi.

I'm glad you found something.

I have no idea how often those things appear on your screen, but allow me a tip: joints might be more adaptable here to various meshes.

All the best

P.S.: I have had no option to see you file. If that 1MB size hits again, I open DropBox, Wetransfer, Google, Adobe or Apple cloud services. Please always the full URL pasted, no HTML wrapper.
If that is no option, I have a drop box account and I can set up an upload.

Hi Vincent,

Please have a look here:
CV4_2025_drs_25_ANsc_01.c4d

This is simplified, and you need to set the time Progress in the Multiply Node accordingly.

Please click on the XPresso to have the User Data in the Attribute Manager. I have introduced a Run, Pause, and Reset button. The current state can be keyframed. Note that you can create a second Attribute Manager to have the buttons in your view.

You can set a keyframe on Frame zero if that is the point you want to reset. While the entry in the Select-Node for the Reset (the input at the bottom) is zero, you can enter any number to reset the "clock-arm" to any position you like. On the left is the information top to bottom, which is often crucial in XPresso.

I use the User Data> Internal parameter as memory, BTW the name is not important. Over the decades, it has shown that this approach is more obvious than a memory node somewhere. This one should not be touched.

The Cloner is there only for optics, and it is not a functional component.

Let me know if that works for you. (The only drawback for this, you can't move back and fore with the Time Slider, it needs all frames )

Cheers

You're very welcome, object-kind.

Thanks for your reply.

My best wishes

Hi object-kind,

Would that work for you?

Example
CV4_2025_drs_25_MGca_01.c4d

Please let me know if there are any questions.

Cheers

Hi Pitchi,

Sorry there is no fix to my knowledge.

All the best

Thank you for the reply, steal-shelter,

You're very welcome.

Let me know how it goes.

Since I write in a Forum, let me add this for anyone reading along: If the amount of the Normal move is different for each polygon, the shared points (and, with that, the edges) will find a sweet spot among all. Then, the Normal direction is not the final determination of the Polygon orientation. Which means the Normal direction has changed.

Enjoy!

Hi steal-shelter,

Since you have explored the obvious "suspects" of this technique, please have a look here:

You might explore some of the MoGraph Effectors, but in Deformation Mode.
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2025/en-us/Default.htm#html/OERANDOMIZE-ID_MG_EFFECTORDEFORMER_GROUP.html#ID_MG_EFFECTORDEFORMER_MODE

Example
CV4_2025_drs_25_MGpd_01.c4d

Please let me know if that aligns with your targets.

Cheers

Thank you very much, earth video,

You're very welcome.

My best wishes for your project.

Thank you very much for the reply, hand-army,

If you like to dive into the Turtle "coding", here is a quick example.
CV4_2025_drs_25_MGgt_11.c4d

This is different from the Tutorial above. The Tutorial above shows a doubling, but when you look at the base of each "forking", there are three points, which might be used with the MoGraph variables.

All the best

Thanks for the reply, Radiometric.

If that works for you, good.
Why the Alpha is not working would be good to know.
Since you shared no file, please check here with the Tech Support if you are interested in working with it in the future.
https://www.maxon.net/en/support-center

All the best

Hi earth-video,

Place the Object under a Null Object (Parent/Child relation), and the Align to Spline tag to the Null.

Now the Null is defined by the Spline and the Tag, but the Object can be rotated without any influence on the Spline-based animation.

You might need to reset the PSR after setting this "Mini Rig" up. Meaning to set Position and rotation to Zero, and Scale to 1. (There is a function for that: Reset Transform.)

The Rail Spline, if not covering the initial spline, stabilizes typically the Orientation, hence it takes over the Rotation values.

Example:
CV4_2025_drs_25_ANmr_01.c4d

Please let me know how it goes.

All the best

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