• Maxon Cinema 4D

  How to make a flowing ribbon…

  Posted by Michael Munkittrick on July 7, 2005 at 11:15 pm

  Is there a link to a tutorial of this or a project file that might help to make sense of it?

  I need to have a long ribbon come from just outside of the field of view and whip past as it is deformed by wind, and finally it needs to end and fall out of sight.

  How is it done?

  Michael Munkittrick
  Managing Creative Director
  Evolve Media Solutions

  Forum COWmunity leader for:
  Sony DV
  Magic Bullet

  Michael Munkittrick replied 20 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
• 4 Replies

• 

  Chris Smith

  July 8, 2005 at 12:13 am

  Generally there seem to be 2 methods:

  1. If you want your ribbon to grow along a curve: Create a spline that is the complete path the ribbon should take. Then create a square spline and set it very thin. Now drop these two into a sweep nurbs object. Set the parameters to what looks good to you (rounding, the square spline’s dimensions, etc…) then you’ll see a grow parameter in the sweep nurbs. Animate this from 0 – 100% and the ribbon will grow along the curve. Of couse you can play with the twist parameter as well.

  2. If you want one complete ribbon that simply travels along a curve: There are a few plug-ins out there that allow you to deform an object along a spline. Travelling across a spline is obviously just a tag but you need to use a plug-in to make it deform along the spline. Why it’s a plug-in and not a built in feature is beyond me though.

  Then there are probably more complicated ways using forces, dynamics, cloth, and such, but I’d try the simple way and replicate forces first before diving into simulations.

  Chris Smith
  https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com
• 

  Craig Shields

  July 10, 2005 at 3:40 am

  Hey Michael,

  View the last month of posts. This questions was asked and answered with a tutorial using a free plugin called Path Deformer Lite.

  -Craig
• 

  Michael Munkittrick

  July 10, 2005 at 6:34 am

  SWEET!

  I was very close but this makes it perfectly clear. I have been battling with this for a few days and the problem of direction control simply went over my head. I kept thinking sline path, but my organization seems to have been faulty.

  Thanks a lot…

  Michael Munkittrick
  Managing Creative Director
  Evolve Media Solutions

  Forum COWmunity leader for:
  Sony DV
  Magic Bullet
• 

  Michael Munkittrick

  July 10, 2005 at 6:36 am

  Thanks for the pointer. I actually read over that post, but for whatever reason, my mind wasn’t quite grasping the concept. Thanks for the reply and wish me luck…

  Michael Munkittrick
  Managing Creative Director
  Evolve Media Solutions

  Forum COWmunity leader for:
  Sony DV
  Magic Bullet

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