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Need advice on multisegment “string” project
Hello!
Yes I am new to C4D, but 30 years in computer graphics.
I have a project, and an looking into alternate tools to get the result I’m looking for. I would like as an artist to try Cinema 4D to generate high resolution 2 D images to be printed up to 36×60″ @ 300 dpi. I realize there are many different ways to get to a final image within C4D. My other options are Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop. But I know I can get the results I imagine with a 3D renderer, and have the ability to adjust textures, lighting and perspective. With that being said, I would appreciate any input at how I may approach this.
1) I see these as strings or long cylinders that are deformed. Each segment like a dashed line in illustrator is a different solid color. Maybe there is shading or shadows, but at the very least a sold 2D shape.
2) I’d like each segment to be limited to a finite color pallets. 24 predefined colors or so.
3) I’d like to set up the scene, these long reeds of colored dashes, and apply effectors to twist or distort the objects.
So firstly, can anyone give me a starting point how they would create these long strings and segments?
How to asign the colors randomly, but stay with in my color set?
Any tips on rendering settings (9,000 x 18,000 pixels or so)? Best output format etc. I will most likely bring the image into Photoshop for printing. I didn’t see an option other than sRGB? Is Adobe RGB or Prophoto color-spaces supported?
Any starting points would be appreciated. Particle system? cloner objects? etc?
Attached is an example of the look I’m going for which is made of textile.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Max
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3 Replies
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It’s fun how such a simple fairly 2D image is so hard to recreate. I still have somewhat an idea of how to make it as will try to explain in very short phrases. Although i am not sure it will work.
Make splines. Clone them until you have a fair amount. Add dynamics to them. Gravity should be 0. Add wind to give turbulence (You might need to use some xpresso if they only may move along two axis). They should be pined to something so they do not fly away. Alternative you can use an Bell tool of some sort.
There is a good chance you can use hair for this as well.
Make all the splines into one object. Create a cylinder and every singe color as a material. With expresso make a particle emitter that emits from spline. The particles Should be the cylinder(2) and it should have a spline deformer effecting it. I believe you need particle geometry to display your cylinder.
It can be that every singe spline should be separated.
If you want more help you can just ask. I am a bit bored for the time being and it looks like a fun project.
– Rasmus
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Thank you. I’ll give it a try. I had been experimenting with a tentacle tutorial where an emitter with turbulence used a tracer. I got that far.
My main goal was to set this up, and play with deformers/ effectors to play around and sculpt different versions to be printed.
I’m still not sure about coloring the segments or dashes randomly but with the solid defined color pallet.
lets simplify this, if I created a single “tentacle” and the length has20 segments. I want to apply 5 specific colors, to the segments randomly. I could use some help how to do this. Because, how ever I get to the series of strings, I will need to color them properly. And I’d like to be able to change the randomness if I don’t like the order it generated. Like changing the seed.
Thanks for your advice.
Max
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I am currently not completely aware of any effect that lest you change color randomly in the same way you want.
Although something that might suit you. In a material you can use “Tiles”. You set the tiles as lines and make them random. The problem with this are it is only four-five different color. (This might actually work you, I haven’t tried it)
I looked a material>noise>mod cell but this only give two colors in different contrast.
I think you get most control/opportunity if each color is an object.
With that thought in mind. I tried creating an emitter that emitted from spline but with different objects. The problem here being the objects as it can only be done with the use of Python.
After being way over my head in both Xpresso and Python i was just about going to bed when i thought of a simple solutionUse a Cloner objekt on a cylinder for each color. The Cloner needs to be effected by a Spline effector. The effector have a section called Deformer not sure how it work yet but might be worth looking into.
(Warning this method may require the use of math).Let me know how i works out.
Kind regards me
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