[Brian Jones]

Mesh/Commands/Set Point Value (that’s where it is in R20 – I don’t have R21 at work) needs to be editable in Point mode and use the Crumple option is another option

[Brian Jones]

so default texture tag settings, I see the problem now though, the texture is square (well, close) and a texture that goes on a sphere should be twice as wide as it is tall. Your texture is 1×1 not 2×1- since the texture is repeating you could just set Tiles U in the texture tag to 2

[Brian Jones]

the texture preview is on a sphere with proper UVs at default mapping for the preview object (sphere in this case) but the render preview depends on the settings of the Texture tag so without seeing those settings I can only say ‘it can be different’. Also, if you do an actual render the result can be different again (though not usually with image textures like this one).

[Brian Jones]

someone may know better but Cloth and Dynamics do not play well together, they are non-related sim systems from different eras. You might be able to do it with SoftBodies for the cloth since that’s part of the dynamics system.

[Brian Jones]

the simplest expresso way to attach a null to a vertex and have it follow is the Point Operator node. All you need is the vertex’s index which you can get from the Structure manager or just visually do it from the Point nodes point index setting. Example.

14044_nullfollowsvertex.c4d.zip

The point operator needs to have Use Deformed Points checked to follow a deformer animation and the xpresso tags need to have higher Priority the the default ‘Expression’ – Generators 0 works – to not lag a frame behind

[Brian Jones]

no not a bug in R19, they have just been upgrading things like the cylinder so you can check off Single Object (I think that’s it, I don’t have 21 here) like you could (in 19 etc) with the Boole and others so it will work with the deformer properly without having to be made editable.

[Brian Jones]

Optimizing is correct, the primitive cylinder is made as three pieces so the bevel deformer only works correctly when it’s all one object not three

[Brian Jones]

I think Alembic should export your deformations

[Brian Jones]

to get the arrows to be continuous
In the cloner’s Object tab check Loop, then set Distribution to Even and the Count to whatever looks good to you.
The gradient I don’t get, why would it animate? Shouldn’t it be a fixed cooling rate with the same temp (or same relative temp) at a particular point in the tube?

[Brian Jones]

you can put the Array in a Connect Object and then add the hair to that