[Jim Scott]

You can also just drag a file into the message window.

[Jim Scott]

James, can you upload the project file or at least a screenshot of your scene with all of the object hierarchies expanded? That might help us locate the problem.

[Jim Scott]

The Display Tag visibility setting will only affect the rendered image, so you will see no change in the viewport during playback, and you must have Transparency enabled in your Render Settings:

[Jim Scott]

I am not a TP guru, but have you tried increasing the Steps per Frame in the Project Settings > Dynamics > Expert?

[Jim Scott]

The “Textures” option was my first thought too, Steve, but unless there are differences between C4D versions deselecting that option causes all objects to show as the default color in the viewport until rendered. James’ example seems to have colors still showing but not the full textures… so I don’t know what the issue is.

[Jim Scott]

I have never noticed this issue before in typical dynamic’s scenarios of bouncing balls or falling blocks, but I can see what you mean that the gap is noticeable from certain angles and close distances for your example project. Scale settings can cause issues in projects when using objects considerably larger or smaller than the default 100 cm, so try reducing the Scale value in the project’s Dynamics settings. I tried a Collision Margin of .1 cm, and a Scale value of 10 cm, and unless your camera is zoomed in quite close, and fairly level with the floor, the gap isn’t noticeable and the dynamics seem to run fine. If you really need a 0 cm gap I don’t know how to achieve that with your example. Perhaps someone else will be more knowledgeable on this issue.

Edit: another possibility would be to use “Another Object” for the collision Shape of the plank on the floor by using a duplicate of that plank which is lowered a bit and hidden from the editor and renderer. That way the collision margin could be left at the default (or at least above 0), and the plank that is rendering will fill in the gap.

Edit #2: Now that I have tried my first edit and found that it doesn’t work quite as I expected, what would work is to use another plank that is lower and hidden as the collision object, and just have the visible one fill in the gap. Or perhaps I should just stop putting my foot in my mouth and let someone else help with your problem. 😉

[Jim Scott]

Hi Ben,

Just what do you want to happen (or are expecting to happen) with the dynamic objects in your scene? If you want the cylinder and arm to roll away under the power of the motor I found that the default dynamics settings did just that. Otherwise, please elaborate on what you want to accomplish.

[Jim Scott]

I watched that section you referred to and he is talking about using Element 3D with imported 3D objects, not Particular.

[Jim Scott]

As far as I know, Particular only uses its own particle types, one of which is sprites which can either be selected from a list of presets or imported as custom images (not 3D files). Particular can use obj files as emitter shapes, but again not as particles. You might want to look into Stardust which added 3D model capabilities in its latest version, to what extent, I don’t know.

[Jim Scott]

Normally you could use a polygon selection to distribute textures like you did with the body, but making the sweep object editable only results in caps and gets rid of the underlying spline, thus losing the spline dynamics. The only solution I can think of would be to create your two-color texture in Photoshop and then load that image file into your material. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I am has a better idea.