CSTools: Free C4D Goodies

[basilisk 0]

Chris

like the look of Flux - can't use it on 9.6 though

 

I am thinking that I can get similar effects with my mograph displace deformer; are you using regular C4D noise patterns, and if so which ones have you used in your .mov example? Luka, Stupl, Hama and Ober give interesting results.

[C.Smith 0]

Chris

like the look of Flux - can't use it on 9.6 though

 

I am thinking that I can get similar effects with my mograph displace deformer; are you using regular C4D noise patterns, and if so which ones have you used in your .mov example? Luka, Stupl, Hama and Ober give interesting results.

 

Speun..Thanks.

 

Bas:

 

No noise at all. It's a plane primitive under a hypernurbs as the base geometry. Added to the plane are 2 formula, 2 bulge, and 2 bend deformers on it (6 total deformations). The noise look comes in the fact that I give vector UI control over the frequency, amplitude, modulation speed, and offset for each of the 2 formulas deformers. Those set at ddifferent settings and offset from each other give the feeling of randomness. I was planning on 3 layers of formulas but just 2 made it quite complex. Then adding the 2 bulges and 2 bends can tweak it all to hell.

 

Like my other tools, there is nothing complicated going on technically, it's just the way the UI is tapped into everything makes it instantly tweakable. For example, for the formula deformer, the UI tools are generating strings numbers that are appended to the text formula as you move your mouse around in the box (2D vector control). So if you did it all manually it may take a long time to find something you like. The tool just allows you to cover a lot of ground very quickly to "feel" out what you like.

[the_Monkey 8]

The tool just allows you to cover a lot of ground very quickly to "feel" out what you like.

What the hell?! "Feel"? Are you, like... some kinda hippie?

 

Seriously, I've been playing with Flux for a bit and you can get good abstracts very quickly. Thanks for sharing.

I'm interest in your Kino Square... is this type of lighting arrangement usually placed above the subject on set?

Is it used alone?

 

-m

[C.Smith 0]

What the hell?! "Feel"? Are you, like... some kinda hippie?

 

Seriously, I've been playing with Flux for a bit and you can get good abstracts very quickly. Thanks for sharing.

I'm interest in your Kino Square... is this type of lighting arrangement usually placed above the subject on set?

Is it used alone?

 

-m

 

Hello my Capuchin friend. Kino Square isn't a literal replacement for something used on set but it approximates the way a lot of Music vids are lit. Where DPs will build cages of Kino Flows around subjects or build tubes onto big wooden discs and other odd configurations of tubes or Kino Flow banks. So it builds a glow off the skin and provides interesting reflections in eyes and sunglasses.

 

Sometimes I will use a real Kino Bank a few inches above and another a few inches below the lens for a face glow. For the "Room tone" lighting above the subject I have that CS_AmbLight tool.

 

Here is a camera test of the Genesis camera I did about 6 months ago. But if you look near the middle of the clip with the girl in front of the camera charts (before I start screwing with anamorphic lens flares) you'll see I tested different lighting setups (Classic portraight with various fill, Over head, then you'll see a setup where her face glows from the front with a heavy backlight. That front glow are the Kinos by the lens:

 

Genesis Test

[a2visual 0]

What kind of lens were you using during that wide shot of the girl about halfway through?

 

The Kino lighting looks good...what are your overall thoughts on the Genesis?

[C.Smith 0]

What kind of lens were you using during that wide shot of the girl about halfway through?

 

The Kino lighting looks good...what are your overall thoughts on the Genesis?

 

The wide lens was a C-series 30mm anamorphic lens (circa 70's). They make the best flares because of their age. The modern Primo Anamorphics still flare, but they are far more controlled. Those C-Series ones flare at everything.

 

The Kino effect would have been far stronger if she was wearing make-up at all, especially the shiny base they use in videos so their skin has a smooth specular look. Or obviously if she was wearing sunglasses.

 

Re: Genesis

I had a thread about 6 mos ago where I posted those tests and we talked about it. My general consensus is that I'm still going to shoot 35mm as my default, but I was very surprised at the latitude and film-like look of it. I've been quite the digital hater (mostly Varicam) so I had my doubts about the Genesis. But I have to say when I dumped the test footage into the DS and played with the color correction, it felt almost exactly like when I ask for flat film transfers to play with myself. So I'm looking fot the right job with shit loads of dialog and no need to be portable with the camera to test the Genesis on a real job. But what I find interesting is that when you are up at Panavision looking at a Varicam with it's onboard HD monitor, it clearly looks like Hi-res Betacam. But when you look at the same scene with the Genesis on it's onboard HD monitor, it looks like you are sitting in a film transfer session looking at your flat neg.

 

That being said, every once in a while Genesis dips just a little bit into the video look every once in a while. A DP I often use is doing his first Phantom camera shoot next week and I'm curios to know his thoughts on it.

[a2visual 0]

Hmmm...must've missed that thread. I'll have to dig it up...I did notice that some of the shots looked uncorrected, almost similar to what a cineon file looks like.

[C.Smith 0]

Hmmm...must've missed that thread. I'll have to dig it up...I did notice that some of the shots looked uncorrected, almost similar to what a cineon file looks like.

 

I left most new setups flat for a few seconds before kicking in the DS color correction. It's not Log though like Cineon. It's just very low contrast. That's pretty much the way film neg looks when they first bring it up in film transfer before stretching out the contrast.

[johnny on the spot 0]

Very cool stuff. I think I can use the flux setup for a project I'm doing right now, that requires me to create some interesting abstract background ambiences.

Thanks!

[C.Smith 0]

Very cool stuff. I think I can use the flux setup for a project I'm doing right now, that requires me to create some interesting abstract background ambiences.

Thanks!

 

Great. Please post a little of it when you're done.

[djkorova 0]

These are badass. Thanks for the updates!

Edited July 10, 2007 by djkorova

[directrix 0]

:H :H :H :H Daylight

[C.Smith 0]

Small Update:

 

I'm a tard. I didn't put color controls in Flux because I thought I couldn't get at them thru Xpresso. After perusung thru Base80's site I saw how you can drag almost err'thing into Xpresso to control it even if it's not listed. So on a whim I went to the fresnel grad inside the luminance layer and dragged it to Xpresso and low and behold I could pipe in the colors of the grad. So Flux now has Convenient color controls in the main UI.

[Guest dumbo]

cool update. cheers!

 

is there any way to change the colors so they update the geometry in the viewfinder aswell? currently when you change the colors in the user data, the colour of the mesh stays at the default colors.

[C.Smith 0]

cool update. cheers!

 

is there any way to change the colors so they update the geometry in the viewfinder aswell? currently when you change the colors in the user data, the colour of the mesh stays at the default colors.

 

Yeah, I noticed that. Before when you change the grad manually it would show in the viewport. It may be a limitation of the way Xpresso works with updating the material. I'll play with it.

[C.Smith 0]

New Tools: CS_LineGrow, CS_Bloom, CS_PathNull, and CS_MoveNull has been modified for better use.

 

Here is an example movie of LineGrow and Bloom together.

 

Click on 'Get CSTools for C4D' on my sig for the zip file.

 

Directions on the new stuff (also in included file):

 

15. CS_LineGrow

 

What For: Growing lines with some kind of a tip. You supply a spline for the line and a profile of the tip and drop them in the right boxes.

 

Directions: Create a spline. Make sure of 2 things for consistency: 1. That the coords of the spline are zeroed out. Doesn't matter where you create it in the world as long as it's zeroed out. If the tip doesn't track along near the spline, then your not zeroed. Also on the Spline path, it's better if the intermediate points are set to 'Uniform'. You don't HAVE to, but the timing curve will be far more accurate if you do. For the tip create a closed spline (or primitive) on the XZ plane and drop that into the TipSpline box. Zero out the coords. You may want to uncenter the anchor point. For example if your are making a leaf for the tip, you would want to move the anchor point to the stem area.

 

Sliders:

 

Frame Start: When the animation begins

Duration(Sec): How long the entire move takes

Timing Curve: Normalized graph you can edit to shape the speed.

PathSpline (dropbox): Create the path spline as described above and drop in here.

TipShapeSpline(XZ) (dropbox) : Create a tip shape spline on the XZ plane and drop in here.

Length: Percent of the total path the line shape takes up.

Width: Width of the line

Thickness: This effects the line and the tip

Roundness: This effects the line and tip.

Shape: This is the SweepNurbs Scale widget to shape the thickness of the line.

Tip Visible: If you just want a line and no tip, then turn this off.

Tip Offset: Depending on the size, shape, and aspect of the tip, use this to make it connect back to the line.

Tip Rotation: If you didn't orient your tip spline correctly, you can do it here

Tip Twist: Self Explanatory

Tip Scale: This is for changing the aspect ratio of the tip

 

16. CS_Bloom

 

What For: We've all seen it a million times. vector like shapes "budding" over a handful of frames. Drop a spline shape into the box and left alone it will make it into geometry, make it grow out of nothing , get a little bigger than normal, then settle into it's final size and shape all while having a subtle twisting motion. But of course you can change it how you wish.

 

Sliders:

 

Shape Spline (XZ) (dropbox) : Create a closed spline (or primitive) and drop it in here.

Thickness: How thick the extrude is.

Roundness: The radius of the fillet

Frame Start: When the animation begins

Duration(sec): Length of time of the complete animation

Scale Curve(spline widget): This is the universal scale curve over time

Rotation Curve(Spline Widget): This is the rotation over time

Stretch Curve(Spline Widget): This is the relative scale over time. It defaults to .5 but if you want to make a leaf stretch out for example before going to it's final shape then disrupt the curve's middle point.

 

17. CS_PathNull

 

What for: This widget is really just an align to spline tag doing it's usual work. However, I've added the patented (not really) Framestart/Duration/Timing Curve functions to it as well as connect it to a null. So it's a mild convenience if you want to just drop in a spline and parent something to the null and get on with it.

 

Sliders:

 

PathSpline (Dropbox): Create your travel path and drop it in here.

Frame Start: When the animation begins

Duration(Sec): How long the entire move takes

Tangential (Checkbox): Just a link to the tag setting.

Timing Curve: Normalized graph you can edit to shape the speed.

 

 

4. "CS_MoveNull" (Updated 7/07)

 

What For: Those times when you just want to set something in constant motion. Just dial in a direction or rotation speed on any of the six channels and it will do that forever. No need for keys or looping.

 

Added: Put in the Frame Start/Duration/Timing Curve functions to it. So instead of it being infinite, this adds a ton more usefulness to it by setting a duration and then having it get there through a timing curve. If you still want it to go forever. Make the timing curve linear and set the duration to at least the length of your project.

 

Sliders:

 

Frame Start: When the animation begins

Duration(Sec): How long the entire move takes

Timing Curve: Normalized graph you can edit to shape the speed.

X Speed

Y Speed

Z Speed

H Speed

P Speed

B Speed

Edited July 23, 2007 by C.Smith

[theRoman 0]

truly a king amongst men.... thanks again!

[Guest Sao_Bento]

truly a king amongst men.... thanks again!

Yes, Chris you are the cats pjs.

[C.Smith 0]

Yes, Chris you are the cats pjs.

 

If it has anything to do with Nocturnal Feline Garments, I'm all over them (cats that is).

[Tiger 0]

Thank you Mr Smith, you truly have earned your Demi God status :H :H

[the_Monkey 8]

[...patiently awaiting CS_DoMyDishes, CS_ManifestCoffee, and CS_DoubleMyDayRateFilter...]

[C.Smith 0]

[...patiently awaiting CS_DoMyDishes, CS_ManifestCoffee, and CS_DoubleMyDayRateFilter...]

 

Me 3

[Guest dumbo]

legend. good work chris!

[johnny on the spot 0]

Wow, very cool! It's getting very hard keeping track with your updates :-)

I didn't use the Flux for the last job I worked on (like posted earlier) but this line growing thing might be very useful for the next one in the pipeline. Anyways, if I use something I'll post my work.

[carbaldi 0]

As ever, nice updates! Excellent work, man. Thanx a billion and keep 'em coming!

 

C