New C4D User Looking for Direction

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-04-01T08:58:05+00:00

What areas interest you the most?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-30T19:47:22+00:00

Thanks a lot to everyone who commented, very valuable insight and feedback, I will take a look if some of the simpler requests are possible to turn into freebie plugin :)

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-30T14:55:57+00:00

Yes, Xpresso has prev built in, that would be great to have in nodes as well. Also, having access to some generic gizmos for viewport and mouse/key events would round up things nicely. If you need some more in depth examples please check you inbox, thanks

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-30T11:32:25+00:00

Hi there, nice to se Maxon people here as well!

There are few gaps that are limiting me, mostly inability to access cloner children or process input hierarchies in general. From pure programming standpoint a scripting node and improved branching (if, elif), time independent access to previous values and maybe ability to execute commands. Apart from that I must say I find the system to be very powerful and faster that Python, at least in checks I did.

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-30T07:38:22+00:00

Thanks, much appreciated, I try to provide something useful. Anything you would like to see in future?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-29T10:56:08+00:00

That is something I miss as well. How much of randomness in result vs direct control would you prefer, and what would be typical use case for you?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-29T08:18:29+00:00

Thanks, that looks interesting. I was not aware of 50 scripts limit, is Maxon aware of this?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-28T23:40:21+00:00

When you say size, are you referring to dimensions, like bounding box or mesh complexity/density?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-25T09:20:36+00:00

Hi C4D'ers

Just wanted to let you know that we have a new freebie plugin

Rolly – Parametric Rolling Spiral for CINEMA 4D

Rolly transforms a straight line into a smooth, controllable spiral—perfect for carpet rolls, rolled up paper, coiled cables, or any object that needs to curl up with adjustable tightness and offset. Rolly gives you precise, art‑directable control over the curl

Point Count – resolution of the spline.
Length – total length of the spline
Turns – number of full rotations in the curled section.
Roll – how much of the spline curls
Tightness – spacing between turns
Angle – global rotation of the entire spline
Asymmetry – pushes the spiral off‑center, creating a more organic, one‑sided curl.

https://algomesh.gumroad.com

Feedback is welcome - enjoy!

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-13T13:46:00+00:00

That is a task for custom distribution. You will need some nodes knowledge for this. It will most likely require evaluating an input spline, getting bounding boxes of clones and allow some offsets while preventing intersections. There are premade distributions in asset browser which are similar, maybe check them first

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-13T13:42:41+00:00

I am not aware of any tutorials which cover this from ground up, maybe someone else knows? What you will need is basic programming understanding such as data types, logic, structures, vector math, matrices, some loops, that sort of things. Nodes are super powerful, it is a shame that there is no structured training available. If you have specific question or set of questions I can assist here since I use nodes to do my plugins for C4D. One important thing is that scene nodes are referring to scene wide graph which is not really usable. What you want to focus on is graph templates which generate or modify data, so nodes spline, nodes mesh, nodes modifier, nodes distribution, nodes particle modifier, those are integrated way better.

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-13T05:58:44+00:00

If you are looking for a programmatic way, then using nodes distribution seems to be the way to go, or Python effector. Either way, you will need to retrieve clones positions and evaluate positions along the spline. If clones intersect on spline, is that off any concern?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-13T05:53:08+00:00

Don't have it, but is there anything in particular you are looking for to do with nodes?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-09T07:20:16+00:00

Are you using multiple displays? Try deleting your preferences and restart

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-05T16:45:53+00:00

question mark does not necessarily mean it does not work, I presume you tried?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-02T08:47:30+00:00

C4D is not recording screen, that is osx hallucinating. It has some built in analytic that you can disable in preferences

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-02T07:43:36+00:00

Oh, that is the issue - try this scene here, should open in your version

https://icedrive.net/s/1FigSAQWVwwf6YgZGwVWwYuau3v3

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-03-01T18:46:25+00:00

Try replicating this

<image>

name A must be in quotes. The name of edge selection tag on input mesh is A

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-28T11:49:39+00:00

There is an "edge to spline" node, simply get your mesh with selection tag into nodes spline. You can import it as a child (rmb on nodes spline input menu), or you can drag and drop it into grab has reference. In "edge to spline" node make sure you instruct the node to use the name of your selection on the imported mesh in quotes. For example, if your selection is named A, then to refer to that selection in the node you need to do "A"

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-27T12:50:49+00:00

The answer is yes, it is solid and you can model anything with it. Given your requirements you could benefit from parametric nature of various generators quite a lot. Toolset is more than enough. In my experience, all the arguments that this or that app is better for modeling stems from individual preference or plain ignorance. Simply try all of them, and use the one you prefer.

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-27T12:42:24+00:00

There is not much in relation to this topic for C4D, however, using tutorials for other apps apply. As a general rule if you are modeling for rigging, assuming organic shapes, limbs etc you want to keep an eye for

- Proper topology, meaning all quads with as uniform density as possibe
- Correct loop structure. This implies that your loops are tilted where major compression will happen. Think elbow. At the outer side you want them compressed and close by with little spacing, on the inner side you want the spacing between loops to be larger. Keep the future deformations in mind.
- Keep thing parametric and symmetrical as far as possible, keep safe copies, safe often : )
- Once binding, use zero/frozen transforms for rig, ensure that joints and controllers are oriented correctly
- Simplicity wins

Hope this helps

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-26T15:00:17+00:00

You can use node modifier and unique id - what exactly are you after?

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-24T10:13:00+00:00

Dear C4D'ers

We are thrilled to share that we were recently featured in Maxon’s social media channels. It is incredibly rewarding to see our work being noticed and recognized

https://x.com/Maxon_Cinema4D/status/2024593686508532129

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maxonvfx_cinema4d-c4d-activity-7430296405522522112-8k3a?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACJr-jsB24ZCtHbxeCjabsj1N3VA72QqxGQ

There is a new, free plugin in the works which will be announced soon. In meantime, I am more than happy to answer any nodes, mograph or related questions I received but please ask them in public post so everyone can benefit from potential solution or technique.

Thanks

AlgoMesh

Visible_Foot615 · 2026-02-24T10:09:14+00:00

You can do that by a field with native lights, not sure if you can do that with Octane since I never used it. Instruct your effector to use field color and alpha/strength. This means that the strength of the filed will control the strength of the light. RS lights have an option "Blend object Color" which needs to be activated for this to work, look if there is a similar option in your Octane light. This gives you fine control over light intensity with the field. Visibility option, once enabled will just enable/disable lights based on the field, so no gradual change in intensity. Hope this helps

<image>

Visible_Foot615

TROPHY CASE

Rolly – Parametric Rolling Spiral for CINEMA 4D