Cinema 4-D - Dynamics and Particles

Within this workshop we were shown how to create dynamic shapes with psychedelic patterns. This taught me how to use the subdivision and twist tools, while learning how they interact with the shapes in question. In order to achieve the pattern we applied a checkerboard effect to the material before applying it to the shape. This is applied to the extrusion layer in which the shape resides, as it is this that had created the twist within the rectangle.

Demonstration of distorted lines

At first the lines although fine to the untrained eye, when viewed closely are in fact malformed in width in addition to the wrap of the object. In order to fix this malformation of the lines we need to create further subdivisions.  This is because with a limited amount of subdivisions the computer has less points to reference to and therefore has to do some guessing as to where the lines should appear, resulting in the wonky structure.

As it is the image will be flat in form and so to create a more realistic sense of depth we activated Ambient Occlusion. This tool adds ambient, as the name suggests, shadows to the objects within the scene. The effect this has may be subtle, but greatly adds to the viewers perception and interpretation of the image.

After "Ambient Occlusion" has been applied

The next step was to introduce a "Particles Emitter" into the setting. This enables the ability to throw objects into a specified area of the scene, while gravity and dynamics enable the interaction between objects. As part of adding dynamics to the objects, it is required to create a tag in order to ass a Static mesh to the extruded shape. This enables the software to recognise the object the sphere will bounce off.

Adding "Static Mesh" to the extruded shape

How did I find it?

I found these techniques to be really interesting and surprising simple to employ. The main difficulty in creating these sort of graphics I would say is memorising the steps, but with plenty of practise this should be no problem. We used the techniques learnt here and a few similar options in order to create two more examples. The first was using the "Collider" tag to smash some type against a letter, while the second was using the "Particle Emitter" as a means to create random generative patterns. I  thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and look forward to experimenting with Cinema 4D more. In particular out of the latter two experiments, I enjoyed the colliding type the most. I enjoyed this one more due to the interactivity displayed between the subjects and the wide variety of effects it can create.  Below are the outcomes to this workshop and I am particularly happy with the first two due to the high quality finish. The last image had considerably less time spent upon it and therefore shows through the finish of the piece, though still displays my understanding of the software.

Final Images

Final Image - After Particles and Dynamics have been introduced

Using Dynamics with type

Random Polygon Generation