1.Stack multiple textures in Object Manager (OM)
You can stack Multiple material on an object (use alpha channel to control material Opacity/visibility)
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2.Weighting Hypernurbs
if you select either Points, Edges, or Polygons that you want to add "Weight HyperNURBS" to.
then hold down the "." (Period) key
and Left mouse click and drag left or right in the "Edit View"
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3.Rotate Camera at Object, Camera, & View Center
by holding "Alt" you rotate around selected object, "Shift" to rotate around center of viewport, or Ctrl/Command will rotate at camera axis
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4.use 1 Hypernurb for a group of objects
just place all the object under a Null then place the Null under a Hypernurb (helpful to reduce ram usage and have a neat OM)
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5.Move, scale or rotate a parent without affecting the children.
Select the parent object and choose the Move/Scale/Rotation tool.
On a Mac, press Command while moving/scaling/rotating. (in R13 press 7)
On a Window PC, press Ctrl while moving/scaling/rotating.(in R13 press 7)
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6. Fusion and layer shader
(This is just something that most new users miss)
you can use fusion or layer shader to mix texture to create realistic materials
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7. Selection Shortcut
Whenever having a selection made, you can convert this to the corresponding edge, poly or point selection by simply holding the CTRL key and clicking on the wanted mode.
You can also drag materials onto a selection which will automatically create a selection tag and a material that is restricted to that selection
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8. Hide or Reveal Axis Handles
press ALT + D to hide or reveal the axis handles
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9. Fixing layout problems
if your menu or layout gets messed up, hold down on the left icon that looks like a table and select standard layout.
If only your menu gets messed up, choose Cinema 4D menu instead of the user menu.
if that doesnt work then delete your pref folder in your cinema installation path (*warning* this will cause all saved layouts & shortcuts to be lost.)
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10. Affecting more objects with Null
To get NURBS to affect more then 1 object at a time place objects inside a Null then place Null inside the deformer.
and for Deformation object (i.e Bend, Twist, Bulge etc..) place all deformers and objects inside a Null
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11. Fixing deformation when working with symmetry & HN object
When working with Symmetry object, you'll often have polygons in the middle. When using HN, these polygons will cause the mesh to tear.
You can quickly select them selecting the rectangle selection tool (select visible only off) and selecting all points at the middle of your model. Then hold down CTRL and click on the polygon mode and then delete if any are selected.
If the problem is not solved you are probably having Tri/Ngons or a bad topology mesh and you are best to post a topic at the c4dcafe.
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12. Object Visibility
"CTRL" clicking the little visibility dots next to an object affects the dots of child objects
"ALT" affect both dots of parent object at once
"ALT+CTRL" affects both dots of parent and child object
and "Shift" cycles Dot colors in opposite direction
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13. ViewPort/Camera Navigation
1,2,3 keys can be use to control camera (just hold 1, 2, or 3 key while dragging in viewport)
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14. Auto Parenting/Child
when making a new object for eg... a HyperNURB, select the object you want to HyperNURB then "ALT" click on HyperNURB. The newly created object (HyperNURB) will become the parent of the selected object and the axis will be in the same place.
or press "Shift" to make it a child
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15. Gi Render Hint
Dont use a floor object, instead make a big plane, it dramatically reduces render times and increases quality.(not really necessary in c4d11)
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16. Objects editable When using Deformers
First do tip 10. Affecting more objects with Null (Place Deformer and Objects in a Null), Then select all objects and Right click on the objects and do a "Current State to Object"
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17. Animate Scale of Object
for the "Keyframe" to record an object Scale you need to have the "Use Object Tool" selected, not the "Use Model Tool" selected
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18. Fold palette
Click on the little dots on the upper left while pressing ctrl to fold the palette, gives you more space.
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19. Exclude axis
when moving, scaling or rotating use the shift key while scaling along one axis will exclude that one i.e. scaling along the z axis will only scale x and y.
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20. Drag anything into c4d
You can drag .c4d files into cinema but also image files into the material manager to instantly create a material.
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21. Toggle HyperNURBS ON/OFF
While your object (child of HyperNURBS) or HN cage is selected use Q to toggle HyperNURBS ON/OFF.
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22. open other instance of c4d
Add -parallel to the end of the "Target" field in your C4d Shortcut Properties
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23. Mirror object
give it a -1 value to scale in the coordinates manager to flip the object inside out. Remember to reverse the normals too.
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24. Model Tool incremental
when using a Tool eg... using the Move Tool, select and hold the axis, then press and hold the "Shift" key while moving the axis (the object will move in 10m increments)
Scaling: steps of 10% of current size
movement: steps of 10m
Rotating: steps of 5 degrees
Knife: steps of 45 degrees
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25. Reduce Geometry on NURBS objects
when using Splines on NURBS objects (eg... "SweepNurbs") you can select the splines and change the "Intermediate Points" option to "Natural" or "Uniform"
then reduce the "Number" option (on all splines) until you get the desired result.
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26. See the shader animate in Material
open material and "Right mouse click" on the shader thumbnail and choose "Animate"
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27. Control knife Loop tool offset for an exact percentage
Move your mouse over model until the cut is roughly where you want it, click on the "Shift" key to lock it, Then set the percent want and after that left click in the editor window to make the cut the percent set. (make sure its in loop mode first)
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28. Render Settings (improve render time)
Under "Render Settings/Options lower the Ray Depth, Reflection Depth, and Shadow Depth to 5 (reflection is 5 by default)
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29.Add action to your HUD elements
Drop an object's icon into the viewport , either from the attribute manager or object manager (adding it as a HUD), clicking the HUD element selects the object.
But if you right click on the element and go to Action>, there are a few more options, like automatically switching to Move/Scale/Rotate when you select it, or even assign custom commands.
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30.Using Priority Tip
If you need an expression to be executed after generators have been evaluated you need to set it to Generators and increase the priority level. If you need it to be evaluated before animation you set it either to base or to animation with a negative priority level.