I like to periodically browse Linked In Learning, even though I’m coming to the end of my project, because I constantly want to be improving my skills. I found a short tutorial on using fields, which is something I had never used before in Cinema 4D, so I decided to give it a go since it wouldn’t take me long.
The tutorial was very useful and has taught me a vital skill that I can use in my 3D motion graphics design process. Fields can be used for a variety of things, such as applying deformers, changing alpha channels, and triggering animations. The tutorial showed me how to do the first two, but I am really intrigued by the animation possibilities, so will be looking into this in future.
The process for using the field to change the material is as follows:
-Create your object and apply two materials to it, the furthest to the right is the one that is on top
-Add a vertex map to the object by selecting the paint tool from the character menu. It adds its own ‘field’ but you can delete this and add your own linear field.
-The field can then be linked to the alpha channel in the settings of the top material, and when the field passes over the material it will change the alpha from off to on, or vice versa.
It is easy to then apply the field to deformers, and I added it to a displacement deformer by:
-Adding a displacement deformer and adding noise to create the deformation.
-In the falloff tab, add the linear field.
These two very simple methods can create awesome effects like below, with very little effort.
Bibliography
Banks, L. (2018). What are C4D Fields and How Do They Work? – Lesterbanks. [online] Lesterbanks. Available at: https://lesterbanks.com/2018/09/c4d-r-20-fields-introduction/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2019].
Hassenfratz, E. (2019). Creating material wipes using fields | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com. [online] Linkedin.com. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/cinema-4d-weekly/creating-material-wipes-using-fields?u=42436980 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2019].
Youtube.com. (2018). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=182&v=g_RmGutstiU&feature=emb_logo [Accessed 2 Dec. 2019].
Jennie Hawkes 