Cinema 4D - Splines, The Skeletons of Cinema 4D
Splines are the Skeletons of Cinema 4D so at this ghastly time of year, let us look a bit deeper into the shadows and learn more about critical elements that build the structures for Cinema 4D...
beneath the skin so to speak.
Splines are cool.
They provide map and definition for more sophisticated shapes.
They provide growth paths for 'NURBS'.
Splines can serve as the draftsman precision coordinate layout or the impressionistic artist whirls of free expression.
Because splines are only two dimensional they are not in of themselves 'objects' in your project but they always exist at some level in your object definition.
You might think of splines as the unsung hero, the critical element you must be comfortable with if you want to understand the real potential of your more advanced shapes.
When you skip ahead to animation and 'NURBS' and 'pBlurps' as we all do, you get some of the instant gratification that 3D graphics offers but when you return to planet earth and begin to design your own storyline, you realize it is quite impossible without drawing the objects of your own creation and for this..
..
you need splines.
Because splines are so fundamental to Cinema 4D, you will find the spline menu to the immediate right of the 'primitives' menu, right next to the menu where you create cubes, spheres, and cylinders.
You will immediately see an array of splines, some completely freehand while others have predefined shapes such as a circle or rectangle.
This circle and rectangle however are not to be confused with say spheres and cubes.
Splines are two dimensional and can only describe your three dimensional shapes.
You will find this same selection of splines under 'Objects->Spline Primitive'.
As you look at the spline options presented with this menu option, the top six are 'manual'; these are splines you will draw yourself such as a 'Bezier' line curve combination.
These are the splines that serve your free expression and will be necessary for shape curvature, motion, and growth.
There are also fifteen predefined spline shapes.
All these shapes have similar group definitions: the basic shape, coordinate placement on your stage, and object attributes such as the radius of your circle.
The splines shapes recommend themselves to different kinds of real life objects and there is also a degree of freedom in which you choose to create your objects and images.
Let's begin with some fixed mapping to see how you can use splines to create objects with precise dimension.
beneath the skin so to speak.
Splines are cool.
They provide map and definition for more sophisticated shapes.
They provide growth paths for 'NURBS'.
Splines can serve as the draftsman precision coordinate layout or the impressionistic artist whirls of free expression.
Because splines are only two dimensional they are not in of themselves 'objects' in your project but they always exist at some level in your object definition.
You might think of splines as the unsung hero, the critical element you must be comfortable with if you want to understand the real potential of your more advanced shapes.
When you skip ahead to animation and 'NURBS' and 'pBlurps' as we all do, you get some of the instant gratification that 3D graphics offers but when you return to planet earth and begin to design your own storyline, you realize it is quite impossible without drawing the objects of your own creation and for this..
..
you need splines.
Because splines are so fundamental to Cinema 4D, you will find the spline menu to the immediate right of the 'primitives' menu, right next to the menu where you create cubes, spheres, and cylinders.
You will immediately see an array of splines, some completely freehand while others have predefined shapes such as a circle or rectangle.
This circle and rectangle however are not to be confused with say spheres and cubes.
Splines are two dimensional and can only describe your three dimensional shapes.
You will find this same selection of splines under 'Objects->Spline Primitive'.
As you look at the spline options presented with this menu option, the top six are 'manual'; these are splines you will draw yourself such as a 'Bezier' line curve combination.
These are the splines that serve your free expression and will be necessary for shape curvature, motion, and growth.
There are also fifteen predefined spline shapes.
All these shapes have similar group definitions: the basic shape, coordinate placement on your stage, and object attributes such as the radius of your circle.
The splines shapes recommend themselves to different kinds of real life objects and there is also a degree of freedom in which you choose to create your objects and images.
Let's begin with some fixed mapping to see how you can use splines to create objects with precise dimension.
Source...