SE - Quick Start

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 05 Sept, 2014
3 min read

The basic workflow is really straight-forward. First, you need some objects to export. Let's assume your scene contains only static or key-framed objects without deformers or PLA. Open the tool from Cinema 4D's main menu:

Plugins > RealFlow > RealFlow SD Exporter

What you can see is an interface that can be subdivided into several areas:

 

 

  • The scene's objects (parametric and polygonal) appear in the plugin's “Objects” column.

  • With “Add All” they are shifted to the “Exported Objects” section.

  • Click on the “...” button to open a file browser, where you can define the SD's name and storage location. Ideally, the file is saved in the corresponding RealFlow project's “objects” folder. Finally, define the frame range.

  • If the Cinema 4D scene only contains motionless bodies then “End Frame” and “Start Frame” should be set to 0. This step will help to reduce the SD's size.

  • Click on “Export” to write the file.

  • The plugin converts all nodes to triangulated polygonal objects automatically.

  • If an object carries a texture the plugin will extract the path to the image map of a material's “Color” channel, and write it to the SD. In RealFlow you only have to activate the imported node's “Texture” option in the “Display” panel.

  • If an object is coloured the plugin will write the RGB definition to the SD file as well.

Working with “Subdivision Surfaces”

The exporter plugin evaluates the “Subdivision Surface” node's “Subdivision Renderer” parameter. With smaller settings you will be able to reduce the number of polygons. This is a very effective method of creating proxy objects for the simulation. In the final render, a higher value is used to achieve full quality.

Exporting Individual Objects

The process of exporting single objects or groups of objects is exactly the same as described before, but here you will use a node selection, and the “Add” button. For each object (group) you have to create a new name and repeat this workflow as often as necessary.

Please bear in mind that RealFlow only accepts one SD at a time. In order to load multiple SDs, please use the MultiBody feature under Edit > Add > Object > MultiBody.

Using SD Files in RealFlow

In RealFlow, open the SD file with Ctrl/Cmd + I. After a few moments the nodes appear. Since they do not contain any animation data (End Frame = 0), RealFlow's “End frame” field is set to 0 as well. This will not affect your simulation, but if you want to create a playback it is necessary to change the value. The first field ("0") indicates that the objects inside the SD file have been exported without animation data:

 

 

The objects from Cinema 4D can also be updated without restarting RealFlow. To do this you only have to export the objects again and overwrite the existing SD file. Back in RealFlow, press Ctrl/Cmd + U to update the scene. RealFlow will recognize if the topology of the updated objects has changed, and writes out a warning. This warning is only relevant if the scene has been simulated already, because in this case the new object's geometry does not match the cached information.

Another warning that can be seen in RealFlow is:

WARNING: object [ object name ] contains 200 degenerated faces that will be ignored. Set a higher scale.

Sometimes, Cinema 4D's modelling tools produce degenerated polygons. There, the polygon's vertices are located on one edge. As long as the object behaves correctly during the simulation, this message can be ignored, because in most cases degenerated polygons are very small and do not affect interaction with other nodes. If you observe problems the only solution is to remodel the object.

By default, objects imported with the Ctrl/Cmd + I command are locked and you cannot move them. To make them editable, select an object and click on

Node Params > Node > SD ↔ Curve

Now you have access to all existing animation curves. The object can be locked again with another click on the button.