Tutorial: Page (1) of 2 - 09/21/05

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SPLINE SHADER Cool Materials in MAXON'S CINEMA 4D By Ko Maruyama If you've ever used MAXON's CINEMA 4D, chances are that you've either used the spline objects to create a path, or you've added a material to an object, but you may not have used both together.  Now, in Release 9, it's easy to create materials that have a vector (completely scalable) material property using the built-in spline shader.  Unlike a bitmap image, this will not degrade in quality the closer the camera gets to it.

If you've never had the chance to use MAXON's CINEMA 4D, download the demo today.  At the time this was written, the newest version of C4D was available at their website.   Here are a few easy steps to get you started.

1. Create a Plane.

A plane displays segments at 100x100 units in the front view by default.  For this reason, it's a good idea to create a plane and set its orientation to Z so we can use it as a reference plane.  This step isn't necessary, but unless you're familiar with setting up or locating a 100x100 reference grid, the plane serves as an easy guide.  Set the comp window view to "Front" (Shortcut is F4)










2. The Spline (You'll need one of these for a custom spline shape)

Draw a spline shape within the +100, +100 frontal guidelines of the grid.



Create the spline shape for your material attribute.  Of course, there are several channels that will allow you to use the Spline Shader, and your splines should be designed to fit to those parameters.  For this demonstration, I'll create a simple flame shape.

2A. Import spline from AI

Of course, if you're more comfortable with drawing splines in Adobe's Illustrator rather than CINEMA 4D, you can draw the spline there as well.  Be sure to set up a 100x100 px guide in AI to help you constrain your design there as well.


NOTE: In Adobe Illustrator CS2, you can now "Save As" and produce Legacy formats rather than using the "Export"
feature (CS1).

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