Cinema 4D
Seamlessly upload Cinema 4D (*.c4d) files
This Integration is currently in Beta – see Known Issues
Upload
Just drag any *.c4d into the upload window in VUFRAME® Studio to upload a Cinema 4D file. If the model contains textures, make sure to include these textures in a zip folder so it contains the .c4d file and the textures and drag the zip folder into the upload window.
Visibilities
Aura™ removes any hidden object which is marked hidden for rendering (bottom red dot) – the object will not be included in the Aura™ 3D Model
Objects marked hidden in editor (top red dot) in Hierarchy are not removed
Objects inherit the settings from their parent object
e.g. if the parent is hidden for rendering (bottom red dot) the object itself will also be removed unless marked as visible for rendering (bottom green dot) explicitly
it will be removed if the object itself is marked hidden for rendering (bottom red dot) or not marked at all (bottom gray dot)
Instances that are marked hidden for rendering (bottom red dot) will be removed even if the referenced object is marked as visible for rendering (bottom green dot)
Instances have the same visibility properties as the reference object
Coordinate System
Cinema 4D by default uses a left handed coordinate system with y up axis. When using the Cinema 4D file, the Integration works seamlessly.
Please choose to upload your .c4d file over an exported FBX to avoid any data loss and ensure correct axis orientation.
When using the FBX export, make sure to apply the following export settings:
The y-axis needs to be set as the up axis and the Flip Z Axis checkbox needs to be unchecked.
To correct the export settings x up and z up, use the following import settings in the VUFRAME® Studio:
when y up axis, no rotation needed
when x up axis, "rotate_z":"90"
when z up axis, "rotate_x":"-90"
read more here Import Configuration.
Materials
Aura™ can automatically map & process the following materials stored in your Cinema 4D files. Read more about how Aura™ handles materials in the Materials & Visual Fidelity section.
Cinema 4D Materials (Legacy)
Materials and their textures are imported and translated into Aura™ materials. Please note: you need to include textures when uploading a CAD / 3D model in VUFRAME® Studio (read more here: How to upload CAD / 3D files)
Transparency Shader
Cinema 4D by default does not add transparency even though there is a texture with transparency added as diffuse color. The transparency is added with the Transparency Shader, which can have a texture as input. This texture can be either a JPG or PNG. When using JPGs, depending on the invert checkmark enabled or not, it adds transparency to the dark colors (enabled) or to the light colors (disabled). When inserting a a PNG as a transparency bitmap, the intended behaviour is the same, just note that when you have transparency in the PNG , it might import the transparent part as black,so check the preview in the transparency bitmap if the PNG is imported as intended.
Cinema 4D Materials (PBR)
coming soon
Arnold Renderer
Read more here: Arnold Renderer Integration
Vray Renderer
coming soon - read more here: Vray Renderer Integration
Selection Tags
Please note that Aura™ splits objects using Selection Tags into a group object with a single child object for each material selection.
UV Tags
UV Tags are imported for each object based on the UVs stored in the object or the UV Tag.
In case of objects with materials which don't have valid UV projection settings Aura™ will generate missing UVs on import – when neccessary.
Read more about UV handling in the Aura Reference: Meshs
Material Tags (Texture Tags)
Cinema 4D uses material tags on objects to assign the material. In versions below R21, these tags are called texture tags. These tags will assign the material, any selection via selection tags and the projection type. Please make sure that the model contains UV tags when setting the projection to UVW mapping, otherwise the material can not be displayed correctly.
When using a textured material , the offset and length/tiles can be used to modify the texture and will be imported by Aura™ correctly.
The offset and length properties can be set for each object individually. However, Aura™ only supports one set of properties per material. If you want to have different properties for the same material, please create duplicates of the material and add the different properties to each material.
Related Articles
Read how Aura™ processes CAD / 3D files:
urlhttps://github.com/Vuframe/aura3d-docs/blob/main/platform/integrations/maxon-cinema-4d/broken-reference/README.mdLast updated
