En:Blockland

Aus CINEMA 4D Wiki

Diesen Artikel auf Deutsch lesen

Introduction
Many people keep on asking me how I created the geometry seen in my Blockland images. They ask about used plug-ins or if I did it with Thinking Particles.

This article explains how to create such geometry without any 3rd party plug-ins or particles.

Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Step 1: Basic shapes 2 Step 2: Preparing basic shapes 3 Step 3: Creating blocks 4 Step 4: Better Blocks 5 Step 5: Material, Light & Render

Step 1: Basic shapes

At first, I try to imagine what basic shape the geometry should have. E.g. create a torus primitive, or a plane.

Step 2: Preparing basic shapes

Adjust the subdivisions of the primitive object(s) to get a high number of preferably rectangular polygons.

If you want, apply some deformation to the objects by using deformers. Then convert the primitives to polygon objects by pressing "c". After doing that, you can also use tools like Magnet or Brush to further deform the mesh.

Step 3: Creating blocks

Change to polygon mode, then select all polygons ob an object.

Press "d" to select the Extrude tool. In the attribute manager, disable "Maintain groups" and set "Variation" to a high value. Extrude! Now you see where we're going. If your blocks intersect each other too much, use the Normal Scale tool to make the selected polygons a bit smaller.

Step 4: Better Blocks

Use the Inner Extrude tool to create a subdivision, and the Extrude tool to extrude the polygons with a negative value (and with lower variation). Now the blocks have a little dent, which makes them look more interesting. Also, you could freeze the polygon selection and apply a special material, e.g. a reflecting material to create a kind of windows.

Step 5: Material, Light & Render

Apply a material to the geometry. I mostly use an Oren-Nayar shader with low, wide specular. And that's all.

Set a lightsource (in the example image it is an area light with area shadows) and/or put an invisible illuminating plane with a colored material somewhere. Try experimenting with different light colors! A slightly blue light can imitate diffuse light coming from the sky, yellowish colors will look more like artificial electric light.

Think of some suitable GI settings and render (I always use stochastic GI for my Blockland images). Use a diffuse depth of at least 2 (bounces) to approximate the behaviour of real light. Start with a low number of samples (e.g. 8) to test the lighting. When you're sure your lighting is done, increase the number of samples until the image looks fine.

Happy Rendering

Written by --c4d-Jack 12:30, 23 January 2007 (CET)

Related links

• Daylight
• Blockland images at www.c4d-jack.de

[[Category:En:Modelling|Blockland]