X-Particles 4 for Cinema 4D Essential Training

Get started with X-Particles 4, the powerful Cinema 4D plugin that allows artists to quickly and easily create finely rendered fluid simulations, dynamics, and collisions.

Introduction

• Welcome
• What you should know before watching this course
• Using the exercise files

1. Getting Started with X-Particles

• What is X-Particles?
• What is new in X-Particles 4?
• What can you do with the X-Particles plugin?
• Quick-start guide
• Setting up an X-Particles layout
• Tour of the system object

2. Understanding the Emitter

• Object tab
• Emission and Extended Data tabs
• Groups and Display tabs
• Questions tab
• Modifiers tab
• Editing and Advanced tabs
• Emitting particles from objects and textures
• Using the emitter falloff controls

3. Modifiers Overview

• What does a modifier do?
• Using modifiers with falloffs
• How do I get my particles to move around? (Turbulence)
• Control particle attraction, repulsion, and targeting
• Change particle speed, scale, and life
• Using Weight to mix modifier strength

4. X-Particles Power Concepts

• Groups
• Triggering actions
• Making particles collide
• Inheritance
• Data mapping
• Caching simulations

5. Creating Visible Particles

• Generate geometry from particles
• Creating trails
• Making networks and grid-like patterns
• Create plant-like structures
• Using the CellAuto object
• Working with the OpenVDB Mesher

6. Dynamics and Constraints

• Overview of dynamics and constraints
• How do I make fluids effects?
• How do I start a fire with ExplosiaFX?
• Advecting particles and caching ExplosiaFX
• Create custom turbulence with FlowField
• Working with ClothFX

7. X-Particles Materials and Rendering

• X-Particles material and render settings
• Rendering C4D splines with the XP material
• Using the XP Gaseous material
• Lighting particles and volumetric rendering

8. Tags and Other Objects

• Wet Map
• Freezing particles
• Newton gravity
• Deformers
• VertexMap Maker
• Circle Packer

9. Other Ways of Sculpting Particles

• Using C4D deformers
• Using mograph effectors
• Particle painting

10. Workflow Tips

• Naming and organization
• Installing icons to identify different parts of our simulation
• Changing default settings
• Saving and loading presets

11. Challenge

• Challenge overview
• Challenge solution

Conclusion

• Next steps