Overview

Trims splines similar to Cinema4D MoSpline object.
Trims and offsets are controlled with Fields falloff.

Implemented as Generator and Modifier.

Object properties

Frame Dependent

Time update geometry update dependency.

Auto

Default option to work with. In most cases geometry rebuilds on frame update.

Local

Enforces to rebuild geometry at each frame update.

Global

Restrict to rebuild geometry only in case of frame update.

Object * exist for Generator only.

If object is provided here then it and all its subtree would be used as the source of splines instead of generator's own children sub-tree.

Hide * exist for Generator only.

Enabled — Source object would be hidden from both render and viewport.
Due to Cinema4D specific issues, this approach is worse than just hide object by deactivating source object's native Viewport Visibility and Render Visibility.

Space * exist for Generator only.

Geometry's generating space

Local

Geometry is generating in local space of the generator, so it would depend to Trimmer object transform.

Global

Geometry is generating in world space, so it would be independent of Trimmer object transform.

Shape

Handle source spline(s) controls points.

Knots

Original spline knots are taken as the source.
Same as having or making spline editable with the least points and point-tangents.
Source spline deformations are missed in that case.

Points

Final source representation (linear spline for spline object) is taken as the source.
Same as applying Current State to Object to the source geometry.
In some cases this method doesn't give proper shape if dynamics is applied to the source geometry.

Cache

Final source representation (linear spline for spline object) is taken as the source.
This method is faster than Points and allows to get final representation of the source geometry with applied dynamics transformations.
Usually it's required to drop source into Object field and put generator lower than the source object in the Object Manager because of Cinema4D's internal calculation order.

Mode

Trim

Similar to MoSpline this mode is offering start & end spline segment trimming options.

Fraction

Alternative to Trim mode where instead of start & end trimming options it's possible to define part of the spline segment and its alignment.

Dash

Trims spline segment onto multiple pieces using pattern.

Trim mode options:

Start, End -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines trimming for the beginning or ending of the spline segment correspondingly.

Unit

%

Value of Start, End property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Start, End property is measured in absolute length units.

From

Start

Value defined in Start, End property is measured from the beginning of the spline segment.

End

Value defined in Start, End property is measured from the ending of the spline segment.

Sample At 0..100 %

Define sample position on the spline segment in range from the begining to the end for Start, End properties.

Field

Optionally value defined in Start, End property can be adjusted using fields falloff by sampling start or end of the spline segment correspondingly.

Variation -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines trimming variation for the beginning or ending of the spline segment correspondingly.

It's might be a bit excess, because variation might be controlled by Start's, End's Field settings.
But Variation might be little easier to direct.

Unit

%

Value of Variation property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Variation property is measured in absolute length units.

Vary

Variation mode.

Random

Value defined in Variation property is variated in both positive and negative directions along spline segment.

Scatter

Value defined in Variation property is variated in single direction: for the beginning it's directed to the Start point, for the ending it's directed to the End point.
So Variation value would be maximal offset.

Field

Value defined in Variation property is additionally variated by Field.

Seed

Defines random seed for Random and Scatter variation modes.

Field

Value of Variation property would be adjusted using fields falloff by sampling start or end of the spline segment correspondingly.

Fraction mode options:

Anchor -∞..+∞ %

Defines balance of the spline segment's fraction related to Offset value.

Value of 0% will construct geometry starting from offset to offset + length.
Value of 50% will construct geometry starting from offset - length/2 to offset + length/2.
Value of 100% will construct geometry starting from offset - length to offset.

Length -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines fraction length.

Unit

%

Value of Length property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Length property is measured in absolute length units.

Sample At 0..100 %

Define sample position on the spline segment in range from the begining to the end for Length property.

Field

Optionally value defined in Length property can be adjusted using fields falloff by sampling start or end of the spline segment correspondingly.

Variation -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines trimming variation for the beginning or ending of the spline segment correspondingly.

It's might be a bit excess, because variation might be controlled by Length's Field settings.
But Variation might be little easier to direct.

Unit

%

Value of Variation property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Variation property is measured in absolute length units.

Vary

Variation mode.

Random

Value defined in Variation property is variated in both positive and negative directions along spline segment.

Scatter

Value defined in Variation property is variated in single direction: for the beginning it's directed to the Start point, for the ending it's directed to the End point.
So Variation value would be maximal offset.

Field

Value defined in Variation property is additionally variated by Field.

Seed

Defines random seed for Random and Scatter variation modes.

Field

Value of Variation property would be adjusted using fields falloff by sampling start or end of the spline segment correspondingly.

Dash mode options:

Pattern

Defines dash pattern as single value or pair of values on the each text line.
Support both metric and % values.
Pattern starts from the dash size definition, then gap length is defined. So each odd line defines dash, even line defines gap.
If it's required to have pattern which is started from the gap, it's enough to enter 0 on the first line of the text.
Each line might be like "10", "10m", "10%", "10-20", "10m-20m", "10%-20%", "10m-20$", or even "10m 20%" — whatever is suitable more.

Repeat

Repeat is disabled — pattern resolves exactly once and has no geometry afterwards.

Repeat is enabled — pattern resolves as many times as it would be enough to cover full length of the spline segment.
Repeating resolves as full pattern, each dash & gap would e added to repetition.
If there's randomization in the pattern, then this randomization would be repeated along segment length.

Vary

Variation mode.
Dash & gap values defined in Pattern property are variated between minimal and maximal value.
If only one value is provided, it is resolved as a constant, irrelative to variation.

Random

Seed-based randomization.

Field

Field-based randomization.

Seed

Defines random seed for Random and Scatter variation modes.

Field

Pattern is sampled without repetitions and sample points spread equally along spline segment.

Offset -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines trimming offset.

Main Fields falloff is multiplying this value.
So in most Field-based scenarios Offset value has to be set as 100% and put further logic into the Fields.
Make sure to disable Value Clamping trigger in Fields settings to allow overdrives. For ex. when controlling by Time layer.

Unit

%

Value of Offset property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Offset property is measured in absolute length units.

Variation -∞..+∞ m/%

Defines offset variation.

It's might be a bit excess, because variation might be controlled by the Fields.
But Variation might be little easier to direct.

Unit

%

Value of Variation property is measured relatively to spline segment length.

Length

Value of Variation property is measured in absolute length units.

Vary

Variation mode.

Random

Value defined in Variation property is variated in both positive and negative directions along spline segment.

Scatter

Value defined in Variation property is variated from the offset point towards beginning oth spline segment.
So Variation value would be maximal offset.

Field

Value defined in Variation property is additionally variated by Field.

Seed

Defines random seed for Random and Scatter variation modes.

Field

Value of Variation property would be adjusted using fields falloff by sampling intermediate offset point of the spline segment.

Over-Start, Over-End

Defines behavior when trimmed segment goes beyond start or end of the spline segment correspondingly.

Clamp

Final segment is clamped be original segment start & end points.

Loop

Final segment is rendered at the opposite side of the spline segment once it goes beyond limits.

Extend

Final segment continues in the direction of the following.

Target

Final segment continues towards the respective target object.

Start Reverse Direction, End Reverse Direction

Sets direction away of respective target object.

Start Target, End Target

Respective target object.

Spline

Spline properties

Type

Linear

This simplest of all the spline types connects the vertices, which define the polygon, with straight, directly connected lines. You can use these splines to create angular objects or to simulate sharp jerky movements for animation.

Cubic

This kind of spline has a soft curve between vertices. The interpolated curve passes directly through the vertices. Looking at the two points at the top right of the diagram, you can see that the curve bulges more than is probably required. This behavior is called overshooting, and it often appears with closed curvatures. This becomes clearer when you compare this section of the curve with the same section of the curve with Akima interpolation.

Akima

This spline type creates a soft curve between vertices. The interpolated curve always passes directly through the vertices. Overshooting does not happen with this type of curve. Akima interpolation adheres very closely to the path of the curve directly between the vertices but, because of this, it can sometimes appear somewhat hard. If this is not required, you should use Cubic interpolation.

B-Spline

This kind of spline also creates a soft curve between the vertices. However, the curve does not pass directly through the vertices. This produces a very smooth curve. The vertices control only the approximate path of the curve. Distant points have less influence on the curve than those lying closer together.

Bezier

This spline type creates a soft curve path between the vertices, which can be controlled very precisely. The interpolated curve always passes through the vertices. Overshoot does not happen.

Closed

Each spline segment can be closed or open. If a spline is closed, the start and end points are seamless connected.

Open

Makes spline segments open ending.

Close

Makes spline segments closed.

Auto

Makes spline segments open or closed depending of source(s).

Fix Closure

If Closed is set as Open or Auto and there are closed source splines — additional point would be created after the original end point in place of the original start point
So while being open spline, it would look like closed spline.

Interpolation

Here you can define how the spline is further subdivided with intermediate points. This affects the number of subdivisions created when using the spline with Generator objects.

None

This method of interpolation locates points only at the vertices of a spline, using no additional intermediate points. You cannot enter values into the Number or Angle boxes. For B-splines, the vertices, and therefore points, might not be located on the spline curve.

Natural

This interpolation type first locates points at spline vertices. In the case of B-splines, points are located at positions on the spline curve closest to the spline vertices. Number (N) corresponds to the number of intermediate points between vertices. The points are positioned closer together on areas of the spline with more curvature.
You cannot enter values into the Angle box.

Uniform

This interpolation subdivides the spline so that the distance between any two consecutive points, as measured along the spline curvature, is constant. One point is always located at the beginning vertex. For open splines, a point is also located at the ending vertex. Other points generally do not coincide with vertices.<
You cannot enter values into the Angle box.

Adaptive

This interpolation type sets intermediate points whenever the angle deviation of the curve is larger than the value given in Angle. The points of the resulting curve pass through the vertices. If a spline has several segments, then the value of Angle will apply to each segment.
The Adaptive method gives the best results in rendering, hence it is the default interpolation method.
You cannot enter values into the Number box.

Subdivided

Subdivided is similar to Adaptive. Additional intermediate points will be added until the intermediate segments are shorter than the defined Maximum Length, i.e., the point intervals will not necessarily be equal to the maximum length. Lower values will result in higher quality, along with the disadvantages of working with a high number of points - slower refresh times in the editor view, etc.

Fields

Sample

Position

Define single sample point position on the spline.

Full

Sample whole spline to get average sampled value.

Position 0..100%

Define point position on the spline in range from the begin to the end.

Fields

Fields falloff to control Trimmer's offset.