Cinema4D Tools

This list represents everything that you will have learned during your class in 3D Reconstruction. The descriptions will be short, so there will be no in-depth explanation of every option and aspect of that tool. Most of the descriptions are taken from the Help file of Cinema4D. Rather you will see a small screenshot of what the tool can do, to help you remember for what purpose we have used it for.

Modelling Tools

Shortcut	Name	Description	Screenshot
D	Extrude	This tool extrudes selected points, edges or polygons. If no elements are selected, all of the object’s elements will be extruded. To extrude interactively in the viewport, drag left or right within the viewport. The extrusion takes place along the Normals of the selected surfaces; the average value is evaluated from all the Normals to be extruded.
I	Inner Extrude	This tool operates in a similar way to Extrude. However, in contrast to Extrude, the selected polygons are extruded inwards or, optionally, outwards. To inner extrude interactively, drag left or right within the viewport.
K~K	Line Cut	This tool cuts through polygons and edges, to create new geometry. You can click several points to create a cutting polyline. Remember that you need to choose if you want to cut everything, just selected polygons and/or just visible ones.
K~J	Plane Cut	This tool cuts through polygons and edges, to create new geometry. You can choose a place in which to cut though, in order to create horizontal or vertical cuts. Set the ''Plane Mode'' to //World// and the ''Plane'' to the desired plane you want to cut.
M~D	Close Polygon Hole	The Close Polygon Hole tool works in all three modes (point, edge and polygon). To use the tool, move the mouse pointer over the hole. A yellow polygon preview will appear that closes the hole. Click the mouse button to create the polygon. An n-gon will be created if necessary.
B	Bridge	The Bridge tool works in all three modes (point, edge and polygon). A selection is required in polygon mode. Bridge enables you to create connections between unconnected surfaces.
M~S	Bevel	This tool rounds (bevels) edges (and even points) of geometry. It is usually used to round edges to give the normally static geometry a bit more natural look.

Spline Generators

Name	Description	Screenshot
Extrude-NURBS	The Extrude object extrudes a spline to create an object with depth. The extruded object appears as soon as you drop the spline into the Extrude object in the Object Manager. You can also use splines to cut out holes. If, for example, a single spline object has two segments (an outer circle and an inner circle), the inner circle will be interpreted as a hole. Cinema 4D detects hole splines automatically.
Lathe-NURBS	The Lathe object rotates a spline about the Y axis of the local axis system of the Generator object to generate a surface of revolution, e.g., you can create a wineglass from a simple profile. The lathed object appears as soon as you drop the spline into the Lathe object in the Object Manager. Usually the profile should lie on the XY plane (because it will be rotated about the Y axis).
Loft-NURBS	The Loft object stretches a skin over two or more splines. The order of the splines in the Loft object determines the sequence in which they are connected. You can use a single spline with a Loft object to create a surface.
Sweep-NURBS	The Sweep object requires two or three splines. The first spline, the contour spline, defines the cross section and is swept along the second spline, the path, to create the object. The optional third spline Rail Spline can be used to modify the scale of the contour spline over the object’s length. Alternatively, the function graphs can be used, with which all pertinent Rail Spline functions can be adjusted.

Other Generators

Name	Description	Screenshot
Boole	The Boole object performs real-time Boolean operations on primitives or polygons. This means that you can see the result in the viewport as soon as you make the two objects children of the Boole object (try two spheres for testing). The default Boolean mode is A subtract B.
Cloner	The Cloner Object is THE object for the duplication of other objects, arranging clones onto vertices of other objects, arranging clones onto splines, etc. The Cloner Object sets your object(s) up so they can be affected by various Effectors. These Effectors can be used to disrupt, animate, color or modify your object and much more.
Symmetry	The Symmetry Object Does a copy of the child object(s) in a given plane referring to the relative position of the child(s) to the symmetry object itself.