Tweak 4D

 

 

What is Tweak 4D?

Tweak 4D is a plugin designed to improve the workflow of modeling polygon objects within Cinema 4D.

Using Tweak 4D you can 'sculpt' objects points, edges and polygons without the need to keep changing selection modes. Tweak 4D supports all three selection modes and all you have to do is simply hover your mouse over a point, edge or polygon face. Tweak 4D automatically detects if the mouse is over a point, edge or face and will only modify what is needed.

 

Requirements

Cinema 4D Release 8.2 on a Microsoft Windows platform.

 

Installation

To install Tweak 4D, simple extract the ZIP file (with paths) to your Cinema 4D Plugins directory.

You directory structure should be like the following image:

Fig 1

 

(note - Tweak4D.cdl is the Windows plugin,Tweak4D .xdl is the Mac plugin. Only one file is required to use Tweak4D)

 

Demo Limitations

Tweak 4D Demo doesn't support UNDO and REDO. So any changes made to your model with Tweak 4D will not be reversible, unless you tweak it back.

There is also a 'Thank you' note that randomly displays when you de/activate the Tweak 4D tool.

 

These limitations are removed with the full registered version.

 

Getting Started

Tweak 4D is extremely easy to use, all you have to do is click the Tweak 4D menu item under Plugins > Spot4D and you are ready to start 'tweaking' your models. To make Tweak 4D even easier to access you can add the Tweak icon to your toolbars or assign a shortcut key to Tweak 4D using the Edit Palettes dialog in Cinema 4D (Window > Layout > Command Manager).

Fig 2

 

Note - Tweak 4D only works with polygon objects, so you must make sure you make your objects editable before running Tweak 4D

 

You can limit the axis to tweak your objects on by de/activating the XYZ lock in the Cinema 4D toolbar.

Fig 3

 

The Fig 3 image shows that Tweak4D will only tweak objects along the Y axis.

 

 

Active Tool Dialog

Activating the Active Tool Dialog will display some settings for Tweak 4D.

 

Fig4

 

Edge Tolerance:

Set how close the mouse cursor needs to be to detect edges and points. Valid ranges are from 0.01 to 0.4.

The lower the value the closer the mouse cursor has to be by the edge of a polygon to detect it is an edge.

If you have trouble selecting the correct edges, lowering this value will help. The default value is 0.15 and this offers a even balance in the detection system.

Detect Backfaces:

By default, Tweak 4D will only detect polygons that are facing the screen - the front face of the polygon

Select this box will make Tweak 4D also use the back face of a polygon. Under some circumstances Tweak 4D will select the wrong polygon with this option turned on. To avoid this it is recommended to align all your polygon normals and uncheck this option.

Points / Edges / Polygons

On some occasions you may wish to only tweak either just the Points, Edges or Polygons. These three checkbox's allow you to determine what is tweaked on your model. By default you can tweak Points, Edges and Polygons at once.

Highlight Colour:

For visual display only, allows you to change the colour of the highlighted polygons. Simply use it like any other Cinema 4D colour choosers.

 

 

 

Known Issues:

The detection system becomes slower on high polygon models This will vary depending on the speed of your processor.

Active Tool Dialog settings are reset every time the Active Tool Dialog is displayed

 

Contact Author:

iangorse@blueyonder.co.uk

http://www.spot4d.tk