Top Tip Tuesday - NeXus Particle Trails

In this week’s Top Tip Tuesday, we are creating turbulent particle trails, using motion inheritance settings, nxTurbulence and nxConstraints. We cache a low-particle count scene and then use this with the nxUpres modifier, to generate a high-particle count version. By mixing particle position and velocity, we create a stylized, detailed particle trail.
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[@thegreatszalam]

I love this final look. It's like a mix between fluid and flocking, but without any complicated setups. It's so nice!

[@hoaeto2180]

Don't stop these examples please I always waiting you ❤

[@Oddernod]

And a great explanation of when you want to use CONTINUE in the cache object to boot 🙏🏻

[@Shafy7]

Can’t wait for the release. Make it quick. Too soon is enough.

[@thegreatszalam]

The features in this tip are available now!

[@ExpressoMechanicTV]

Great - many thanks for sharing!

[@theSevenThings]

just soo good...

[@lineardrift]

Love this!!! Thank you for sharing. Can you please show how to apply Red Shift to this?

[@mikkelmelby]

dope

[@benreddog]

Thank you, another fantastic tip!! Though when I follow I don't get the same initial amount of particles - or same amount of movement on vibrate tag - have to increase particle emission and vibrate amount way beyond Bob's settings. Would be great to know scale of sphere and any other settings that differ from the default that may be causing such different results. Thanks in advance

[@INSYDIUMLTD]

Glad you like the tip and thanks for the feedback. The sphere in Bob's scene is only 10cm in radius which will explain the difference in animation you're experiencing. His emitter is set to 'Per Frame' Birthrate timing, not 'Per Second'. This will explain your particle count discrepancy. This can be adjusted in the Emission tab of the xpEmitter. The Birthrate parameter has a twirl-down. Open this to change the mode.

[@benreddog]

@@INSYDIUMLTD ​ @INSYDIUMLTD thanks, that helped with particle count, still getting very different results - if sphere is 10cm then 100cm on amp on vibrate tag is only moving the sphere by it's own width - have to reduce sphere to 4cm and up vibrate amplitude to 400cm to get anything similar , wonder why? Also nxContraints seems very buggy on M2 Mac

[@INSYDIUMLTD]

@@benreddog Make sure you have 'Regular Pulse' selected in the vibrate tag. Bob explains he's using this in the scene setup. Without this setting active, your sphere won't animate like it does in the video. If you're having any issues with nxConstraints, please can you contact technical support so we can help? You can explain what's happening and provide us with an example scene to look at.

[@benreddog]

@@INSYDIUMLTD Thanks for your response, much appreciated - had 'Regular Pulse' on as outlined by Bob. Had the sphere at 10cm too. Very embarrassed to say that I had inadvertently scaled the sphere up while trying to match the particle emission. Completely my bad.😔

[@matthewbrown-u4y]

Hey @insydium is there a fix for Nexus not working in the latest Version of C4d (2024.4.0) - The GPU doesn't kick in and the manual button isn't there anymore. All help appreciated!

[@INSYDIUMLTD]

INSYDIUM Fused 2023.3.1 is fully compatible with Cinema 4D 2024.4. If you are experiencing any issues, please contact our Customer Services or Technical Support so they can step through your issue and help resolve it. Thanks.

[@chpdigital]

Guys, this is all cool, of course, but Cinema 4D has released its own cool particles that work natively in the program :)

[@Oldyellowbrick]

It’s currently a very basic system compared. And given Maxons track record of set and forget updates there won’t be that much more added.

[@INSYDIUMLTD]

Cinema 4D has always had native particles: standard and Thinking Particles. Try recreating the effects from our Top Tips with the new Cinema 4D particle system and show us what you come up with.

[@thegreatszalam]

After Effects has a native particle system too (several, in fact), but I still use Trapcode Particular for (almost) all my After Effects particle work. For some things in Cinema 4D, I'll be using the new particle system of course, but for complex setups, I'm still going to be using XP/Nexus for quite some time I'm sure.

[@chpdigital]

@@Oldyellowbrick No, it's easy to use, honestly for 90% of cases, a standard particle system would be enough. Look at my another comment in this tread.

[@chpdigital]

@@thegreatszalam Yes, it makes sense, but for 90% of cases, a standard particle system would be enough. For example, you could see stunning examples from Vladislav Solovjov or Mikhail Sedov in the showreel of the new feature and on their profiles. Also, C4D has an awesome node system that is easy to use for particles. But for more complex work, I usually prefer to use Houdini FX, for example, for liquids. It's much better than x-particles or the standard VDB meshing in C4D atm.