This page provides information on the Corona Pattern object in Cinema 4D.
Overview
The Corona Pattern object can be used to cover a base object with a 3D pattern generated by repeating another object over the base object's surface.
This is a render-time effect; this means that pattern distribution over the base geometry object is only visible at render time and not in the viewport
It is not possible to export or convert a Corona Pattern object into an Editable Mesh since it is a render-time effect.
The Corona Pattern must use the following order to work properly:
- Base object
- Corona Pattern
- Pattern Geometry
Tutorial Corona Pattern with Cinema 4D
You can download sample pattern presets here.
A wide variety of ready-to-use Pattern objects are available right in the Cosmos assets. To use any of these, open the Cosmos Browser from the host app and navigate to the 3D Models > Enmesh - Pattern section.
Object Properties
Crop box
Edit mode – This parameter allows selecting between using the whole pattern geometry or only the section contained by the Crop box.
UV plane – This parameter defines the orientation (creation plane) that is used by the pattern geometry.
Crop box size X – Croppping the box size in X axis.
Crop box size Y – Croppping the box size in Y axis.
Crop box size Z – Croppping the box size in Z axis.
Fit in object space – Fits the crop box closely around the pattern geometry according to its object space orientation (the axes of the crop box are equal to the axes of the pattern local space).
Fit in world space – Fits the crop box closely around the pattern geometry according to the world space orientation (the axes of the crop box are equal to the axes of world space)
Fit in custom object space – Selects an object that defines the size and transformation of the crop box for the pattern.
Pattern placement
Automatic pattern height – When enabled, the pattern dimensions (aspect relation) always remain proportional.
Pattern height – Changes the height of the pattern along the base object normals. The default value of 100% corresponds to the unmodified height of the crop box.
Pattern offset – Offsets the pattern along the base object normals. The default value of 100% corresponds to having the pattern fully above the base object, while the value of -100% corresponds to the pattern being fully below the base object.
Render Settings
Material from – Selects between using the material from the pattern or the base object.
- Pattern Object – When selected, the material is taken from the pattern object.
- Base Object – When selected, the material is taken from the base object.
UVW mode – Selects what type of texture mapping coordinates (UVWs) are output by the pattern geometry.
- Pattern Object – UVWs are taken from the pattern object.
- Base Object – UVWs are taken from the base object.
Render base object – If switched on, the base object is rendered along with the repeated pattern geometry.
Restrict on material ID – If switched on, the repeated pattern is only shown at triangles of the base object that have the selected material ID. The triangles of the base object with different material IDs are displayed without the pattern (unmodified).
Material ID – Sets the material ID for the result.
Auto-generate caps – When enabled, Corona tries to automatically generate caps where the crop box intersects with the pattern geometry. For this to work correctly, the pattern geometry must be closed and needs to have valid normals pointing outwards from the pattern object.
On/Off map – When enabled, Corona applies the selected shader to enable/disable the pattern geometry. Otherwise, the pattern geometry is applied without any modifications.
Shader/Texture – Applies the On/Off map to the pattern using the UVW mapping from the base object.
UVW space
UVW Space
UVW Channel – Defines the UVW map channel for the result.
Offset U – Controls the horizontal offset.
Offset V – Controls the vertical offset.
Tiling U – Controls the horizontal repetition over the base object's surface.
Tiling V – Controls the vertical repetition over the base object's surface.
Random offset
From U – This parameter sets the initial position for the randomization in the U coordinate.
From V – This parameter sets the initial position for the randomization in the V coordinate.
To U – This parameter sets the maximum end position for the randomization in the U coordinate. The pattern object can randomly use any value between the From U and To U parameters.
To V – This parameter sets the maximum end position for the randomization in the V coordinate. The pattern object can randomly use any value between the From V and To V parameters.
Step U – Using a non-zero step restricts the possible random offsets to just multiples of the value.
Step V – Using a non-zero step restricts the possible random offsets to just multiples of the value.
Random rotation
From – This parameter sets the initial rotation angle (in degrees) for the randomization.
To – This parameter sets the maximum rotation angle (in degrees) for the randomization. The pattern object can randomly use any value between the From and To rotation parameters.
Step – This parameter lets you decide the rotation increment for the randomization.
Corona Pattern and Chaos Cosmos
A wide variety of ready-to-use Pattern objects are available right in the Cosmos assets.
To use any of these, open the Cosmos Browser from the host app and navigate to the 3D Models > Enmesh - Pattern section.
Examples
Auto-generate Caps
Green - pattern object.
Blue - base object.
The orange box represents the Pattern Crop Box.
Note that for the capping effect to work, the pattern object must be closed (all holes capped) and the Crop Box must be intersecting with it.
UVW Mode
In this example, different textures are mapped on the pattern object and the base object.
The left-side image shows the UVW mode set to "Pattern object". The detail texture is mapped using the pattern object UVWs.
The right-side image shows the UVW mode set to "Base object". The large-scale texture is mapped using the base object UVWs.
UV tiling
Tiling controls the number of pattern tiles on the base object. It works exactly the same as tiling in the case of 2D textures/shaders.
On/Off map
In this example, the Corona Pattern object is applied to the plane with the Corona logo texture. There is a red box underneath to better showcase the effect of the "Render base object" option.
The same Corona logo texture is used for the plane and the pattern "On/Off map".
