MographToNulls for C4D R20 – Free Download Python Script Tag

Practically everyone who has ever worked with Cinema 4D knows the power of MoGraph. A super handy toolset with which you can create cool motion graphics in no time. The integration of effectors (and fields) help you to control all kinds of settings such as PSR, color, and weighting. And what about blending clones... With "MoData" - either the data node or through scripting - you have access to your individual clones, except for...

What if your individual clones themselves contain a hierarchy, how do you get access to the elements within that hierarchy? The short answer: you can't, but there is a handy solution.

MographToNulls for C4D R20 (& R19)

Years ago, Peranders published the "MographToNulls" in Coffee script. I have often used it in the past. But, since release 20 of C4D, the Coffee module has been written off, and we no longer have access to it.

It was about a year ago that it was announced that R20 no longer supported coffee. Since then, I have been learning Python in between jobs and in my free time. Fortunately, I had tested and done enough that I was able to convert the Coffee script to a (more convenient :) Python version.

The advantage of a scripting tag instead of a plugin is that it can be used in the same way in both R20 and R19. A plugin would require two different versions since the plugin structure in R20 has also been changed.

The second advantage is that you can easily implement any changes yourself. If you have an interesting addition or modification, I will appreciate it if you send me a message.

Tip before use: If you download the c4d file, you will see a Null object with a Python scripting tag. Press with your right mouse button on the tag & click on "Save Tag Preset ...". With this, you always have access to the tag when you need it.
...Tags / Load Tag Preset / User / Tags / MographToNulls_py

This is how simple the scripting tag works:

1. Attach the MographToNulls_py tag to an object
2. Add one object "as a child" below the object to which the tag is attached - this object can, of course, have a complete hierarchy of itself
3. Drag a Cloner - or Matrix - to the link field of the MographToNulls tab of the tag
4. Press the "duplicateChild" button to duplicate one object to all Clone instances of your Cloner object & voila, you have access to everything you want
5. If you want to undo something or get a new set of objects, press the “removeAll_butOne” button to delete anything but one object. And then press "duplicateChild" again

As you will notice, the button interactions are very useful. It ensures that the entire flow is done in seconds. In contrast, the old coffee version was more awkward to deal with. If you know this version, you will be happy with the new one.

Although I have tested this tag in various setups in R19 & R20, I cannot guarantee the workings in every situation. Save your work first before applying the tag. The script at this moment only works for one frame / a still. An update for animation will follow soon…

DOWNLOAD NOW: MographToNulls_py.c4d.zip

A practical example where the MographToNull tag was necessary:

The basic concept of the video below was the generation of geometry through an animated and looping noise pattern. In short, the trick was to feed a jpg sequence to a clone’s vectorizer, extrude it, displace it and apply a polygon reduction. Without the workflow of Peranders, this could only have been done by copying the MoGraph setup and then applying a destructive CTO. It is possible, but it doesn’t work very well.

The entire "infiniteNoise" setup was made in Xpresso. If you press pause here and there, you may see a few more useful items for your own setup. But the bottom line is that everything also works in C4D R20.

If you want to know more about the MographToNulls script or the setup of the preview video, you can always contact me via CallTheONE.