CV-Swim 3: Import Adobe Swatch Exchange Files and Create Shaders from Colors with SwIm 3

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Instructor Rick Barrett

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  • Duration: 03:00
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  • Made with Release: 18
  • Works with Release: 18 - 19

Load ASE colors into Cinema 4D's Color Palette, and other color utilities

The CV-SwIm plugin provides useful utilities for working with color in Cinema 4D. Import Adobe Swatch Exchange files directly into C4D's color swatch library, and create materials, multi-shaders, gradients and colorizers from color swatches. CV-SwIm is an essential tool for anyone that needs to match a brand's style guide in 3D product visualization or motion graphics content.

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Version History:
v3
- Import to C4D Color Swatches (R18+)
- Create Materials, Gradients, Colorizer and Multishader from selected C4D swatches (R18+)

v2
- Import ASE files via File-Merge
- Create Materials, Gradients, Colorizer and Multishader from Swatch Files

v1
- Initial Script

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Transcript

Cineversity's SwIm plugin offers handy tools for working with color in Cinema 4D. The foundation is the Swatch Import module, which allows you to load Adobe Swatch Exchange files directly into Cinema 4D, and work with the colors that are stored within the file. You could, of course, export Swatch Exchange files for most Adobe applications, and also from many popular color websites. You can load Swatch Exchange files into Cinema 4D by choosing the Load Swatch File command from the CV Swatch menu in the Material Manager. Or simply choose File Merge, and select any ASE file. Once you click Open, you'll have the opportunity to choose how the colors in the file will be used in Cinema 4D. You can automatically create materials with every color, or you can create shaders, including the MoGraph Multi Shader, the Colorizer Shader, or the Gradient Shader, using the colors that are in the Swatch Exchange file. You can also choose to create a null object with every color in the Swatch Exchange file as a user data, so that you can easily access it that way. The most common option you'll use with SwIm 3.0 or greater and Cinema 4D R18 or greater, is the opportunity to directly update the color swatches in your Cinema 4D document. This will give you access to all of the colors in your Swatch Exchange file anytime you need to select a color in Cinema 4D. So you'll see that once we hit OK, we instantly have access to all of the lipstick colors. Now, remember those options to create gradients and color shaders, and multi shaders from the swatches? Well, you can do that with any swatches in your Document Swatches Palette. Just select the swatches and go to the CV Swatch menu, and you can choose to create materials from the swatches. Or you can choose to create a gradient from the swatches. Or you can choose to create a colorizer or a multi shader from the swatches. Once you have that multi shader, you can copy it from the material that's created into any place within your Cinema 4D materials. So I'm going to drop it here onto Layer 1 of my lipstick. Here's the multi shader that I had. I'm going to paste my new multi shader, and you can see that my lipstick colors were updated with all of the swatches that were in my Adobe Swatch Exchange file. So that's some of the power that you can achieve with the Cineversity SwIm plugin. This plugin is a joint development effort between myself and Donovan Keith, and we hope you enjoy it. If you have any feedback for us, or you just want to show us some cool projects you created with CV SwIm, let us know in the Cineversity forum. Of course, visit Cineversity often for more great Cinema 4D tutorials and resources.
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