Xpresso Task 10 Notes

It’s been a while since there has been a Xpresso task so when Robert posted that there was a new one I was really interested in trying my hand at some more Xpresso. The task he put forth was to create a Christmas tree that you could customize through used data such as height amount of branches or cones, width, etc…  I was able to complete that fairly quickly.

The next level was to at some decorations which found a bit tough and in the end only had a star on the top because i couldn’t figure out how to have enough control with my bulbs. I would be interested if any one else figure it out.

The last level was to setup a control for presets. Robert suggested using Python or C.O.F.F.E.E though you could do it with all with Xpresso. After some research on both languages I choose to do mine with Python even though c.o.f.f.e.e looked easier since I have programed in java and action script. I choose Python since that’s what Robert, seems to have more uses outside of cinema, and I could get help from friend who is a real programmer and knows python.

It took  me a little bit to understand the format since it is different then other languages I know but with a good site recommended by my friend and some example found on line I was able to hack something together. In the end my setup was more complicated then it needed to be but I learned a lot. Check out Robert Leger’s Result for the way he did it, http://vimeo.com/34013560. I will put my file below to download and the links I used.

G2B Xpresso X-mas Tree << I left some hidden controls in the file that didn’t quite work.

http://docs.python.org/tutorial/index.html
http://www.peranders.com/w/index.php?title=Python/C4DSDK#For_R12
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/index.htm << Friend Recomended
http://www.maxon.net/index.php?id=157&L=0 << C4D Site
http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkCSpy/html/chap03.html
http://chicagoc4d.com/C4DPythonSDK/