Python Character Tag

Methods

BuildTemplate()
Override - Called each time a character template is saved using the Save Character Template command.
Good place to insert objects, to dynamically build a template or modify the template document.

Note

If any components are added, appropriate settings have to be added as well to the Character Component Tag.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The template document.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The object with the Component tag.

GetComponents()
Override - Called at every redraw to retrieve a list of available components.
Good place to specify which component buttons are shown within the Character object.

Note

The standard inclusion rules specified in the Component tags will apply when None is returned.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type template

c4d.modules.character.builder.Template

param template

The template.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The parent component’s main object.

type pcomp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param pcomp

The parent component.

type pcompop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param pcompop

The parent component object.

rtype

c4d.BaseContainer

return

Link of available components.

The next example from the Python tab of the Character object ensures an object with the name “Spine_null” to be present. Until a Spine is added, no other components can be added, regardless of the parent.

Note

The FindObject method searches for the object name, not the component name. A BaseContainer is returned in this example only when no Spine exists, so once a Spine is added the inclusion rules in the Component Tags will be used.

import c4d

def GetComponents():
    # Check if there is already no Spine object in the Character Object found in the scene.
    if charop.FindObject("Spine_null") is None:

        # Find the Spine object in the template
        spineObject = template.FindObject("Spine_null")
        if splineObject is None:
            return None

        # If there is a spineObject we store it into a BaseContainer
        bc = c4d.BaseContainer()
        bc.SetLink(1, spineObject)

        return bc
ModeChanged()
Override - Called each time when the mode (Build, Adjust, Bind, Animate) is changed.
Good place to change the visibility of objects or enable/disable functions like expressions according to a mode.

Note

Modification of the Character object should be done directly within the function.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The object attached to the Component tag.

type compop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param compop

The component object.

type omode

int

param omode

The old mode.

Note

These constants are defined in the c4d.modules.character.builder module so c4d.modules.character.builder.COMPONENT_OBJECT_GETOBJECTS_TYPE_ALL should be used and not c4d.COMPONENT_OBJECT_GETOBJECTS_TYPE_ALL.

Symbol ID

Description

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_BUILD

Build Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_ADJUST

Adjust Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_BIND

Bind Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_ANIMATE

Animate Mode.
type nmode

int

param nmode

The new mode.

Note

These constants are defined in the c4d.modules.character.builder module so c4d.modules.character.builder.COMPONENT_OBJECT_GETOBJECTS_TYPE_ALL should be used and not c4d.COMPONENT_OBJECT_GETOBJECTS_TYPE_ALL.

Symbol ID

Description

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_BUILD

Build Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_ADJUST

Adjust Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_BIND

Bind Mode.

ID_CA_CHARACTER_MODE_ANIMATE

Animate Mode.
InsertComponent()
Override - Used within the Component tag’s Python tab it’s called at each insertion action to override them.
All objects should be inserted into the document used to create the component, and the main component object that was inserted into the document should be returned.

Override - Used within an Insertion rule on the Insertion tab of the Component tag, it’s called at each insertion to change where and how the object will be inserted.
The global variable itype should be defined to indicates the insertion type (like the Insert drop-down in the rule) and the c4d.BaseObject that corresponds to the Object attribute in the rules should be returned.

The following variables are local to this function:
type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type template

c4d.modules.character.builder.Template

param template

The template.

type pcompop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param pcompop

The parent component object.

type pcomp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param pcomp

The parent component.

type comp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param comp

The component to be inserted.

type itype

int

param itype

The insertion type for rule inserts. Need to be set before return.

Note

These constants are defined in the c4d.modules.character.builder module so c4d.modules.character.builder.COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_FIRST should be used and not c4d.COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_FIRST.

Symbol ID

Description

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_FIRST

Insert as first Child of returned object.

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_LAST

Insert as last Child of returned object.

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_BEFORE

Insert before returned object.

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_AFTER

Insert after returned object.

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_ACTIVE

Insert From Parent, using the Default Insert object of the Parent component.

COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_END

Insert at the end of the returned object’s hierarchy.
rtype

c4d.BaseObject

return

The main component object if in the Python tab or the object, the component should be inserted under, if in the Insertion tab.

The next example from the Python Insertion rule of the Character tag defines under which object to insert the component, depending on the parent component already has a child or not.

import c4d

def InsertComponent():
   # Check if the parent component already has a child object.
   if pcompop.GetDown():
       # If so, insert as child of Start Cap
       # Find the Start Cap object within the parent component
       iop = pcompop.FindObject("Start_Cap_con+")

       # Set itype to insert as First Child
       itype = c4d.moules.character.builder.COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_FIRST

       # Return the object to be inserted under
       return iop
   else:
       # Otherwise, insert as child of End Cap.
       # Find the End Cap object within the parent component
       iop = pcompop.FindObject("End_Cap_con+")

       # Set itype to insert as First Child
       itype = c4d.moules.character.builder.COMPONENT_INSERT_TYPE_FIRST

       # Return the object to be inserted under
       return iop
PostInsertComponent()
Override - Called after a component has been inserted in the Character object and only if InsertComponent is not used.

Note

Change should be done directly to the inserted objects within the function.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type pcompop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param pcompop

The parent component object.

type pcomp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param pcomp

The parent component.

type comp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param comp

The component to be inserted.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The main component object that was inserted.

type compop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param compop

The inserted component.

MirrorComponent()
Override - Called when a mirrored component is added to the Character object. Mirrored components are automatically generated when multiple components of the same type are added with the same parent, based on the settings in the Component tag’s mirroring tab.

Note

MirrorComponent is called before PostInsertComponent and the mirrored component can be modified directly within this function.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The main component object that was inserted.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type comp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param comp

The component to be inserted.

type compop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param compop

The inserted component.

type pcomp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param pcomp

The parent component.

type pcompop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param pcompop

The parent component object.

rtype

bool

return

True if mirroring was done by Python.

IncludeObjects()
Override - Used to include additional objects with the component, similar to the Component tag’s Include tab.
All objects that will be included should be defined in the global variable incdata as a BaseContainer

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type iop

c4d.BaseObject

param iop

The main component object that was inserted.

type iparent

c4d.BaseObject

param iparent

The parent component object of the inserted object.

type icharop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param icharop

The Character object present in the scene.

type iincdata

c4d.BaseContainer

param iincdata

All objects that will be included where each entry is a BaseLink to the object and the index is an integer corresponding to the InExcludeData flags:

Value

Description

1

Hierarchy.

2

Sharing.

4

Self-Sharing.
rtype

bool

return

True if incdata was changed.

AdjustObject()
Override - Used in the Adjustments tab in the Code field of a Python type Adjustment rule.
Called continuously while the related handle is being adjusted.

Note

All matrices for this function are local to the Character object.
This function is called after AdjustObject.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The object linked to the Adjustment rule.

type targ

c4d.BaseObject

param targ

The object linked in the field of the Adjustment rule.

type cmg

c4d.Matrix

param cmg

The matrix of the Character object.

type m

c4d.Matrix

param m

The object’s current matrix should not be modified.

type om

c4d.Matrix

param om

The object’s original matrix.

type targm

c4d.Matrix

param targm

The target’s current matrix

type targom

c4d.Matrix

param targom

The target’s original matrix.

rtype

c4d.Matrix

return

The matrix to set for the object.

GetDependency()
Override - Used in the Adjustments tab in the Code field of a Python type Adjustment rule.
It defines the objects upon which the rule depends (e.g. if an adjustment rule needs to set position based on 3 other objects - such as a pole vector - , it should be returned a c4d.BaseContainer with those 3 objects).
This allows the Character object to create a dependency tree so that adjustments will be evaluated in the correct order, since one rule could change the object matrix used by another rule.

Note

This function is called prior to AdjustObject.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The object linked to the Adjustment rule.

type linkop

c4d.BaseObject

param linkop

The object linked in the field of the Adjustment rule.

rtype

c4d.BaseContainer

return

Containing BaseLinks (ID isn’t evaluated) of the dependent objects.

TransformComponent()
Override - Used in the Insertion tab in the Code field of a Python type Insertion rule.
It defines the coordinates of the component.

Note

All matrices for this function are local to the Character object.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type template

c4d.modules.character.builder.Template

param template

The template.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type pcompop

c4d.modules.character.builder.ComponentObject

param pcompop

The parent component object.

type pcomp

c4d.modules.character.builder.Component

param pcomp

The parent component.

type op

c4d.BaseObject

param op

The main component object.

rtype

c4d.Matrix

return

The new global matrix to set for the main component object.

AllowComponent()
Override - Used in the Insertion tab in the Code field of a Python type Insertion rule.
It defines if the component is allowed.

The following variables are local to this function:

type doc

c4d.documents.BaseDocument

param doc

The document containing the Character object.

type charop

c4d.modules.character.builder.CharacterObject

param charop

The Character object present in the scene.

type template

c4d.modules.character.builder.Template

param template

The template.

rtype

bool

return

True if the component is allowed otherwise False.