Atom Array with Cloner

I take a few classes at FXPHD and one question I had today was about using the Cinema4D Atom Array and how to have individual control over the spheres.

I rebuilt the Atom Array using a couple of Cloner Objects. The first Cloner adds a Sphere to each Vertex of the object I’m cloning onto. The second Cloner Object adds a Cylinder to each edge of the object I’m cloning onto. The trick here is to use the Edge Scale parameter in the Cloner Object. This allows you to scale the clones to fit the length of the edge. You can also offset the clones for some interesting effect.

Cloner Edge Scale

To control the spheres, you can of course use Effectors, and this combined with the MoGraph Selections allows ultimate control. Alternatively, you can always use Xpresso for even more flexibility. The Atom Array is a simple one trick pony, this type of setup not only replicates the Atom Array but gives you a lot more besides.

Scale along the edges of the mesh

I also added the MoGraph Color Shader inside a Colorizer, this combined with a Random Effector allows you to randomise the colour of the Clones, but keep the random selection within a specific range of colours.

The scene is free to download here. I hope some of you find this useful?