Cinema 4D Introduction

Stephen was holding my afternoon Creative Suit workshop today, he introduced a new programme to me, Maxon Cinema4D. Cinema4D lies at the intersection between 2D and 3D digital asset generation, and its industry leading toolset allows for the production of high-fidelity static and motion based work. Its capability can be applied to almost any creative brief and its rendered output options reach across the entire spectrum of digital media - from posters to packaging, and from movie effects to full 3D animation and even VR. The basis of the workshop, included going over the various palettes and manager panels before going trough a number of small experiments aimed at familiarising me with a 3D computer graphic workflow. At the end of the workshop, I had an outcome that displayed a 3D logo in Cinema4D, by extruding a vector and adding a material. I also had a few pieces to share from the experimental tasks as well. 

Tools and features that I looked at including exploring the workspace, adding objects for static renders, applying deformers and monograph objects, and working with splines and NURBS. I also utilised light and shadow, as well as adding colour, texture and simulated materials to objects. I rendered for both still images and animation, and added additional cameras to my work to add numerous points of view. I will go through these steps in details below, to show my understanding of the programme.

I was given the screenshot above before I opened up the Cinema4D programme. This analysis gave me an idea on how the software is played out, and what setting and tools I will most likely be using today. This included the Menu, command groups, object manager, data entry fields, coordinator manager, animation toolbar, material manager, 3D view, and command palettes. As a starter lesson, remembering all these features was extremely hard, but it was just an introduction, I will most likely be using this software properly in my second year - increasing my knowledge even more. 

Opening the programme, I set my layout to startup, it should automatically be on this setting anyway, but if not, for future reference, I will be using this layout. To be able to use the tools and features, I needed to create a box in my workspace, this cube could then be changed and adjusted using the toolbars around the edge. I selected the box button, and it drew out a box in the middle of my view. 

With this box, I could change the scale, placement, length, etc using the buttons on the top tool bar. These could be used with any given shape or object. There are also shortcuts on the keyboard that I can use instead, once I understand where everything else is inside the programme. Below are screenshots of the tools, as well as different sized boxes, also using the handle bars inside the shape itself. 

I could change how many segments I wanted inside the cube. For each face, I could split the length into smaller squares, this would be used for measuring the side of a shape. 

I opened up a file that Stephen had saved for us - it was a set up of creams and a box. These were all 3D looking, and I was to render these objects so that they could save and look good on a professionally set up background, rather than sat in the original 3D editing view. I saved it as a still image to be able to render it correctly. There were no moving, animated elements. 

After learning the effects of rendering, we opened a number of other Cinema 4D documents. This was key, to be able to find our way around many other sections of the programme. We could dig into layers of art work, using extreme amounts of detail to create one final outcome. We also looked at a piece of work that gave us different perspectives and views inside one piece of work, using many different cameras. I have screenshots below of the work I opened - showing an insight of many angles. 

The next stage involved our own interpretation. We opened an animated piece of work, leaving us to edit the rotating object. I could add rectangular bricks inside the rotation, I could change the angle of the shadow, and I could also change the speed the rotation kept to. I did this by using the setting in the bottom right corner. I rendered this animation as a movie, and uploaded it to my vimeo account.

Cloner spin from Emily-Beth Phillips on Vimeo

After editing the short animated object, I worked on created a cube that displayed a number of lighting and shadowing. I added in a floor, that I had previously looked at, and create a surface for the lighting to bounce off. This cube was then adjusted so that faces were covered by shadows, created by the lighting from another angle. I changed the colour of the lights, as well as the colour of the cube itself. I added in a number of lights, adjusting the strength and distance from the object. I have screenshot my development and presented it below, showing the change in form and perspective. I was happy with the way my 3D object looked, after only using this programme for the first time today. 

The last self negotiated task we were given by Stephen was to create a typography based logo or any piece of text. I placed in the words 'Graphic Design' and adjusted the light placement, colour, font, etc. It was a great way to present the tools I had been using in the session, and apply them to my own creation. I enjoyed using this programme for the first time, however I learnt a lot of techniques that are quite hard to remember, however I will get to know more about the software in year two of university - it will become clearer, just like the Adobe programmes I use at the moment. 

The animation below was a piece of work already made, it was there to help me understand how rendering works for different types of media. This was the outcome I created once rendered and saved. Cinema 4D is extremely powerful and can create beautiful art work or animation. Today was a starter and a tester, I will pick up on much more in the future.

PAPER from Emily-Beth Phillips on Vimeo.