Learn Cinema 4D Lite: Go With The Flow 2.0 (Tutorial)

Set up your first Cinema 4D scene

1. Open Cinema 4D
   • In After Effects, go to File ⇢ New ⇢ MAXON Cinema 4D File...
     • If you're using the retail version of Cinema 4D, skip this step.
   • Choose a save location and Cinema 4D will open.
2. (Optional) Open the reference for this lesson
   • In Cinema 4D, go to Window ⇢ Picture Viewer.
   • Open the reference image for this lesson. (Get it here!)
   • Click and drag to dock the Picture Viewer in the layout.
     • Use this as a guide for framing things up. You can also grab colors from the swatches!

Create a capsule object

1. Create a new Capsule object
   • Create a new capsule object from the Primitives panel.
     • Height 2000cm
     • Radius 150cm
   • Hit O to frame the selection.
2. Create a material
   • Double-click in the Materials manager to create a new material.
   • Click and drag to apply to the capsule.
3. Edit the material
   • Double-click the material to open the Material Editor.
   • Turn these channels off:
     • Color Uncheck
     • Reflectance Uncheck
   • And turn this channel on:
     • Luminance Check
4. Create a gradient texture
   • Add a Gradient texture to the Luminance channel and edit it.
   • For each gradient stop, use the eyedropper tool to sample (or choose your own):
     
     • Color 1 #5076a6
     • Color 2 #ff637e
     • Color 3 #f1e9e6
   • Change the orientation of the texture.
     
     • Type 2D - V

Create a background object

1. Create a background object
   • Create a new Background object from the Environment panel.
   • Create a new material for it.
   • Drag the new material to the Object Manager and apply to the Background.
2. Edit the material
   • Edit the new material.
   • Turn on the Luminance channel and turn off everything else.
   • In the Luminance channel, use the eyedropper tool to sample (or choose your own):
     • Color #3f2d50

Animate with the wind object

1. Create a Wind object
   • Create a new Wind object from the Deformers panel.
   • Make it a child of the capsule object.
   • Change the object attributes:
     • Amplitude 150
     • Size 100cm
     • Frequency 1
     • Turbulence 0%
     • fx 1.05
     • fy 1
     • Flag Uncheck
   • Change the coordinates:
     • Rotate H 0°
     • Rotate P 20°
     • Rotate B 90°
2. Give the capsule more subdivisions
   • In the Viewport, Display ⇢ Gouraud Shading (Lines). 
     • Turns on a wireframe view. Now we can see subdivisions.
   • Select the capsule object and change the properties:
     • Height Segments 50
     • More subdivisions will give us a smoother object.
   • Change the coordinates:
     • Rotate H -90°
     • Rotate P -30°
     • Rotate B -80°
3. Press the play button
   • Click the Play button in the Timeline panel. SWEET JOY OF JOYS. IT'S ALREADY ANIMATED. YOU ARE ANIMATOR. 😍
   • Adjust the attributes in the wind object. 
     • PLAY TIME! Try changing up the attributes and see what happens.
     • Amplitude Taller Curves
     • Size Wider Curves
     • Frequency Animation Speed
     • Turbulence Randomness
     • fx More Horizontal Animation
     • fy More Vertical Animation

Export from After Effects

1. Get ready to render
   • Open Render Settings (⌘B / Ctrl B).
     • Width 1080
     • Height 1080
     • Frame Range All Frames
2. Frame up your scene
   • Frame the object in the render area.
     • Those dark areas on the sides of the viewport won't render. The square will! 🙌🏼
   • Hold down 1 and click-and-drag to pan.
   • Hold down 2 and click-and-drag to zoom. 
3. Create a composition from your scene in After Effects
   • Save your Cinema 4D file (File ⇢ Save or ⌘S / Ctrl S).
   • Go back to After Effects.
   • Right-click the .c4d file and go to Interpret Footage ⇢ Main. Change the settings:
     •  Alpha Check Ignore
   • Right-click again and go to New Comp from Selection.
   • In the CINEWARE panel, change the renderer type:
     • Renderer Standard (Final)
4. (Optional) Export a still frame
   • Go to Composition ⇢ Save Frame As... ⇢ File to add a still frame to your Render Queue.
   • (Optional) Click Output Module to change the default Photoshop to PNG or JPG.
   • Click Render to save.
5. (Optional) Export a video
   • Go to Composition ⇢ Add to Render Queue (⌘M / Ctrl M) to add a video to your Render Queue.
   • (Optional) Click Output Module to change the output settings.
   • Click Render to save.