Cinema 4D Feature

Cinema 4D tutorials: 30 projects to up your 3D skills

Apr 12, 2013 14:04 pm 2 comments

UPDATED: Boost your 3D skillset with these enjoyable Cinema 4D tutorials, including: creating easy depth of field effects, mastering the physics engine, and fixing those messy lathe NURBS...

Since its release, Cinema 4D has become the foremost 3D modelling, animation and rendering application. Developed by Maxon, Cinema 4D is capable of procedural and polygonal/subd modelling, animating, lighting, texturing, rendering, and common features found in 3D modelling applications.

These Cinema 4D tutorials will help you to master the basics, and put you well on your way to becoming an expert!

Cinema 4D tutorials

How to make your 3D objects dance

We kick off our cluster bomb of Cinema 4D tutorials by explaining how to bring a shape (or object) to life and make it 'dance' to music. Learn how to create an animation involving complex expressions and dynamics in Cinema 4D.

Create brilliant motion graphics in Cinema 4D

The world of motion graphics is continually evolving, with techniques constantly progressing as work becomes more advanced and complex. Here, 3D animation meets graphic design as Tim Clapham shows you how to animate and composite a pro-quality logo sequence.

Cinema 4D tutorials — Create brilliant motion graphics with this tutorial from Tim Clapham

How to create realistic depth of field effects

This tutorial does exactly what it says on the tin. See how easy it is to play around with depth of field effects in Cinema 4D. Use particle emitters and physics tags to get the results you want and then selectively sharpen your work in Photoshop.

How to give your logo work a 3D edge

2D just doesn't cut it any more. It's time to bolster your Photoshop skills by bringing Cinema 4D into play. Nervous? Don't be. Barton Damer will show you the way.

Use stills to create a dynamic 3D landscape

With a 3D package and some decent 2D landscape photographs, you can create a full-motion fly-through sequence. Michaeljohn Day reveals how.

Build cages without plotting each spline individually

3D artist Rob Redman reveals how to use Cinema 4D’s Edge to Spline command and take the pain out of cage-building.

Nail the basics

Get to grips with the symmetry object

In this Prosential tip, guest host Michael Szabo from Big Mike Design demonstrates the Cinema 4D Symmetry Object. A quick and helpful insight into one of Cinema 4D's most important tools.

Capture and set up camera calibration

In part one of this tutorial, you'll discover how to capture, prep and calibrate an image using the new Camera Calibration Tool in C4D R14. Then you'll learn how to model a simple scene that will use the camera calibration as a texture.

Camera morph in Cinema 4D

Creative Bloq contributor Rob Redman delivers this short tutorial on Cinema 4D R14 which you can now buy from Maxon. Here is an introduction to the Camera Morph tag, a quick to use and intuitive system for animating cameras with the minimum of effort.

Materials 101: Working with materials in Cinema 4D

This is a 101 tutorial, which introduces you to how materials work in Cinema 4D. You'll discover what layers are, and what the different parameters are; how to use them and what they do. It will also explain the difference between transparency and alpha, and other little details of the material system.

Movie madness

Build your own TRON light cycle in Cinema 4D

Here, Cinema 4D tutorial.net teaches you how to combine 3D and VFX elements to make a complete sequence. In this tutorial you will create a scene that looks like TRON Legacy. You will learn how to make a realistic TRON light cycle, and create an awesome scene.

Ghost Rider 2 Titles using Cinema 4d and After Effects

Learn how to draw and animate your own title with this fantastic style. In Cinema 4D R13 you'll make and animate the letters of the logo with an interesting letter bevel style and then animate the fantastic chain of Ghost Rider. In After Effects you'll continue with the styling of the incandescent reveal with the incredible heat haze effect.

Create a cartoon worm character

Take a look at this tutorial, for an insight into creating a cartoon character complete with a colourful background. You'll be using techniques in Cinema 4D, so you may want to have a little experience before approaching this one.

Get sporty

Make a baseball intro with Cinema 4D

In this tutorial, you will recreate a baseball animation. You'll start by texturing the baseball and setting the animation with CS Tools’ Move Null. Then, you'll model and animate the dirt using the landscape object and a particle emitter.

Your serve: Ping Pong Paddle render in Cinema 4D

In this hour long tutorial, you will learn how to set up, light and render a ping pong scene. First, you'll alter the models to try to make them more realistic by adding geometry and altering the textures. Then, you'll light and compose the scene using an HDR Image from my HDRI Studio Pack, Global Illumination, a specular light, and the physical renderer.

Create a checkerboard shaker

In this quick tutorial, you'll discover everything you need to know about how to create a checkerboard shaker in Cinema 4D. From shading and colouring to using a cylindrical projection map, there's plenty of tips and tricks here to keep you going!

Animation

How to animate your fonts in Cinema 4D

Plucked from the Cinema 4D tutorials over on Computer Arts magazine, learn how to animate 3D text with ease, use the MoGraph Cloner effector, add Dynamics to objects and render your animations.

Grow an object over time in Cinema 4D

In this video, Rob Redman shows you how to animate the growth of a plant or other object along a defined path.

How to add a 3D object to a photo backplate

Rob Redman returns to show you how to integrate your own 3D model into a pre-photographed environment.

Animate a tree

In this tutorial, 3D artist Robert Leger explains how to created this cool tree and how to attach hooks for the chains to that tree.

The 3 rules of great cinematography

How to fix messy lathe NURBS in Cinema 4D

More Cinema 4D tutorials. This time, 3D World magazine regular Rob Redman explains how to take control of your splines.

The 3 rules of cinematography for animators

The difference between a professionally composed and edited film and an unwatchable mess comes down to having paid attention to a three simple rules...

How to manage scenes with XRefs in Cinema 4D

In this video, learn how to efficiently manage your asset library plus a great way of integrating objects into other scenes.

Improve your workflow with shortcuts

How to create an animation using dynamics

Ben Miners uses the Tracer object and other dynamics tools in Cinema 4D to assemble a complex animation from simple parts.

How to create custom keyboard shortcuts

As far as our Cinema 4D tutorials go, this one is incredibly useful on a day-to-day basis. See how you can streamline your workflow by choosing exactly the key commands/shortcuts that you want.