Cinema 4d Manual

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CINEMA 4D Curriculum3D FOR THE REAL WORLD

CINEMA 4D

RELEASE 10.x


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ii | Table of Contents

Contents

Curriculum Description 1

Educational Philosophy of the Tutorials . . . . . . . 1

Role of the Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Beyond the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

About Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Basic CINEMA 4D Setup 3

Editor Camera Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Gouraud Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Render Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Active Axis Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Color System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Keyboard Operation & Commands 4

Basic Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Using the Tutorials 5

The General Structure of a Tutorial . . . . . . . . . 5

Use of Names in Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

A Note About Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . 5

Intro to Computer Animation 6

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Texturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Overview of the CINEMA 4D GUI 8


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Common Icons in CINEMA 4D 9

Intro Tutorial 10

Navigation in CINEMA 4D 18

The GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Window Styles: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Views and Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Navigating in the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Coordinate Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Moving the view (camera) . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Camera Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Moving, Rotating and Scaling Objects . . . . . . . 20

Navigation Tutorial 22

Introduction to Modeling 32

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Displaying Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The Object Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Object Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Object Hierarchies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Arranging Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Grouping Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Modeling Intro Tutorial 37


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Primitives Practice 46

Splines & Generators 50

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Bézier splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

useful tools & operations for points . . . . . . . . . 51

interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

A note on backing-up: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Spline Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Extrude NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Lathe NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Sweep NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Loft NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Bézier NURBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Caps and Rounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Splines & Generators Tutorial 56

U and V Subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Table Lamp Tutorial 68

Vases Tutorial 74

Splines & Generators Practice 77

One Generator Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Multi Generator Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Polygon Modeling 80

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Polygons & Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Selecting Points/Polys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Moving Points/Polys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Point/Poly Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81HyperNURBS Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Deformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84


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Polygon Modeling Tutorial 85

Polygon Practice 96

HyperNURBS Bottle Tutorial 101

Table Modeling Tutorial 104

Pitcher Tutorial 110

Introduction to Materials 115

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Texture Map (Bitmapped Texture) . . . . . . . . 118

Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

3D Shaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Texture Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

UVW Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Tiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Materials Intro Tutorial 121

Parameters in the Material Editor . . . . . . . . 124

Texture Tag Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Bump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Glow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Luminance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Fog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Alpha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Texturing and Label Tutorial 133


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Table Shader Tutorial 136

Lamp Materials Tutorial 140

Introduction to Lighting 145

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Light Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Visible Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Other Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Using Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Lighting Intro Tutorial 150

Composing & Lighting a Scene 156

Introduction to Animation 165 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Keyframing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

The Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

F-Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Animating Special Effects & Parameters . . . . . . 168

Morphing & PLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Animation Intro Tutorial 169

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Placing Keys in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . 175

Keys and Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Copying Keys & Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Animating a Deformer . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Cameras and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178


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Sun-Earth-Moon Tutorial 181

Introduction to Rendering 185

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

The Picture Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Antialiasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Output Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Other Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Rendering Intro Tutorial 188

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The Physics of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The Light Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Biology of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Additive Color, the RGB System . . . . . . . . . 193

Subtractive Color, the CYMK System . . . . . . . 194Color Pickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Lighting & Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Refraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

The Camera Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Focal Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Focal Length & Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . 201

F-stop & Depth of Field . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Relevance to 3D Modeling & Animation . . . . . . 202


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Curriculum Description

These materials were developed for teaching computer modeling and animation to above average highschool juniors and seniors who have been successful in geometry; they should also work well for an intro-

ductory college level course. Each major area of instruction, polygon modeling for example, has both anintroductory background section and a tutorial. The background sections are intended to be read outsideof class to prepare students for the tutorials. Most units have additional tutorials to illustrate particularconcepts and to offer more practice with tools and techniques.

Educational Philosophy of the TutorialsThis curriculum is structured to teach the techniques of modeling and animation in CINEMA 4D while alsoinstilling an understanding of the underlying concepts; that is, it describes the why along with the how.Because of it’s methodical approach, it is more suited to a year long class where students will have ampleopportunity to execute projects in the second semester. This is a dryer approach than a high interest,project-based curriculum but I believe it fosters more independence and versatility later on when students

are cut loose to create on their own. It is recommended to occasionally break up the tutorials with otheractivities as described below.

Although several of the tutorials could be used out of sequence, the basic materials are designed to beused in order. As students learn tools and commands, the detail of instruction diminishes. This is meant topromote student retention of techniques and commands. This, along with the emphasized use of standardshortcuts, is meant to increase efficiency allowing students to be more productive.

Without a doubt, a course in computer animation will have students working at varied paces. In most ofthe tutorials, except for the basics, there are several optional extensions and challenges which can occupythe faster students while others catch up. For the basic tutorials. I encourage quicker students to help oth-ers keep up the pace.

Role of the InstructorWhile some of the more industrious and capable learners will be able to use these materials on their own,most students will benefit from instructor intervention; a word or two here and there from the instructor ora fellow student can save time and frustration.

From time to time, especially at the beginning of each major tutorial, it is advisable to demonstrate someof the techniques for the students. Even though the tutorial takes them through each step, having seen theprocess before hand will help give a sense of direction to the tutorial process. Having some CINEMA 4Dfiles prepared for use with an LCD projector is ideal.

Also, you should allow for some breaks from a straight tutorial approach. This could be a portion of Fridaysfor free-form exploration or perusing the Maxon tutorials for ideas and techniques. Or you can introducewhat appear to be spontaneous assignments from time to time. For example, during the materials unit,

after the modeling unit has been completed, have students model a banana with as few polys as possible.Either bring bananas in for models or notify students a day or two ahead so they can research what a ba-nana really looks like. As another example, after the animation unit, give students the challenge of animat-ing the earth-moon-sun system (an exercise in using null objects to simplify rotation).

As students progress, give them more freedom to supplement their work. When done with the basic mod-eling tutorials, students can experiment with modeling additional objects with the goal of constructing a“table scene” later. This will also offer additional creative practice later during texturing. This also presentsan opportunity to keep faster paced students occupied with additional modeling, lighting or material tasks.


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Beyond the BasicsOnce students have waded through the basics, you will probably want them to pursue projects. A goodfirst project might be to continue the “table scene” into a full blown interior. They may want to build adifferent type of table, add a couch, chair, dresser, sink, clock, water fountain (all choices of former stu-dents!), etc.

A logo project is de rigueur. This is fun for students because they can personalize it. An instructor can findno end to constructively criticizing the look of a photorealistic indoor scene but how much glow is toomuch on a student’s name flying down an ice tunnel on asteroid 707b? Logos offer the opportunity topractice animation without the strictures of realism.

You should certainly allow time for students to do a creative project of their own choosing. I highly rec-ommend requiring a brief treatment, story boards and a timeline which will encourage pre-planning andthoughtful development. I have also included in my curriculum requirements that they research and addsome new techniques, not covered directly in class, into each project.

About Me

I have taught advanced college preparatory sciences and computer graphics at the high school level overthe last eighteen years, currently in Paradise, California. Before that, I had several careers including sixyears in 35 mm special effects cinematography. I served in this capacity as model maker, cameraman, opti-cal printer operator and director of photography.

I began animating to illustrate concepts for my Advanced Placement Biology students. Many of ourstudents, partly due to these viewings, were interested in the process of 3D modeling and animation. Thereasonable educational pricing, stability, feature set and integrated modeler of CINEMA 4D XL made ourComputer Graphics & Animation (CGA) class a reality.

— Byrne Pedit


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Basic CINEMA 4D Setup

CINEMA 4D is a highly sophisticated and capable program; it offers extensive abilities to customize itsinterface and adjust preferences. Following are some suggestions to speed up workflow, foster good habits

and make a few operations easier for the tutorial process.The first three changes below are set as “defaults” by saving a copy of the file with the desired changeswithin the same folder as the C4D application naming it “new.c4d”.

Editor Camera Focus

CINEMA 4D’s default perspective view is through a 36 mm lens. (The human eye views the world as ifthrough a lens of about 50 mm.) For most modeling uses, I prefer setting the focal length between 50 and80 depending on the size of the object. Focus can be accessed in the Coordinates Manager after selectingthe Camera Tool.

Gouraud ShadingI set Gouraud shading as the default in all views. If other modes are needed to speed up the editor or showgeometry, they can be changed as work progresses.

Render Level of Detail

From the view window menu bar, select Display > Level of Detail > Use Render LOD.

The following changes are saved by choosing, from the main menu, Window > Layout > Save as StartupLayout .

Keyboard Shortcuts

I add the keyboard shortcut of Shift-E to open the Timeline. This, along with Shift-W to close the Timeline,makes for very speedy and efficient work when animating, especially necessary on smaller screens whereyou have to close a big Timeline to see the results in the editor. It’s easy to add new shortcuts; see the Helpfiles for how to use the Command Manager.

Toolbars

• Remove the “Undo”/”Redo” buttons from the top tool bar. For these oft used functions, studentsshould use the keyboard shortcuts from day one.

• Add the “Camera Tool” to the left toolbar, mostly just for adjusting focus for the editor camera.

• Add “Render Region” to the top toolbar.

Active Axis Stems

You may wish to disable this feature. While handy in some circumstances, it may drive students (andteachers) nuts when placing points during spline construction. (This option is found in the Display tab ofthe AM when choosing Edit > Configure All from the view menu)

Color System

The tutorials are written with respect to an HSV color picking system. HSV seems a little more intuitivefor learners than an RGB approach although students should experiment to get a feel for RGB. Set in thepreferences: Edit > Preferences > Units > Color System > HSV Color (under “Cinema 4D”).


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Keyboard Operation & Commands

There are certain operations and commands you will use frequently enough that you need to becomefamiliar with them and, where applicable, the appropriate shortcut.

The most commonly used keyboard shortcuts use combinations of a modifier key along with a letter keyor, in some cases, a number. The modifier key most commonly used on the Macintosh is the Command key (Cmd ), the one with the apple and the “propeller” symbol. When using Windows, the Control key(Cntrl) serves the same purpose.

For example, to undo the most recent action, press:Cmd-Z (on the Mac)Cntrl-Z (in Windows)

To undo the most recent move of the view, press:Cmd-Shift-Z (on the Mac)Cntrl-Shift-Z (in Windows)

With one-button mouses found on older Macs, the Command key, when used with the click button on themouse, has the same effect as the right-click button on a two (or more) button mouse.

Basic Keyboard ShortcutsYou will use these every day, learn them.

Mac Windows

cut Cmd-X Cntrl-X♦

copy Cmd-C Cntrl-Y♦

paste Cmd-V Cntrl-V♦

(notice how X-C-V are next to each other on keyboard. Just learn: “cut/copy/paste”)undo Cmd-Z Cntrl-Z♦

redo Cmd-Y Cntrl-Y♦

close window* Shift-W Cntrl-W♦

open file Cmd-O Cntrl-O♦

save file Cmd-S Cntrl-S♦

close file Cmd-W Cntrl-F4♦

* CINEMA 4D may have multiple windows open, each containing a different aspect of the program. Since thesewindows always sit in front of the main window, you need an efficient way to close them rapidly when you needaccess to the main window behind them. This is the function of the Shift-W shortcut; it closes whichever window is

currently beneath the cursor.

When using these shortcuts, use your left hand only. There are other shortcuts native to CINEMA 4D, youwill learn them as you encounter them later.

For the sake of clarity, only the Mac command will be used in the text when the only difference between platforms is the substitution of Cntrl for Cmd if using Windows. If, for example, when using Windows,you encounter the command Cmd-E in the text, enter Cntrl-E on your keyboard. Any commands not usingCmd are the same under both operating systems.


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Using the Tutorials

The following paragraphs describe the conventions used in the tutorials which are meant to help you dis-tinguish between various names, terms and commands.

The General Structure of a Tutorial

The explanatory material, such as you’re reading this instant, is indented from the left margin.

Instructions, such as that which you’re reading now, are written in bold, colored, flush with the left margin andbordered top and bottom.

Use of Names in Tutorials

File & Folder Names: These are always within quote marks using whatever font is surrounding them. Forexample, the file “Table Lamp 1” should probably be located in the “Table Lamp” folder inside your “Stu-

dent” folder.

Tools & Commands: Tools, commands and the names of parameters (values which change attributes ofobjects) are displayed in italics. However, sometimes the names used in the tutorials are shortened fromthe exact name which appears in the status bar at the bottom of the window. For example, the word“Use” has not been used in front of tools like the Use Points Tool, Use Object Tool, etc. These are short-ened to Points Tool, Object Tool, etc. These shortcuts are generally the terms you will naturally use torefer to these tools as you gain experience.

Object Names: These are names you give to the objects and materials you create (or that the programgives as default names when you first create the object). Object names will be displayed in a serifed fontstyle (having little “nubs” on the letters) such as vase prole and vase_prole.

In the middle of these instructions, the names appear as vase prole and vase_prole.

A Note About Naming Conventions

Within the tutorials, object names will often use the underscore to link separate words or link a number toa word portion of a name. Some examples might be vase_1 or Table_Top_1. This is done to make it easierto see the name independently of the rest of the text. When you are actually entering names for objects itis not necessary to use the underscore. In the Object Manager, the names are shown in list form so there isno confusion where a name begins or ends.

For file names you should exercise more care; for maximum portability of your files, you should use onlyletters, numbers, the underscore and only one period (to separate the file type suffix at the end of the filename).


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Intro to Computer Animation

The process of turning an idea into a finished computer animation uses several procedures regardless ofthe length or type of animation desired. These are described below in a sequence commonly used for ani-

mations but most of these procedures will be used intermittently during the entire process of completinga project. For instance, it is useful to render test frames often during the texturing and lighting stages of aproject and it may be necessary to adjust lights after observing their effect on a moving object.

As you read the descriptions keep in mind the limitations of the medium. First and foremost are the limita-tions of time and memory. It is easy to build a scene in five minutes which will slow your computer to anintolerable crawl. The keyword in computer graphics is efficiency. Actually, this is not that much differentfrom traditional movie making where a $5000 matte painting may substitute for a set which would havecost $500,000. The best way to be efficient is to thoroughly plan your project in advance.

Following is an overall survey of the process, a more in depth look at each area will follow your introduc-tion. There is a lot of information here; it is meant to give you an overview and to convey a feel for theprocess of computer animation. You will better understand these processes as we delve into hands-onexperience within each area.

ModelingModeling is the act of creating a three dimensional object . Some of these objects may serve as stationaryprops while other objects will be animated. There are several different methods used for modeling depend-ing on the outcome desired and the features of the software.

Some modeling techniques allow the instant creation of standard shapes such as cylinders and spheres.These are called primitives and generally are fast to create and render. However, they are also simple inappearance and not very flexible outside of basic adjustment of scale and proportion. At the other extremeare polygonal objects which are constructed out of a mesh of polygons, usually quadrangles or triangles.At the corners of the polygons are the points which make up the most basic level of the object’s structure.

The data of the points’ locations and how they are connected is used by the computer to generate therepresentation of the object we see on the screen.

Polygon objects offer control of surface geometry at the level of individual polygons or points. More poly-gons can be used for a finer and more detailed geometry but high polygon counts are usually the numberone factor in slowing the computer system down.

There are many tools for building and modifying models. Some of these work on the model as a whole.The deformers, for example, can bend, twist and shatter objects among other functions. Other tools workon individual polygons and points.

It is important to know the role of each object in the finished product before you begin. If an object is toappears in the distant background, it would be a waste of time and performance to model it with a poly-gon count of 50,000. However, a featured object in a close-up will look faceted and crude if not modeled

in sufficient detail. Objects whose shapes are to be animated require special attention and planning.

TexturingOnce modeled, the surface of the object needs to be covered with a material. Once a material is appliedto an object it is usually called a texture and the process of applying the material is termed texturing. Mostmaterials have different properties such as color, reflectivity, transparency, shininess and bumpiness, eachof which is termed a channel. To make these materials more interesting or appropriate to the object, a twodimensional image such as a photograph may be used in almost any of the channels. When used in thisway, these images are called texture maps.

Placing a two dimensional texture onto a 3D object is called mapping. Except for the simple case of flatmapping a label onto a box, most mapping results in distortion in various regions of the object such as the

puckering which appears at the poles when spherically mapping a flat, rectangular texture onto a sphere.Work, skill and specialized painting programs can help minimize these distortions.


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Mathematical formulae can also be used to generate surface textures. These are known as proceduralshaders, or simply shaders, since a certain mathematical procedure is used to calculate the texture. Witha 3D procedural shader , or volume shader , the texture is generated in three dimensions with the object’ssurface defining where it will be seen. There are no seams or distortion with these 3D shaders but they willtake longer to render and cannot be used to map flat textures.

LightingLighting is very important in setting the tone for a scene as well as bringing out the surface look you wantfrom your objects. Most scenes will have a principal light called the key light which will not only be thebrightest but will generally be the only light casting dominant shadows. Other lights called fill lights areused to reveal other surfaces in the scene or to simulate the lighting in natural scenes as it is bounced offsurfaces or scattered by the atmosphere.

Scenes may also have practical lights which are objects that would normally generate their own light suchas lamps, headlights or fireflies.

There are several different light types. The infinite light shines equally in all directions and appears to comefrom an infinite distance away as does the sun. The spot light is contained within a cone which can be

aimed toward a selected part of the scene. An omni light shines outwards in all directions from a point likethat from a bare bulb.

Many properties of lights can be controlled and animated. Lights can vary in intensity, fade out over a dis-tance (fall off), cast various types of shadows, show visibly as if shining through smoke and much more.

AnimationModels are brought to life through animation. At its simplest, this involves changing the position, rotationof scale of an object over time. For more complex tasks such as character animation, where movement likethat of living creatures is achieved, various deformations in the model itself are programmed over time.

The principal mode of achieving movement over time is through keyframe animation. Here, the object isrecorded in its present state at a given instant of time (a frame). Then a different frame of time is chosen,the model is manipulated to a new state or position, and a new keyframe is recorded. The software thencalculates the motion for the time in between keyframes. Most quality programs allow you to view andedit the path, which the computer has calculated, through your keyframes.

Animated movement may also occur within the object itself. This is called morphing if it is done by usingtwo or more separate models and having the software calculate the intermediate shapes between. Mostsoftware allows for point level animation where positions of individual points within an object are movedand then keyframed over time.

Animation may also occur by means of deformers already mentioned under modeling. The most useful andversatile of these is bones. Bones can have various influences on an object. For example, bones can movean arm or be used to move lips to create a smile.

Almost all characteristics of models, textures and lights can be animated. And, of course, the camera toocan be animated.

RenderingThe final evaluation of all data and output in a desired form is called rendering. This might be a still frameat low resolution for use on the web, a high resolution still for printing or a movie in one of many formats.

Quality software uses a rendering technique called ray tracing. This process follows rays of light back fromthe camera as they bounce off multiple surfaces from the light source. Ray tracing allows the display ofreflections and refractions of light interacting with surfaces.

During rendering, various effects such as motion blur and fog can be added. Rendering is also where aprocess called antialiasing is used to take out the “jaggies” or stair-stepping effect that arises due to the

fact that the screen image is composed of small, yet visible, squares of color.

The rendering stage is also where you set the resolution; this determines the size of your rendered outputwhether for an 8 x 10 inch print, a poster, a web image or video to be output to TV or film.


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Overview of the CINEMA 4D GUI

Status Bar : Describes the name and function of various icons asyou move the cursor over them. Also shows rendering time andprogress.

Coordinates Manager : Displays numerical info about an object. You can precisely position, scale and rotate objects here.

Animation Toolbar : Allowsviewing animations overtime and recording of key-frames for animations.

Material Manager : This

is where you create, storeand access the materialsused in the scene.

AttributesManager :Here youadjust all the availableoptions and param-eters for a selectedobject, tag or tool.

Toolbars: (Tool/CommandPalettes) Quick access tocommonly used tools andcommands.

Main Menu: Allows access tomost functions and commands.Many of these are also availablefrom the command palettes.

Object Manager : Here youselect, organize and givevarious attributes to theobjects you’ve created.

Viewport : Can be configured toshow up to four different viewsfrom any chosen perspective. [Alsocalled the view or the edtor .]


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Common Icons in CINEMA 4D

Polygon Tool

Model Tool

Move Tool

Lock Axes

Render Active

Object Primitives

Generators

Go To Start

Play ForwardsDisplay Menu Bar


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Intro Tutorial

This tutorial follows the Intro to Computer Animation section introducing the process of computer anima-tion: it pretty much follows the order in the handout, focusing on the bold face terms. You might want to

have it handy for review as you go through this tutorial. Go through the tutorial in order and pay atten-tion to the commands. As you progress, the written instructions for operations you’ve previously used willbecome less frequent. You are not just learning about the program and animation in general, but practicingthe commands and operations you will need to use like a second language if you want to be productive.

1. Opening the Program

Open the CINEMA 4D program by double clicking on its name or icon in the “CGA” folder. To maximize use ofthe screen, follow the directions in the Basic CINEMA 4D Setup section.

2. Opening the File

Open the tutorial “Intro_Tut.c4d” using the keyboard shortcut Cmd-O (remember, use Cntrl-O in Windows).This file is located in the “Intro Tutorials” folder within the “CGA” folder.

You also could have simply opened the “Intro Tutorials” folder from the desktop and double clicked on the“Intro_Tut.c4d” filename. This would have both started the program and opened the file simultaneously.

3. Showing & Hiding Objects

Study the Object Manager. In the left column are the names of the objects in the scene contained in thisfile. A box with a plus on the far left means the object has sub-objects (children) and can be expanded toshow those children by clicking on the plus-box. Try it. Note how the sign in the box changes to a minusindicating the parent object is expanded. Click again on the minus box to collapse the children into the

parent. This makes the Object Manager less cluttered and easier to navigate. The first icon to the right ofthe name shows what the object type is.

In the narrow column down the center of the Object Manager are three buttons for each object. Thelarger button controls the assignment of the object to a layer & the two smaller buttons are concernedwith the following display functions. The top button controls whether the object is displayed in the editor(what you see while modeling an object or animating a scene); the bottom button controls whether theobject is displayed during rendering. The color code is:

— red: always off

— green: always on

— gray: on or off depending on the parent

**Gray is the normal mode for a displayed object.**

The check mark or X to the right of the two buttons controls whether a deformer or parametric object isactive or not. This mark can be clicked to toggle the deformer on or off.

The column on the right holds icons representing “tags” which give certain properties to the object.

Note: You’ll note that all the display buttons for objects at the top most level (parents) are red except for two. (Cur-

rently, only parents are shown in the list.) The object with no name (second from the bottom) is a null (an empty

object with no data). Nulls have many important uses but the one used here is simply for spacing, separating the

cameras from the other objects. The other object with gray buttons is the one titled Primitive which is visible in the

viewport.

Click twice on the top button associated with the object Primitive.

The button should turn red and the object will disappear from the viewport.

Click once more on the same button.


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Now the button has returned to gray and you can again see the object in the editor window. A shortcutfor clicking twice on the button is to Shift-click once (try it!). Later on well see how the green button isused.

4. Primitive Objects & Parameters

The object Primitive is an example of a primitive object. It is not made up of polygons and points (at leastnot directly) but is generated by a mathematical formula in the program. There are certain values whichyou can set which control the shape, proportions and other features of a primitive. These aspects whichyou can adjust, and which are then passed to the formula for calculating the shape of the object, are calledparameters.

Make the object Primitive active by clicking on its name or the icon immediately to the right of its name.

The name should turn orange to show the object is active. Now that the object is active, its parameters canbe viewed and adjusted in the Attributes Manager. The Attributes Manager (AM) will show a list of pa-rameter group tabs laid out horizontally near the top. For this object, the groups should read Basic, Coord.,Object, Caps, Slice, Phong.

Click on the Object group tab. Shift-click on the Caps group tab.

If you wish to remove a group from being displayed to reduce clutter, use Control-click . (Or, Right-click toalternately show or hide a tab.) You can scroll the AM when the list of parameters is too long to display inthe space provided. You can also make the AM window larger.

Position the cursor on the line dividing the bottom of the Object Manager window from the top of the AM.When the cursor turns into a double arrow, click and drag upward.

This works in many other locations around the CINEMA 4D interface as well. Now let’s adjust some pa-rameters.

Double-click in the input box to the right of the parameter listed as Radius. Enter the value 100 and press re-turn or enter .

Performing almost any other action would also have had the same effect of activating your new entry.Notice the change in the object.

Now restore the former value by performing an Undo (Cmd-Z).

Here’s a second method of adjusting a parameter.

Carefully place the cursor over the little square button with the tiny up and down arrowheads (triangles) at theright of the input box for Radius in the AM. Click and drag upward and then downward. Observe the object in

the viewport changing dynamically as you drag.

[You may have noticed a change in the rounding at the ends if you made the object thin and then expand-ed it outward again. This rounding (referred to as Fillet in CINEMA 4D) cannot be greater than the radiusof the object and so was automatically reduced as you reduced the Radius.]

Use Cmd-Z to restore the primitive to its original settings.

Now for a third method of adjusting some parameters directly in the editor window (viewport).

In the viewport click on the orange point on the uppermost right and drag to the right.

Notice the diameter of the object changes dynamically. You can also see in the AM how the Radius of the

object has changed from its initial value of 50 to wherever you’ve moved it.

Yet one more method of adjusting parameters directly in the viewport.


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Undo the previous change. In the light blue box in the viewport reading “Primitive Radius”, click on the num-ber “50” and drag to the right.

This box is an example of CINEMA 4D’s Heads Up Display (HUD). You can set-up one of these boxes formost parameters of objects, lights, materials, etc.

Take a minute to play with some of the other parameter adjustments both dynamically in the editor andusing the dialog box via the Object Manager. (Try, for instance, changing Rotation Segments to 3. Also,change the Segments (under Fillet in the Caps group) to 1.

So, what’s a parameter again? Think of the cylinder primitive as a cylinder-making machine (it is, after all).The machine is flexible (within the limits of “cylinderness”) and needs certain information specifying howthe cylinder should be formed such as how high, how wide, how rounded the edges should be and soforth. The values that you enter into the machine (via the AM) which specify these characteristics of thecylinder are called parameters.

5. Polygon Objects

Double click (or Shift-click) both visibility buttons of the object Primitive, this will hide the object in the editor

(and renderer). Single click on both buttons of the next object, Polygon Object, to display it.

Here we will take a look at a polygon object. So far it should look the same as the primitive Primitive. Butnotice, in the Object Manager, that the icons are different.

Click on the object’s name or icon to make it active. Study the options available in the AM.

Notice the only group tabs shown in the AM are Basic, Coord. and Phong. The Basic group, which is avail-able for any object, allows you to change the object’s name and other basics such as whether the objectis visible in the editor. (This is exactly the same as using the buttons in the Object Manager except thevisibility can be animated over time via the AM as we will see later in the course.) The other group tab ac-cessible in the AM is the Coordinates page. This simply displays, and allows you to set, the position, scale

and rotation of the object (same as using the Coordinates Manager).The major difference you should note, compared to the primitive object, is that there are no parameters toadjust (unless you want to loosely consider position, scale and rotation as parameters).

Now, select the Polygon Tool from the command pallet. (Look at the status bar as you drag the mouse over thetool icons to help you choose the proper tool. The full name for this tool is Use Polygon Tool. )

Now you see this model is composed of many polygons (in this case they are all four sided or rectangular).

Be sure the Move Tool is selected. Click once on one of the polygons, it will turn orange when selected. Nowclick and drag anywhere within the editor window.

Notice how the polygon follows your movements. You can’t do this with a primitive object.

Undo to return to the initial condition. Now, enter point mode by selecting the Point Tool (again, the full nameis Use Point Tool) just above the Polygon Tool. Select and then move a single point as you did with the polygonabove. This mode will allow fine control over modeling and animation. Be sure to Undo each change you make.

You’re probably thinking that polygon and point manipulation leaves the object pretty jagged looking, tooangular for most uses. But as you will eventually see, there are ways to work with polygons to make themquite smooth.

6. Polygon Counts

Hide the object Polygon Object and show the object Poly Count by clicking appropriately on the buttons in theObject Manager. Unfold (expand) Poly Count by clicking on the plus-box (just left of its name) to show its threechildren. Select the Polygon Tool. Now select Cylinder 1, then Shift-click to add the Cylinder 2 and Cylinder 3 tothe selection.


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Notice how the polygon count changes from left to right. Notice also how the higher poly count is associ-ated with the smoothest object. However, there is a price to pay for this smoothness.

Select Cylinder 1 in the Object Manager. Get info on this object by selecting Object Manager > Objects > Infor-mation (Object). [This means: select the Objects item from the menu in the Object Manager. When the Objects sub-menu comes up, select the item Information (Object). This is how menu selections will be shown from

now on.]

Notice the object has 64 polys which take up only about one kB (kBytes) of memory.

Click OK or hit return to close the info box. Now get info on object Cylinder 3.

More polys, more smooth but now using many more kB’s of memory.

The increase in memory usage of higher poly count objects is also associated with slower redraw timeswhile you are working in the editor and with longer rendering times. Over-use of polygons can slow thesystem to a crawl. One of the challenges of a successful animator is to use the minimum poly count neces-sary to achieve an acceptable image. An object at a large distance or one moving across the screen in onesecond does not need the detail or attention which a five second close up on a face would require.

7. Deformers

Fold (collapse) Poly Count by clicking on the minus-box next to its name then hide the object. Show (make vis-ible) and unfold (expand) Deformers. Also unfold basic_object.

Note how the three deformers are children of the object they modify ( basic_object).

Select cam 2 with which to view the scene by using the View menu bar: Cameras > Scene Cameras > defCam.

Later you will learn how to set-up your own cameras.

Click on the X in the center column of the Object Manager associated with the Twist deformer to activate thedeformer.

Observe the change in the object. You can adjust the parameters of deformers just as with parametricobjects.

Select the Twist object to bring up its parameters in the AM. Open (click on) the Object group tab (if not al-ready open). Change Angle to 100 and click OK.

Note the change in the twist of the object. Deformers may also be adjusted interactively.

Undo. Be sure the Model Tool is selected. In the viewport, grab the orange point at the end of the orange line

and drag.

Good times, eh? (You can also interactively click and drag on the relevant arrowheads in the AM.)

Undo. Now disable Twist by clicking on the check mark and enable Bend. Play around with its parameters a bitbut finish with an Undo for each change you’ve made.

Multiple deformers can be used on the same object.

Now try activating both Twist and Bend deformers together.

When multiple deformers are used together, it matters in which order they are placed.

While both Twist and Bend are still activated, select Bend by clicking on its name and drag it upward to justabove Twist. Notice, as you are dragging, a little box appears with an arrow beneath. Drag Bend above Twist (but below basic object) until the arrow faces left. (If you were to release the mouse button when the arrow waspointing down, Bend would become a child of Twist, not what you want in this case.)


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Note that the object now appears different due to the different order of the deformers.

Return Bend to its former position below Twist.

Hope you did this with an Undo.

Disable Twist and Bend. Enable Explosion. Grab and move the interactive handle (look along the X axis) in theeditor window.

Cool, huh? This, like all deformers, can also be animated over time.

Return all deformers to their former state and disable them. Fold and hide Deformers.

8. Materials & Textures

Unfold Texturing.

Notice that the child object Material has gray visibility buttons but nothing is visible in the editor (view-port). This is because its parent object (Texturing) has been made invisible as shown by its red buttons.

Single click the visibility buttons of Material.

The buttons should become green, overriding the red of the parent and making the Material object visible.(Most of the time, you will want active objects showing gray so they will be turned off with their parent.)

All the five sub-objects (children of Texturing) are identical except in the material used. Materials are usedto cover objects and give them various

Double click on the material mat in the Material Manager.

The material editor window should open up allowing editing of the material’s properties. (Materials canalso be edited in the AM but the material editor is better for most purposes and will generally be referredto in these tutorials.) If the Material Editor is hogging too much real estate, making it hard to also see yourobject in the viewport, you can drag it to a new location by clicking and dragging on its title bar.

Notice the list of channels down the left side of the material editor window. Only two are being used forthis material.

Click on the checkmark to the right of Specular in the channel list along the left.

You have disabled this channel. Note how the highlight on the sphere in the preview window of the mate-rial editor disappears, as does the highlight on the object in the viewport.

Enable Specular again by clicking in the checkbox to the right of Specular .

We will now make an adjustment to the color of this material.

In the channel list again, click on the text Color (not the checkbox) to return to the color editing channel.

If you click on the checkbox you will disable the color channel. You should now see four sliders next to thecolor patch in the right pane of the Material Editor. (If not, click on the right facing tiny arrowhead be-tween the text “Color” and the small red color patch.) The top rainbow colored slider is labeled H for hue.

Note: If you are not seeing H, S and V sliders, click on the button just beneath the color patch in the Color pane rightof the channel list. From the pulldown menu, choose HSV Color.

Drag the white triangle just under the H slider anywhere to the right and let up on the mouse.

You should see the new color on the object in the viewport as well as the preview icon in the Material Edi-tor. Now try adjusting the saturation (S).


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Drag the white triangle just under the S slider anywhere to the left and let up on the mouse. Try adjusting theBrightness as well.

The V slider controls value which, for most practical purposes, is the same as brightness.

Hide the object Material and show the object Texture.

This material uses a texture map in its color channel.

Open the material tex.

In the color channel you will see the texture map along with its name (alskin01.jpg). The file for this texturemap must be available on the computer for the program to access. If your screen is small, either drag theMaterial Editor down so it is mostly off-screen, or close it, to have a full view of the viewport.

Render the object by clicking on the Render Active View icon.

Hey, your first render. Looks a bit better, doesn’t it? The pinching of the texture at the ends of the object is

a necessary artifact of trying to apply a flat, two dimensional image to a three dimensional surface. Moreon this later.

Hide Texture and show Procedural 1. Render the active view (try Cmd-R).

A bit slower on the render here. But look at the texture; no pinching at the ends. This is not a flat texturemap stretched over the surface but is a three dimensional calculation done by applying certain mathemati-cal procedures (hence the name procedural shader). This one is wood; if we were to cut a chunk out of theobject, we would see the texture just as it would look if this were a real, solid piece of wood with a piececut out of it. To see an example of this:

Hide Procedural 1 and show Procedural 1b, then render.

The price you pay for this fit is the slow render time you experienced.

Hide Procedural 1b and show Procedural 2. Render.

This is another example of a procedural shader, they can provide many different looks. They are also adjustable but not in the same way as the materials with their fixed set of channels. Each procedural shaderhas its own dialog and its own parameters to adjust. A few adjustments to this one and you could makethe object look like something you wouldn’t want to touch.

Hide Procedural 2 and show Material 2. Render.

This is a example of a material, created with the CINEMA 4D material editor, which uses a 3D procedural

in one of its channels (bump). Notice there is no distortion at the ends as with the flat texture map.

9. Lighting

Hide Material 2 and fold Texturing. Show and unfold Lighting.

Good lighting is necessary to bring out the color and geometry of your objects. Up until now, in this tuto-rial, you have been viewing objects with only the AutoLight. As soon as a Light Object is created and acti-vated, the AutoLight is switched off and the scene is lit by any active lights which you have created. Rightnow only the key (Key), or principal light is active and the face appears harshly lit. In the real world, otherlighting such as that scattered by the sky or bounced off walls would contribute to illuminating the object.

Switch on the light Fill 1 by making the object visible.

Ah, some bluish light from a clear sky.


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Now switch on Fill 2.

Here is some light reflected, perhaps by the floor. Notice how you can see some of the light object itself inthe editor window. The other light objects are currently outside the viewing frame.

Lighting can become one of the most demanding aspects of a scene, especially if you are after realism.There are many more uses of lights which we will discuss in detail later.

10. Keyframe Animation

Hide and fold Lighting. Show Keyframe. Select a new camera using the viewport menu: Cameras > Scene Cam-eras > keyFrame Cam.

Keyframe animation is the most basic technique of animation. First, view the animation.

In the animation toolbar, click on the Play Forwards button.

The animation should keep cycling in the forward direction.

Stop the animation by clicking on the Play Forwards button again which has now become the Stop Playback button.

Now, to get a look at keyframes:

Open the Timeline using Shift-F3 (or from the main menu: Window > Timeline). [Your computer may also beset up to use the shortcut Shift-E .]

Names of objects are to the left (only some are shown here) & the little rectangular blocks to the right arethe keyframes.

At the top of the Timeline is the timeline ruler along which the frame numbers are shown (or time in

seconds depending on your preference settings). To move the view to another time, you can click on thedesired position along the ruler (in line with the displayed numbers) or move the time marker (the greenrectangle in line with the frame numbers).

Grab the Timeslider and move it back and forth (this is sometimes called “scrubbing”), especially across frame20. Observe the animation in the viewport. There is another Timeslider just under the viewport; try it too.

Note how frame 20 seems to be special; it is the point where the motion goes from falling to rolling. This isdue to the keyframes positioned at frame 20. Much, much more later.

Close the Timeline window using Shift-W. (When using this command, always be sure the Timeline wasthe most recent window in which you clicked or performed an action; that is, be sure its title bar is notgrayed. Otherwise you will close some other window.) Stop the animation if it is still going. Return to

frame 0 by clicking on the Go to Start button.

11. Morphing

Hide Keyframe and show Morphing. View the scene through camera morph Cam

This is a demonstration of how an object’s shape may appear to change over time by having the computercalculate different intermediate positions between two models with different shapes. This is called morph-ing.

Play the animation forward. Stop when you’ve had enough fun.


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12. HyperNURBS

Hide Morphing. Show and unfold HyperNURBS. Return to using the first scene camera (intro Cam) to view. Acti-vate the Polygon Tool and select the object mesh.

This is a basic polygon object. One of the most powerful tools CINEMA 4D offers is the ability to use

polygons and points like a framework from which to suspend the surface, offering ways to model curvedorganic shapes. This is done with the HyperNURBS tool. To see it in action:

Activate the HyperNURBS generator, clicking on the X next to HyperNURBS’s icon.

Notice how the surface no longer fits the polygon geometry. But it is still controlled by the points at thecorners of the polys. This is CINEMA 4D’s most important tool, especially for modeling organisms andother organic shapes.

13. Rendering

Rendering is the final area where you control the look of your scene. Many different finishing touches can

be added during rendering but one the most important is antialiasing. This involves removing the “jaggies”which result as a consequence of displaying images with a fixed number of little, visible squares (pixels).Aliasing is most evident where straight lines appear running at angles across the screen.

Keep HyperNURBS visible but switch off the HyperNURBS generator itself so only the polygon geometryshows. From the main menu, select Render > no antialiasing . Render in the active window.

Observe the staircase effect (“jaggies”), especially at the mouth of the bottle.

Now, select Render > antialiasing and render.

Notice the difference in appearance of the edges.

This concludes the tutorial, we will investigate all of these functions again in much more detail.Close the file. If you are asked whether you want to save the file, click No.


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Navigation in CINEMA 4D

The GUIYou have already been introduced to the CINEMA 4D graphical user interface, or GUI, through the “Over-view . . .” diagram. Following are more details of the various components and features.

Managers

The functions of a complicated and versatile program such as CINEMA 4D are divided into a number ofmodules, or program elements. Access to each of these is through its own manager, each manager havingits own window. The most important managers are briefly outlined below under windows.

menu bars: At the top of each manager’s window is a menu bar which gives access to commands andfunctions particular to that manager.

context menus: A shortcut to a menu is to right-click (or Cmd-click on a one-button Mac mouse) any-

where in the window to access the menu relevant to that window.

Windows

All of the aspects of the program are displayed and accessed in windows (or through toolbars which offerdirect access to the tools available in the menus of different windows). The most important of these win-dows are:

viewport: This term refers to a single window through which you view the scene. It may also be referred toas the view, the editor window or simply the editor .

view panel: This term generally describes the arrangement of several viewports displayed simultaneouslysuch as the four-view mode of perspective, top, side and front views. If the panel displays only one view-port, then the terms view panel and viewport essentially mean the same thing.

object manager : Here is where you select, arrange and give attributes to the objects in a scene.

attributes manager (AM): This is where you can manipulate the available options and parameters of theselected (active) object, texture, material, keyframe and any other item which has user adjustable input.This also includes any tool with adjustable parameters which has just been selected. You can also animateparameters from within the AM.

material manager : All of the materials in your scene are stored and accessed here.

material editor : Different aspects of materials and textures can be defined, adjusted and animated in thiswindow. Materials can also be modified in the AM but using the material editor is better for most pur-poses.

timeline: Various aspects of animations such as keyframes and timing of object’s movements are displayedand controlled from here.

coordinates manager : From here you can enter numerical values to very precisely control position, rotationand scale of objects. You can also do this using the AM.

Window Styles:

Windows may appear different depending upon your preference and their use. The three styles are:

free (or floating): These have the appearance of normal file or folder windows with a titlebar at the top.They are movable on the screen but always lie on top of the main application window. They may be closedat any time to get them out of the way. The two principal windows displayed this way are the MaterialEditor and the Timeline .

docked: These windows are fixed in position within the main application window. This allows you con-stant access and more efficiently uses space by reducing borders. Examples include the View Panel and theMaterial Manager.


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tabbed: Tabbed windows are also docked but must be selected by clicking on a tab at the top as if select-ing a file folder. This allows multiple windows to occupy the same space in the main window although onlythe active one is shown. Objects and Structure are examples of windows that are usually tabbed.

These styles are interchangeable. Tabbed windows can be made free, free windows can be docked, etc.

Views and CamerasThe view panel can be arranged to show up to four different views (viewports) at once. Usually you willuse a single viewport to increase redraw speed and offer a broader look at the scene. Since objects areconstructed and animated within the view window, it is also referred to as the editor window or editor.

Each view initially appears through an editor camera whose state is remembered from change to change.This means that if you switch to another viewport and then return, the display will appear as you previ-ously left it unless you switch to another camera within that viewport. More permanent camera views aredone with scene cameras . You may define any number of scene cameras and can lock them to preservetheir settings or animate them as part of a scene.

There are several types of fixed camera views available from the Cameras menu in the view panel window.The left, right, front, back, top and bottom views all give a view without any perspective. This means that

an object 100 units wide and 1000 units away appears the same size on the screen as a 100 unit wideobject only 1 unit away. This is unlike the real world where more distant objects appear diminished in size.However, these so called parallel views allow you to precisely position and align objects and offer morecontrol in the selection of points. The other type of view is perspective and causes more distant objects toappear smaller just as the real world appears through our eyes. A perspective view has an adjustable focallength associated with it just like a real camera lens. The perspective view allows you to view the scenefrom any angle and distance with a focal length (perspective) ranging from extreme fisheye to extremetelephoto (which begins to look like a parallel view). You will almost always use perspective views to ren-der your scene in its final form.

On the right side of each viewport menu bar are four icons which can be used to manipulate the viewport.However, you should learn from the start to use the keyboard shortcuts for these oft used functions. Thefunction keys F1 through F5 will display views from different editor cameras in the viewport. (Do not try

to toggle views using the Cameras menu or you will change the camera used by that view thereby loosingany positional information.) The other shortcuts are outlined below under “Moving the View”.

Finally, Cmd-Z only works on changes involving objects, materials, animations etc., not on changes to theview (or camera) itself. The way to undo changes made by manipulating the view in an editor window isby using Shift-Cmd-Z. So, if you move a camera by shifting its view, undo with Shift-Cmd-Z. (However, ifyou select and move the camera object itself, undo with Cmd-Z as with any other object.)

Navigating in the ViewAs you make changes to the view, you need to be aware which camera you are viewing through. If youare viewing through a scene camera, you will lose your previous view point once you move the view to anew orientation (although you may retrieve with Shift-Cmd-Z if you have not done too many other opera-tions since). Generally, you should use the editor camera if you wish to move the view in order to modelobjects or to set up the scene. You can also create additional cameras and lock them (using a ProtectionTag in the Objects Manager) for the purpose of returning to a fixed, non-standard view.

Coordinate Axes

In CINEMA 4D, the three dimensions are defined as follows, looking from the default perspective view:

— X-axis: left to right (positive direction), color = red

— Y-axis: bottom to top (positive direction), color = green

— Z-axis: front to back (positive direction), color = blue

So, for example, a top view would look down the Y-axis and show the Z-axis going up and the X-axis go-ing to the right. The standard perspective views the scene such that the back-to-front axis (minus Z direc-tion) is pointing toward the left and down. If you are used to drafting, calculus, many other 3D programsand most engineering applications, you will notice this is a bit different but you will soon get used to it.


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Coordinate Systems

World coordinate system: These axes are always fixed in space. This system has an origin (X=0, Y=0, Z=0)which is always the fixed center of the CINEMA 4D universe. (Any apparent movement of the origin is dueto a camera movement.) It is also from this system that the standard camera views (front, right, etc.) aredefined.

Object coordinate system: These axes are associated with individual objects and may be moved and ro-tated as necessary, especially for the purpose of making animation and modeling easier.

Moving the view (camera)

• translation (position or “move”): To move the view (camera) left, right, up or down; hold down the 1 key and click & drag in the view window. To move the view (camera) toward or away from the scene,right-click & drag. (On a Mac you can also depress the Command key with the 1 key then click & drag.)The in and out movement of the camera as a result of the right-click & drag will be perpendicular to thecurrent view.

• rotation: To rotate the view, hold down the 3 key while clicking and dragging. The center of rotation forthese operations is determined by which object is selected even though the rotation is of the entire scene;

this allows for maximum flexibility. (If no object is selected, the scene will rotate about the World origin.)Using right-click & drag with the 3 key will force the rotation to be circular in the plane of the screen.

• zooming: To zoom the view, right-click & drag while holding down the 2 key. However, you will rarelywant to do this! Zooming the view will change the focal length of the current camera which will affect theperspective of how distant objects appear relative to close objects. You should use the translation move-ment for moving in and out since this acts to actually move the camera in and out. The exception is whenyou are in a parallel view where the camera distance is meaningless. Here, even using the Move Tool(translation), the view will be zoomed.

Remember, movements of the view (or camera) can be undone with Shift-Cmd-Z . (The icons in the upperright of the viewport can also be used to navigate in the view but you should refrain from using them,they will slow your workflow.)

The Camera Tool

When the Camera Tool is selected, any dragging in the editor window will cause the view to translate,rotate or zoom depending on whether the Move, Rotate or Scale Tool is selected. The results will be thesame as when using the 1, 2, or 3 keys as described above. Again, when you move the view, you are inessence moving the camera (except for scaling, which changes focus). One difference in moving viewsin this manner is that you may lock individual axes thereby restraining movement to a desired direction(see below). When using the Camera Tool , you will also see the camera’s position and focus dynamicallyupdated in the Coordinates Manager as you move the view (camera) around.

Moving, Rotating and Scaling ObjectsObjects may also be translated, rotated or scaled just as views are. However, there are some complicationshere so read the following carefully. Unlike views, objects may be moved according to either the objectsown coordinate system or the world (global) coordinate system.

Locking axes : Next to the Move, Rotate and Scale command icons are icons for the X, Y, and Z axes.These allow you to lock the axes to better control motion of the object. Another way to restrict motion toa single axes is to grab the X, Y or Z axes of the object and drag. This works whether or not the particularaxis has been locked in the command pallet.

Translation (move) : This allows movement along the X, Y or Z axes. Whether movement is along thecoordinate axes of the world or along that of the objects axes depends on which coordinate system isselected. Translation is relatively straight forward; it does not depend on the object’s relationship to otherobjects, only to whether you’ve selected the object or world coordinate system.

Scale : Scale allows you to change the scale or the size of an object depending on the tool selection. Gen-erally, you would want to use scale only as part of the animation process where necessary. For this, use theObject Tool. But always use the Model Tool to adjust the size of the object as you are constructing and


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refining it or when making one object the correct proportion to another. Otherwise you may run into seri-ous distortion problems when later rotating an object which is the child of a parent whose system has beendistorted by scaling with the Object Tool. To summarize:

Use the Model Tool when constructing objects.

Use the Object Tool only when animating.Scaling with the Object Tool changes the scale of the objects axes. Since the child objects use this axis fora reference, their geometry will become distorted when rotated in this new reference system. For more onthis, read the sections in the CINEMA 4D Help files on the Object Tool and the Model Tool a couple oftimes.

Rotation : Rotation can get complicated because of the way the program must handle the mathemat-ics and the way the values for rotation are displayed in the Coordinates Manager. There are two rotationsystems available as chosen in the Units page of the Preferences.

The first is the XYZ system; this method is straight forward and easy to visualize. If you rotate about the X-axis with the other two locked, or drag the X-axis handle, the object will rotate around its X-axis regardlessof its (or its parent’s) current orientation. The same is true of the other two axes, no surprises. It all seems

so easy that it should seem like the end of the story.

Unfortunately, the XYZ system is not usable by the software when making internal calculations involvingrotation, especially during animation. (See the Help files for a technical discussion if you are interested, es-pecially the sections on the World System and on the Rotation Tool.) So, although you can rotate the X, Yand Z axes interactively in the editor, the Coordinates Manager (and the Coord. tab of the AM) will alwaysdisplay the values used by the internal system.

The system used internally is called HPB. This stands for Heading, Pitch and Bank. (These share the X,Y, Z keys when locking axes for use with the rotation tool.) Imagine an airplane. The compass directionin which it is heading (when viewed from above) at some angle from north, let’s say, is called its Head-ing. The angle, as viewed from the side, at which it points up (as in taking off) or down (as when aboutto land) is called its Pitch. Its Bank is how much it is rotated about its front-back axis (sometimes called

“roll”). A plane typically banks (lowering one wing) while changing its heading (making a turn). Actually,this isn’t too bad so far, is it?

The complications arise because the H, P, B angles are not relative to the object itself but to the parentsystem. This means once the object or its parent have been rotated from their default positions, any sub-sequent rotation about the heading is more difficult to envision and rotations about the pitch axis requirequite a bit of training to predict.

So why use HPB? Remember it was noted above that the Coordinates Manager always displays in HPB.Suppose your object is at some angle other than the default 0, 0, 0 and you are using the XYZ system.Now you rotate about the X-axis. Instead of seeing only the H value change in the Coordinates Manager,all three rotations will change as you rotate what you thought was a single axis! This means that when us-ing the XYZ system, you cannot enter numerical values for precise control.

It is probably easier to use the XYZ system for most modeling tasks. However, if you need to performprecision rotations or those which require entering numerical values during animation, you should switchto the HPB system. The tutorial will help some and practice will at least make you feel like you can surviveeven if the details remain unsettling.


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Navigation Tutorial

This tutorial follows the Navigation handout describing the movement of objects and cameras in the CIN-EMA 4D viewport windows.

1. Open the File

Open the CINEMA 4D file “Navigation_Tut.c4d”.

2. Managers & Windows

You have already worked with managers and windows in the first tutorial, this is a review and a bit moredetailed. Study the “Overview. . .” diagram to see the screen location and appearance of the principalmanagers. Find each of these on the screen and look through some of the commands in the menu bars.Notice that each window has its own set of commands in its menu bar. Also notice that some items withina menu item have a small triangle to the right of their name. Holding the cursor over these items will

expand the menu to reveal a sub-menu with additional offerings. To select one of these, simply drag themouse over to the sub-menu and move down the items until you found the item you want, then releasethe mouse to choose whichever operation or command is highlighted.

Some windows, such as the Coordinates Manager, do not have menus even though they have text alongthe top. With use, you will get to know which managers to use and where to find the commands youneed. But if you find yourself continuously hunting down the same command in a menu, it’s time to learnthe keyboard shortcut. These are shown to the right of the commands’ names in the menus.

Each manager window also has an icon, a 4 x 4 matrix of dots, in its upper left corner. This allows flexibilityin how the all the windows are arranged and displayed. Maybe later on we will make adjustments to thisformat (the GUI), but until instructed, do not change the layout of the GUI. This layout has been carefullychosen to best fit our use and the standard set-up. Also, we all want to all use a similar layout so we can

communicate with each other, exchange ideas and troubleshoot more easily.The two most common “free windows” you will use are the Material Editor and the Timeline. They areboth accessed a bit differently.

To open the material editor, simply double-click on any material icon in the Material Manager.

If there are not yet any materials or you wish to make a new one, be sure you are “in the Material Manag-er” by having most recently clicked within its window, then enter the keyboard command Cmd-N. (This isa command used to create a new “whatever”, depending on which window is active when the commandis entered.)

To close a free window, use Cmd-W . Since this command works on most windows, the window to beclosed must be the active window.

Note: The command Shift-W also closes windows. But, since this is also the way to enter a capital W in an input box,it will not close the window if the cursor is currently inside an input box where it thinks you wish to enter a capitalW. This is the case, for example, when the material editor is first opened.

Position the mouse cursor anywhere over the Material Editor. Enter Cmd-W .

Other free windows must also be opened from a menu or keyboard command.

Open the Timeline with Shift-F3. (Or use the non-standard Shift-E if setup on your computer.)

The non-standard Shift-E has been custom installed to allow speed in opening and closing the Timelinesince Shift-W is right next door. There will be times, in the middle of a complex animation, where you will

open and close the Timeline dozens of times an hour. Of course, at home you can just display the Timelineon your second monitor all the time!

Position the cursor over the window and close with Cmd-W .


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The Shift-W will also work here. If you have C4D set up to use Shift-E to open the Timeline, this will makethe most efficient combination for animating, especially on smaller monitors.

3. Views

Objects are grouped together in space and time into a scene. This scene, the 3D world, appears on the

screen in windows called viewports. From one to four viewports, each showing the model from a differ-ent orientation, may be grouped together into a view panel. (Both viewports and view panels may alsoreferred to as views.) The arrangement of viewports in a view panel is adjustable from the item View in theview menu bar. Since the view is where objects are modeled and edited visually, it is also referred to as theeditor window or, simply, the editor.

For some uses, like arranging lights in a scene, you may want to work in a panel where multiple viewportsare shown. Much of the time though, you will want to maximize space by using only one viewport. Thereare three ways to navigate between different viewports. You can select views from the view menu item onthe view window menu bar (slowest). You could also use the icon at the upper right of the view window(slow). But for the most efficient and speedy way of switching views:

In the Objects Manager, be sure View_Obj is both visible and selected. Use the function keys F1 through F5.

(They are, in order: F1 = Perspective, F2 = Top, F3 = Side, F4 = Front, F5 = All Views.)

These are in the same order as the panels naturally appear in the All View mode. Get used to using thefunction keys only, do not rely on the icons. Practice switching views with the function keys. Pay attentionto the orientation of the axes as you progress through the views; practice naming which view you are in bylooking only at these axes.

4. Cameras

All views are seen through a camera. If the camera is not associated with a camera object you have cre-ated, it is viewed through an “editor camera”. The camera through which each viewport is seen can be setvia the view menu item Cameras.

Be sure the perspective viewport is chosen (F1). While in this single viewport, choose Cameras > Editor Camera from the view menu. Try selecting different types of cameras options (such as Left or Bird ) from the Cameras item in the view menu. When done experimenting, re-select the Perspective camera view.

You will rarely use this feature in normal use. Unless you require a non-standard view, you should alwaysuse the function keys to toggle between the four preset views plus the All View mode. Each time youselect a camera view from the Cameras menu item, CINEMA 4D’s default settings are applied; the programdoes not remember changes you made the previous time you used that particular view style . Also, thenew camera view will now be associated with a particular F-key making it confusing to remember which F-key is associated with which camera view. So, again, only use this feature when you need a non-standardview such as a bottom view or a left side view, usually during intricate modeling sessions.

Select Camera > Scene Cameras and choose intro Cam

If you study the Cameras > Scene Cameras menu items, you will note that intro Cam is now checked indi-cating that it is the camera through which the scene is viewed in this viewport.

Try to move or rotate the view.

No dice, huh? This is because intro Cam has been locked with a protection tag. (You cannot lock an editorcamera.)

In the Object Manager, unfold the object ...stage... .

Notice the protection tag (circle-slash) after intro_Cam. The protection tag prevents you from inadvertentlymoving an object whose current position is important to keep fixed. Notice, however, that the other cam-era objects (move_Cam, for example) are not protected.


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Select Camera > Scene Cameras > move Cam. Now try to rotate the view.

Ah, ha! It responds now.

Undo any rotations (remember, view/camera undos are done with Shift-Cmd-Z). Also try a translation followedby an undo.

If you were not to perform an undo ( Shift-Cmd-Z )after these actions, the changes would replace the pre-vious values which would eventually be lost after so many operations.

If you were to select Camera > Editor Camera and perform the same operations as above, the resultswould appear the same. In general, you should use the editor camera for modeling and positioning ele-ments in your scene (although you may certainly use object cameras as well) and an object camera shouldbe created for any view from which you wish to do a final render. Object cameras can also be used formodeling when you need a specialty view which you can then return to anytime by selecting that camera.Any time you wish to animate a camera’s motion, you must use an object camera.

Let’s switch back to intro_Cam. Here’s a way to switch using the Object Manager. In the Object Manager, just to the right of the column of visibility dots, is a column for toggling certain tools on and off. The cam-

era objects show icons with four corners and a dot in the center, let’s call it the “viewfinder” icon. Noticethe icon for move_Cam is white instead of black.

Click once on the icon associated with intro_Cam.

A final note on cameras. Selecting a camera in the view window menu bar makes that camera the onethrough which the scene is viewed. Selecting a camera in the Object Manager makes that camera the ac-tive object to be moved around like any other object. If the camera selected in the Object Manager is notthe one used in the active view, movements of it will not affect the current view. But, you are still chang-ing the view as it will be seen from the camera object you are moving. Sometimes it’s handy to have twoview panels open, one showing a view through the camera you are moving and another from a differentcamera (or the editor camera) to help you position the camera being moved. You will learn how to createnew view panels later.

5. Navigating in the View

You’ve already done some practice with moving the view around. You should remember how to use the 1,2, and 3 keys for translation, scale and rotation of the view. You should also remember, as a last reminder,to undo view (camera) moves in the editor (view) window with Shift-Cmd-Z.

Click anywhere within the Object Manager window and enter Shift-Cmd-A to be sure no objects are selected.

Cmd-A is the “select all” shortcut; Shift-Cmd-A is the “deselect all” shortcut. They work on any windowwith something selectable (including text).

Translation:Notice the three axes of the world coordinate system.

Activate the Editor Camera. Practice moving the view around using 1-click & drag (holding down the 1 key andclicking and dragging). Undo any moves.

You are moving the camera up and down or left and right to change the apparent position of the scene.

Now move the view in and out with 1-right-click & drag (or Cmd-1 click & drag on the Mac). Watch the move-ment of the world axes as you move the view. Undo any moves.

You are moving the camera toward or away from the origin. You can also move in and out using the 2 key

but be very careful not to use right mouse button (or the Cmd key) with it or you will change the focus.The view in any viewport is always through a camera whether it is the editor camera or one you havecreated. So when you move the view in the active window, you are actually moving the camera throughwhich you are viewing.


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Select the Camera Tool and the Move Tool. Click and drag anywhere in the view window. There is no need tohold down the 1 key since the Camera Tool is selected. Try using theright mouse button (or Cmd key) as youdrag. When done experimenting, undo any moves you’ve made and re-select the Model Tool.

As you move the view, you will see the world origin and axes move to new positions within the editor win-dow. CINEMA 4D still considers the origin as the place where X, Y and Z all equal zero regardless of where

(or if) the world origin appears in the view. By changing the view orientation, you are merely changing theposition of the camera through which the view is currently viewed whether it is the editor camera (as inthis case) or a camera you have created.

Although you can use the Camera Tool as done above, it is far better speed wise to use the shortcuts dur-ing modeling. This eliminates the need to constantly switch between the Model Tool and the Camera Tool.It also doesn’t require you to switch between the Move Tool, Scale Tool or Rotate Tool. However, youmay find need for the Camera Tool during animation because it allows you to limit the axes of movementas well as enter precision values in the Coordinates Manager.

Rotation:

Technically, this is not rotation when applied to cameras. but revolution. The camera is actually being

translated to another position in space as well as being rotated to keep the selected object in view.

Unfold View_Obj and make both its children visible in the editor. Make Revolve_Cam the active camera.

Hope you used the one-click shortcut in the Object Manager.

Click on the View tab which is grouped with Objects and Structure. In the scrub bar directly beneath the mainviewport drag the green time marker to the right.

Although this is done with an animated camera, it is also what is done to the camera being viewedthrough when you use the shortcut 3 to change the view. (That is, unless an object is selected which is notat the world origin, discussed next).

If you actually want the camera to rotate while st

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