Cinema 4D Finally Brings 3D to Motion

Cinema 4D’s friendly interface and robust motion graphics toolset have made it the tool of choice for creating 3D motion graphic elements for title sequences, bumpers, interstitials, and the like. And it’s ability to export multipass renders as well as 3D data to After Effects have made it easy for After Effects users to integrate 3D into their projects. Well, with release 11.5, Final Cut Studio users can finally do the same, because Cinema can now export 3D data directly to a Motion project. By taking advantage of Motion’s real time render engine and Final Cut Pro integration, you can now create professional 3D projects or even Master Templates for your projects.

There are a few tricks to getting Cinema 4D to play nicely with Motion. In the video, I step through the workflow for preparing a Cinema 4D project for Motion, and then preparing the Motion project, swapping in video elements, adding text, and finally creating a Motion template that you can use in Final Cut Pro.

The Centrica Carnivale part 3

In part 2 we looked at the creation and animation of the “racing waiters” scene… one award done but five more to go!  In the final of the three-part series we look at all the other scenes in the animation and then conclude with a few notes on delivery.

The Centrica Carnivale part 2

In Part 1 we looked at the initial client brief, the pitch animation, and ended up creating some flashing lights in After Effects.  In Part 2 we dive right into advanced 3D - beginning with an examination of the “magic star”, then a comprehensive demonstration of the Knoll Light Factory, before concluding with a complete analysis of the “racing waiters” scene.

Introducing the Centrica Carnivale

3D or AE?  How about 3D using AE! At the beginning of 2006 I created a conference opener for Centrica that looked like it had been made with a 3D animation package, however practically everything was created using only After Effects.  This is part one of a three-part series that looks back at the Centrica Carnivale animation and demonstrates the techniques that were used to create the distinctive 3D look.  While not intended to be a detailed step-by-step tutorial, the series looks at all aspects of the project- from the initial client brief through to final delivery and gives insight into the “real life” stages of an After Effects project.

Syntheyes 101

This is an oldie, but a goodie. I’ve received numerous emails about this tutorial from all over the world since I originally released it in early 2008. I’m actually quite shocked as to how well it was received considering it was my first ever attempt at a video tutorial. I’ve been wanting to bring this tutorial over to share with my PVC readers for awhile and have now been able to do so as of today. Please continue to spread the word, I’m glad it has helped so many people already and I hope it continues to to do so here.

I am in the works on an updated version of this tutorial for the current version of Syntheyes 2008, but can’t really say when I plan on having it done. I will say that nearly everything I talk about in this tutorial is still completely valid for Syntheyes 2008.

The “Syntheyes 101” tutorial is a basic start to finish look at how to motion track a video clip and export the track data.

I cover the following topics:
- The UI (user interface)
- Opening a video clip
- Properties panels
- Spotting and adjusting troublesome trackers
- Solving the shot
- Color coding solved trackers for your own sanity
- Using the Coordinate System
- Adding a 3D reference object
- Tips on checking overall track for accuracy
- Exporting the track
- Also various hotkeys are mentioned throughout the video

Enjoy and happy tracking.

3D Features - Photoshop CS4 Sneak

Richard Harrington shows you how to use 3D layers and 3D models in Photoshop CS4 .

Want the videos in HD?  Then check out our iTunes version.

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