Well as you all know, my approach on learning Cinema4D has been to tackle a number of tools/functions and then incorporate it into a project.

That is why I was really chuffed to see an article by John Dickinson of motionworks about show-reels packed with tutorials. I do not like when people just regurgitate tutorials into their showreel without showing any implementation of what they learnt through the teaching process. It is absolutely fine to go through the entire tutorial steps to the result (I do it all the time and its one of the many ways one can learn) but your creativity comes when you are able to utilize the techniques into a personal project that isn’t an identical clone or just a reshuffling of the colors.

Now for my next learning process, I have chosen to tackle rigging, a few modeling tricks and more camera and lighting setup.

I started to think of what exactly to create. I didn’t just want to recreate tutorials or try to model a complex object but wanted something structured in such a way that focused on how to use these tools without diving too deep into hours of complex modeling and pixel pushing.

After deliberating, I realized I had the answer right in front of me. Like literally facing me. It was my current desktop wallpaper, which was created by leviatan from the anime, Yotsubato! I really liked the simplicity and emotion of the scene so I quickly began to break it down into some of the C4D elements I wanted to tackle.

The Card-box character will allow me to try my hands on rigging without worrying too much about the model.

The flower reminded me of Robert Ledger’s metallic flower tutorial, which is simply one tut I have been dying to try for a while now. So I decided to use my learning outcomes from that to make this floating flower sphere.

The pond will give me some reflections and possibly refractions to play with.

The particles above the sphere, I think will be smarter to create using trapcode particular to save on render time but I also want to try my hands on the particle systems built in C4D.

I will also be adding some more elements to the scene that will improve the narrative I intend to construct but will not disclose anything yet just to give that element of surprise.

Still in progress…

I am really hoping I wrap this up during or before the 2nd week of September.

My last note is about the Boole function (which in my last post, I couldn’t find in the interface.) I was able to locate it in the Modeling panel. It can also be located in the menu/tab bar: Object->Modeling->Boole or the tool bar.

I think the number of steps one could take before making use of this function drastically increases when you have to make things editable (and sometimes grouped, then connected) before making your complex object and I personally feel it makes the process bloated. 3Ds Max executes this much better but perhaps this is all beginners’ stress.

Talking about beginner’s stress, I retrieved my long and forgotten Wacom tablet, which hasnt been used for a long time now and have decided to start incorporating it into my cinema4D workflow. It is quite the challenge because my mouse, which I am very much use too (especially after configuring all the buttons to C4D shortcuts) is having to take a back seat as I adapt to this peripheral. I hope I can stick with it fully this time so here is hoping to greater efficiency. Well looking forward to next week.

Click on images to magnify

SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES

Firstly the command manager, which allows you to basically assign any keyboard shortcuts to ANY function, is pretty handy and something you probably should look into if you are new to cinema4D.

It can be located in the menu tab: Window->Layout->Command Manager (Shift+f12)
So far I have mapped the following tools to this keyboard shortcuts.
Magnify tool – Alt + Z
Point tool – Ctrl + 1
Edge tool – Ctrl + 2
Polygon tool – Ctrl + 3

These are tools I used very frequently during modeling and they had no shortcuts (to my knowledge) assigned to them.

I am yet to find the Boolean function in Cinema4D (like in 3Ds Max) or something similar that allows you to make mathematical, forms (complex objects) i.e. subtract an object (A) from object (B).

Right now, I have to create spline shapes and then apply the extrude NURBs which in my opinion, is very inefficient and breaks some of the enjoyment you get in modeling. So if anyone knows how to do this, please let me know ASAP.

As always, reflections, refractions are a nightmare to render. It made me release just how underpowered my MacBook pro really is. Although it was to be expected since the current generation of MacBook pros is about twice the power of mine. It just gave me something to add to my calculations when working on animations.

My first attempt at animating the camera was fair and the result was just acceptable at best so I decided to do a little digging on how to go about animating around a spline. It was then I got my first introductory lessons on XPresso by Robert Ledger.(Great guy!)

The power of this simple node-programming tool is amazing. I thought I will begin exploring the tool by month 2 but it looks like XPresso, dynamics, mograph and many other big functions of cinema4D need to be visited every so often rather than structuring my learning like a university course.

I hope I could post the animation later once I have been given the clear on that.
During this week, I realized I do need to work intensively on improving my animating (camera techniques) and also lighting. As it was a constant battle to get things to look how I wanted them to look. Then again its only week 2 so I cannot be too hard on myself for this.

Right now, my next point is to try out the figure rigging and more hard-surface modeling to get accustomed with the tools. Of course it will be an animation but I am not sure I could pull this one off in a week. Well till next time!

It wasn’t until about 2months ago, when a creative director advised me to try Cinema4D because of how some of the tools were designed to aid motion graphics especially the way it complements After Effects. Since I am striving to be efficient in my workflow and because I do not have a powerful rig, I decided to give this a go.

So I spent some time watching videos of what other people have created with the software and also began to gather resources that will aid my development with the package.

I have always preferred video tutorials to reading step-by-step guidebooks because of how quick and easy it is for me to extract and assimilate information from watching them which I believe is partly due to video editing over the years.

My plan is to reach an expert level within 4months and therefore I have decided to use my blog as a journal on my learning outcomes and experimentation.

This week, I was able to cover the fundamentals i.e. primitives, materials, and lighting and render setup. Navigating through the interface is a lot easier now that I have grown accustomed to the workspace.

The learning outcome for this week is the relationship between:

Gamma – Default light – Global illumination – Reflection – Materials

Understanding how these relate with one another will enable you to craft a well-lit scene and also save you time when rendering.

Gamma is what determines just how dark your scene gets. It is the power by which the luminance of an image is increased. A gamma coefficient that is :

>1 = a lighter and softer scene interaction with the light source(s)

<1 = a darker…

It is always recommended that you render in a gamma coefficient of 2.2 but this doesn’t mean you cannot work in lower numbers. You just have to know what is in your scene and how the human eye interprets what is shown. Your ability to be able to predict the outcome of your render will save you some time in the process.

To demonstrate this, I made use of Chad Ashley (CGPOV) and Nick Campbell’s (GSG) demonstration to help me understand their relationships. I modeled and rendered the following pictures in Cinema4D. Lit (with a soft-box using HDRI light kit Pro) the scene with the following values:

• Brightness – 90%
• Shadow density – 100%
• Area Shadow – 16%
• Radius/Decay – 190cm
• The material has a reflection (brightness) value of 1.5.

What changes are the gamma coefficient, default  light and Global illumination configuration.

A:Gamma: 1.0, Default light: ON, Global illumination: OFF.

B:Gamma: 2.2, Default light: ON, Global illumination: OFF.

C:Gamma: 1.0, Default light: OFF, Global illumination: ON.

D:Gamma: 2.2, Default light: OFF, Global illumination: ON.

SUMMARY OF OUTCOME

Reflections take a “front seat” (over-emphasized) when Default Light is switched on. The light’s fall off /decay is much shorter and shadows are harder and can appear noisy in these settings. Colors appear more saturated and darker.

Reflections correspond to the value stated and light travels further when Global illumination is switched on. Rendering time is also greatly increased but shadows and scene appears natural.

Higher gamma coefficient increases the image’s luminance, allowing light to also travel further and vice-versa.

I think what is important is to know what your scene contains and how it should be represented. This will help you decide what trade off to implement because rendering in 2.2 is not necessarily the best setting for every scene you create. This doesn’t mean that you cannot get the same result of a dimmer lighting, you just have to compensate with the level of brightness and fall off settings but that requires a bit of tinkering to get it right. An example will be a cinema or theater setting.

Gamma:1.0, G.I:ON.

Gamma: 2.2, G.I:ON.

I normally wait until a week or two before the game’s release before I make my trailer, because by then allot of the videos and media for Press will have found their way to the Internet. This way I have a better selection of content to draw from.

In this video there were only 2 or 3 major additions, the rest was just editing to the track. The idea behind the trailer was to captivate the intense action and diversity in gameplay or what you can do I suppose, which is very synonymous to the battlefield franchise.

General Changes

The structure/arrangement of the footage and entire edit is my own.

Notable Additions

The battlefield 3 bumper.

I really liked the motion graphics that was created for the battlefield and wanted to try and replicate it. So after a bit of tinkering for about 2days, I was able to create something similar and decided to use it as my intro. The animation looks really simple but making it is actually a lot more complex than that. Believe me when I say it is not as straightforward as you might think.

The Music.

For those who might have heard the track before and are familiar with its arrangement, you will realize that mine is different from the album version. In fact this was the first thing I began working with. To try and shrink the track to about 2mins as I didn’t want the trailer longer that simply because, the number of media I was able to have as assets were smaller compared to what I am usually able to gather.

That really concludes this highlight. I am now taking a break for making my fan-made trailers to focus on some projects I intend to complete. Do stick around though because you will get to find out what I will be working on, eventually.

Before the official video release, the perception we got from the marketing campaign was some kind of live action footage that combined elements from the game and featured the rock band, perhaps in a music video style.
What was released was a mixture of live action shots together with gameplay from Medal of Honor, the track recording from the band but without the band performing or featuring in the actual video. The outcome was decent but I wanted do more justice to the game, the band and the idea, by making use of all the available assets i.e.

This led me to create my version of the trailer titled Save the Catalyst.

Rather than point out all of the changes, I decided it will be better to make a comparison video and give you the opportunity to watch both at the same time. Hopefully this will make it easier to scrutinize and understand the concept.

General changes
The structure of the footage and entire edit is my own.

Notable Additions

My title, Save the Catalyst in the opening of the trailer.

Chester Bennington’s Lip sync

After watching most of all the band’s music videos from their discography, I was able to settle with Not Alone, which was not part of the album: A Thousand Suns, but a dedication to the Haiti earthquake disaster. At the time, it was recent and had its black and white style correlated with their video blogs and the album release.

Day to Night Conversion

This was my first attempt at DNC but it actually looks allot lighter when played directly from a computer. I thought about where the light sources could come from to get the best representation of the scene and if you watch the clips prior to this in my version, you will see it’s almost midnight and the only light source one could suggest was from the sky/moon. There are no streetlights or buildings in the scene and lights from the headlamps don’t sip into the car interior when driving. The overall outcome is ok at the very least.

Well that sums up this breakdown. My editing style is always based around a narrative that I put together from the objective(s) of the video/trailer and for those who might have already noticed this in my videos or have been editing for a while now, you should be able to quickly spot how each story progresses. I hope this was somehow insightful and look forward to next highlight, Down with Battlefield 3.

So I decided I would identify some of the key changes in my videos to help people understand the effort that goes into making them. Before I begin, I want to recommend you watch the video before reading. You can do so here. I also want to take my hat off to the people behind the clips and media that made it possible for me to make my videos because without it in the first place, I would not be able to create the kind of videos I enjoy making. So lets begin.

General changes
The structure of the footage and entire edit is my own.

Color Correction

This was a difficult one because the original source has its colors slightly washed out and desaturated, which I believe is part of the game’s aesthetic but then again I have seen a number of user generated captured clips of RDR and the colors appear richer although sometimes with deeper blacks than needed. This was also the reason why I couldn’t make use of them. Since the resource found was limited to mostly a scene or two that the person liked, therefore the colors will be inconsistent with my other clips. They are also often riddled with ‘in your face’ watermarks of the person’s user name.

I added more blue and toned down the red very slightly in the color channels but had to over-saturate to bring back some of the color. The result is ok but I feel could be better especially with higher quality sources.

Additions

Camera flashes

Smoke and sparks in the cave.

Gives the scene more atmosphere and improves the audio sync.

Muzzle flash and smoke from Agent Ross gunshot.

Blackwater Journal

Don’t bother to read anything else on the newspaper besides the headlines and short paragraph below the picture. The side info are John Dillinger’s wiki. Was not ready to apply some creative writing to the entire thing and focused on the purpose of the effect.

Text, and IGN watermark.

I didn’t get all my clips from IGN, in fact I was only able to get a clip from them. Rather than scaling or retouching frames in order to remove the watermark, I decided to watermark the entire footage with their logo but as an outline, so that when the playhead reaches a cut from IGN’s clip, it fills the outline without been too intrusive.

I also wasn’t able to get the exact typeface (New Deal) used in Public Enemies so I decided to tweak a similar one which is free in illustrator, without infringing any copyright.

That sums up the most parts of the video. I hope you enjoyed it and expect a similar breakdown for Save the Catalyst and Down with Battlefield 3. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and thanks for all the support.

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I will be posting allot more details and updating frequently on my recent projects and rambles on design, multimedia technology, game trailers, anime, music videos etc. Pretty much any topic that intrigues me but for now do enjoy looking around and thanks for checking out the site.