Cinema 4D Tutorial: Three Ways to Create Pixel Art

Maxon's Cinema 4D is a powerful 3D computer animation, modeling, simulation and rendering software, and it is also widely considered to be one of the easiest 3D software to learn and use. The existence of Cinema 4D can be seen in the many works created by CG companies or artists. Cinema 4D also supports many renderers, such as Arnold, Redshift and Octane, which is a great help for its rendering.After making a scene or model in Cinema 4D, the last step of rendering sometimes takes a long time, and then your computer is also occupied with this work without being able to do anything else. The rendering speed depends on many factors, such as the amount of rendering work, camera, models, etc. So how to improve C4D rendering? As a leading C4D render farm and C4D cloud rendering service provider in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm will introduce you some ways to speed up C4D rendering.How to Speed up C4D Rendering?1. Update your software and renderer to the latest version.2. Optimize the polygon mesh. For the far view you can reduce the number of unnecessary mesh faces.3. Optimize the objects or polygons in the scene as needed. Some places that the camera can't shoot, such as the reflection of lights, refraction, glossiness, etc., can be hidden or deleted.4. Reducing the rendering accuracy as needed can speed up the rendering speed.5. Use Cinema 4D cloud rendering service for batch rendering and speed up Cinema 4D rendering.There are many render farms that offer cloud rendering services for Cinema 4D, but here we introduce you Fox Renderfarm, which also supports renderers Arnold, Redshift and Octane.Advantages of Fox RenderfarmPowerful On-Demand RenderingMultiple Software &x26; Plugins Supported: 3ds Max, Maya, Arnold, V-Ray, Redshift, etc.CPU &x26; GPU Rendering Are Both AvailableSecure &x26; Confidential: TPN-Accredited VendorOscar-Winning Entries Service Team24/7 Live Customer Care &x26; Technical SupportMassive SSD Storage System to Solve the I/O BottleneckProgram to Help CG Students and Educators Realize DreamsLet's take a look at the tutorial for using C4D cloud rendering online.Step 1. Preparations for Cinema 4D web submission:1.1 Register to get an account with $25 free trial. In the case of web login, please visit web login for details.1.2 In the case of web transfer, please visit web-upload for details.1.3 Compare the local and could asset directories.Step 2. Cinema 4D web submission process (4 steps: submit > analyze > render > download):2.1 Click the “Submit” button on the left, select the software for submission > set a project path (Note: this project path contains all the materials used for the Max file) > select the document for rendering, after that, click “Continue”.2.2 Select software version and hardware configuration corresponding to the file (Note: selection of the rendering system), click "Go Analysis", and wait patiently for the analysis to complete.2.3 Click the job with “Analysis Done”, set render parameters and then submit it for rendering (Note: the actual rendering only starts at this job)2.4 On the rendering page, click the job > export the file > download.That is all about tutorial of Cinema 4D cloud rendering online. If you have anything else you don't understand, you can consult the customer service or your account manager, but remember to sign up to get an account, and the benefit for new users is a $25 free rendering voucher. If you are a student or educator, you can get a bigger discount, check out our GoCloud Program. Fox Renderfarm is always committed to providing better and more affordable cloud rendering services for everyone in the CG industry!

The leading cloud rendering services provider and GPU &x26; CPU render farm, Fox Renderfarm will share with you a C4D tutorial. In this project, will learn how to use field forces to create a diamond dispersion effect with particle motion on the surface.I was looking for inspiration on the web when I overheard this dynamic effect and felt it looked good after rendering, so I wanted to replicate the effect using C4D:So today we'll use C4DR21's Field Forces to create this diamond dispersion effect with particles moving on the surface!Let's Start MakingIn C4D, first create a new sphere, segmentation can be appropriate to increase a little, type selection for Lcsahedron, Radius value slightly changed a little smaller:Add a Disolacer deformer to the sphere, add a noise wave to the shader, and the global scaling of the noise wave can be slightly larger to create this bumpy sphere effect:Then add a Subdivision Surface, Subdivision Editor and Subdivision Renderer under Object are set to 1:Next is a new feature of C4D R21, we add a Volume Builder to the object. C4D R21's volume generation has added a new mode of vector, it can convert the object directly into a vector, we increase the accuracy of Voxel Size a little bit:Next, create a new Random Field and drag it into the volume generation. By default, random fields are created in a cubic space:First we can change the creation space to below the object, representing the creation of vectors based on objects:But now the direction of the vector is not what we want, because by default it is the direction of the object normal, and for the sake of observation I have slightly enlarged the scale of the random field here:Back in Volume Builder, we change the blending mode of the Random Field to Cross, so that the direction of the vector is the direction of the surface to which the object is attached:But now the vector is not used, we need to convert it to a field force, so create a new Field Force and drag the volume object into it, selecting the type as Volume Object：Now you may not see any effect, you need to create a new Matrix, with Subdivision Surface as the object Object. Distribute it as a surface is fine, then let the matrix generate TP particles, the number can be slightly more:By default, the field force does not affect the particles, so you need to do some simple settings. First of all, create a new xpresso tag, and create a new particle transfer in the TP particle creation body: then add a PForce object in the TP dynamic item, which is also a new feature of R21, and then drag the field force into the PForce object, so that the TP particles can be affected by the field force:Clicking on play will reveal that the particles will fly out after a period of motion:This is because the mode of the field force is not correct, so change the mode of the field force to set the absolute rate, and then increase the intensity a little, you can see the particles hovering along the surface of the object:Next we add Thinking Particles to the matrix, change the Limit to From End, then set the Amount to 50, and then play to see the beautiful circling lines:I think the number of particles seems to be a little bit more, so I changed the number of particles to a smaller one:When we feel it is almost ready, we can first convert the trace object to an ABC file, make a copy of the subdivision object, and back up the rest and turn it off:Now the lines are appearing from nothing, we want it to be the same as the reference case that is always there, so we can offset a little bit in the animation of the ABC file, and then change the frame duration to 180 frames:The next step is simple: create a new gem, resize it appropriately, and add a chamfer deformer to it. Create another larger gem, then add a lattice to this gem, with smaller cylinders and spheres. Rotate the angle of the lattice and the sphere, and put them into a group:Set the keyframe in the group's rotation , remember to change the curve to linear, and then you can move on to the rendering.Open Redshift, set the render size, first I still use the linear space, and then the scene does not need global lighting, so turn off the GI. Then I did not improve the number of reflections and refraction, because I compared and found that the default parameters seem to look better: create a new HDRI ambient light; you can try more mapping, preferably with the color of this dispersion so the effect will be better:Add the RS object label to the sample bar, select the curve mode for the hair on it, and then properly adjust the curve to control the thickness of the beginning and end of the sample bar:Next is the material, first use a gradient node to connect the material of the sample bar to the color of the luminescence. Change the mode of the gradient node to Alt. I gave the intensity of the glow to 10. Because we are rendering hair, we can give a hair position node to connect to the gradient, so that the hair will have a little gradient according to the position color:The material of the sphere is nothing special, it is an ordinary dark green reflective material: the next is the material of the jewel body, in fact, is a glass material, I slightly gave it a little reflection of the rough, and then the dispersion I adjusted to 2:In the optimization options deselect Weak internal reflections. Then in the lighting details, change whether to affect refraction to always:The final lattice material is very simple, is a common luminous material, and then use a gradient color to control the color of the luminous and transparent channel. Sampling settings due to the glass and there is dispersion, my maximum and minimum uniform sampling 256/16, other local samples are 512:The Final ResultFinally, add some glow and see the effect:Fox Renderfarm hopes it will be of some help to you. It is well known that Fox Renderfarm is an excellent cloud rendering services provider in the CG world, so if you need to find a render farm for C4D, why not try Fox Renderfarm, which is offering a free $25 trial for new users? Thanks for reading!BY:野鹿志

In scientific research drawings, three-dimensional model diagrams can show more information than two-dimensional plane pictures, especially when designing and preparing nanostructures, three-dimensional model diagrams can intuitively show the design ideas and synthesis paths of materials. For example, in this paper (Ref. Joule 2018; 2: 725-735.), published in Joule magazine, a high-level, high-value, and incisive paper that showcases nano aesthetics, a three-dimensional model is used to intuitively express the synthesis path of the material. Harmonious color scheme and rich details: One of the ingenious features of this group of three-dimensional model diagrams is that irregularly stacked small balls are used to represent the SnO2 layer, which means that SnO2 is stacked by granular nanocrystals.In this article, Fox Renderfarm, the best could rendering services provider and C4D render farm, will share with you a Cinema 4D tutorial about how to make a core-shell structure. This tutorial is written by 3d Artist Yuan Liu. Now let’s introduce a modeling method for stacking model of small balls of any shape in C4D software.The specific modeling path is: modeling the shape of the target polygon→clone ball to fill the target polygon→dynamic collision to make it regular arrangement. (If you need the effect of partial fusion between the small balls, add a step of volume generation)The specific completion effect is shown in the figure belowOpen C4D, here is the R20 version as an exampleFirst, perform polygonal modeling to make the geometric shape of the target shape.Here is an example of a notched spherical shell1.1 First create a sphere in the geometry menu bar (default Radius 100), select the sphere, click to convert to editable polygon (or keyboard C key).1.2 Select the frame selection mode in the selection tool, select the surface mode on the left, and select only visible elements on the hook in the frame selection setting.1.3 Press F3 to enter the right view, select a quarter of the sphere, and delete with the DELETE key1.4 Press F1 to return to the three views and create a Cloth Surface1.5 Drag the sphere with part of the surface deleted into the Cloth Surface, and set the Thickness of the Cloth Surface to 20cm.1.6 Middle mouse click on Cloth Surface, you can select Cloth Surface and sphere at the same time, right click and select "Connect Object+Delete", turn the second dot behind to red, cancel the polygon rendering, and check X-ray in the basic properties .Then use the clone tool to collide with the rigid body to realize the uniform filling of the small ball in the target shape.2.1 Create a new sphere with a radius of 3.5 and a segment of 12 types of icosahedrons (can be adjusted by yourself, the more segments, the easier it is to freeze); create a clone generator in the generator column, and drag the new sphere into a subset of the clone .2.2 Set Cloner mode as the object, drag the cloth surface into Cloner's object frame, change the distribution method to volume, and set the number to 5000~10000 (depending on the size of the model).2.3 Select Cloner and create a rigid body label (label→simulation label→rigid body); label collision setting: apply label to the child, select the top layer for independent elements; in the force attribute, set the follow displacement to 6 (can be adjusted by yourself).Ctrl+D to enter the project settings, in the general dynamics settings, change Gravity to 0.2.6 Click the play button to play the ball movement animation. After playing to 10 frames, the ball basically moves to a position corresponding to the shape of the grid.2.7 Create a new sphere as a shadow effect. Keep the sphere position and properties as default; double-click the blank position in the material area to create a new material. Here, create two new materials and drag the materials to the corresponding objects (sphere and clone).Double-click the material ball to open the material editor. The material settings are as shown in the figure: For the shadow material, only the transparent channel is checked, and the channel color can adjust the shadow depth; for the ball material, check the color and reflection channel, and add a diffuse layer to the reflection layer, diffuse Add a Fresnel texture to the layer color. Adjust the color and position of the color mark in the Fresnel texture settings to change the color of the ball.2.8 Long-press the left mouse button on the ground option, select the sky in the pop-up menu to add a sky background to the environment, search for HDRI in the content browser on the right, you can find the HDRI shader preset by the software, here you can choose a suitable one, double-click to add it to Material window, and drag the HDRI shader to the sky just created.2.9 Select the sky and select the rotation tool to rotate the angle of the sky to find a suitable light angle; after adjusting the angle, add a composite label to the sky, and uncheck the camera visibility in the label settings, so that you can only render during rendering Lighting does not render the sky.2.10 The following is the rendering settings, as shown in the figure, click to open the rendering settings window, check the Alpha channel in the save column, and set the format to PNG, so that a picture with a transparent background can be rendered; after finding the angle, click to render to the picture Viewer, wait for the rendering to complete and click Save. (To save the transparent background picture PNG+Alpha)The following is the partial fusion between spheres through volume generation.3.1 Change the sphere type of the cloned subset to tetrahedron, and set the number of segments to 3 (minimum value); create volume generation and volume grids in the generator column, drag the cloned object into the volume generated subset, volume Generated as a subset of the volume grid.3.2 In the volume generation settings, click Clone to check Use grid points, change the mesh radius to 3 cm, and the voxel size to 1 cm; drag the material of the cloned object to the volume mesh; change the radius of the shadow sphere to 90~95 cm to prevent overlapping of the shadow sphere and the stacked sphere. Finally, render it to the image viewer and save it.If you want to add a layer of spherical shell to the outside, you only need to create a cut spherical shell according to the method in the first step, adjust it to a suitable size, add a subdivision surface, and give it a material. The color of the material can be adjusted by yourself.This kind of ball clone filling and rigid body collision method is used to make the stacking effect of the balls. It is suitable for any closed polygon model, but it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between the number and size of the balls and the size of the target polygon. The number of balls is too small. Too much is easy to cause lag. In addition, you can reduce the number of subdivisions of the ball as much as possible without affecting the rendering effect, so as to improve the calculation speed.