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C4D Learning Curve?
Hi guys, I work in video production, and have been using after effects to create my animations and motion graphics. My employer feels we need to start producing 3D graphics using the likes of C4D to keep up with the competition.
My question is; How easy is it to get into C4D? Is it something you would have to do a training course on, or can just do a few tutorials on and you’re on your way? They would like me to be productive with the software as soon as possible, which means I would be limited to free tinkering around time.
I am pretty familiar with after effects and have experience with a basic 3D environment through AutoCAD, if it would help.
I have been semi ‘faking’ 3D graphics in after effects, but it is way too memory intensive for my power mac G4 (1gig ram) to even be practical. It takes several seconds to even preview any changes, and 15 minute render times for only a several seconds of footage.
Would C4D be even more memory/processor intensive or could my power mac G4 handle it ok?
Thanks for any help!
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5 Replies
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It’s not too hard. You know there’s a free demo you can get at the Maxon site? If you’re only doing motion graphics, you can jump right in and start learning. You can do your modeling by making paths in Illustrator and bring them into C4D to extrude or sweep, so you can skip the modeling tutorials. Learn about 3-point lighting from the web (I bet) or from ‘Digital Lighting & Rendering’ (Jeremy Birn) from Amazon. Then it’s materials and the timeline, which you can indeed find tutorials about.
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I think the learning curve would be reasonably shallow if you bought the MoGraph module, which makes many motion graphics effects quite simple once you get a handle on it. It also provides plenty of depth to grow into.
Rendering times are very subjective, depending on which effects you’re using. Frames can take anywhere from less than a second to multiple hours depending on the complexity of your scene, materials, and the number of objects in the scene. The most render intensive effects are blurry reflections/transparency and global illumination.
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If you’re used to animating in AE, the jump to C4D should be relatively easy. And wait until you see how easy it is to composite in AE using multipass renderings and the External Compositing tag. The Video wall tutorial in Trish & Chris Meyer’s “Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Vol. 2” would give you a good start, though I think it was written before the External Compositing tag was added to C4D, so instead of using lights as placeholders, you simply use the EC tag.
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Of the major 3D apps, C4D was the easiest and most logical for me to learn. As to cpu & memory, all the apps demand a lot, it really depends on what you’re creating. If you use large images as textures or complicated procedural textures, volumetric lights, high polygon counts, etc., you’ll get longer renders…suprised? OTOH, people used C4D with G3s.
Anyway,download the demo and have fun. A great resource, aside from the COW of course, is C4D Cafe, 3d kiwi’s site. Some great flash tutorials that will have you up in no time.
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Thanks for the replies! I have been trying out the demo and still have a long way to go, but it’s definately interesting! The quick start guide in the documentation part on the Maxon site has some tutorials there if anyone else in my situation needs to get started.
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