Newbie struggling

[Nolan Scott]

Please have a look at C4D Cafe and 3DKiwi

[Roger Burton]

Thanks Nolan … yes I found all that stuff and what an amazing resource it seems I should be able to find a tutorial for almost anything i want to make … don’t get me wrong I am astounded at the amount of time and effort these guys put in to help idiots like me but they are often too ‘prescriptive’ – ie “…now go to material\colour and put in these figures…” etc etc. I don’t learn a lot from this sort of tutorial except how to make a chess pawn, or whatever. I’m beginning to sound like an ungratefull swine – please believe me I’m not – and, of course, how can someone write a tutorial without having an objective ie ‘make a chess pawn’ but there’s often no explanation as to why to “wind up the reflection to 120” I’m just struggling. Maybe I should shell out the

[Ronaldo Montalvo]

hey roger,

i can relate. don’t give up. i’m an old guy too, came to c4d by way of paintbox, compositing with multiple 1′ machines and matte reels, ADO’s, photoshop, then after effects, etc., etc.

my personal advice with c4d is don’t try to learn it all. decide what you really want/need to do with it and focus there, do some simple paying jobs where you can work it into your usual methods and use it as a supplement to your afx skills. i don’t say this with pride but, i’ve been using it for about 4 years (still a newbie) and i seldom model anything, never do character rigging, barely use expressions or exotic long rendering liting/material setups. i admire these skills and these things are all on the “learn-it” list but i don’t need them currently and have accepted i might not get to them this week. most valuable to me are things like: work on moving the cameras smoothly and how to use spline paths with cam’s, get basic liting skills together, figure out how to use live video in your scenes, and use illustrator shapes/type as elements along with the c4d primitives. get comfy with the rendering module and it’s possibilities for export to afx.

most importantly, just keep doing what you’re doing, focus on tut’s that address what you really want to do. also, just play and experiment and do variations on tutorial theme or methods.. it’s one of the most powerful and amazing tools you’ll get to work/play with. give it time and, oh yeah, take your vitamins and gingko biloba. good luck.

[Roger Burton]

Ronaldo – thank you – I think I was beginning to get stuck with the enormity of the programme but of course you are so right …. when I remember back to my early days of AE and how daunting I found it I really just pretended it was Photoshop that moved a bit and slowly it all came together. I guess I’m also envious of all of the incredible stuff I see some of the kids knocking out and want to be as proficient over night. Your encouragement has been really helpful. I’ve been working my way through a few more tutes this afternoon … a little more of the foundations under my belt ! I’ll stop sulking and get on with it. Regards Roger

[Alejandro Torres]

Hi Roger,

I would recommend you the Cinema 4d tutorials that are available at http://www.lynda.com, they give you a complete panorama of the program in a very straightforward, complete and easy to follow way. I found them the best resource for learning C4D as this was also my first 3d app (I still work with AE but I now love C4D), although I am 17 I think you can overcome your problems and hopefully Lynda’s tutorials will help you out.

Regards

Alejandro

[Roger Burton]

Thanks for that capsat …. I will certainly check those I out. Regards Roger

[Aaron Aphasia]

Hey man…36 here and I’m still learning this program. Day in day out but I LOVE C4d and AE! Hang in there it will all “click” in short time. Aaron

Graphics Designer
Broadcast Specialist