Maxon Computer Cinema 4D - 10.0 Quickstart Manual
Quickstart Manual
3D FOR THE REAL WORLD
CINEMA 4D
RELEASE 10
CINEMA 4D Release 10
Quickstart Manual
ICINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
Programming Christian Losch, Philip Losch, Richard Kurz, Tilo Kühn, Thomas Kunert, David O’Reilly,
Plugin programming Sven Behne, Wilfried Behne, Michael Breitzke, Kiril Dinev, Reinhard Hintzenstern,
Produc t Manager Marco Tillmann
Writers Glenn Frey, Sven Hauth, Dirk Beichert, Fabian Rosenkranz
Layout Oliver Becker, Oliver Krawc zyk
Translation Scot Wardlaw, Luke Stacy
Copyright © 1989 - 2006 by MAXON Computer GmbH All rights reserved.
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MAXON Computer, the MAXON logo, Sketch and Toon, CINEMA 4D, Hyper NURBS, C .O.F.F.E.E. are trademarks of MAXON
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Cathle en Poppe, Per-Anders Edwards, Paul Everett
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Michael Welter, Thomas Zeier
II CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
MAXON Computer End User License Agreement
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IIICINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
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IV CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
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We will also be pleased to provide you with the address of your nearest supplier.
VCINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
VI CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
Contents
MAXON Computer End User License Agreement .................................................................... II
Welcome to CINEMA 4D ..................................................................... 2
2. General Information / Interface ........................................................................................ 3
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................... 12
4. Quick Tutorial – Arranging Objects ................................................................................. 14
5. Quick Tutorial – Modeling ............................................................................................... 21
6. Quick Tutorial – Materials ............................................................................................... 28
7. Quick Tutorial – Light ...................................................................................................... 37
8. Quick Tutorial – Animation ............................................................................................. 43
9. Quick Tutorial – Rendering .............................................................................................. 50
10. Quick Tutorial – Multi-Pass Rendering ........................................................................... 57
11. Quick Tutorial – XPresso .............................................................................................. 63
Welcome to BodyPaint 3D ................................................................ 70
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 70
2. General Information / Interface ...................................................................................... 71
3. Sample Images .............................................................................................................. 73
4. Quick Tutorial – the Wizard ............................................................................................ 74
5. Quick Tutorial – First Painting Lesson .............................................................................. 76
6. Tips and Tricks ................................................................................................................80
Welcome to Advanced Render ......................................................... 82
2. General Information / Interface ...................................................................................... 83
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................... 85
4. Quick Tutorial – Global Illumination ................................................................................ 87
5. Quick Tutorial – Caustics ................................................................................................. 90
6. Quick Tutorial – Depth of Field ....................................................................................... 92
7. Tips and Tricks ................................................................................................................94
Welcome to PyroCluster ................................................................... 95
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 95
2. General Information / Interface ...................................................................................... 95
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................... 97
4. Quick Tutorial – 10 Steps to Glory .................................................................................. 98
5. Quick Tutorial – optimize and animate ......................................................................... 101
6. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 104
7. In Closing .....................................................................................................................104
Welcome to Sketch and Toon ......................................................... 107
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 107
2. General Information / Interface .................................................................................... 107
VIICINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................. 110
5. Quick Tutorial – Shaders and Tags ................................................................................. 114
6. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 118
Welcome to NET Render ................................................................. 121
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 121
2. General Information / Interface .................................................................................... 121
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................. 122
4. Quick Tutorial – Installation / Interface ......................................................................... 123
5. Quick Tutorial – Jobs and Administration ..................................................................... 124
6. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 125
Welcome to Dynamics .................................................................... 126
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 127
2. General Information / Interface .................................................................................... 127
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................. 128
4. Quick Tutorial – Rigid Bodies ........................................................................................ 129
5. Quick Tutorial – Soft Bodies .......................................................................................... 131
6. Tips and Tricks ..............................................................................................................133
Welcome to Thinking Particles ....................................................... 134
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 134
2. General Information / Interface .................................................................................... 135
3. Quick Tutorial – Particle Snow ....................................................................................... 137
4. Quick Tutorial – Objects as Particles .............................................................................. 140
5. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 145
6. In Closing .....................................................................................................................145
Welcome to MOCCA ....................................................................... 146
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 147
2. General Information/Interface (Joints and Rigging) ...................................................... 148
3. Quick Tutorial – Forward Kinematics/Inverse Kinematics (FK/IK) .................................... 153
4. Quick Tutorial – Visual Selector ..................................................................................... 155
5. Quick Tutorial – PoseMixer ............................................................................................ 158
6. Quick Tutorial – Morph Tool .......................................................................................... 160
7. Quick Tutorial – Muscles ............................................................................................... 162
8. Quick Tutorial – Vamp .................................................................................................. 165
9. Quick Tutorial – Dressing .............................................................................................. 168
10. Quick Tutorial – FBX Import / Export ........................................................................... 171
Welcome to HAIR ............................................................................ 174
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 174
2. General / Interface ........................................................................................................ 174
3. Sample Images ............................................................................................................. 176
4. Quick Tutorial – Fur ....................................................................................................... 177
VIII CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart
5. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 187
Welcome to MoGraph .................................................................... 188
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 188
2. General / Interface ........................................................................................................ 189
4. Quickstart Tutorial ........................................................................................................ 192
5. Tips & Tricks .................................................................................................................. 197
© Chen Shih Wei - Sunglow Design Studio
2 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
Welcome to CINEMA 4D
This is the CINEMA 4D Quickstart Tutorial. We want to help you enter the 3D world with this short and easy to
understand tutorial. After you have worked through this tutorial you will have a good basic user knowledge
which you can apply to future projects.
© Dave Brinda - www.brinda.com
1. Introduction
Unfortunately books haven’t yet reached the point where they can play an opening melody as soon as you flip them
open. Just use your imagination this time as we “congratulate you to the testing of the demo version of CINEMA 4D or
the purchase of CINEMA 4D!“ No matter if you’re just checking CINEMA 4D out or if you already own your own copy
of CINEMA 4D or one of its complete XL or Studio Bundle packages, you already know about the incredible things
CINEMA 4D can do. We have been working very closely with our customers for several years now in order to
satisfy their needs and wishes. This has lead to the creation and introduction of new functionality, according
to their needs. These ideas and concepts are then creatively implemented to satisfy the needs of our customers
and those of the 3D markets. No matter if you work in the field of print, advertising, design, visualization or
film, CINEMA 4D gives you all the tools you need to make your ideas reality. The intuitive interface and the
ease with which CINEMA 4D can be learned makes entering the versatile world for 3D a snap. Whether you
need character animation (MOCCA module) or a car toony look of your renderings (Sketch and Toon module)
– CINEMA 4D’s modular setup lets you customize it to suit your needs. CINEMA 4D places a link between your
job or hobby, and your creativity in the palm of your hand. You can create what your fantasy demands. CINEMA
4D will be your dependable partner. In order to give you an impression of what to expect from the interface
we’ll go straight to Part 2 of the Quickstart Tutorial – the interface.
3CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
2. General Information / Interface
CINEMA 4D Release 10 offers many new functions that will again speed up and improve your workflow. One of
the most notable changes is the newly-designed interface. So many functions have been added to CINEMA 4D
in the past six years that made a redesign necessary. The new design is more defined, more concise and offers a
more uniform look. Warm colors were used for functions and modes and cool colors for objects. Furthermore,
the design of the icons was made more abstract in order to make them more recognizable.
Let’ start with the most important step - starting CINEMA 4D. After starting CINEMA 4D you will see an image
similar to the following screenshot:
CINEMA 4D is divided into different working areas as follows: (starting at the top left clockwise)
4 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
The Editor Window shows all objects contained in the scene, for example polygon objects, cameras, lights and
bones and other deformers. You can render any view at any time to check your work.
A Group Icon contains several attributes for one group which can be accessed by clicking with the left mouse
button on the main icon. The group icon differs from normal icons in that you will see a small arrow in the
lower-right corner.
A Tab indicates different windows or managers which are layered over each other. In each window or manager
you will find different settings or attributes.
5CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
The Object Manager contains all of the scene’s objects. You use the Object Manager to set up a hierarchy,
assemble objects, set tags for objects (small icons to the right of the Object Manager let you assign an object
certain attributes), or to name objects. Included are polygon objects, lights, cameras, bones, deformers,
splines and null objects (objects without geometry).
The Attributes Manager manages the attributes of each object or tool. This is where you can change the
strength of the HyperNURBS subdivision (more about that later) or an object’s visibility in the editor window.
The object’s coordinates can be found here as well as the tool setting such as the radius of the live selection
and the “Only Select Visible Elements“ option.
The Coordinates Manager lets you place, rotate or scale your objects. Enter the values in the given fields
and confirm your entry with the “apply“ button or simply press the return key.
The Material Manager contains all of your materials, including shaders, textures and other properties. Just
click on the material to see its properties in the Attributes Manager. Double-click the material to open the
Material Editor to make changes to its individual material channels. Illumination strength, type of specular,
strength of bump and more can be adjusted here as well. We’ll cover this in detail in a later chapter.
6 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
You can open up to 4 Editor Views simultaneously, giving you an overview of your scene from different
perspectives. You can view your scene in different modes ranging from gouraud shading (includes any lights
you have placed into the scene) to quick shading (displays your scene using only a default light, not lights you
have placed into the scene), wire frame and more. This lets you adapt your editor window layout to your needs
or your computer’s processor speed.
The Icon Palettes stretch down the left side and across the top of the editor window. The horizontal palette
contains the tools you will be using most often, depending on which module you are using at the moment. If
you are using the Modeling Layouts, for example, tools needed to work with polygons, edges and points will
be displayed. You can use one of the standard layouts or create your own Icon Palette. CINEMA 4D lets you
choose which layout you want to work with.
Now we will concentrate more on CINEMA 4D’s icon palettes to get you a little more familiar with them. The
following explanation will refer to the colored icons on the next screenshot.
7CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
The image shows the left icon palette. At the very top you can see the previously mentioned predefined
layouts. Below that we have the (green) “Make Object Editable” button. This function lets a primitive be
transformed using points, polygon or edges. The editability of primitives is limited until they transformed!
You can determine size and number of segments but you cannot make any polygonal transformations. Next
we have the “Use Model Tool” and “Use Object Axis Tool” (red icons). You can move, scale or rotate a selected
object or rotate it around its own axis. The next three (blue) icons represent the “Use Point Tool”, “Use Edge
Tool” and “Use Polygon Tool”. In each of these modes you can either move, scale or rotate an object’s points,
edges or polygons or edit the object with CINEMA 4D’s integrated tools. The next (purple) icon lets you choose
between point, edge or polygon selection.
You select your points, edges or polygons in “Default Mode” by simply activating the corresponding points,
edges or polygons. In the “Auto Switch Mode“ CINEMA 4D recognizes whether your cursor is over a point,
edge or polygon. A click of the left mouse button selects the correct mode automatically. The “Tweak
Mode“ lets you do the same with an active move, scale or rotate tool. Now you know the icon palette’s most
important functions.
Now we will turn our attention to the most-used icons on the top palette.
On the left you will find the “Undo / Redo“ arrows (orange). This lets you reverse or repeat each step. You
can determine how many steps CINEMA 4D lets you undo by changing the presets in the main menu (edit /
preferences / document).
8 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
Next to the Undo / Redo icons you will see the “Live Selection“ (pink) tool. This lets you select your points,
edges or polygons for editing. The next three (turquoise) icons are pretty much self-explanatory. Use these to
move, scale or rotate your object or your object’s selected points, edges or polygons. When rotating, please
note that the center of the rotation will always be that of the active object (or camera).
The following three (red) icons let you lock & unlock the X, Y or Z axis. These settings let you determine the
direction in which your object will be edited. If only one of these icons has been activated it will only be possible
to move the object in that particular direction, unless you are using the object axis arrows, which are always
independent of the locked or unlocked X, Y or Z directions.
Th e n ext fu ncti on (p urp l e) le t s you s witch be t ween t he “Us e W orl d / Ob jec t Coord ina te
System“. Let’s assume the object axis of your wonderfully modele d head is slanted (whereas the term
“wonderfully modeled“ is open to interpretation in this case ;o). If you lock the X and Y axis, make the head
active and move it, you will notice that your model moves in the X-direction of the object axis.
Now select the world-coordinates instead and see how the object moves on the X axis parallel to the world
coordinate system.
This function can be very useful in modeling or animating your scene.
Now to the next group of three, the (red) Render Icons. The first function (Render Active View), with a
clapboard as a symbol, renders the image in the editor view. The rendering will be made using the settings
you have specified, with exception of image size and several post effects. Icon number 2 renders the image in
the “picture viewer” using the settings you have specified in icon number 3’s “Render Settings”. You can also
render animations in the picture viewer since the function “Render Active View” (as the name states) is only
meant for checking the scene in the active view.
The next (blue) symbol is the group window “Add Cube Object“. It contains all of CINEMA 4D’s available
predefined parametric objects.
9CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
One click and the world’s most used object is created – the cube. Click and hold to see all available parametric
objects. This is where you choose the initial shape you will need. And don’t forget! “Only parametric objects
that have been converted to polygon objects can be edited at a polygon, point or edges level!“
The yellow icon represents spline objects.
The term “spline“ has its origin in ship building. The wooden slats which were elastic enough to conform to the
shape of the ship’s hull were called splines. In the 3D world splines can be defined as “point-based curves“. A
spline “follows” several previously defined points while still retaining a curved form. This group window offers
several tools for drawing splines, as well as predefined shapes from which to choose. A spline can act as a path
for a camera to move along. Just draw a spline and let the camera move along its path. Splines can also be
used to model. To put it simply, splines are placed in a row as a wire frame over which a skin is stretched using
“Loft NURBS“, for example.
The next (dark orange) group icon hosts probably the most important CINEMA 4D object, the “HyperNURBS
object“.
10 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
If a polygon object is a sub-object of a HyperNURBS object its polygon wire frame (mesh) will be subdivided to
a higher degree. Visually it will be comprised of many more smaller polygons than before the subdivision (the
object automatically looks softer / rounder) without losing the original mesh. As you can see in the next screen
shot: The outer mesh (light blue) shows the polygon cube’s actual subdivision. The finer inner mesh (black)
shows the subdivision of the HyperNURBS object.
The advantages, especially in modeling, are obvious. Since the object contains few points (edges / polygons)
that can be edited it remains very manageable. You can drag just one point of the original wire frame and the
HyperNURBS mesh, with its finer subdivision, will follow the point being dragged (see next screenshot).
If the polygon object were made up of such fine subdivision modeling, it would be much more complicated.
You would pull one point and only one point would be moved. All other surrounding points would retain their
position. You would have to move each one individually in order to achieve the desired shape. Haven’t quite
understood? No problem, in part 2 of our Quick Tutorial you will try modeling like this yourself so you can
learn the functions first-hand. Of course this group window contains several NURBS objects, of which you have
already gotten to know the loft and HyperNURBS.
11CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
Let’s take a look at the objects behind the (green) “Function Objects“.
Here you will find, for example, the null object (object without geometry), the boolean object for boolean
operations (parametric and polygon objects can cut / slice each other), as well as the symmetr y object, which
can be unbelievably helpful in character modeling. You simply model one half of the figure and use the Add
Symmetr y Object function to mirror it and create the other half of the figure.
The second-to-last icon contains at least one object without which the best model would appear inconspicuous
and flat: the light (black & white).
The proper lighting of a scene is at least as important as the scene itself. You can make a better impression with
simple models and great lighting than you can with a fantastic model lit by a default light. We’ll go more into
detail about that later. Here you will find camera objects, the sun object and the environment object, among
others (adds a general color and / or fog to the scene).
The “Deformers“ can be applied with the objects of the last icon (light blue).
Use these to bend, deform or squash objects for modeling or animation. There are several helpful tools in this
group window. After you have worked your way through this tutorial you can try some of these yourself. You
can deduce what most of them do by their names (which appear at the lower left of your monitor when you
place the cursor over each icon).
12 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
3. Sample Images
This is the “ooohs and ahhhs!” section. Take a look at these images and let them inspire you a little before we
move on to the hands-on part of this tutorial.
13CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
14 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
4. Quick Tutorial – Arranging Objects
In order to give you a feeling of how CINEMA 4D works we will begin with the simple creation of a couple of
basic objects.
Create 13 cubes and one sphere using the main menu (objects / primitive / cube / sphere) or the group icon
“Add Cube Object“.
“13 cubes“ may give you the impression that we are preparing to create a mammoth project but don’t worry, we
are going to arrange the cubes into a little figure. When you’ve created the cubes you can see their alignment
in the Object Manager at the right.
For better reference, give each cube a unique name (double click the current object name in the Object Manager
to open the context window for renaming the object). You can simply refer to the next screenshot.
15CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
As you can see in the editor window, only one cube is visible. That’s because all cubes are located at the same
coordinates and are the same size, with the sphere in the center. Of course we will want to change this state
now, but first a quick introduction to navigating the editor window. How do I rotate and move my point of
view? Simple. Take a glance at the top right corner of the editor window. Here you will find four small symbols
with which you can change your point of view (of course we mean the point of view of the editor window, not
your personal point of view. We can have little influence on the latter.)
The first symbol (click – hold – move mouse) moves the view. The second symbol (foreshortened double arrow)
lets you zoom in and out and the third (curved arrows with a dot in the center) lets you rotate the scene.
Selecting the little rectangle to the right will divide the entire viewport into four views, giving you a better
overall view of the scene. Each of the four views has its own little rectangle which, when clicked, enlarges the
respective window. Zoom out a little and select the object “Head“ in the Object Manager. The head‘s axis will
be visible in the editor window. Drag the head‘s green object axis to a point over the cubes.
Each of the axis‘ arrows can be selected and dragged in its respective direction. This prevents the object from
being dragged in the wrong direction in the editor view (as opposed to clicking on the object itself and dragging
it). It is often impossible to see in which direction an object is being dragged in a 3D view. A similar method
of moving an object in a single direction is the previously mentioned locking of a specific axis in the command
palette. This prevents an object from being moved in the direction of an axis that has been locked unless you
click and drag one of the object’s own axis arrows. If no axis are locked, click on the “Scale“ tool on the icon
palette at the top.
The ends of the axis‘ arrows have changed form arrows to boxes. Dragging these boxes will scale the object along
that particular axis. Parametric objects (not converted polygon objects) will display little orange handles.
16 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
They make it possible to stretch and squash the parametric object on the respective axis
Now we’ll get to the nitty gritty part of this project. You now have enough basic knowledge to be able to
arrange the objects according to the following screenshots.
If you prefer, you can switch to a four-viewport mode (click the little rectangle at the top right of the editor
window). If the objects are displayed as wire frame objects you can switch to “Quick Shading“ or “Gouraud
Shading“ under “View“ in the editor’s menu. Now let’s get to work. Here’s a screenshot of the figure from the
front for reference.
17CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
After you have arranged the cubes it still looks nothing like a “human character“. We have to rotate and stretch
the figure a little. Click on “Figure“ in the Object Manager and select the orange handle on the (green) Y axis.
Drag this handle until the top edge of the cube lies even with the arms.
Using the orange handles, select the cubes that make up the arms and adjust their size and position as shown
in the next screenshots.
18 CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
If you want to scale all cubes of the arms at once you can do this as follows: with the shift button pressed, select
the objects “Lowerarm_L“, Upperarm_R“, Lowerarm_R“ and “Upperarm_R“ and press “C“ on you keyboard to
convert the objects and scale them with the “Scale“ function along the Y and X axis. As you can see, the orange
handles are not visible. Squash and move the figures arms and legs until it looks like the following image.
This should be no problem with the knowledge you have gained up to this point. To squash the legs, for example,
you can squash several objects at once instead of each one individually (as was the case with the arms).
19CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Interface
When you’re finished select the objects “Upperleg_R“, “Lowerleg_R“ and “Foot_R“. Once they are highlighted
in red in the Object Manager press the “G“ key on your keyboard. This groups all and makes all selected objects
children of a Null object. If you look at the Object Manager you will see the newly created Null object. Clicking
on the “+“ symbol will open the hierarchy and the objects we just selected will be shown. When the Null
object is selected, the axis of this Null object serves as the axis for all three leg objects. If this axis is rotated
all children of this Null object will be rotated. Move and rotate the Null object a little and you can make the
figure stick its leg out.
After you have selected the “Rotate“ function you can select the axis rings of the rotation sphere and rotate the
object into position. Try changing the figure’s position by using these different “moving“ functions. If necessary,
group objects into a Null object or select several objects at once in order to bring them into position.
© Mat th ieu Rous s e l - ww w.
21CINEMA 4D R10 Quickstart – Modeling
5. Quick Tutorial – Modeling
This is the most important part of this tutorial: How is a model built?
CINEMA 4D R10 has numerous tools that make modeling even easier and greatly simplify workflow.
A helpful function for quick navigation is the “General Popup“ which you can activate by pressing “V“ on
your keyboard.
A circular menu lets you choose from several menus in which sub-menus appear when the cursor is placed
over them. Play with the menu a little and find out how it can improve your workflow.
In order to show you the basic functions and the most common way to work with the modeler we will create
an eye for a comic character.
Let’s start with the creation of a cube, which happens to be the most-used primitive for modeling
(O bj ect s / Primitive / Cub e). Press th e “C“ key on your key board. By do in g this yo u have ju st
converted the parametric obje ct to a polygonal object. Most commands can be execute d via socalled “hot keys“ which, when used heavily, can spee d up your work in CINEM A 4D quite a b it.
Switch to the “Use Polygon Tool“ mode (on the command palette on the left) and select the “Live Selection“
tool (upper command palette). Make sure that “Only Select Visible Elements“ is active in the Attributes
Manager. Mark the cube’s top polygon which will become brighter when you place the cursor over it and
turn orange when you have selected it. Click on this polygon with the right mouse button. Choose “Ex trude
Inner“ from the menu that appears (hot key “I“). With the left mouse button click on the top red polygon,
hold the left mouse button pressed and drag the mouse a little to the left. A second square should have been
created, as seen on the next screenshot.
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