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Start a new file in Cinema4d. This is what your view should look like at this point. If it doesn’t, you can press F1 to return to perspective view:

Press F5 to divide the workspace to 4, 1 for main angle and other 3 for the top, right and front angle.

Now select your freehand spline tool:

Start creating a a shape as you want in the top window.

Create another shape while taking the top angle into consideration. See how we made the line lenght same as top:

Repeat it again at the front window, consider all angles:

Now go to nurbs tool, and select loft nurbs:

This is what the top right should look like:

Choose the splines and drag them under the loft nurbs

Your render should now take shape:

Now, the arrow is for selecting points, the second box is for moving things around, the third is for changing the size and the last one is for picking the angle. We’re going to use these tools to get a different view on the render:

Select any of the above tools, and move or modify your splines untill you get the right camera angle and perspective:

Now select your loft nurbs and press C to simplify it (with the simplify option you can edit all of the display proporties, the splines will be merged into a single group).

We will be modifying our render with the following Objects (refer to the image below):

Number 1: With this tool we can bend the render,

Number 2: Curve tool, add a curve to the render,

Number 3: Bulge tool,

Number 4: Shear tool,

Number 5: Explosion effect, this one can be a bit tricky and requires some experimenting. They’re pretty self explanatory, Make sure you play around with them.

First, we’re going to add a Bend object with the settings below (obviously, try using your own settings rather than copying ours):

Then we add a twist. Again do as you want, be creative!

We add a bulge:

Group your object by going to Object > Group Object or press Alt+G:

This is what your screen shuld look like:

Now select your null object. We’re going to copy (CTRL + C) and paste (CTRL + V) the entire object, and move it around. They will probably flow nicely into eachother.

Using the following tools we can move the copied render around:

Our cinema4d render outcome at this point:

Copy it again and now place it at left end of the window, flip it around and play around as you get something you like. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fit into your perspective, we can just change angles, sizes, zooms and so on.

We’re going to add 3 hyper nurbs, and by using Drag and Drop we will place our null objects inside of them. Here is what it looks like at the moment. Pay attention to the top right section of the screenshot, this is what it should look like if you’ve done the previous step correctly:

Shown on a black background renderred quickly:

Modify the left part of the render, (play with the settings of Bend / Curve / Bulge):

Now select all the hyper nurb object and group them (Alt+G):

Duplicate it twice and move these around, flip them, resize them, move them around untill you get something you like

Expand the render( open up the hyper nurbs and null objects) and modify the settings and places of your bend / curve / bulge in the bottom right corner:

renderred quickly on a black background:

Now we are going to add some perspective, use the perspective and move tool to get into an angle that you like:

The following step will add some depth into your render. Left click zoom in tool, and drag it to left while holding it:

This should change the depth in your view:

Renderred on a black background:

Play with perspective / angles a bit more

Our render is now ready, time to get started on material

Add a lumas to your material at color section and we modified it with these settings, you can do as you want.

Check reflection and drag it back to 17%

Modify the specular

Add displacement

This is how it looks like with the material right now (and some lighting added which we will explain in the following step):

Select lighting on your toolbar, and add Light. Don’t be afraid to add many different light locations. Check the top right area in this screenshot:

Now, modify the settings in the bottom right. Simply change the color settings, the type, brightness, and so forth. Use your own settings, try not to just copy ours:

We’re going to render our final image. Use your preferred settings. In case you don’t know how, select Render > Render Settings:

To get a transparant background, you can save them as a Quicktime PNG and make sure you check the Alpha Channel checkbox!

The higher you set the Antialising, the longer the renderring will take:

Add several effects if you like:

Set your preferred size, we’ve set it to a generic 1280 x 1024 wallpaper:

Now select Render > Render to Picture Viewer ( CTRL + R), and if you’re satisfied (This step could take a while depending on the power of your computer), Save the image (File > Save As…) and you’re done!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, Premium Members can download the Cinema4d file in the Premium Member section along with extra tutorials, materials, PSD files and more!

1. First, open up Cinema4D. You’ll see the standard screen. To get a better view of our area, hit F5 to view 4 different camera angles:

2. Now, select the Freehand Spline tool, and randomly create some lines in different camera angle windows. My result after using the freeform spline tool (note the objects window on the right that says Spline 3 times, which means that I’ve made 3 different splines):

3. Now create a Loft nurb, and drag all 3 spines into the loft nurb by selecting the spines and dragging them under the loft nurb in the objects window. See screenshot below:

4. If you’re not happy with its current angle, click on the rotate tool in the toolbar above like shown in the screenshot, and twist and turn until you’re satisfied. My result after turning it around:

The rotate tool:

After rotating my render:

5. Now you have to add a material. This is a very important step, good materials will make this piece look good. You can find some great materials in our Miscellaneous Resources section. In this case, I added BaceMaterial 1. You can leave its settings the way I made it, or you can modify it the way you like.

To load a material, press CTRL + SHIFT + O. Drag and drop the material onto the loft Nurbs like shown in the picture. Your render should change color when you add the material like shown in the picture:

6. Create a Twist object, and change its angle in the bottom right color like shown in the picture. Try to get a view that you like. Remember to change camera angles too if you need a better view. Drag and drop the twist object under your Loft NURBS. My result:

Drag this underneath the Loft NURBS

Change the Twist Objects angle in the bottom right corner:

7. Select your Loft NURB, and copy + paste it. (CTRL C + CTRL V). Rotate this layer by pressing the rotate button, and move it around a bit by pressing the Move button in the toolbar. Drag one of the arrows. Place these renders the way you like them. My result:

8. You can apply a bend or twist again if your copied Loft NURB looks too much like the other one. Remember to turn and twist it around. Try to create some flow, which I failed to do in this piece:

9. Keep moving it around until you see what you like. Now add a few light sources if you like, play around with the light areas. I placed some underneath my piece. You can hit F5 again to get a better view of the light sources:

After pressing F5 to view different perspective (Stars shown are light sources)

10. Render the image, and you’re done! Optionally, you can add some more random splines into your piece to create some more items. My result (image downsized, original size is a lot bigger. You can find this one in our resources section very soon):

Here’s my model before renderring:

Result Downsized with different lighting settings:

If you would like to have a transparant background behind your Cinema4D piece, you have to change the render settings. We will post a tutorial on how to do this very soon, so be sure to come back soon!