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!