Animating Cameras in Cinema 4D

Topics covered in this Cinema 4D tutorial:

Creating Cameras, Camera Properties, Animating Cameras

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

In this exercise you’ll learn how to animate a camera so it can move around a scene.

Previewing the Final Movie

1. Let’s see a preview of what you’ll be making. If you’re in After Effects, keep it open but switch to your Desktop.

2. On the Desktop, navigate to Class Files > C4D in AE Class > Animating Cameras > Preview Movie and double–click Margarita Glass - Spin.mp4.

3. Notice the following:

   • The camera viewing the model is rotating around it.

4. Replay the video if you need to, and close it when done.

Getting Started

1. In Cinema 4D Lite, if you have a project open, choose File > Save.

2. Choose File > Close All Projects.

3. Choose File > Open Project and:

   • Navigate to Desktop > Class Files >Class Files > C4D in AE Class > Animating Cameras.
   • Double–click on Margarita Glass - CamAnim.c4d to open it.

4. Choose File > Save Project As and:

   • Name the file Your Name - Margarita Glass.c4d
   • Save it into Desktop > Class Files > C4D in AE Class > Animating Camera.

Creating a Camera in C4D Lite

Cameras in Cinema 4D Lite are similar to cameras in After Effects and other 3D programs.

1. In the Create menu, long press on the Camera and choose Target Camera from the list.

   

2. In the Perspective view choose Cameras > Use Camera > Camera to switch to the scene camera you just created.

3. In the Object Manager make sure the Camera object is selected.

4. In the Attribute Manager, click on the Object tab.

5. Change the Focal Length menu to Normal Lens (50 mm).

6. In the Object Manager, click on the Camera.Target.1 object to select it.

7. In the Front view, move the target so it is approximately in the vertical middle of the glass.

8. Click on the Camera.

9. In the Front or Right views, move the camera vertically and horizontally until the entire glass is visible in the Perspective view.

   NOTE: You’ll probably need to reposition the camera target as well.

10. Press Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows) or choose File > Save Project.

Making a Camera Follow a Path

Camera properties can be animated just like the properties of any other object. But, if you want a camera to orbit around a specific object it is better to make the camera follow a spline than try to animate its position.

NOTE: Although in this lesson it is a camera that follows a path, this same technique can be applied to any object in C4D.

1. In the Create menu, click on the rectangle shape and choose Circle from the menu.

2. In the Object Manager double–click on the Circle and rename it Camera Path.

   • Press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) or click on any empty area to finalize the name change.

3. In the Attribute Manager click on the Object tab.

4. Change the Radius to until you can see in the Top view that the circle is just slightly larger than the Floor plane.

   We used a radius of 2590

5. In the Object Manager, Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the Camera and choose Animation Tags > Align to Spline.

6. With the tag selected click on the eyedropper next to the Spline Path menu to activate it.

7. With the eyedropper, click on the Camera Path spline in the Object Manager.

   Watch as the Perspective view abruptly changes.

8. Click back on the Camera Path spline in the Object Manager.

9. Change the Radius until you can see the Glass again. We used 3350

10. Make sure the Playhead is at the beginning of the Timeline.

11. Change the Project End timecode (it is the field to the right of the timeline) to 001000 (10 Seconds) and press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows).

12. Again click on the Align to Spline tag in the Object Manager.

13. In the Attribute Manager change the Position to 1

14. Click the keyframe button to the right of position.

15. Move the playhead to 000500 (5 seconds).

16. Change the Position to -25.

    You will have to either scrub the value or type it into the field. The slider won’t let you set a value below 0 or above 100.

17. Again click the keyframe button to the right of position to set your second keyframe.

18. Move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline.

19. Press the play button of F8 to play the timeline.

20. Press Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows) or choose File > Save Project.

Rendering a C4D Lite File

To render Cinema 4D Lite file you use After Effects.

1. Open After Effects.

2. In your new After Effects project, choose File > Import.

3. Navigate to the C4D file you want to import and double–click on it.

4. In the Project panel, right click on the C4D file and choose New Comp from Selection.

5. In the new comp, click on the C4D layer to select it.

6. In the Effect Controls menu locate the Cineware effect.

7. Change the Renderer to Current.

   NOTE: Depending on your computer, this may take a while to preview.

8. You can now use either the Render Queue or Adobe Media Encoder Queue to render your AE comp.