Tutorial
Click on thumbnailed images to enlarge
Here's the first part of my in my series on Cinema 4D abstract. I tried to make it as easy as possible to understand. Obviously, to do this, you'll need Cinema4D and Photoshop. This is the 1st part, which involves rendering the actual object in C4D.
Step 1: Open Cinema4D and go to Render -> Render Settings. Put in these settings (You can change the path if you want, but please keep the file type/parameters the same Also, stick with this resolution for now.)
Step 2: Go to Objects -> Primitive -> Sphere. Then click the selected box on the left (it's called "Use Polygon Tool.")
Step 3: Right click the Sphere and select Magnet. Now, start clicking on and pulling away any part of the Sphere you want. To get more detail, pull away at one part, and then pull away at parts of the extension that you created. This part is all about experimentation; try to get something similar to the screenshot.
Step 4: Once you're done magneting, right click the sphere again and select Bevel. Drag it outward to change the sphere a bit. Once you're done, repeat the process with Extrude Inner, Extrude, and one more Bevel.
Step 5: Now, click on Structure -> Edit Surface -> Matrix Extrude. Use these settings to get a new effect, but feel free to experiment.
Step 6: Time to find a new perspective. Select the following options (Tools -> Camera and the Scale tool) and then right click the screen (anywhere but the render). While holding the right mouse button, move your mouse forward and backward until you find a nice perspective. Use the move, rotate, and zoom tools at the top right of the render box as well.
Step 7: Once you have a nice view, click the HyperNURBS button. An object called "HyperNURBS" should pop up in the right box. Drag the sphere into it such that the Sphere is underneath and inside the HyperNURBS. The object in the render box should smooth out.
Step 8: You're almost done. Just click Render -> Render to Picture Viewer to render your object. It'll automatically save to whatever path you specified in Step 1. And there you have it. Don't worry if it doesn't turn out exactly like mine.
Here's Part 2 (Photoshop Part 1) of my Cinema 4D abstract series.
Step 1: Open Photoshop, as well as your render.
Step 2: Click on Channels, and then Ctrl + Click the channel that says Alpha 1. An outline should pop up.
Step 3: Make a new document with a white background, and the same settings as your render. (In this case, that would be 800x1200, 100 dpi.) Then, using the Move tool, drag your outline over to the new document and re-position it. You can close the render file now.
Step 4: Here's where things get fun. You can experiment all you want with this, there are endless possibilities, but here's what I did. I set the render layer to Soft Light, and duplicated it twice for a total of 3 render layers.
Step 5: I also deleted the black part to the upper left, because I didn't think it fit. I did a 5 px Gaussian Blur (Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur) on the bottom 2 render layers. I added a Gradient Fill layer below the renders (Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Gradient) with the following settings (Foreground Color: #D3D3D3, Background Color: #FFFFFF;). I also did an Auto Levels layer (Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels -> Auto) on top of everything.
Looking good so far. The next (and final) part is airbrushing, which I'll cover soon.
Step 1: Open Cinema4D and go to Render -> Render Settings. Put in these settings (You can change the path if you want, but please keep the file type/parameters the same Also, stick with this resolution for now.)
Step 2: Go to Objects -> Primitive -> Sphere. Then click the selected box on the left (it's called "Use Polygon Tool.")
Step 3: Right click the Sphere and select Magnet. Now, start clicking on and pulling away any part of the Sphere you want. To get more detail, pull away at one part, and then pull away at parts of the extension that you created. This part is all about experimentation; try to get something similar to the screenshot.
Step 4: Once you're done magneting, right click the sphere again and select Bevel. Drag it outward to change the sphere a bit. Once you're done, repeat the process with Extrude Inner, Extrude, and one more Bevel.
Step 5: Now, click on Structure -> Edit Surface -> Matrix Extrude. Use these settings to get a new effect, but feel free to experiment.
Step 6: Time to find a new perspective. Select the following options (Tools -> Camera and the Scale tool) and then right click the screen (anywhere but the render). While holding the right mouse button, move your mouse forward and backward until you find a nice perspective. Use the move, rotate, and zoom tools at the top right of the render box as well.
Step 7: Once you have a nice view, click the HyperNURBS button. An object called "HyperNURBS" should pop up in the right box. Drag the sphere into it such that the Sphere is underneath and inside the HyperNURBS. The object in the render box should smooth out.
Step 8: You're almost done. Just click Render -> Render to Picture Viewer to render your object. It'll automatically save to whatever path you specified in Step 1. And there you have it. Don't worry if it doesn't turn out exactly like mine.
Here's Part 2 (Photoshop Part 1) of my Cinema 4D abstract series.
Step 1: Open Photoshop, as well as your render.
Step 2: Click on Channels, and then Ctrl + Click the channel that says Alpha 1. An outline should pop up.
Step 3: Make a new document with a white background, and the same settings as your render. (In this case, that would be 800x1200, 100 dpi.) Then, using the Move tool, drag your outline over to the new document and re-position it. You can close the render file now.
Step 4: Here's where things get fun. You can experiment all you want with this, there are endless possibilities, but here's what I did. I set the render layer to Soft Light, and duplicated it twice for a total of 3 render layers.
Step 5: I also deleted the black part to the upper left, because I didn't think it fit. I did a 5 px Gaussian Blur (Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur) on the bottom 2 render layers. I added a Gradient Fill layer below the renders (Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Gradient) with the following settings (Foreground Color: #D3D3D3, Background Color: #FFFFFF;). I also did an Auto Levels layer (Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels -> Auto) on top of everything.
Looking good so far. The next (and final) part is airbrushing, which I'll cover soon.
Tutorial Comments
No comments yet. Be the first one to comment!
