In this tutorial you will learn how to create a complex (around 600,000 polygons) abstract Greeble scene without getting into too much modeling.
Step
1Create a Plane object (Objects > Primitive > Plane) 800 x
800 m and 80 x 80 segments.
Step
2
Create a Formula object (Objects > Deformation >
Formula) and drag it under the Plane object.
Step
3
Move the Formula object near to the edge of the Plane object.
Step
4
In the Attributes of the formula object, modify d
(u,v,x,y,z,t) to something that you like, but keep the formula wavy. I
used "Sin((u)*2.0*pi)*0.2*((u+v)*0.3)".
Step
5
Move and rotate the Plane object slightly. I used -2, -6.5,
and -27 for x, y and z, and -4, 13, and 18 for h, p, and b.
Step
6
Make the Plane object editable (Functions > Make Editable)
and tweak the Plane using the move, scale and rotate tools with soft
selection enabled. Note: For soft selection set a big radius (roughly
400 to 600 m) so you can tweak many polygons while keeping just a few
selected.
Step
7
Select all polygons (ctrl+a) and extrude them (Structure >
Extrude) with an offset around 10 m, Var. 100%, and the "Preserve
Groups" option unchecked.
Step
8
Extrude the selected polygons again with same settings but set
the Var. to 140%.
Step
9
Use Extrude Inner (Structure > Extrude Inner) with an
offset 1m on the selected polygons, then Extrude them with (Structure
> Extrude) an offset of around 2m. Delete the Phong tag if it was
assigned.
Step
10
Find a good point of view and add a camera object. Note: I
usually add a camera early so I can create my scene around the camera.
Step
11
Create three linear Spline objects (Objects > Create
Spline > Linear) around 500m in all axes. Change the Type to Cubic.
Step
12
Create three Circle objects (Objects > Spline Primitive
> Circle), with a radius of 40m, then create three SweepNURBS
objects. Drag pairs of Circle objects and Spline objects into the
SweepNURBS objects.
Step
13
Select all three Spline objects and change the Intermediate
Points to Uniform, and the Number to 16. Select all three Circle
objects and change the Intermediate Points to Adaptive, and the Angle to
30 (all these numbers & angles may vary from spline to spline).
You need this step to make most of the SweepNURBS polygons
square-shaped. For all SweepNURBS objects, change the Caps option to
None at both the Start and the End.
Step
14
Make all of the SweepNURBS editable (C on keyboard). Select
all of the polygons and Extrude them an Offset of 10m, a Var. at 90%,
and Preserve Groups unchecked. Use Extrude Inner on the selected
polygons with an Offset of 3.5m, and then Extrude selected with a
negative Offset of around 6m. Delete the Phong tag.
Step
15
Move the SweepNURBS behind the Extruded plane.
Step
16
Create an Akima spline (Objects > Create Spline >
Akima) around 1500m high, duplicate it, and move it to create some sort
of arc.
Step
17
Create a Loft NURBS object, and add both the Akima splines to
it. Tweak Mesh Subdivision U and Mesh Subdivision V to make the
polygons square (30 x 20 should do).
Step
18
Make the Loft NURBS editable, select all of the polygons, and
reverse the normals (Functions > Reverse Normals). Delete the Phong
tag.
Step
19
Extrude selected polygons (Offset around 100m, Var. 100%,
Preserve Groups unchecked), use Extrude Inner on selected polygons
(Offset 10m), extrude selected with Offset around -20m, Var ~90%.
Step
20
Duplicate the Loft NURBS, move both objects behind all of the
others, move up one of Loft NURBS objects slightly.
Step
21
Create a Spline object above the plane, use B-Spline Type,
with Intermediate Points as Subdivided and values of around 2 for Angle
and Maximum Length.
Step
22
Create a Circle object with a Radius of 10m, Intermediate
Points as Adaptive, and an Angle of 15. Create a SweepNURBS object, and
drag the Circle and B-Spline objects under it.
Step
23
Create another B-spline with Intermediate Points as
Subdivided, an Angle of 2, and a Maximum Length of 2m.
Step
24
Duplicate the SweepNURBS object from step 22 and replace the
spline object with the newly created one.
Step
25
Select both SweepNURBS objects and make them editable. Delete
caps.
Step
26
Select all polygons in both splines, and Extrude them with an
Offset of 3m, Var. at 100%, and Preserve Groups unchecked. Use Extrude
Inner on selected polygons with an Offset of around 0.3m, then Extrude
them again with an Offset of -1m and Var. at 100%.
Step
27
Create a Sphere object (Objects > Primitive > Sphere)
with a Radius of 50m, Segments at 34, and Type set to Hexahedron.
Position it above the Plane and Sweeps.
Step
28
Make the Sphere object editable, select all of the polygons,
and Extrude them with an Offset of 10m, Var. at 90%, and Preserve Groups
unchecked. Use Extrude Inner on selected polygons with an Offset of
1.5m, and then Extrude them again with an Offset of around 4m. Delete
the Phong tag.
Step
29
Time to set some environment parameters. Create a Sky object
(Objects > Scene > Sky).
Step
30
Create two Light objects with Colors of orange and
grey-orange, Intensity of 70%, Type set to Spot, Shadow set to Area, and
Visible Light set to Volumetric. Under Visibility, set the Outer
Distance very high so it will go through plane object.
Step
31
Create a Cube object (Objects > Primitive > Cube), and
scale it up so it will cover the Plane and the two Sweeps. This Cube
will be used to hide some areas of the scene from illumination.
Step
32
Make the Cube object editable, and select and delete some
polygons. Assign a Composition tag (right-click in Object Manager,
Cinema 4D Tags > Compositing) and uncheck the Seen by Camera option.
Step
33
Now you need some materials. Create a new material (double
click in the material manager). Double click on the material to open
the material editor.
Step
34
Under Color, set the Brightness to 89%, and the Gradient as
Texture. Under the Gradient Properties, set the Gradient to light
orange and light blue colors, the Type to 2D-V, and Turbulence to 38%.
Uncheck Specular and assign the material to the Sky object.
Step
35
Create a new material and set its Color to white. Leave
Specular as is, and assign this material to the Plane and both Loft
NURBS.
Step
36
Create a new material and set the Color as dark grey, and
Brightness to 75%.
Step
37
Under Reflection set the Brightness to 60%, use Fresnel as
Texture, and set Mix Mode to Multiply.
Step
38
Under Specular, set the Mode to Colored, Width to 91%, Height
to 49%, Falloff to 3%, and Inner Width to 25%.
Step
39
For Specular Color, set the Brightness to 350%, and the Mix
Mode to Multiply. Use Lumas (Effects > Lumas) as the Texture, and
under the Lumas settings uncheck Active at Shader. For Specular 1, 2,
& 3 change only the Color to light grey. For Anisotropy check
Active, and set Projection to Planar.
Step
40
Assign this material to the three Sweep NURBS in the back.
Step
41
Create a Danel shader (in the Material Manager click File
> Shader > Danel). Under Diffuse change the Color to grey.
Step
42
For Specular 2, change the Color to light grey.
Step
43
For Specular 3, change the Color to blue (67, 130, 169), the
Intensity to 60%, the Size to 60%, the Glare to 90%, and the Fallof to
39%.
Step
44
For Reflection, change the Intensity to 15%, and the Edge
Intensity to 45%.
Step
45
Check Anisotropy, set the Projection to Shrink Wrap, and
check Specular 3.
Step
46
Assign this material to both of the SweepNURBS at the front.
Step
47
Duplicate the Danel shader material, and for Diffuse change
the Color to bright orange (219, 116, 0).
Step
48
For Specular 2, change the Color to light orange, and for
Specular 3, change the Color to orange. Select all other parameters by
clicking on them while holding Shift, then right-click and choose Reset
to Default.
Step
49
For Anisotropy change the Projection to Planar, and uncheck
Specular 3.
Step
50
Assign this material to the Sphere.
Step
51
Add compositing tags to all of the objects except the lights,
the Sky object, the Camera Object, and the Cube that already has a
compositing tag assigned to it. Enable Object Buffer for all of the
Compositing tags. Note: Make sure you set a unique buffer number for
each object (1 for plane, 2 for first Sweep NURBS and so on). This will
help you get rid of errors in the render if they occur.
Step
52
Open the Render Settings (Render > Render Settings...).
Under Output, set the Width and Height to your requirements (I used 2400
x 1800 at 300 DPI). Under Save check Save in Multi-Pass Image. For
Multi-Pass include Diffuse, Reflection, Global Illumination, Atmosphere,
Depth, Illumination, and all Object Buffers. Also, change Separate
Lights to All, and change Anti-Aliasing to Best.
Step
53
Add a Global Illumination effect. Under General, set the GI
Mode to IR + QMC (Still Image), and change the Diffuse Depth to 2.
Under Irradiance Cache, change the Cache Refinement to Medium, the
Oversampling to Medium, and check Distance Map. Render.
Step
54
Open the rendered file in Photoshop.
Step
55
In both light groups duplicate the Specular layer.
Step
56
Duplicate the Atmosphere layer three times and merge the
copies. Use the Smudge tool, Blur tool, and Surface Blur (Filter >
Blur > Surface Blur) to blend the colors of visible light.
Step
57
Duplicate the Illumination layer and drop it above all of the
other layers. Change the Blend mode to Soft Light, and the Opacity to
50%.
Step
58
Isolate the Sky from the Diffuse layer by going to the
Channels palette and selecting all of the object buffers, then inverting
the selection. Copy it to a new layer on top, and change the Blend
Mode to Multiply, and the Opacity to 30%.
Step
59
Make sure that all desired layers are visible and press
ctrl+shift+alt+E to create a new merged layer. To add a glare effect,
apply a Gaussian Blur filter ( Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) and
erase or mask certain areas. Change the Blend Mode to Screen.
Step
60
Press ctrl+shift+alt+E again, then apply a Lens Blur ( Filter
> Blur > Lens Blur). In the Lens Blur window, change the Source
to Depth and choose appropriate Blur Focal Distance and Iris settings.
Congratulations, you're done! Hope you learned something new!!
