1. Narrative Motion Graphics
Lesson K: After Effects 3D Pipeline
AE- to - Cinema 4D - to - AE
Grad Student
VFX Presentations Day 2

2. GRAD STUDENT VFX PRESENTATIONS!
DAY 2: Prepared AE Visual Effects Presentations!
State your name and the topic of your tutorial.
Show a finished version of your tutorial, so we understand what is intended.
Show where to find your steps document and any needed materials on Piazza (should be under VFX presentations).
Go through the steps as efficiently and clearly as you can, keeping it to around 10 minutes. Some people may try to follow along, but you do not have time to wait for them after each step.
Answer questions at the end!

3. After Effects 3D Pipeline 1: Track Footage
Import panning footage and create a Comp with it.
RightClick footage layer, choose Track/Stabilize > Track Camera (and wait for processing)
In Effects panel hit [Create Camera].
Hover camera over spaces between tracking points to find a Target that defines a desired plane.
RightClick to create a Solid. Transform the Solid (Move, Rotate, Scale) as desired to get your placement. Scrub the Timeslider or hit Play to see the Solid track with the footage.
Save your AE File!

4. After Effects 3D Pipeline 2: Create C4D File and Open C4D
File > Export > MAXON Cinema 4D Exporter.
Hit [OK] (only the 3D Camera and tracked Solid get exported).
Save this file to your project folder.
This may open the free Cinema 4D Lite that comes with AE, but if not go to File > New > MAXON Cinema 4D, name “test” and save project.
Creating a C4D file from the File > New menu ALWAYS opens C4D Lite.
Delete the extra “Test.C4D” file
NOTE: C4D Lite will not appear in the run prompt; it is automatically installed with AE and can only be opened through AE.

5. After Effects 3D Pipeline 3: Disengage Tracking Camera
CINEMA 4D LITE:
In the List panel (UpperRight):
Open the AE Object.
Turn off AE Camera visibility (click view square).
Screen now shows regular camera view.
NOTE: If we forget to do this, and accidentally move the view while in the AE Camera view, these changes are automatically reverted when we hit Play.
Cinema 4D NAVIGATION:
Hold [Alt] and ClickDrag mouse buttons (just like in Maya).
Top shelf: Create a Box, use Move, Rotate, and Scale to Transform it.

6. After Effects 3D Pipeline 4a: Model an Object (Box)
Model or import (as .OBJ) a 3D object, and then Position and Orient to the AE Solid plane. NOTE: polygon modeling tools like Extrude and Knife are not included in the free C4D “Lite” that comes with AE:
Make a new Box from the top shelf.
Hit [Make Editable] (left column top).
In [Face Mode] (left column) select faces to Move and Scale for a boat hull: Move the sides out and scale the top wider, width and length.
Go to [Object Mode].

7. After Effects 3D Pipeline 4b: Model an Object (Cylinders)
10 (continued):
Add two Cylinders (hold box icon, top shelf).
Move and shape them with the Cylinder tools to make masts: pull the top center point to lengthen the side points to widen.
In the List panel (UpperRight) drag the Cylinders onto the Box to parent them: nest them underneath, so they move where/rotate the Box moves/ rotates.

8. After Effects 3D Pipeline 4c: Match Transforms to Solid
10 (concluded):
Select the Solid. In the LowRight panel click the Coord tab and find Position on the far left. Select all 3 dimension letters (hold [Shift] to add) and hit [Cmd]+[c] to copy those values.
Select the boat Box and its 3 Position letters, hit [Cmd]+[v] to paste.
Repeat for Rotation values from the Solid plane to the boat Box.
Move/Rotate the Box to better match the plane.

9. After Effects 3D Pipeline 5: Re-engage the Tracking Camera
In the List panel turn AE Camera visibility back on.
Turn the AE Solid visibility off.
Save the .C4D file.

10. After Effects 3D Pipeline 6: Import C4D File into AE File
In AE import the original .C4D file into the Project and drag into the Comp.
Hit Play to see the 3D object track! Hide the tracked Solid.

11. After Effects 3D Pipeline 7: Update C4D File (and AE)
CINEMA 4D LITE:
In C4D change the object's size using the Scale tool (drag on the object, not an axis to scale uniformly). Save to auto-update in AE.
Add lighting in C4D to better match the footage: ClickHold the Light icon in the top shelf to choose an Infinite Light for the sun (rotate for angle) and an Area Light for water-bounce (General > Intensity = 50% and color=blue, rotate/move below boat, facing up).
To add shadows and reflections to a transparent plane use a ShadowCatcher Material (free downloadable plugin):
Download:
Shadows:
Reflections:

12. After Effects 3D Pipeline 4: Render Final Frames
CINEMA 4D LITE and AFTER EFFECTS:
To remove the perspective grid lines from  AE, we need to render the content in Cinema4D into a frame sequence that we can import into AE:
In Cinema4D's top shelf, click the right-most [Render Settings] button.
Turn on Alpha Channel.
We can adjust settings like the Renderer (default "standard" is fine for now) and set the Range (default is full length of original footage).
Hit the [Save] option. Create a folder and a file-name for the frames.
Back on the top shelf, hit the middle [Render Frames] button.
In AE, import the rendered frames by selecting just the first one and making sure "sequence" is turned on so they all import as a single track. Drag into the Comp and hide the MAXON Cinema 4D layer. Scrub the timeslider or hit [Play] to see the sequence track.
In AE, to get the 3D object to fit behind any part of the footage that is meant to pass in front of it, duplicate the original footage, move it above the Cinema4D sequence layer, and use either Masks or RotoBrush to isolate the parts that are meant to pass in front.

13. General Cinema 4D notes:
NAVIGATION: [Alt]+MouseButtons ClickDrag to Orbit, Pan, and Zoom. Or click navigation buttons upright of viewport. Rightmost button switches views, and [f1]-[f5] are hot-keys for these views.
Top Shelf: Undo, Transforms (LiveSelect, Move, Rotate Scale), Axis, Render (View, Frames, Settings), Create (objects, camera, lights etc, hold icons to view options).
TRY: Make a Box, change View, Transform object.
Settings panel (LowRight): Set size and subdivisions. Display menu (Viewport top): choose second Garaud to see segment lines. List panel (UpRight): Select objects, [shift] to click-add, [Ctrl] to click-remove. Left Column: with box selected click top [Make Editable] button (or hit [c]) to convert to an editable object (loses Settings options), then click Component Modes (Points, Lines, Polygons) and transform. Hit [U] and [L] to select loops.
Textures: To add a new Material, click Create in the lower left panel (or double-click the empty space in that panel) and change settings on the right.
Some Useful Links (many features require full version of Cinema 4D):
Full C4D Basics:
UV Unwrap in Full C4D:
Character Modeling:

14. Full Cinema 4D notes:
MODELING TOOLS: (NOTE: Polygon modeling tools like Extrude and Knife are not available in the C4D Lite that comes with After Effects). RightClick in empty space in Viewport to access tools, and note their settings in the LowRight panel.
Extrude = push geometry in or out
Extrude Inner= offset
Bevel = extrude with scale
Use the Knife tool [k] to add edge loops (need to set Mode parameter on the right to "Loop")
Melt removes selected edges.
Dissolve removes selected edges and their vertices
Combine Multiple Meshes:
Click the top shelf Create gear icon (between Objects and Lights).
Find and click "Connect" to add it to the List of scene items.
LeftClickDrag List objects onto this item, to parent them below it.
Click [Make Editable] button (or hit [c]) to make them all one polygon object.
Drag it out from under and delete the Connect node.

15. HOMEWORK 11
Due on Piazza hw11 an hour before class next week: HOMEWORK #11: FINAL PROJECT: Production: Draft 30%: Make significant progress on your final project video! Try to create either a full draft of one-third of your film, or make big progress to the entire video. We are looking for dense and exciting visuals that exemplify, explore, run parallel to, or subvert your audio! Please make this work in a copy of your timed Storyboard AE project from last week, so audio is included and any unfinished parts can be still shown as storyboard frames in the render. Please post both a YouTube link with the current progress on your film, and a short 1-3 sentence summary of your progress and plans. For example, if your improvements are not at the start, identify where in the timeline we can find the new work.