Inspiration

Here is a perfect example of what can be achieved if you’re determined and want to learn something new.
PTEROIS is a personal project from a good friend of mine NEEKOE. He was also kind enough to include a breakdown video where he goes through some of the techniques to achieve the final product. There’s so much to be learnt from the video so if there’s anything you SHOULD be doing today, it’s this…

What I enjoy most about the breakdown:

• Firstly, you get an immediate sense of how Neekoe designs with purpose. Thorough research was done on every aspect of the video and what needed to be achieved.
• A cool tip I’ve never considered while modelling, is to model with guide splines, usually I jump straight in with a back plate loaded and just model, but I really enjoy the idea of incorporating some guide splines to keep your process on track.
• Attention to detail. The amazing focus and attention to such small elements in the video, really catch your eye and transcend the boundary of what is real and what isn’t.
• The Memory Node. Who knew what that node was ever used for, I know I didn’t. I’ve already done some experiments since watching the video and a proper setup of the Memory Node allows you to achieve a very natural and organic movement so be sure to try that one out!
• Doing just enough for the shot. In the creation of the crevasse, Neekoe, didn’t waste time in creating unnecessary assets but just focused on the final shot and what was going to be in frame.
• Another thing that always impresses me about Neekoe’s work is the use of combining very simple movements and effects to achieve very complex animations, such as when he built the eye. The clever use of cloners and animations really bring a great level of complexity to the scene.
• A great use of Cinema 4D was using the effectors, shapes and cloners to create the texture for the Lion Fish, usually people jump into After Effects or their favourite compositing program and bash away there, but just knowing how to use Cinema 4D’s tools properly will open your eyes on the endless uses for them, not just to create cubes and spheres.
• Final touches are everything. You can see the amount of detail put into the post work and it really shines. Spending the extra time in crafting your grades and post effects really take your animations into a whole new level.

Be sure to check out more of Neekoe’s great work on his site and follow him on Twitter.

The Process

I’ve just starting to explore V-Ray for C4D and it’s possibilities, and if there’s any of you out there wanting to push your Cinema 4D renders into a whole new world, I urge you to explore some alternative render engines, like V-Ray, Arnold or Octane, they’ll take some learning but once you learn to master it, you’ll never look back.

Until then, here’s some inspiration from the V-Ray Animation Showreel 2013.

Enjoy!