C4D to AE
GREEN = Simple
ORANGE = Intermediate/Advanced object isolation
Create Your Video Plane
Create Your Video Plane
- Create a plane object
- Width = 1920
- Height = 1080 (or whatever your source footage is)
- Width Segments = 10
- Height Segments = 5 (You can use 1 for both if you have Enhances OGL turned on)
- Orientation = -Z
- Animate your plane if you want... (A simple method is to add a "Vibrate Tag" to your object)
Prep for Render
Prep for Render
- Select any objects (not lights/cameras) that you want to put video on in AE or whose 3D position you want to track.
- Object Manager > Right Click > Cinema 4D Tags > External Compositing
- Setup Object Buffers
- Object Manager > Right Click > Cinema 4D Tags > Compositing
- Attributes Manager > Object Buffer > Click on Enable next to an un-used buffer
Update your render settings
Update your render settings
- Save project with Assets
- Render > Render Settings
- Output
- Preset Delta > Film/Video > NTSC D1 Widescreen Square Pixel (You can use a different preset depending on your output needs)
- Frame Range = All Frames
- Save
- File... = Scene's Name (e.g. 633_Day01_07_C4DtoAESimple)
- Format = Quicktime (Unless you anticipate this being a long render or need 16+bit images)
- Alpha Channel = On
- Straight Alpha = On (if you know you'll composite in AE)
- Compositing Project File
- Save = On
- Target Application = After Effects
- Relative = On
- Include Timeline Marker = On
- Include 3D Data = On
- Anti-Aliasing
- Anti-Aliasing = Best
- Filter = Gauss (Animation)
- Setup Object Buffers
- Multipass Button > Object Buffer
- If you have multiple object buffers
- Multipass Button > Object Buffer
- Increment the Group ID (2, 3, 4, 5, ...)
- Repeat for as many buffers as you have on your objects.
- Activate Multipass Rendering
- Turn on the checkmark next to the Multi-Pass Tab
- Save Tab
- Copy the File... name from "Regular Image" to "Multi-Pass Image"
- Multi-Pass Image
- Format = Quicktime
- Straight Alpha = On
- Output
- Save your scene (File > Save)
Render
Render
- Render > Render to Picture Viewer
Open in AE
Open in AE
Note: If you haven't yet, install the C4D to AE plugin.
- Open After Effects
- Save AE project in the same location as C4D
- Import the ProjectName.aec file into the project bin
- Drag the Solids & Special Passes folder(s) into the ProjectName folder
- Open the ProjectName Comp
Replace the Plane with a Solid
Replace the Plane with a Solid
- Create a new solid
- Layer > New > Solid
- Width = 1920, Height = 1080
- Color can be whatever you want.
- Choose ok.
- Make it a 3D Layer (Click on the cube icon to the right of the solid in the layers manager, if you don't see it click on Toggle Switches/Modes
- Child the Solid to the Null object that was imported from C4D (probably named plane)
- Hold down shift and drag the pick whip (looks like a seashell) from the solid to the plane.
- NOTE: Holding down shift moves the plane to the parent.
- Hold down shift and drag the pick whip (looks like a seashell) from the solid to the plane.
- You may have to tweak X/Y position to match the plane.
- Save your project.
Punch Out the Plane's Object Buffer
Punch Out the Plane's Object Buffer
Map Footage onto the Plane
Map Footage onto the Plane
- Copy a 1920x1080 image into your project folder
- Import the footage into AE
- Click to select the solid in the layers palette
- Click to select the footage in the project bin
- Hold-down option/alt and click drag the Footage onto the solid
Exercises
Exercises
- Create a plane in C4D, bring it into AE, and replace the plane with a piece of footage