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The 3D Fluff Training DVD for CINEMA 4D Volume 1 - "Design & Visualisation" deals with one of the most used functions of this great software. CINEMA 4D™ has quickly moved to the front with other modeling software that can do the job and more. If you are designing for multimedia, prototypes for new products, architectural design or merely creating your own models for rendering in scenes, you have at your fingertips one of the most versatile and in depth software programs out there. From basic design through animation, texturing and lighting, you will find its capabilities and ease of use invaluable in your work. Now, thanks to 3D Fluff we have a series of outstanding training DVD's for use in learning all aspects of CINEMA 4D R9.
Two very talented people, Janine Pauke and Matthew O'Neill, comprise 3D Fluff. Janine has worked for both the German and UK MAXON offices providing support, manual writing and artwork for CINEMA 4D. She has also worked as a digital matte painter on the movie "Alien vs. Predator" at the Moving Picture Company in London. Her love of computer generated artwork began at the tender age of 13 when she began painting in various paint programs on her Amiga™ and by the age of 14 had won a prize in a German Amiga contest which resulted in winning a PC. From that time on, she has been heavily involved in using CINEMA 4D.
Matthew also spent several years working for MAXON in the UK offering technical support, writing manuals and doing artwork for CINEMA 4D. He left that position in 2003 to branch out on his own doing training for individuals and companies. Like Janine his first brush with computer artwork began with the Amiga after picking up a floppy disk for Imagine™ 2.0. "Mash", his artist name, has provided training for many high profile companies such as Nestle™, Carlton TV™, Cadbury™ and Elstree Film Studios. On the artistic side, credits include "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" (2005) and he worked on William Dudley's team designing virtual sets for the "Woman in White" for both Broadway and the London stage.
"Design & Visualisation", the first in their series of training DVDs, runs just under four hours at a stunning 1024x768 resolution. The lossless codec needed for playing the DVD is included on the disk or from their site - http://www.3dfluff.com.
The DVD includes two major projects from start to finish for you to follow.
The tutorials on the DVD are as follows:
- Modeling (incl. new modeling tools in Release 9).
- Materials and Rendering (incl. HDRI, anisotropic highlights, realistic glass and water).
- Sketch & Toon for technical visualization.
- Basic XPresso for advanced animation.
- Post processing in Photoshop.
- Scene optimization.
One of the most valuable aspects that I found in their tutorials was not only did they lead you through the steps one by one but they explained why they do each step and show you what happens if you do it with a different method. This always helps you to not only see what they do but why they do it. I love that about this DVD and it helped me learn so much that will apply in other projects that I will be doing from now on.
The first is a wonderful glass vase with vibrant flower stalks done by Janine. It includes all modeling from start to finish including texturing, lighting and positioning for the best view of the presentation. Janine even takes it one step further by showing you some great tips to use for post work in Photoshop™ to further enhance your presentation. Scene files and textures as well as HDRI are provided for you to study as well. The projects make use of the Advanced Render and Sketch & Toon modules but even if you only own the core package of CINEMA 4D R9 you will still be able to work through the projects.
As you can see by the progress I made in the images below, the vase modeling moved along smoothly with Janine's instructions.
Here is an image of my final output after utilizing Janine's tutorial. It was very easy to follow as she led me through the complete modeling process as well as all texturing and lighting. Many tips and bits of information along the way concerning the attributes manager settings as well as material settings enabled me to learn more ways to achieve a more realistic look and feel to the lighting and texturing as well.
The second tutorial on the DVD is done by Mash and includes the modeling of a motorcycle tire and front suspension complete with texturing, lighting and animation using Xpresso. I have to let you know at this point; I have followed many tutorials on animation in the past and have failed miserably at understanding how and why Xpresso works. Due to this it's been a frustration of mine that I couldn't set up a scene with Xpresso to allow for animation of my models. Thanks to Mash's tutorial I not only did it but I understood how it worked and why as well as how to set up my object manager to allow for the animation to affect the different models and their relation to each other. Thank you Mash!
Mash begins by leading you step-by-step through the modeling process as you will see in some of my screenshots. He explained the how and the why of each step along the way.
As a final touch after animating, Mash shows us how to set up a terrific render using Sketch and Toon to show the various parts of the wheel and springs for a render that you might want to send to a prospective client showing various aspects of your design. Below, Mash's work is on the left and mine is on the right. As you can see I was able to follow along and get the Sketch and Toon render to show the mechanical parts as he instructed.
To view the animation that I was able to set up using Xpresso thanks to Mash's great direction on the DVD you can click HERE to see it play. It is in QuickTime™ format so you will need the free player if you don't already have it installed. You can get it HERE.
Besides the two complete tutorials, scene files and textures you will find on the DVD, there are also some "goodies" and free items and models provided. You can also download some example movies from the 3D Fluff site to get an idea of the quality of the DVD. You will need to download and install a Codec first which can be found on the site as well. The Mac version will need QuickTime and the Windows version will need the Windows Media Player™.
System requirements:
- Windows PC or Apple™ Mac with a DVD-ROM drive.
- This DVD will NOT play in a standalone DVD player.
- Requires QuickTime 5 or higher (Mac) or Windows Media Player (Windows) for playback.
- 500 MHz CPU or higher and a minimum screen resolution of 1024x768 recommended. Soundcard (or onboard sound) and speakers / headphones required for audio output.
The price of the DVD is £49.00 GBP (Pounds Sterling) which amounts to about $91.35 USD (US Dollars). I can tell you that it is well worth the price. If you are interested in learning more about the series of training DVDs or purchasing one or more please visit the 3D Fluff site here.
Conclusion:
I truly could not find anything at all to criticize about the DVD and its content. It contains comprehensive training on modeling, texturing, lighting and setting up your presentations to best display your work. Easy to understand and in depth in explanations, I followed along easily and the time flew by as I moved through the projects. When finished, I had learned so many more aspects of CINEMA 4D that I hadn't known before and felt that I had taken a giant step forward in my abilities. The only thing I felt when done was that I wished that it hadn't ended when it did. Fortunately, there are three more training DVDs in the lineup and I can't wait to move on to the next.
Review by Kathie Berry
Websites: http://www.berry-designs.com & http://www.planit3d.com
Email: kathie@berry-designs.com
Copyright 2007, PlanIt 3D
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