Mograph Techniques: Animating with C4D Effectors

Harness the power of the CINEMA 4D MoGraph module to create complex animations with only a couple of keyframes.

Harness the power of the CINEMA 4D MoGraph module to create complex animations with only a couple of keyframes. By stacking multiple MoGraph effectors, you can achieve nice-looking animations quickly and easily, saving you time spent keyframing moves manually. Discover how to change your text on the fly or create iterations of it, while keeping the animation intact. Author EJ Hassenfratz introduces a real-world postproduction workflow, by creating a network bumper promo. This project covers creating 3D text in CINEMA 4D, compositing, and adding final polish to the footage inside of Adobe After Effects.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files
• A preview of the finished product

1. Building the Cube Grid Structure For the Scene

• Creating a grid of cubes using the Cloner
• Creating the cubes with text

2. Setting Up the Scene with Effectors

• Creating the wave animation with plain effectors
• Creating the second wave animation
• Creating the third wave animation

3. Creating the Animation with Two Keyframes

• Using a null object to group and keyframe multiple effectors
• Using the selection tag to limit the influence of an effector
• Adding finishing touches to the animation

4. Preparing a Scene for Composite in After Effects

• Adding textures and using an HDRI map for reflections
• Lighting the scene
• Using Morph Camera to create a smooth camera move
• Setting up to render for After Effects (AE)

5. Finishing inside After Effects

• Importing the project into AE and adjusting multipass composite settings
• Linking text to a 3D null object
• Using object buffers to isolate and change text color
• Returning to CINEMA 4D for quick revisions

Conclusion

• Next steps