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There are a bunch of cool tools in the new MAXON module called MOGRAPH which make the creation of 3D animations a snap. This is especially beneficial to broadcast animators who need to deliver content under quick turnaround schedules (days or hours). There are many tutorials that reveal the power of these tools that come with the new module which is now shipping. I'll take a look at some of these tools in a few quick reviews.
MOGRAPH MODULE: TRACER
I've pulled out the mograph module and put it into my workspace in order to have the tool set visible at all times during these screen captures. So, in order to avoid confusion, this is not the way Mograph shows up in your standard layout.
First, I want to add a cube (this isn't a necessary step order, but it makes things easier).
Next, Add the Tracer object. The tracer object is going to look at the cube that was just created (because the cube is left "selected" after it was created).
I'm going to simply create a very basic rotation animation for the cube.
The animation is a simple 360-degree rotation along the Y and X axes.
With the animated cube being referenced, the Tracer tool is actually generating splines that move with the vertices of the object. The tracer splines can be used in other objects that reference spline data.
I'll use it in a simple SweepNURBS object as the path. I put a circle as a profile for those "swept" paths created by the tracer object. The cube (which, at this point, is only generating vertex data for the tracer object) has been made invisible in the viewport and the render (red dots).
The circle has been reduced to a 5m radius.
The last thing I did was to create a little variation on the way the scale profile looked within the R9.6 SweepNURBS object itself, so the sweeps looked like pointy little snakes.
Here's the resulting movie for Blake Huber who says he's going to be producing tutorials like this as well. Blake is a teacher at NYU and an animator at Brand New School - New York. If you have questions for Blake, you can find him in the DMN Forums for After Effects.
If you have questions about CINEMA 4D or Mograph, be sure to check out DMNForums for CINEMA 4D with host Rob Garrott. Rob teaches CINEMA 4D at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and owns Bending Pixels Studios in North Hollywood. You can also find Rob's work on the MAXON website.
Be sure to check out MAXON.DIGITALMEDIANET.COM for more tutorials and articles specifically about CINEMA 4D and BODYPAINT 3D.
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Ko Maruyama is a freelance animator in Los Angeles. In addition to working on film and broadcast animations, Ko teaches at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design - focusing on motion design. When working, writing or testing software allows, you can find him lending a hand in the After Effects board and lurking among the Cinema4D, Visual Effects and Photoshop posts within the DMNForums.Related Sites: Creative Mac , Digital Producer , Digital Animators , Animation Artist , Siggraph News , Digital Game Developer , Oceania , MacAnimationPro , Maxon
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Source:Ko Maruyama.
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