Cinema 4D: Create 3D text - how it works

In this article, you will learn how to create 3D text using the professional graphics software Cinema 4D.

Cinema 4D: How to create 3D text

With the professional graphics program Cinema 4D from MAXON, you can not only model detailed 3D objects or create various animations, but also create realistic 3D texts according to your ideas. In the following instructions, we explain step by step how to create an individual lettering in Cinema 4D:

1. Start Cinema 4D. Alternatively, you can also open a finished file with a kind of "Lightroom" in Cinema 4D, in which you can first model your 3D text and later illuminate / render it.
2. Then select the "Text" option under the "Freehand" button (see screenshot). A text object is then displayed.
3. Click on your text in the object catalog on the right. A new window opens below. Enter your desired lettering in the "Text" field.
4. Under Font, you can set any font.
5. To make your text three-dimensional, you need an "Extrude Nurbs Object". To do this, go to "Extrude Nurbs Object" under "HyperNURBS". The extrude object is shown on the right in the catalog.
6. Drag-and-drop the text object under the extrude object so that your lettering becomes spatial (see screenshot).
7. Select the extrude object in the machining catalog. Under the "Object" tab, you can give your text any depth via the Z axis.

Cinema 4D: design 3D text - how it works

Your created 3D text in Cinema 4D may now look a bit simple and unaesthetic. We explain to you how you can design and stage your lettering with Cinema 4D as an example.

1. Copy your extrude object with the text object below it, paste it into the catalog and then select it.
2. Halve the depth of the selected extrude object and move it to the center of the other extrude object using the move tool (see screenshot).
3. Then set the "Fillet Cap" option for the extrude object in the middle under the "Caps" tab under the "Start" and "End" items (see screenshot). This gives your lettering a dynamic offset.
4. Now create any material for only one extrude object and assign it in the machining catalog.

In another article, we compared the two graphics programs Cinema 4D and Blender.