Render correctly in Cinema 4D - Here's how

To render correctly in Cinema 4D, there are a few things to keep in mind. In this practical tip, we will show you how to do it.

Render correctly in Cinema 4D: materials, lighting and shadows

In order for you to get a usable picture or video later, it is important that you set the materials and lighting in your scene correctly.

Many materials are already available as a preset, on which you only have to adjust the color later. You can find these by selecting "Create" in the Material window and then selecting one of the many presets under "Shader".
During the construction of your 3D scene, it is already illuminated by a standard light (otherwise your scene would be completely black). As soon as you add a light source to your environment, the standard lighting is no longer required. Choosing the right light sources and calibrating them is an important part of rendering.
With spotlights you can display direct light sources such as directional light from a headlight. With this light you can also create first class shadows. To do this, click on your light in the overview and then click on the "Shadow" tab. Here you can make some settings that can have a huge impact on the speed of the rendering process. Soft shadows are more realistic, but take significantly more time to render.
You can display the incidence of sunlight through a window or general lighting using surface light sources. However, you can also choose an environment from the presets that includes a sun as the light source for outdoor scenes.
Finally, you should create a camera that defines the area to be rendered.

In Cinema 4D, you basically have the choice of creating a video or a still image.

To render a video, you must have previously created an animation. You should first consider which settings your video should have later, so that the animation does not run too quickly or too slowly later.
You can find the render settings by clicking on the video flap symbol with gear in the toolbar. Then a separate window opens with all kinds of setting options.
For a rendering, the settings under the "Output" tab are the most important. Here you can define the output size and the resolution. Under "Save" you can select the output path, the format of the image and the color depth as well as the image color profile.
If you are rendering an animation, you can already select render presets under "Output" by clicking on the triangle symbol. However, you can also enter the video data manually. In any case, select the format and the area to be output under "Save".
Start the rendering process by clicking on the middle render symbol. The rendering process can take from a few seconds to several hours, depending on the computer, complexity and length of the scene.

This practical tip shows you how you can easily create 3D text in Cinema 4D.