You can add another Sky Object with yet another map – I suggest adding a tone-mapped version of the hdri map and making it visible to Camera and Reflection, Refraction, Transparency only. To make hdri invisible add Compositing Tag to Sky Object and uncheck Seen By Camera. To rotate hdri background select Sky Object and in Coordinates tab simply change rotation values.
Cinema 4D already includes several pre-defined, ready-to-go setups. Brightness, color temperature, falloff and direction are already included in IES lights to produce the most realistic lighting.
Fire a render now and you will see that there are very nice shadows under your model. Many light manufacturers offer IES data for free download to realistically simulate the look of real lighting fixtures. In Tag properties check Compositing Background and Compositing Background for HDR Maps. Next add Compositing Tag to floor (Tags > Cinema 4D Tags > Compositing). Shadow CatcherĬreate Floor object just under the model and reposition it along with model so it fits the floor you can see at the hdri background. If you hit Render View button you will see that hdri is lighting nicely your scene now, but unfortunately, there is no shadow under the model. To fix it you need to create a shadow catcher.
In the General tab, you can choose a Preset depending on your scene type or just leave it as Default. For this, you need to go to render setting (Render > Edit Render Settings) choose Effect and add Global Illumination. If you hit Render button you won’t see any results, because Global Illumination is not active by default in Cinema 4D. You can select it from the Floor menu – just click on the small arrow at lower right corner.Īpply HDRi Sky material to Sky Object by dragging and dropping it over the Sky icon. Create Sky Object and apply a materialĪdd Sky Object to the scene. Make sure that everything is a shown as on the picture. Under file input, you can see its properties: resolution, depth and colour space. texture tag you can make every Cinema 4D scene into a HDRI and use it for lighting with global illumination. Uncheck Color and Reflectance in material properties and check Luminance only. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene. Create HDRI materialĬreate a new material, double click on the material icon so Material Editor will pop-up. Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. This tutorial is valid for any exterior and interior lighting. To be sure that you can see any changes it is recommended to turn off any CG lighting before beginning. BeginningĪdd a model to the scene or open your project where you want to add hdri lighting.
In case you were wondering the shadowcatcher plug-in doesn’t work with the Physical Renderer either.In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up hdri lighting in Cinema 4D for interiors and exterior scenes. I contacted MAXON about this is so hopefully it gets fixed in the near future. Something I’ve seen a lot of people struggle with.įYI, this method doesn’t work with the Physical Renderer in R13 but in my opinion it should as it uses built-in tools and no post effects. Also, in the download are 2 versions, one textured/lit for Cinema 4D Arnold.
One of those being a shadow pass but I show you how to do it all in one render with mulit-pass control. Just wanted to point out there are other ways to do this.
Install it in Cinema 4D > library > browser. Cleverly named “Shadow Matte”.ĭownload it here. Not only do I show you how to set the material up I made a content browser preset ready for download. The answer is yes and you don’t need a plug-in like “Shadowcatcher” to achieve this. Often you will here C4D users ask if there is something similar to 3DS MAX’s “Shadow Matte” material. I’ve had a lot of questions how to do this so I hope this is helpful for some. Namely, my focus was to show how to set up your C4D scene to catch shadows properly on live action footage or a photograph in one render. Hey everyone, here’s a tutorial I made that explains my multi-pass workflow in Cinema 4D to After Effects. Posted by Josh on in 3D, Compositing, Matchmoving, Presets, Tutorials Tutorial 05: C4D Multi-Pass Rendering/Compositing and Shadow Catching. /rebates/2fproducts2farnold2foverview&.