INTRODUCTION TO CGI FOR
PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHERS

In this video, Janine Pauke introduces herself and the course.

Learn about C4D licenses, including the free 14-day trial and the recommended system requirements for your computer to be able to run C4D.

In this lesson, Janine helps get you familiar with the C4D interface and how to manipulate the 3D workspaces.

Janine walks you through the rest of the most commonly used buttons in the interface, from the rendering buttons to the geometry creation buttons.

In this lesson, Janine starts to model the spray can using basic primitives.

Learn to use a modeling helper image to facilitate creating 3D models that follow the required geometry of the subject.

In this lesson, you learn how to use the Spline tool to create the outline of a shape and revolve that edge about an axis to create a 3D shape. You will use it to create the top section of the spray can.

To wrap up the modeling section, Janine demonstrates how to complete the spray can by creating the nozzle using Boolean intersections of two primitives.

In this lesson, Janine shows you how to add basic materials to your 3D geometry.

Janine demonstrates how to apply textures to your model and how to manipulate those textures to achieve the look you want.

In this lesson, you will learn how to add cameras to your scene and how to add and set up the first light for rendering.

Janine shows you how to add two more lights to create the typical 3-point lighting setup most photographers are familiar with and how to adjust various parameters of each light to achieve the desired lighting effect.

In Part 3, you will learn how to add a floor reflection commonly used in product photography to help “ground” the subject and how to adjust the reflected fall-off.

Concluding this section, you will learn how to adjust the rim lights and tweak material settings to get started with highlight reflections.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use High Dynamic Range Images (HDRIs) to provide realistic reflections and get introduced to C4D’s Node Material presets. In this case, adding a metal material preset to the spray can top and bottom that will accurately reflect the HDRI.

Add another material preset for the plastic nozzle. Janine demonstrates how to use C4D’s interactive rendering capability and discusses the pros and cons of different render engines, sharing why Octane is her favorite external renderer.

In this lesson, Janine shows you ways to adjust the properties of the HDRI and how to add a 2D background image that will serve as the backdrop of the final render.

Wrapping up the Realism lessons, Janine starts by testing out further tweaks to the HDRI before making additional adjustments to the metal material preset and final color and positioning adjustments for the lights.

In this lesson, Janine explains the various parameters you can adjust in the Render Settings.

Janine makes some adjustments to the spline used to create the spray can top before demonstrating how to introduce ambient occlusion into the final render for added realism. She also explains how to easily export a layered PSD version of the final render that includes an automatically generated alpha channel for use as a layer mask in Photoshop.

In this lesson, you will learn how to bring your layered output render into Photoshop to perform final post-production tweaks leveraging the automatically generated alpha channel.

In this lesson, Janine demonstrates how to create more sophisticated gradient reflections in C4D for glossy objects like rings.

Janine shows you how to replicate a diffused light source with a gradient in the same way that you can create one in the studio with a strip light and a diffuser. In C4D, she begins the process by creating a plane with emittance properties to illuminate a simple 3D object. She shows you how to add an HDRI to mimic subtle background reflections that might occur in a real-world studio environment.

Janine finishes setting up the emitting plane by creating the desired gradient on the plane’s surface using an alpha channel in its material properties.

In this entertaining bonus lesson, Janine shows you how to use the powerful Subdivision Surface Modeling method to create complicated, smooth shapes quickly and easily and then demonstrates how to set up a simple animation in C4D.