Welcome to my first blog post! I’ve decided to write a weekly post about my experience with School of Motion’s Cinema 4D Basecamp course with EJ Hassenfratz. This will be my third course with School of Motion and I’m excited for this journey to learn more about 3D modeling and animation!
The first week was mostly spent getting acclimated with Cinema 4D’s interface, navigating various viewports, working with primitive objects, and applying basic Redshift materials for the "Your Favorite Place" assignment.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete this week’s assignment, given how I had to balance more days in the office, commuting, planning to make dinners at home, spending time with family, teaching a class, and, on top of it all, learning a software I’ve always been curious about but never had the "time" to explore. But there are a couple of things I do know about myself: I’m good at time management and staying organized, which has gotten me pretty far as a designer. I’ve also gotten used to saying yes to nearly every freelance or job task until I hit burnout. However, I knew taking this class would demand significant energy, especially since I’m unfamiliar with the software.
Key takeaways:
Anytime I’m learning something new, having two monitors is ALWAYS a game-changer. One for watching lessons, the other for following along.
Don’t get too stuck in one part of the project. Move forward and enjoy the process. As a designer, I love planning concepts and creating moodboards. PureRef and Snip & Sketch were lifesavers in grouping my inspirations for the ice cream shop concept.
Applying materials has quickly become one of my favorite aspects of 3D design. By the time I finally “let go” and decided to call the assignment done, I thought it would take me hours to add materials and adjust colors. Surprisingly, it turned out to be the most relaxing part, just as Ian had assured me when I was ready to call it quits that night.