How to optimize Cinema 4D Renderer

[cspecter]

I have a project that is making extensive use of 3D type inside After Effects, but I'm having some perfomance issues. Each comp starts as a standard 3D project in Cinema 4D. After rendering out all the backplates and importing them into AE along with the camera, I'm then putting those into a comp utilizing the "Cinema 4D Renderer" and creating the 3D type. Ultimatly the comps are imported into Premiere using Dynamic Link and is versioned using Live Type. My question is how to optimize the project for the fastest rendering.

Currently each 10s comp takes about 10 minutes to render, which is an eternity to the editors. I've tried a lot of different things with mixed results. Specifically each comp has the following:

1 backplate - ProRes 4444 Quicktime

1 camera

3 layers of type - 2px, convex bevel, 10px extrusion, does not cast shadows, Refl. Int. 50%, Refl. Sharp 100%, Refl. Roll. 50%

6 lights, inverse squared falloff, no shadows

C4D slider at Quality 2

I've compared just the type in AE to C4D and of course C4D renders much faster, but I don't see why. A few things's I've tried:

• Less lights - no discernable change, sometimes better
• Change extrusion/bevel - no change
• No reflection - 3-4% faster
• Precomp text using "Cinema 4D Renderer" inside a Classic 3D comp. Footage in main comp - 5-10% faster

I'm looking for additional things to try. It would of course be nice to individually edit the C4D render options in AE instead of having this one size fits all slider. For example I almost always make my C4D projects with Ray Depth at 5, unless I really need the detail.

• Does the format of my footage make a difference? Would a TGA sequence render faster using the C4D Renderer?
• How do light settings transfer? Is there some optimal mix that will speed up rendering. Using a different falloff? Or shadow diffusion? They seem pretty basic but maybe there is something in how AE handles them.
• Does layer order in the timeline matter? Lights above/below text layers.

Any input appricaited.

Thanks!

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi CSpecter,

Can we get more info like the computer you're working with, it's hardware specifics, version of software, the kind of footage you are working with and the size, frame rate, scope, and nature of the comps you are working on. Otherwise, we'd only be guessing.

Thanks,
Kevin

[cspecter]

So our studio is mostly using relatively recent 5k iMacs. We also have a few trashcan MacPros. I work at a big TV network and it's been a real pain with the lack of pro Mac hardware (our IT will only support Macs right now). In general each comp is 10 seconds long composed of a camera, 10-12 lights, 3-5 3D text layers and a pre-rendered backplate that consists of 3 HD resolution ProRes Quicktimes (one for color, floor matte and reflection).

After much experimenting I think I have discovered a few things. First, the number of lights in a scene doesn't matter or light settings, unlike rendering in "Classic 3D". Second, removing all the 2D footage from the "Cinema 4D Renderer" comps radically improved render times. Unfortunatly for scenes that require some footage to be comped onto to a pre-rendered scene, with the reflection generated in After Effects, those comps still take a long time to render. I don't know if this is the case, but I think that the Cinema 4D Renderer tries to load all the 2D footage in the comp into the renderer, which for me consists of several gigabytes of Quicktime movies and that this somehow slows down the render. Reflective surface settings had only a slight effect on render times.

It would be nice to know exactly how the interaction between After Effects and CineRenderAE are happening to better tune the comp. Also I wish that I could individually control the render options for the comp instead of using the quality slider. I'm rendering almost all my comps at quality 2. In C4D I will typically turn down the Ray Depth, Shadow Deptha and Ray Threshold to much lower than even 2 provides.

Anyway, any insight you can give would be much appriciated.

[lngshado]

Hi, cspecter -

While I can't offer much help with tuning your Cinema 4D renders in After Effects, I can speak with some authority about a possible alternative workflow that, based on your project description, could be much faster to final. You didn't mention it in your post, so I don't know if you're familiar with or even know about Video Copilot's plugin for After Effects called Element 3D ( https://www.videocopilot.net/products/element2/  ). While it has the slight disadvantage of not coming with After Effects by default (like the C4D renderer), it isn't terribly expensive ($200). Considering the cost of the hardware your studio is using, this is a drop in the bucket.

The biggest advantage that Element 3D offers is an OpenGL rendering engine - the same engine that drives a number of mid to high end video games. The results can be stunning, and there are a lot of presets that come with the app and more to purchase for a little extra. You can easily extrude and style text, or any other vector shape that comes out of Illustrator (for example). You can incorporate light elements in the plug-in environment or set your 3D items from Element to be effected by AE lights in your comp. Tons of flexibility with a modest learning curve.

I don't work for VC and am not affiliated, just someone who uses and enjoys their tech. And I've been very happy with render times for fairly complex scenes even on my slightly-upgraded mid-2011 iMac. I imagine Element 3D would scream by comparison on a newish 5K iMac.

Anywho, was looking up something else about After Effects, saw your post, thought I'd chime in. Hope it helps, or at least doesn't muddy the waters.

Best of luck,

- David