3D Model, Lighting, Materials & Animation in Cinema 4D / Rendered Redshift
Synopsis: I was invited by Adolescents to provide 3D animation support for the main title of "Roman Empire: Reign of Blood," a Netflix docudrama. My responsibilities included assisting with 3D animation and simulating the cracking and destruction of the statues and building structures in the Roman Empire, as well as enhancing the details of the statue's arm and hand. All 3D animation and simulations were carried out in Cinema 4D and expertly composited in Adobe After Effects by talented artists at Adolescents. The challenge involved: (1) simulating a hairline crack along the statues and buildings, (2) adding detailed modeling to the low polygon statue's arm and hand, which would be used in a dynamic simulation and needed to be at a high enough resolution to be shattered, and (3) simulating the breaking, crumbling and collapsing of the statues and buildings.
Project Key Frames
Solution 01:
A grayscale animation displacement map was created in Adobe After Effects, which was then added to the Cinema 4D texture shader's displacement channel. This provided an effortless solution for simulating high-resolution cracking on a low-resolution model, making it easier to work with. The gradient in gray tones provided various levels of elevation to the cracked stone surface.
Solution 02:
I started with a low-resolution mesh, where the details were added via a displacement map, then used Cinema 4D's sculpting tag to enhance the quality of the model. This was done to prepare the model for a close-up shot, in which it would be shattered and fractured after it falls to the ground.
Solution 03:
The crumbling statues and buildings, utilizing the NitroBlast 2.0 plugin for Cinema 4D to achieve the fracture to be used with Cinema 4D dynamic simulation.
