MAXON Announces Cineware 2.0 and Cinema 4D Lite Release 16 Included with the Latest version of Adobe After Effects CC

Enhancements Include Improvements to Interactivity, Workflow and Compatibility with Recently Released Cinema 4D R16

FRIEDRICHDORF, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MAXON, the leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, today announced MAXON Cineware 2.0 and Cinema 4D Lite Release 16, now available in the latest version of Adobe After Effects CC (2014.1) . The upgrades symbolize the ongoing strategic relationship between MAXON and Adobe to deliver improved integration and performance between MAXON’s powerful 3D application, Cinema 4D, and Adobe’s industry-leading software. The new updates to the Cineware workflow, available in the Fall release of After Effects CC 2014, are designed to optimize performance and enhance creative capabilities.

With After Effects CC, creative professionals benefit from the seamless integration provided by Cineware that establishes a direct connection between Cinema 4D and After Effects. Users can open, edit and enhance Cinema 4D project files inside After Effects using the Live 3D pipeline first introduced last year in After Effects CC. Even compositing passes can be selected, edited and enhanced directly in After Effects. Cinema 4D Lite, a light yet feature-rich version of Cinema 4D, is included in After Effects CC.

Cineware Enhancements:
Cinema 4D Release 16 Compatibility: Last month, MAXON introduced Cinema 4D Release 16 (R16) marked by powerful enhancements to modeling, reflections and rendering. Cineware 2.0 offers compatibility with the commercial versions of Cinema 4D. Additionally, access to many of the new features in R16, including new multi-layered reflections, are now available within Cinema 4D Lite R16 as part of the Fall 2014 release of After Effects CC.
Purge Memory: In order to improve performance and interactivity, an internal cache is used to store render data when using a Release 16 version of Cinema 4D as the render engine. The Purge Memory button frees cached data so that it can be used for RAM previews within After Effects.
Default Layer: The Cinema 4D layers dialog box now shows a Default Layer option if the renderer supports it. Objects that have not been assigned to an explicit layer in the .c4d project file can be isolated by choosing the Default Layer in After Effects.
Automatic Synchronization: When adding multiple instances of a Cinema 4D scene in a composition, a new Synchronize Layer checkbox at the top of the Effect Controls panel enables artists to automatically synchronize Cineware effect settings on all instances of the scene. If this checkbox is disabled for a specific Cineware layer, then that layer’s settings will not synchronize with the rest of the layers in that composition. This replaces having to utilize the “Apply To All” button from previous versions of Cineware.
Cinema 4D Content Browser: When rendering with a full retail version of Cinema 4D R16, textures included in the Content Browser preset libraries will render correctly in After Effects.
Region of Interest: When utilizing the region of interest feature in After Effects to constrain the preview to a subset of the frame, the Cineware effect will now respect this setting and limit rendering to the area within the region of interest. [Note: This only applies when the Renderer is set to Standard (Final).]
Collect Files for Cinema 4D Assets: The Collect Files command in After Effects now collects assets associated with the Cinema 4D scene, such as textures.

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Adobe's latest Creative Cloud updates bridge desktop and mobile

Adobe might not be the first name that springs to mind when you think smartphone and tablet apps, despite a gradual encroachment into mobile over the last few years. On Monday, the revered software publisher solidified that commitment with the launch of nine new and updated apps and connected services.

The timing coincides with the company’s annual Adobe MAX creativity conference, which kicked off at the Los Angeles Convention Center over the weekend. During alivestreamed keynote, executives laid out Adobe’s sweeping plans for a “new mobile canvas” that better unites iOS devices with the existing universe of Creative Cloud desktop applications.
What’s old is new again

Kicking off the lineup is a pair of existing apps, which have been reinvented for artists who dabble in vectors. Branded after the revered desktop software, Illustrator Line (previously Adobe Line) offers a modern approach to shapes and curves, whileIllustrator Draw (formerly Adobe Ideas) provides a mobile canvas with rich tools for bringing creations to life.




The Photoshop Mix app supports Adobe Ink, the comany's Creative Cloud-connected smart pen.
On the mobile imaging front,Photoshop Mix is now a universal app that works on either iPad or iPhone, with the ability to capture images using the built-in camera, and full support forInk, the hardware pen Adobe released earlier this year. Lightroom Mobile has also been updated to import GPS information from iPhone photos, while comments made on web images now sync back to the app as well.

Featuring six new tools such as watercolor, charcoal, and custom brushes, the latest family member Photoshop Sketch (formerly Adobe Sketch) has now become a dual-purpose app capable of creating fully editable vector-based files for use in Illustrator, or traditional bitmapped images intended for Photoshop.

Mobile moviemaker:
Adobe also launched a third lineage of mobile apps aimed at the video crowd. Essentially a simplified version of the industry-leading Premiere Pro, Premiere Cliphas been optimized for quickly creating projects on the go, automatically syncing content in the background to Creative Cloud without consuming your existing storage space.



Premiere Clip will let you quickly whip up a video that you can then refine further in Premiere Pro.

Like Apple’s iMovie, Premiere Clip offers a streamlined way to leverage new or existing videos and photos shot with an iPhone. You can rearrange and trim clips in just a few taps, and the app includes 10 royalty-free soundtracks to mix into your project, alongside existing tracks from iTunes. Smart Volume and Auto Mix options add another layer of polish to your audio, with minimal effort.

On the video front, Premiere Clip features several finishing touches like titles, speed control, creative “looks” intended to produce amazing results quickly, and fade in/out or crossfade between clips. After roughing out a project on iPhone, you can pick up right where your left off on the more expansive iPad display.

Premiere Clip also allows you to upload completed work to popular social networks or share it publicly with other community members. The app can even export XML files that can be opened in Premiere Pro on Mac or PC, where you can further tweak projects using more robust desktop tools. (Exported files are deducted from your Creative Cloud storage.)



Adobe Brush lets you customize brush shapes you can use in other Creative Cloud apps.


Capture your world
Among the more inspired entries this year are what Adobe describes as “capture apps.” Along with last year’s Kuler (renamed Color) for creating palette themes with an iPhone camera, Brush and Shape offer artists potentially limitless ways to convert real-world objects into content that can be incorporated into their own work.



Adobe Shape can make vector graphics from everyday objects.


In just a few steps, Adobe Brushconverts captured images for use with Sketch or desktop versions of Photoshop and Illustrator. The app includes a variety of brush types in black-and-white or RGB color, touch-based controls for refining captured objects, and independent adjustment of the brush head and tail for seamless repetition.

Likewise, Adobe Shape converts anything shot with an iPhone camera into editable vector graphics. You can clean up images in just a few strokes of a fingertip, then converted them to high-quality live vectors using the same technology Adobe has built into Illustrator over three decades.

Brush and Shape creations automatically sync to your Creative Cloud profile, where you can use them in full 1:1 fidelity with other compatible mobile or desktop apps. You can stamp custom brushes and shapes onto a canvas with complete control over size, opacity, and color.
Bridge over mobile waters



Creative Cloud Libraries let you keep all your assets in one place, yet accessible from any device.


This link between mobile and desktop is made possible by the new Creative Cloud Libraries, which lets you access, use, and create colors, text styles, brushes, images, and graphics. Elements you save to Creative Cloud on one device are instantly available everywhere else, ready to be dragged and dropped into projects—even while offline.

The same kind of interoperability will finally be available to third-party apps, thanks to the launch of Adobe’sCreative SDK 1.0. Announced in Juneand now officially out of beta, the software development kit allows developers to create apps capable of hooking directly into Creative Cloud, with more than a dozen partners already shipping connected products and services.

Although Apple has yet to embrace touchscreen Macs, Adobe continues to blaze trails into the Windows market with touch-enabled applications hardware like Surface Pro. In addition to two-finger touch enhancements for Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects, Adobe Illustrator CC has been updated with an all-new workspace optimized for multi-touch gestures. The more tactile workflow also includes a streamlined user interface that keeps the focus squarely on touch-friendly tools.
No desktop left behind


Following major desktop software updates in June, Adobe also announced a variety of additional feature improvements Monday, including improved Mercury performance and new 3D printing profiles in Photoshop CC, an enhanced 3D pipeline for After Effects CC, EPUB interactivity for InDesign CC, search bins in Premiere Pro, and a new Curvature tool for Illustrator CC.


Photoshop CC gets increased performance on the desktop side.


Another new feature included with today’s Photoshop CC and Dreamweaver CC updates will make life easier for web designers as well. Extract aims to simplify the comp-to-code workflow by allowing Photoshop users to package optimized image assets from layers, while Dreamweaver users can at last drag and drop assets directly out of PSD files. Developers can even pull assets straight from shared Photoshop files on the Creative Cloud website.

Last but not least, the Behance creative social network that joined Adobe a while back appears to be thriving, with four million members and more than 20,000 new portfolios added daily. To help employers find talent more easily, the service has introduced Talent Search, advanced portfolio-based hiring tools that leverage Adobe imaging science to find the right talent for the right job.
Ready for download

All of Adobe’s October desktop product updates are now available to paid Creative Cloud members from the CC Desktop app, while the mobile apps can be downloaded today from the App Store, requiring only a free Adobe ID and devices running iOS 7.0 or later. Android support is promised for the future.

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Adobe After Effects CC Now Includes Cinema 4D Lite R16

Available in the Fall release of After Effects CC 2014, upgrade delivers improved integration and performance between MAXON’s powerful 3D application, Cinema 4D, and Adobe’s industry-leading software.

By Jennifer Wolfe | Friday, October 10, 2014 at 10:30am

In Business, Technology | Headline News | Geographic Region: Europe

Friedrichdorf, Germany --MAXON, the leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, announced MAXON Cineware 2.0 and Cinema 4D Lite Release 16, now available in the latest version of Adobe After Effects CC (2014.1). The upgrades symbolize the ongoing strategic relationship between MAXON and Adobe to deliver improved integration and performance between MAXON’s powerful 3D application, Cinema 4D, and Adobe’s industry-leading software. The new updates to the Cineware workflow, available in the Fall release of After Effects CC 2014, are designed to optimize performance and enhance creative capabilities.

With After Effects CC, creative professionals benefit from the seamless integration provided by Cineware that establishes a direct connection between Cinema 4D and After Effects. Users can open, edit and enhance Cinema 4D project files inside After Effects using the Live 3D pipeline first introduced last year in After Effects CC. Even compositing passes can be selected, edited and enhanced directly in After Effects. Cinema 4D Lite, a light yet feature-rich version of Cinema 4D, is included in After Effects CC.

Cineware Enhancements:

• Cinema 4D Release 16 Compatibility: Last month, MAXON introduced Cinema 4D Release 16 (R16) marked by powerful enhancements to modeling, reflections and rendering. Cineware 2.0 offers compatibility with the commercial versions of Cinema 4D. Additionally, access to many of the new features in R16, including new multi-layered reflections, are now available within Cinema 4D Lite R16 as part of the Fall 2014 release of After Effects CC.
• Purge Memory: In order to improve performance and interactivity, an internal cache is used to store render data when using a Release 16 version of Cinema 4D as the render engine. The Purge Memory button frees cached data so that it can be used for RAM previews within After Effects.
• Default Layer: The Cinema 4D layers dialog box now shows a Default Layer option if the renderer supports it. Objects that have not been assigned to an explicit layer in the .c4d project file can be isolated by choosing the Default Layer in After Effects.
• Automatic Synchronization: When adding multiple instances of a Cinema 4D scene in a composition, a new Synchronize Layer checkbox at the top of the Effect Controls panel enables artists to automatically synchronize Cineware effect settings on all instances of the scene. If this checkbox is disabled for a specific Cineware layer, then that layer’s settings will not synchronize with the rest of the layers in that composition. This replaces having to utilize the “Apply To All” button from previous versions of Cineware.
• Cinema 4D Content Browser: When rendering with a full retail version of Cinema 4D R16, textures included in the Content Browser preset libraries will render correctly in After Effects.
• Region of Interest: When utilizing the region of interest feature in After Effects to constrain the preview to a subset of the frame, the Cineware effect will now respect this setting and limit rendering to the area within the region of interest. [Note: This only applies when the Renderer is set to Standard (Final).]
• Collect Files for Cinema 4D Assets: The Collect Files command in After Effects now collects assets associated with the Cinema 4D scene, such as textures.

Cinema 4D Upgrade Path

For After Effects CC users wishing to experience the more powerful features beyond Cinema 4D Lite, MAXON offers an attractive upgrade path to Cinema 4D Broadcast and Cinema 4D Studio for an even richer 3D content creation experience.

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Secondary Animation

Animate your stuffs via Adobe After Effects, and all the power is in your hands

Animate Follow Through in AF

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Create a Fantasy Fiery Portrait Photo-Manipulation

Step 1

Create a new document with size of 1000×1100 px and fill it with black. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N to make a new layer. Active Brush Tool (B) with color #4e1502 and size 1200 px. Paint on the center of the black canvas:


Step 2

Create a new layer, change brush color to #f6bc2f. Paint inside the dark red area and change the mode to Color Dodge 100%:



Step 3

Use same brush to paint again on a new layer, put the mode to Overlay 70%:



Step 4

Open nebula stock. Use Move Tool (V) to drag it into our canvas:



Step 5

Click the second button at the bottom of Layer Pallete to add mask to this layer. Use soft black brush with opacity about 40-45% to reduce nebula effect on some parts. You can see how I did it on layer mask and result on picture:



Step 6

Duplicate this layer and erase some parts with layer mask to get the result below:




Go to Filter-Blur-Gassian Blur and choose radius as 2 px:



Step 7

Open model stock. First I used Polygonal Lasso Tool to make a selection around model (no need to be so precise with the hair):






Double click background layer to unlock it.






Click the layer mask button to hide background part:




Step 8


Right click the mask of Layer 0, choose Refine Mask:






Use Refine Radius Tool with size about 100 px to paint around the head to reveal more hairs.






Here is my result after refining (I used a red background to make you see it more clearly):



Step 9

Place model after extracting into our main picture, on the top of layers:



Step 10

I want to reduce the lightness on the bright parts of the model so create a new layer above model one with Clipping Mask:






Use brush with color #e6e2e9 to paint on the bright hair, face and hand parts and change the mode to Multiply 100%:




Step 11

Continue reducing the light on model face, arm with a new layer (Clipping Mask) and same brush. I altered the mode to Multiply 50%:




Step 12

I want to give more details for model hair so on a new layer I used brush with color #5a595b and size about 20 px. Here is the result after drawing more hair:




Step 13

To add some red color to the model, I used an adjustment layer with Clipping Mask. Go to Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Hue/Saturation:




Step 14

I added a Color Balance layer with same purpose:




Step 15

Make a Curves layer to darken the model:






On Curves layer mask I used soft brush to remove and reduce dark intensity.




Step 16

Create a new layer and use brush with color #f66e2b to paint on the hair and hand. Change the mode to Color 100%:




Step 17
On a new layer use same brush to add more vivid red to the hair and body contour. Set the mode to Overlay 100%:




Step 18

I used brush with color #f5c25f to paint on model contour again to give some orange there. Change the mode to Hard Light 100%:




Step 19

Make a new layer and use same brush to paint on some hair ends and put the mode to Overlay 100%:




Step 20

Create a new layer, I used color #f66e2b to paint inside the eyes then put the mode to Linear Dodge mode 100%:




Step 21

Click brush menu, choose Reset Brushes to active default brush preset. Now on a new layer, change foreground to #f66e2b and click Fuzzball brush:






Lower brush size to 80 px and spot inside the eyes. I altered the mode to Linear Dodge mode 100%:




Step 22

To enhance some face details, I made a new layer, changed the mode to Overlay 100% and filled with 50% gray:






Use Dodge and Burn Tool (O) with Midtones Range, Exposure about 20-25% to brighten the eyes effect, face side and nose, darken eyebrows, nose bridge. You can see how I did it with Normal mode and result with Overlay mode:




Step 23

Make a new layer on the top, use soft brush with color #bd5733 to paint at the bottom of the image:




Step 24

To make a stronger effect there I used soft brush with color #f6bc2f and changed the mode to Overlay 100%:




Step 25

On a new layer use brush with color #f6bc2f to paint on two hands. I changed the mode to Hard Light 100%:




Step 26

Drag sparks image into our canvas and put the mode to Color Dodge 100%:



I named it “sparks 1″.

Step 27

Add layer mask to this one. Use brush to remove and reduce sparks intensity on some parts below:




Step 28

On sparks 1 layer, go to Filter-Distort-Twirl:






Apply Gassian Blur with 2 px:




Step 29

Duplicate this layer, use Cmd/Ctrl+T to rotate it to get the result below. You can use layer mask to remove any unwanted parts:




Step 30

Open fire images. I’ve chosen two these images to work with:






Use Retangular Marquee Tool (M) to make selection for a fire part on image 1:






Place it at the bottom of model body, change the mode to Screen 100%:




Step 31

To remove white edges remained after changing blending mode, double click this layer, choose Blending Options. Hold Alt/Option key while dragging black slider of This Layer until the white edges disappear:




Step 32

Take another parts of the fires and put them around model hair and body. I applied same settings of Blending Options with all of these layers and used layer mask to remove unecessary parts.



I used 14 layers for this effect.

Step 33

Make all fire layers selected then press Cmd/Ctrl+G to make group for them. Change the mode of this group from Pass Through (default group mode) to Screen 100%. On layer 14 go to Layer-New Adjustment Layer-Curves:






On Curves layer mask use brush to erase fires on the arms, hair and bottom as I don’t want them too bright:




Step 34

Final step: Press Cmd/Ctrl+Option/Alt+Shift+E to merge all visible layers. Go to Filter-Sharpen-Unsharp Mask:




And We’re Done!


I hope that you enjoyed the tutorial.

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