Re: How do I: 3D Animation of a Cassette Tape?

Mark -

Anything is possible with a good 3D package. The questions are what is your budget, how much time do you have, and, if you haven't done this type of project before, can you charge for your learning time, or do you have to eat it?

I'm a 3D Studio Max 8 user, and if I were doing this type of project, I would start out by asking the client (or searching the web, if this is for a demo reel) if he/she has a CAD file of the cassette tape (a .dxf would do it with Max - check which formats C4D takes for import. If there is no CAD file, take reference photographs from all angles, or even better, pull a cassette apart to find the discrete pieces which you will animate. Then build your model - I'm sure C4D has plenty of tutorials on polygonal modeling.

Once you get your model built or imported, set up your camera, and get ready for the fun! In Max, I would make sure that any element I want to animate separately is named, grouped, and on its' own layer. Since the animation is a pretty smooth one in your example, it's then just a matter of starting from the point that everything is in place, then working each element off the screen, making sure to save every iteration you do as a separate file. Then bring them in to your compositing software and set them to play in reverse.

If you're going to a compositing program, you may want to render off each piece as a keyable Quicktime (or numbered Targa files). That way you can tweak the timing without going all the way back to the 3D world and tweaking the animation keyframes (which is tougher than just moving a layer in time in After Effects (or Combustion, which I regularly use as well). You may also want to do separate passes for any elements you need post-production control of, such as Ambient Occlusion, Material ID, Reflection Pass, Shadows...whatever you think may need to be tweaked or changed. Max does this easily; I don't know about C4D.

Once you've got all your elements rendered, drop them into your compositing app and start tweaking. I hope this is clear. There's somewhat of a learning curve, but once the light goes on and you get it, it's merely tedious, then exciting once the project is done. Good luck!

Joe Bourke
Multimedia & Graphic Design