3D renders can be a real bottleneck in a project workflow. This project was created to not only to work with some cool new underwater character rigging and texturing, but also to achieve a scene with a lot of depth inside of after effects using 3d elements pre-rendered to image-sequences out of Cinema4d.
The scenes are created out of individual pre-rendered 3d elements (ocean floor, single plant, single fish, jellyfish, a single rock wall, etc.). These elements are then pieced together inside of after effects. They are placed in a 3d space which we can then fly an after effects camera around. The idea is to do the heavy lifting of scene creation inside of after effects to keep overall render times nice and quick. This particular workflow allows for renders that take a fraction of the time that a full 3d scene would take without sacrificing the 3d look and feel of the project.
Check out the visual breakdowns of each step in Fred’s animations here:
