How To Make a Candy Cane Text Animation In Cinema 4D

Ho Ho Ho! In this special holiday tutorial, I show you how to make a delicious Candy Cane animation using Illustrator and Cinema 4D. I show you how to animate the type with Sweep Nurbs and texture it with a candy cane texture. Then, I show you how to light the scene for the final render.

Thanks again for watching and making this such a great year for Greyscalegorilla and me. You make this site awesome. Happy Holidays!

Example

Signup for the newsletter.

Updates about once a week. Deals on new products. Not spammy. Whats not to love?

115 people have commented on this post. You should too!

  1. i like your work and your tutorials. u do a great job. isn’t it funny to see yout work all over the world wide web by peaple doing your tutorials?

    maybee u like my work, too?

    we produced an independent dark Sci-Fi End-of-Days satire movie. with a lot of CG and AE shots.

    if u want chack it out and watch the trailer on http://www.real-buddy.com
    or on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSGSiXryD0Y

    and if u like become a fan on facebook:
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/REAL-BUDDY/268279299023

  2. Alejandro says:

    Excellent tutorial. I follow the blog for a long and really is great everything you do. Sorry for my English. Keep it up.
    One question, I want to achieve something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5qnrLw07gc think you could make a toturial how to do it?

  3. Fritzlimo says:

    Great tutorial!
    ho ho ho xD

  4. macizo says:

    Great !! Awesome as usual, Nick

  5. Pingback: Tweets that mention How To Make a Candy Cane Text Animation In Cinema 4D | greyscalegorilla/blog -- Topsy.com

  6. Paddy says:

    Sweet! Sweet, hah! get it…..!???

  7. Ryan says:

    Cool stuff! Where do you get the music for your animations? Do you make all of them?

    I feel like a good soundtrack really adds a lot to an animation, and would love to know your approach!

    Thanks!

  8. fractma says:

    Once again a great tutorial Nick!, Feliz Navidad and a big hug form Mexico mate!

  9. Mike Henriquez says:

    really amazing Nick, happy holidays!

  10. Andrew says:

    I made this (http://www.stully.com/?p=291) a couple of months ago. The type was in C4d and this tutorial would have been a big help, I still learned some new techniques. Great tut as always.

  11. Marcel says:

    Very nice.
    Frohe Weihnachten from Deutschland.

  12. Cris says:

    Very good and thanks for diving into Illustrator, to show how to export the path to C4D, and then how to “manipulate” the whole deal.
    That rotation really was something sweet!
    Merry Christmas and happy holidays :D

  13. adam says:

    merry christmas Nick

    more ape sh*t in 2011

  14. Ravens666 says:

    Well, well, what a coincidence…I dealt with something similar in Sunday night and Monday morning. Not candy cane style but similar in using handwritten text (with freeehand spline using mouse) with sweep NURBS (controlled by expresso~user data).
    http://www.vimeo.com/18063064

  15. james says:

    What fonts do you use?? It seems you use the same ones over and over.

  16. Nico says:

    Hey Nick,
    thanks a lot for your amazing Tutorials. I wish you and all the American people a Merry Christmas and a good start in the year 2011. Hope the Tutorials will go on in the future.
    Many Greetings from Germany

    Yours Nico

  17. Sebastian says:

    Happy Holidays Nick! Thanks for an awesome year! You make cool shit man.

    Thanks again,

    Sebastian

  18. Soul Walker says:

    Thanks for yet another awesome tutorial, I will try this too, Nick.
    Happy Holidays and a happy and prosperous New Year to everyone!

  19. Matty2x4 says:

    Awesome comment. :D
    Nice work Nick.
    And a happy holiday to you too!

  20. Tomaz says:

    Happy Holidays to you and yours Nick!

  21. sjoerd says:

    Merry Christmas everybody.

  22. Thomas says:

    Thanks, Nick!

    How much candy can the canner can?

    • asymptoteell says:

      Even if the candy canner can can cans of candy can the candy can canner can cans of candy while doing the can can with a candy cane?

  23. Kola says:

    Happy holidays everybody and merry Xmas from Lyon.

  24. James Wicks says:

    Hey Nick,
    Is there a way in C4D to see 4:3 action/title safe guides inside the 1920×1080 environment?

    I work in television producing commercials, and use C4D whenever possible. The spots are full 1080HD (1920×1080) with 4:3 center cut graphics.

    Any suggestions on how to view 4:3 guides in a 16:9 C4D project?

    Thanks,
    J

    • DavyMenge says:

      One option is to make a square spline 4:3 and attach it to your camera and give it a color and set it to always visible. only problem is if you adjust focal length.

      I think I saw a rig once for this but can’t find it.

      HTH

  25. ERiK says:

    ho-ho-ho Happy holidays to you Nick!

  26. Dario Cavaliere says:

    Thanks again nick!
    this is my final result
    http://www.youtube.com/user/dariocavaliere?feature=mhum
    free hand writing is not as easy as i thought but there it is…
    Merry Xmas everyone

    here my other projects
    http://www.behance.net/dariocavaliere

  27. Zachary O'Connor says:

    Happy holidays to you as well Nick! It’s a pity we don’t have snow in Australia, I love it!

  28. zef says:

    Hi Nick,
    Thanks for those little tweaks with C4D and wish you merry christmas and a happy new year !
    It was a pleasure to learn some of your techniques and gave me inspirations.
    I hope more intensive trainings with your knowledge, especially on motion design, for 2011…

  29. Roxxii says:

    BEAUTIFULLLLLLLLL i love u gorilla and merry xmas xxx

  30. DavyMenge says:

    Very nice tutorial again :)

    The thickness after adding the caps can be solved by checking “Constrain” on the caps tab. I saw you spacing out letters in a previous tutorial because they got too thick. You probably already know this but I thought I’d just point it out for other people to read aswell.

    Happy Holidays from Holland!

  31. Roxxii says:

    love the tutorial. wish that font was free though :(

  32. Johan says:

    Hey Nick,
    here is mine: http://www.vimeo.com/18085699
    Didn’t had the trapcode plugins, so I had to improvise a bit.

    Happy holidays.

    Johan

  33. SRQ says:

    Nick you are great!!!!!
    I mean really, I would never be able to thank you enough for the things you have taught us.
    Tut is awesome like always. Thanks again.

  34. Dave Glanz says:

    Alrighty! Here’s my stab at this. Have a great weekend, all.
    http://vimeo.com/18087066

  35. Felix says:

    I tried it myself, too.
    http://vimeo.com/18087119
    Please comment. And merry christmas and a happy new year.

  36. krswid says:

    Happy Holidays Nick. Thanks for all your help.

  37. Awesome as always Nick…. i was wondering how to make some balls like this here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYhxD3GwCm4&feature=related

    You Rock.. and thanks for the efford.

  38. Here is my contribution. its no animation. Thank you for good tutorials :) Merry Christmas

  39. OmarGon says:

    Merry Christmas for all of you, guys.

    After that, I want to ask this: How come when i put the path and the circle in the SweepNurbs it keeps the same, not like the tutorial. I dont see volume. :S Any help?

  40. Lorenzo Pozza says:

    here’s mine (: i just love your tuts, i always lear something from them. i’m only sixteen, but here is what i’ve done :

    http://b.imagehost.org/0519/feliznatalfinal.jpg

  41. andreas says:

    please post a vid about your layout, how to get it

  42. Victor Gonzalez says:

    Hey Nick!

    I’m trying to import my scene into After Effects, but the black background keeps appearing. How can I just disable it? I’m not really an expert on this :P

  43. Martijn says:

    Also made a little Merry Chirstmas short, not with the candy though

    http://vimeo.com/18100650

    Nonetheless nice tutorial!

  44. STAG says:

    cool, could of done it with trapcode kinda i guess. u love your gotham

  45. rodolfo says:

    Excelent!! GreyscaleGorilla You are the best MotionGrapher. This Web is very important to many artist who want to learn with bigger like you. Im filmaker from argentina and never see anybody in web more enthusiast

    i hope learn more with you

    merry christmas

  46. Hey gorilla!
    i’ve got a question for you. Im really into 3d and motion graphics and all that stuff. Im 16 years old and ive followed all your tutorials from the beginning but when i look at videos like triangle from onur senturk. They are just awesome and when i try to make a video like that 2 things could happen. 1 i copy alot. 2. It becomes really really bad. i never seem to create something awesome like those vids. Any tips?

  47. Julian says:

    Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas) from Germany!
    And thanks for all the great Tutorials and ideas!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWVc0SQqKeY

  48. nidzony says:

    Before 1 year ago I made this>> http://www.behance.net/gallery/3D-Typography/402054
    Thanks Nick for advanced level :-)

  49. CGR-tist says:

    Another great tut.
    Tank’s for this year tuts.
    We need you lessons next year.
    Ha a great holidays.

  50. Liam says:

    Hey Nick and Merry Christmas -

    I just wanted to say thanks for all the effort you put into these videos and although I’m going to hop program since cinema 4d doesn’t have the tools I need as opposed to other software I still appreciate as much as anyone your videos. I wish you luck in the future and I hope you have a twin that has a website on the software I choose.

  51. Michael Tosetto says:

    Yo Nick, great work. Long time AE user but new to C4D. This was a great tute for me to get an overview of a small project from beginning to end.

    Really dig your work and your blog. Been hanging out here more than VideoCoPilot of late.

    Have a great Chrissy mate.

    Cheers from down under. Mike :)

  52. Nice effect, lo intenté y funiciono !

    See My design : http://flic.kr/p/948GZr

  53. love the site, I have been using cinema 4d for about a week now. I haven’t got much sleep. it is soo addicting!

    I bought the HDRI pack and the lighting kit. very cool stuff.

    http://www.fueledinc.com/xmas.jpg

  54. Tomaz Mrevlje says:

    Hey Nick, great tutorial as always. I came across a problem tho, thought you might help. When adding End Rotation to my Sweep NURBS what happens is that the the text starts braking up at the begining and the end, kinda twists and starts braking right after. Even tho the texture isn’t rotated as much as i’d want it to be. Any ideas?

    Thanks and Happy Holidays to you all!

  55. Pingback: cgiant » Blog Archive » How To Make a Candy Cane Text Animation In Cinema 4D

  56. Daoud says:

    Hi i just have one question im like new to c4d and i mostly know all the stuff except for modelling or making u know like cartoons can u tell me a site where ican learn from or youtube vid plz it would be really help full

  57. Hen says:

    Hi Nick…
    instead of turning off the layer with the mouth to see the path you can click on the “q” button on the keyboard… makes it easier .

    have a good one.

    Hen

  58. james hartwell says:

    i wasn’t sure how to email ha so i thought i would leave a comment. i just wanted to say that i love your tutorials, and they have been a huge help. My animation teacher and i are confused on the fringe intro exploding text thing. i would really appreciate some pointers or maybe a tutorial. thanks your the best man

  59. Jason C says:

    Hi, don’t be angry. i do not agree what most people say here. i think most of your tutorials are very lame, cause they go in circles – no growth. What about bringing more tuts from pro’s like ‘the monkey’ or so? anyway, thanks for your good work. regards, jason

  60. MarcyVF says:

    Do you hear tutorial voiceovers inside your head when working on projects in Cinema/Ae and stuff?

    Thanks!!!

  61. Mikkel says:

    The music you used for the happy holidays card – what is that? thanks for the inspiration …

  62. makosx says:

    Very nice. Thanx!

  63. David says:

    Hey Guys! This has nothing to do with the video but I just made this up and wanted you guys to tell me something about it. I’m an architecture student and this is my first video-rendered with cinema 4d… What do you think.
    * I’d like to use a postproduction program but I haven’t yet..

    http://www.vimeo.com/18311742

    Thanks!!

  64. Pritam Singh says:

    hii nick,,
    I am big fan of urs, i learnt so much from u. I wanna know how to extrude polygon on a certain angle. c4d always extrude at 90 degree form the polygon… please reply..

    Your student,
    Pritam Singh

  65. I made a happy New Year video based on this tutorial.

    http://vimeo.com/18337420

    (I kinda messed up a mask in After Effects, so try to ignore that part)

  66. Ivanex says:

    Simplemente Beauty…..e innteresante
    como siempre se agradece por el aporte
    Thanks…!!!!

  67. Jodie Duarte says:

    I need help!! Really want to do this tutorial for a project I’m working on about cakes!! I get to the bit where I import the path into C4D which seems to work fine..then when I add a sweep nurb nothing happens to my path…your one turns to black..mine stays completely the same. Then I add a circle and make it smaller like you do which is all fine. But then when I put the circle and the path into the sweep nurb folder I get a massive round 3d disc shape!! Please help!! Really want to do this!

    Thanks for any help,

    Jodie. :o )

    • The Gorilla says:

      Sounds like your objects are in the wrong order or you circle is too big.

    • Jodie Duarte says:

      I made the circle the same size as yours and the order is all the same as well :( Would you know why the sweep nurbs doesn’t even make the path do anything??

      • Mike says:

        You might’ve done what I did – which is make more than one path (my first and last name). The sweep nurb should only sweep across one path, and it can’t be inside a null object. If you have more than one path when you import, pull the path out, sweep it, and duplicate the whole setup for your second path.

  68. Jerote says:

    Great tutorial! I don’t know if anybody has mentioned it before, but a nice fast shortcut for turning NURBS (sweep, extrude, hyper, etc) on/off is the letter Q… so you can work on the spline and “Q” it on and off faster than clicking on it :)
    Cheers.
    J

  69. Pingback: cgiant » Blog Archive » WRITE BETTER CSS WITH BEST PRACTICES – COLOR

  70. Pingback: cgiant » Blog Archive » The Pros and Cons of Art Directed Blog Posts

  71. Pingback: cgiant » Blog Archive » 40 Extraordinary Photoshop Text Effects

  72. Pingback: cgiant » Blog Archive » 7 Essential Elements of Blog Design

  73. stevieg says:

    Excellent again Nick and Chris, Thanks for all the knowledge you share,
    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

  74. Arian says:

    Tank U .

  75. pedro bird says:

    aaah! many thanks for this tutorial! for years i have hated and despised the pen tool. you have made me a more peaceful person. Thankyou & Happy Holidays!

Comment Rules: I love helpful comments. We don't all have to be friends or agree, but we do have to be nice. Criticism is fine, but rude comments will be deleted. Use your real name and don't be spammy. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>