Use Sprites to Build A Fast-To-Render Particle System in Cinema 4D

In this tutorial, Chris shows you how to build a particle system using sprites. First, Chris makes simple geometry that is forced to face the camera to create the illusion of a more complex object. Then, he uses particles, Mograph, proximal shader, and layer shader to build a controllable particle system.

Example Render

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

  1. Orduen Shambe says:

    Thanks for a wonderful tutorial. I live in Nigeria and it takes forever to stream them. Keep up the good work man.

  2. Bilal says:

    great tips thanks .

  3. Throb36 says:

    Is that a talking bass behind you!?

  4. Gokhan says:

    Awesome technics Dear Chris,thanks for share,very good tutorial ;)

  5. illd says:

    That was a fun tutorial. I like this approach to particles much more than the expresso particles. One question, wouldn´t it be possible to offset the rendered movie files in time by using an effector or does it not work with textures?

  6. Vytas says:

    Great tutorial!! Thanks!!!

  7. CollinBishop says:

    Interesting take on the sprites concept. I really hope C4D does something about the whole pyrocluster thing and how bad it is. The app is really coming along though and I don’t criticize it for much but this is the next upgrade that is needed… I personally find TP to be more than adequate for most needs but going to use TFD and DPIT dashes my hopes of only using C4D except for sculpting….

  8. Jay says:

    Like all your tuts, nice idea, well explained. Keep up the great work…

  9. rapheal says:

    What the hell??? Where the greyscalegorilla?? First the economy now this………..We need to have a occupy greyscallegorillarill We Want the gorilla back !!!!!!!!!

    • Stephen says:

      Serious? Chris does an awesome job, it’s in addition to what Nick does, AND they both cover different material. Having several different contributors is better (imho).

      • Adam says:

        I agree dude, more and different is better.

        • DjP says:

          Agreed thricely, material editor has much more to offer, thanks chris for the tutorials, {wait eagerly each week}, always expanding the realms for us hopefuls especially loved the relief that the sacred xpresso hadn’t failed, it was the tranparency… thats loyalty to the logic

  10. Tristan says:

    Awesome, Chris! That was fun.

    For the quicktime alpha render just use animation or apple prores 4444 codecs and make sure to have “millions of color +” selected in the options. Works a charm! Although I’ve had trouble getting the alpha when rendering depth of field. Any ideas?

  11. Pingback: Use Sprites to Build Particle System in Cinema 4D - GFX WARRIOR

  12. ZEF says:

    Hey Chris !
    Pretty much impressive technique. Love it. Much more easier than using TP + PyroCluster !
    I’m waiting for the next level. And go deeper into ‘sprite’ technique, especially for compositing purposes…
    I’ll stay tuned for this…

  13. Mikhail says:

    cocl tuts! Thank you.

  14. Stephen says:

    Thanks Chris,
    I really like the unedited approach.
    It is encouraging to see both you and Nick troubleshoot as you go.

  15. Adam says:

    Love this stuff!! Even though this tut was about particles, I learned soooo much about the material editor that I never knew before and will never forget.
    Thank you!

  16. Si says:

    Interesting! Never occurred to me… Thankyou ;-)

  17. hydroid says:

    Question,, does anyone know why my picture viewer only renders a few of the particles? The Editor renders them all. Thanks in advance.

    Very smart tutorial btw thank you Chris.

  18. Sascha says:

    Thank you so much!!!

  19. andre fry says:

    I’m getting grid artifacts at the top of my scene ?

  20. Lonnie Busch says:

    Wow, you are a genius!! I have been playing with pryo clusters, but this is so much cooler and renders sooo fast!!

    Thanx

  21. RobbieJ says:

    Thnx Chris, never used this before. Interesting and creative way of using sprites and creating a low poly smoke anim. Hope to see more. Great Work!!

  22. Agent1815 says:

    Awesome tutorial! Just what I needed for a steam locomotive scene I’m working on now!

  23. maciek says:

    can this technique be used to create clouds similar to what you can see in this making of “Paths of hate”: http://www.itsartmag.com/features/pathshatemo/?

  24. Bk says:

    Hey Chris, thanks for all the great work. Am also trying to re-create the same cloud effect used on Paths of Hate, http://vimeo.com/17053492
    I tried the 3ds Max tutorial http://www.duck.dk/tutorials/jussing_cloud_tutorial.pdf
    for creating similar clouds, but on Cinema4d but I get stuck stuck on the lighting part and specifically “Ambient Only” lighting.
    I would appreciate it if you looked into it and shared your expert views. Thanx a million

  25. Mark says:

    Hey! buddy, thanks for the awesome tutorial—–you area the best man…:) Is there anyway that you guys do a Christmas one–maybe like doing a wreath made of spheres,or one sphere that can become different shapes using xpresso—that would be awesome. Thanks again–keep up the excellent work!

  26. Ramin says:

    G’day
    could you make tutorial that shows how to make realestic smoke trail behind the missile and air plane?
    I do really like your works and always following your tutorials. thumbs up to you .

  27. Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!

  28. Wow! I was about to give up on adding some spray to my spray-paint can illustration until I found this post. Awesome technique! Emitting discs with vector blur (no alpha!) reduced render times times greatly!

  29. Pingback: 225+ Cinema 4D Tutorials for Beginners and Professionals | AnimHuT

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