Give your renders extra punch with Redshift PostFX
CINEMA 4D | REDSHIFT
Rob Redman shows you how to add more impact to your work with eye-grabbing effects in Cinema 4D
BEFORE FX
There are many reasons why a render straight from your 3D software might not be considered finished. It could be that it needs to go for compositing, or that it requires grading to fit with other shots in a sequence, and so on. But some of these tasks can be completed from within your 3D app.
In this step-by-step guide I’ll show you how to use Redshift’s PostFX features in Cinema 4D to complete a shot; in this case a single frame, but the process applies to animations too. The basic premise is to add a touch of a film look and some contrast, before replicating elements such as Bloom, Flares and Streaking to give more of a sense that the image was shot in camera, rather than rendered in 3D.
In these images you can see how my robot looked before and after. Things like the reaction of the camera to light-emitting objects and the materials are the most obvious result of doing this, but the over image also has a bit more pop to it as well. Doing it this way also saves you going into a separate tool. This is efficient, and could save the money on a licence for something you don’t need. Plus you can save your render settings, enabling you to keep them on standby as presets for a one-click solution.
01 FIRST TASK
Open your project and make sure Redshift is your chosen render engine. With the RenderView window open, click the cog icon at the top right and check ‘Enable PostFX’. This makes Redshift look at the settings once the render is finished, applying the looks you create. Note that these looks carry over when rendering to the Picture View too. I like to save a GUI layout with render relevant tools in view, such as Lights, Materials and the Node editor for efficient workflow.
02 COLOUR MANAGEMENT
While you can work in an environment without tone-mapping, it’s usually best practice to adopt a particular workflow for your colour management. In most cases, ACES seems to be the way to go and is becoming increasingly popular, so if you ever collaborate with a team or studio be sure to check what they prefer. For this example I’ll be using ACES. The other options available are either RAW or Log, which will already be familiar to those among you who possess a photographic or cinematic background.
03 SIMULATING FILM
The first step in adding a look is with film simulations. T
