Cinema 4D Ascent | School of Motion

A collection of assignment work created during the Cinema 4D Ascent course with the School of Motion, a 3 month intensive course that I undertook in 2025 for intermediate level 3D animation using Cinema 4D + Redshift.

Orientation Exercise - Redshift Product Render

Kicking off Cinema 4D Ascent with a practical product modelling and rendering exercise, creating a detailed game controller asset while exploring the fundamentals of Redshift materials, lighting, and look development. This project was a fun introduction to building realistic surfaces from scratch, experimenting with plastic, metal, rubber and glass textures, and using procedural materials, reflections, imperfections and cinematic lighting techniques to bring a product visualisation to life.

Pump Up The Volume - Volume Builder & Volume Mesher Assignment

Starting this assignment was a fantastic introduction to the building blocks of modelling in Cinema 4D, with a deep dive into the creative possibilities of the Volume Builder and Volume Mesher. Using simple primitive objects as a foundation, I explored how procedural workflows could blend, smooth, and transform basic shapes into complex organic forms, all while keeping everything completely non destructive. It was an exciting shift away from traditional polygon modelling and a great lesson in building flexible systems that are easy to refine and experiment with.

Playing with fields, resolution, smoothing, and boolean style operations opened up a whole new way of thinking about form, where even the smallest adjustment could produce something completely unexpected. By the end of the project, I had a solid foundation in procedural volume modelling and a growing appreciation for just how much creative potential can come from a handful of simple shapes. Even a humble cube can have a surprisingly exciting second career.

How Rube - Rigid Body Dynamics Assignment

Starting with Cinema 4D’s powerful rigid body dynamics system, this project explored the creation of a complex Rube Goldberg machine built entirely through procedural modelling, animation, and physics simulation. The challenge was designing a chain reaction of interacting objects where every element relied on realistic weight, timing, collisions, and physical behaviour to drive the next movement.

From setting up dynamic bodies and fine-tuning simulation parameters to controlling forces, friction, bouncing, and object interactions, this assignment was an exercise in creating believable motion through physics rather than traditional keyframes. The result was a playful and satisfying sequence that demonstrated how creative problem solving, technical simulation skills, and motion design principles can combine to bring a mechanical system to life.

Make It Squishy: SOM Sound Logo Aniamation - Soft Body Dynamics

This was easily one of the most technically challenging and rewarding projects of the course, combining branding, creative direction, sound design, and advanced physics simulation workflows to create a playful logo animation for a fictional sound product company. As this piece is based around sound, I created a custom music mix first before animating, then I designed the animation around the beat, rhythm,and flow of the track to create a more connected and energetic final piece..

The project was a deep dive into soft body dynamics, exploring techniques including Cloth, Rope, Balloon, Soft Body, and Rigid Body interactions to create believable deformation, weight, and physical reactions. The challenge was not just building the simulations, but learning how to art direct them, balancing realistic physics with creative timing and brand personality.

This assignment pushed my Cinema 4D skills significantly further, combining technical problem solving with creative direction to produce an animation that feels playful, polished, and full of character.