Overview
In this guide, we’ll go over the recommended process to prepare and export your Cinema4D (C4D) asset for real-time rendering applications. We’ll cover Project Settings, Material Set Up, Mesh Preparation, and Export Settings.
Let’s dive into it!
Project Settings
Before you can export, ensure C4D is set up to export the color information correctly. To do this, navigate to the project settings.
Edit → Project Settings
In the lower right-hand corner the project settings will appear:
Ensure the below are enabled:
Linear Workflow: Checked
Input Color Profile: Linear
Material Setup
We recommend using the PBR Base Material (material set up instructions below) to ensure materials export accurately. Note that material properties like Transmission and Subsurface will not export correctly.
If you are adjusting the UVs of an asset in a material node, it is important to ensure the poly-selection tag is used before applying the material that affects the assets’ UVs.
Creating a PBR Material
If you are not using a PBR material, it is recommended that you create one. To do this, follow the below steps.
1. Navigate to Create → Materials → New PBR Material
2. Then double-click on your material. This will open up the Material Editor.
3. On the left side of the Material Editor you will see the different material properties. We currently support Color, Reflectance, and Normal. Adjust each channel following our recommendations below.
Color
In the Color section, we deviate a bit from the Standard PBR material set up in C4D. Ensure the Albedo map is plugged into the Texture slot within the Color section.
Reflectance
In the Default Reflection layer use the below settings.
Reflectance Settings:
Type: CGX
Attenuation: Metal
Roughness: Roughness Map
Layer Color: Apply Albedo map here manually
Layer Mask: Apply Metallic map here manually
Under the Roughness drop-down, put the Roughness map.
Normal
In the Normal Section, place your Normal Map.
Standard Material
If you are unable to create/convert a PBR version of your material you can still use the Standard material in Cinema4D, but we recommend a few tweaks.
Note: The following material channels will not export: Transmission, Fog, and Displacement.
If you are using the Standard Material, in the Reflectance tab of your material use the below settings:
Type: GGX
The Roughness and Reflection Strength channels will appear. Note that Reflection Strength exports as your Metallic channel.
Mesh Preparation
After the PBR materials have been applied to the model, we recommend moving the asset to its origin.
The easiest way to do this is to select the model and zero out the transform box for X, Y, and Z.
After you move your asset to the origin you will need to freeze the transform data. To do this follow the below steps:
1. Navigate to the Coord tab:
2. Expand the drop-down for Freeze transformation.
3. Click Freeze all.
Now that the transforms are frozen, you are ready to export.
Export Settings
We recommend exporting as a GLB. You can export the entire scene or the selected object. Navigate to:
File → Export → GLTF(.gltf/.glb) – entire scene, or
File → ExportSelected → GLTF(.gltf/.glb) – exports only the selection (asset should be selected)
Below are our recommended export settings:
General
File format: GLB
Scale: 1 CM
Current Frame: True
Materials
Textures: True
Optional
Normals: True
UVs: True
Flip Z: True
