How to import 3D renders from Cinema4D to Photoshop

This is a useful tutorial for those who are learning how to use Cinema4D, that is in one of the best 3D softwares available. With C4D it’s really simple to create beautiful 3D type treatments. But how to import them in Photoshop? Well in this tutorial I’ll explain how to set up C4D render settings to easily create a psd file.

I’m planning to create several tutorials that include 3D renders and 3D ext effects. So instead of explain in each tutorial how to set up render settings and how to import a C4D render in Photoshop, I’ll link back to this tutorial. Ok let’s start!

Let’s suppose we have created a nice text effect in Cinema4D using the text object and the extrude nurbs

At this point we want to save this text and open it in Photoshop. At first we have to modify render settings. Go to Render>Render Settings.

The first think we have to modify is the size of the render, in according with the size of our Photoshop document. So select “Output” and choice the size you need to work with. I suggest you to always work with larger sizes and with high resolution images. In this case, for example, I choose A4 Print Landscape with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch.

Now switch to “Save”. In the “format” menu you can choose TIFF (PSD layers) or Photoshop (PSD). Then check Alpha Channel. This will create a channel for the text (in Photoshop) that you will use to extract it.

Select now “Anti-Aliasing” from the menu on the left. Here you have to switch Anti-aliasing from “Geometry” to “Best” and Threshold from 10% to 100%.

Ok now we have set up correctly all the render settings. All what remains to do is to save the file. Go to Render>Render to picture viewer. You’ll have a preview of the render in a new window. On the top-left of this window select File>Save Picture As. Here you’ll find some of the options you earlier set up. Hit Ok to save your Photoshop file.

Open your Photoshop file. Double click on the background layer and hit OK to unlock it. In the alpha channels window you can see at the bottom an “Alpha 1″ channel.

Ctrl+click on this channel to make a selection of the text. At this point you can inverse the selection (shift+ctrl+I) and hit delete to remove the background or you can create a mask. Finished! We have now in Photoshop our 3D text created in Cinema4D.

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