TUTORIALS FOR VFX & MOTION GRAPHICS
Free After Effects Tutorials & More Hosted By: Andrew Kramer
May 20, 2009
• Cast soft shadows with a fast-rendering lighting array
• Break up text characters and animate individually
 
TUTORIAL NOTES:
The technique in this tutorial can be translated for many other 3D programs including Cinema 4D, Blender and others.
Running Time: 14mins.


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213 RESPONSES TO "SOFT SHADOWS 3DMAX"

by dan 03/12/2010
luv u guy,u make me. tks
by Steve 03/11/2010
Hey, I'm trying to do this in max, everything works except the inital shadow. It isn't appearing like yours, mine is just appearing flat behind the text not at an angle.
by abid 03/11/2010
ur great man
by Private 02/11/2010

Hi, for some reason my 3D Text always appears as Flat Image when i wanna import it to After Effects.

I press F9 to render it.
Then Save Image as .. TARGA.
Then i import into After Effects and make the Layer 3D .. but its still a Flat Image.

Any Help ? Thanks !
by Hat 02/04/2010
The SyFy channel used this for their brand new logo!

Dude I'm starting to see your work everywhere. I mean, at least the foundations/influence of it.
by UrGeProductionz 02/02/2010
Hey Andrew!

When I group the lights it will not show "Omni Light" in the Modifier.

- UP
by Kemuel 01/04/2010
Thx i just started using 3ds max and this has made it easy to start learning!
by FrankLP 01/02/2010
I just stumbled onto this site...awesome stuff! You guys really are talented, and you make the teaching/learning fast
by The Answer 01/02/2010
@Christopher J
Depending what version of max you have press 'x'
by Armen 12/29/2009
Hey Andrew, make some more 3D Max tutorials! it's awesome man! Perhaps you can do some meteor type tutorial!
by yunus 12/29/2009
Greats kramer Thank you!
by Christopher J 12/25/2009
I'm new to 3d Max, I've got a problem and was wondering if you could tell me how to fix it...
the y,x and z axes won't display on my object when I use the "click and move" tool.
Do you know what I should do to able to display them again?
by Hat 12/23/2009
Dude they totally used this on the History Channel's Holiday Bonus commercial!
by William A Hilton 12/16/2009
Saw this being used as a promo on Sci-Fi channel. Everything was the same. Pretty funny.
by fanza 12/10/2009
what the name software used??..
by Mger 12/10/2009
it's awesome ! I would like more tutorials like this.
by lost 12/10/2009
Your wealth of experience is highly appreciated.
God will continually improve you.
You are simply the best!!!
by Bob Deistchle 12/01/2009
First, thanks for the great tutorials and insights. Great site.
Second, anyway to create these "SyFy" shadows in After Effects and Zaxwerks?
Thx,
BD
by Dragon Hell 11/27/2009
Thanks Andrew
by Davide 11/21/2009
Andrew,
Can something like this be done in After Effects?

Thanks!
by sunah 11/09/2009
this is very very very very nice tutorials
by Majid Arif Siddiqui 10/31/2009
any chance for more 3d max tutorials?
hehe.. this is really great..

tnx ;}
by BraCharles 10/29/2009
Great use of 3D in a also sutle way. Very Very Smart. You Rock!!!
by formeazzy 10/08/2009
great
by Ashish 09/21/2009
hi andrew this is nice 1 god bless u
by elvijsb 09/13/2009
nice tutorial but i had to stop the video like every 2 seconds to keep up :D starting to think that 3ds max just isnt for me.
by TonyBarrio 09/07/2009
u R The BesT one!
by jonathanphillip 09/06/2009
E ai, sou Jonathan Phillip por Cubo Artes Design,
parabenizando pelos tutoriais, muito bem explicados e prduzidos...


abraço
by ujouyu 08/30/2009
Never thought I would hear your voice on a 3DS Max tutorial :P
by JVSF 08/21/2009
Great! Make more 3D's Max tuts! Basic training tutorials for 3D's Max would be great :)
by Dominik K. 08/19/2009
Nice tutorial. After watching i made this in Blender. Ok mine is a little bit different cause i took a freaky and grungy font and made it much darker (i just used one lamp) But it comes really near to this :)

Thanks for the inspiration Mr. Kramer
by Jamie 08/14/2009
I can't for the life of me, get those lights in the correct spacing/positon. Been working on this all day, and just about to abandon the project. If anyone could help me out, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

wargsm AT gmail DOT com
by cham altatis 08/09/2009
hi andrew!i really love all your tutorials in after effects! i'm currently learning 3dsmax now but i'm still in the basics. can you pls make a basic training as well in 3d? i think i can learn it better when you are the teacher, tnx! God bless!
by rafiq hayath 07/29/2009
andrew !!! really u r inspired me to work AE, thank u,
by Kahlua 07/26/2009
Greats kramer!!
by Lina 07/22/2009
awesome tutorial!!
by yamilsoft 07/22/2009
la verda me encanta como esta realizado! pero a mi no me salio! jaja... se me complica mucho con 3Dmax
by wtf 07/16/2009
is it ok to use all Boujou, Maya, Cinema4D and 3DS Max? like do companies do that at all? or are they just reserved for one software? I'd like to know if anyone could answer me this.
by william 07/10/2009
Saw this effect used on a promo for a cable station (maybe SciFi network.) I was blown away to see it was a straight rip from the project files - down to the font used!

Do the guys who do these promos sit around their computers hitting refresh all day with the hopes that Andrew has posted another tutorial? It's cool to used a tut to get the creative jucies flowing but come on!
by houcem 07/10/2009
this program is the coooooooooooooooooool program...
by youtube.com/ddoodm 07/06/2009
This is great!!! I for one, really want more MAX tutorials! :D
by Moop 07/05/2009
Cool!
by bodyflex 07/04/2009
U are the Best
by Colo 07/03/2009
Aguante el Cinema 4D!!!

Saludos desde Argentina!
by Viktor 07/03/2009
God is a fairy-tale, but Andrew Kramer is real!! Andrew, thank you for all you doing for us.
by m2studio 07/02/2009
AK i dont knw what to really say about u but i knw God created to be creative to others , here in nigeria and mostly on MTVBase and other country i always see alots of ur work. AK God will bless u more and more and pls find solution to shipping to my country nigeria.
thnx
by Anders Printz 06/30/2009
I used this tutorial for the opening title in a little 0:- project i made here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFdpV1lT4cE Thanks alot Andrew, i followed you since Creative Cow days, you are the best!
by omoluku 06/27/2009
please,how do i get your tutorials to download?
by luis 06/26/2009
HOLA COMO ESTÃN ESPERO QUE BIEN.
ME ENCANTA SU PAGINA. TODO LO REFERENTE A PRODUCCIÓN DIGITAL. HEY A.C THANK YOU FOR ALL THIS TUTORIALS.
I HAVE A PROBLEM WHIT THIS TUTORIAL I CAN'T SEE THIS VIDEO.
by Terskov Alexander 06/25/2009
Thanks!
Bolshoe spasibo!!!
by Jose francesena (argentina) 06/24/2009
grande Andrew! Te mandamos un grande abrazo desde argentina! sos un grande! Gracias por todos los consejos utilisimos que nos das! te agradeceria si haces mas tutorials de 3d studio! Segui asi!
by chahat 06/23/2009
Andrew.........awesome work again...want to know that from where did u start bro?
by Jswift 06/23/2009
U are the f*cking man!!! Andrew, that was amazing.
by ali 06/23/2009
Hello Andrew, you do a great job making these awesome tutorials. I have this question, why is it that when I render my videos they're kinda laggy? they videos play part of it and then stop, the players slider bar keeps moving but the image stops.? please help
by aldz 06/22/2009
Thank you sir, this is a great tutorial...
by Xander 06/21/2009
Nice tut! But got one problem. When I press F9 i get the render of the front view, not the perspective view. And I don't kow how to change that. (How do u get the extra options where u can choose the different views when u press F9?)

Any help would be appreciated,

Thx
by Javier 06/16/2009
My friend, from Caracas - Venezuela I tell you good job, You´re the best. Thanks for give your knowledges.

i learned a lot with your tutorials.

good luck

by shift 06/16/2009
Nicley explained, but this technique is like nearly 10 years old. There were a ton of scripts and plugs that did this, now all obsolete, you may find the right settings that will give you this, with less setup time. You just need to know how to setup in mray or vray, As said tho, Final holds the top step here, fast and no flicker.
And you could have tweaked lightracer to get it 3 times as fast as default, with no noticeable visual change.
by Albert 06/15/2009
AWESOME!!!

We would like to request also if you could give us some tips and tricks about spline how to connect and break.

I have been your avid follower to your products and its amazing what had done in my job. I am looking forward to your next launching of your new product.

Mysh
by aob 06/15/2009
SO GOOD
by Alexis Rodriguez 06/14/2009
WE'RE NOT WORTHY!
by Norberto 06/13/2009
Andrew, make more tutorial with Blender please.
by Syphon 06/13/2009
Great quality of all your work Andrew, i think you`re doing a fantastic favour to the community!
The fact that you`re an entertainer aswell makes it even better! :D
by marty 06/13/2009
dear andrew, i'm writting from china, i've being a fan of your work and website for sometime now, but after i got back to china, i found there's no way of viewing your tutorials online, is there anyway i could download your tutorials perhaps? i really wish to keep watching your videos they give me endless ideas. thanks a lot.

u da man.
by AlexUNDER 06/10/2009
NICE !

P.S. ??????? ?????. ??? ???????.
????????? ?????
by Suomi-Pepe 06/10/2009
This is nice sh*t!
Thank you Andrew, luv u man!

-Pertti from Finland
by milos 06/09/2009
Nice lightening technique for this simple letters, but in complex scenes is it unuseful. Anyway great tip andrew...
by HK 06/08/2009
Hi...You are one of the best in giving tutorials. I have used a lot different ones and you come right at the top..

How can i do this in AE. I am not a 3D person

Thanks
HK
by Sp1 06/08/2009
I haven't read all the comments so someone may have pointed this out already. To detach elements to objects automatically in Max, just convert to editable mesh use "explode" with a setting of 180.

Thanks Andrew!
by Navaneedakumar 06/07/2009
Thank you very much for your tutorials. This is exactly i want.:)
by LightForce 06/07/2009
Awesome :) ,with this 3d max ,AE,cool sounds,music,actors real or just models....and of course with this exelent knowledge of Andrew and VC,you can make own hi tech,hd movies.

With all respect of course we dont need Spilberg or Hudini for this ;D.

R`N`R ,its time for movies!Amen
by Abanoub 06/07/2009
what about the Matrix Andrew (sir)
by V3N0M 06/07/2009
nice one Andrew, make more tutorials for 3Ds MAX if you can. :) again great one
by popboy 06/05/2009
COOL~
by JSern 06/05/2009
Hey andrew..
I had some problems in the making of the 3DsoftShadow...
Can u gimme some correction on my vid?
Heres the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=1385GOYEgvc
by MD671 06/05/2009
Pssshhhhhhh.....I could do better. WHAT AM I SAYING!!!! *bowing down* you are the master. I just received the 10 pack bundle and WOW! Where do I start. I have been following all your tutorials since ever since and this is my first comment....but not my last.

Where do I get that plug in?
by saymos 06/04/2009
I like that ! Thx you Kramer !
by hampis 06/04/2009
hallo from geece... you are the best ..... i have the 3d max but i dont now how to use this...
by suhaimi 06/03/2009
nice...!!!!
by rcon2001 06/02/2009
so nice 3q AK
by djbennyj 06/02/2009
Hey andrew, great tut !

I found this one on the net : http://vimeo.com/4824948

A translation of your tut to C4D ^^
by Brandon Henry 06/01/2009
Have you looked at the free script for Max called E-Light? You should check it out, does the same thing and will save you time. Good tutorial still!
by ?? 05/31/2009
andrews plz adds mores!!!...u a innovation guy!
by Jack Peirson 05/30/2009
Awesome! i used this tutorial to help me make part of the title for my upcoming production

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZvH81y4itA

Thanks a lot!!
by Ilyasse 05/30/2009
Good
I like what I have done
by vaish 05/29/2009
lol, ur tutorials are godly, just tried the ancient text, worked like a charm! Can't wait to try this one out!
P.S. You should be knighted. lol
by Breyon 05/29/2009
You did it again. THIS WAS AWESOME MAN!!!!!!!!! THANKS!!!!!!!
by Martin 05/29/2009
HEY !!! YOU ARE SO GOOD ON AE !!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!
by froeman 05/29/2009
Wow...Thank you so much for that technique...Used it in C4D perfectly.
by Iserys 05/29/2009
Is that a new Mic you're using to record your voice there?

Thanks for the Tut, just starting off with Max after wasting a month learning Blender and getting NOWHERE. The user interface is very tough to learn!
by Anthony Alexander 05/28/2009
If you don't read other people's comments don't expect yours to be magically noticed. Most people like yourself, only care about themselves.


@Y, depends on which you can *afford* I'd go for 3ds max, its industry standard software and there are a bevy of tutorials to help you create "reality from scratch" tm
by Tom 05/28/2009
Hi Andrew!

I wanted to thank you so much for all the great tutorials you and your team made! Before I stumbled upon your site, I acctualy didn't dare to touch AE (I wanted it so badly though :D ), because I didn't understand a thing!
But after following the basic training and now i've done almost all of your tutorials, I'm quite familiar with the program!

Also, 3Ds max is a program wich I used way longer before AE, but still are there some great tips in the tutorials! As a example this tutorials with the nice lighting.

Keep up the good work and thank you! (And the rest of the videocopilot team)
by kenji 05/28/2009
Good tutorial... Thx again man. Personaly i want some real deal tutorials whit particle sistem ( only you can do something good) ;).

Kenji
Romania
by Ferenc 05/27/2009
Hi Andrew,

Just want to thank you for al those great tutorials. Amazing how you explain things in a fast but clear way. You helped me a lot! With your help I was able to make the following trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9YJTVM2R2k

Thank you very much!
Ferenc
by Tom 05/27/2009
Hi Andrew,

isn't this soft shadow called "Ambient Occlusion" at least that is what I thought, but you never use this term, so now I'm confused...

Tom
by michael 05/26/2009
hey andrew very nice tutorial
I was just wondering is there a way to send 3D models to after effects?

from Cinema 4D and 3D max I cad find

the way do you render as alpha or as matte

ok Cheers

michael..
by Roberto 05/26/2009
Very very...... nice Andrew!
by Richard 05/26/2009
Wow superb man, !! i really love your tuts, and also very nice that once in a while some very goodlooking 3d tuts come up. Gonna try this with C4D because im mac user.
by Hosseini 05/26/2009
so great and fantastic



from bloody hell(Afghanistan)
by Shahrier Shipon 05/26/2009
Nice..................
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