Say It with Balloons: Creating Heart Balloons with Maxon Cinema 4D
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Okay, I suppose someone out there, somewhere likes heart shaped balloons. They're in every store you look at these days. It's almost Valentine's Day.
Here's an easy recipe for a Valentine balloon in Cinema 4D.
Instructions
- Null Parent - Start with a Null Object. From the Object File pull down, select NULL.
- Primitive Sphere - Next, from the primitive object menu, or the icon menu, create sphere. Change the attributes of the sphere to RADIUS = 150, SEGMENTS = 36. Then make it a child of the Null Object.
- Aspect. Flatten the Sphere - Squish the heart flat, back to front, by changing the Z-depth on the Null object to .025. (Select the Null object, then under Attributes - Coordinates - S = 0.25.
- Tug on Heart Strings - In order to pull the polygons of the sphere apart to create a heart, you'll need to use the FFD (Free Form Deformer). From the file pulldown menu, select Objects -> Deformers -> FFD. Set the FFD's Attributes as follows: Grid Size = 300x300x300. Grid Points = X= 5, Y=4, Z=5. Then add it as a child of the Sphere.
The FFD is a cage of points. In order to deform the parent object (sphere), you must change the position of the points in the FFD cage. One way to do that is to switch to Points Mode, then edit the points manually. Another way is to change the value of those points within the structure manager. The second method is the way I've done it. Here are the values: click to download ASCI text file (not importable with FFD). You can type away, or pull the points as you wish. - Taper the bottom - The Taper deformer (see step 4 menu) is one way to quickly pinch the bottom of the heart. When you attach the Taper deformer. The order of the plug-in hierarchy is important. They way one deformer effects the results of the previously applied deformers runs from bottom to top. You'll have to rotate the taper object so that it points downward, and aligns with the bottom of the FFD.
- Blow up the balloon - The image created is merely a heart shape. It doesn't have the roundness of a balloon.
Another deformer is required to fill out the roundness that a balloon would have. Add a Spherify deformer object to the Sphere, below the taper. In the first picture, you can see how the Spherify deformer, placed over the right side of the heart, creates a bulge at the top.
Duplicate the Spherify object, and move it to the other side of the heart. You may need to edit one of the Spherify objects in order to avoid overlapping similar deformers. - Smooth it out - Next, throw the entire model into a HyperNURBS object, to give the model some smoothing.
- Add some string and texture - Simply adding a transparent or only translucent material and a sweepNURBS string will deliver a heart balloon. Need a bouquet? Consider an Array Object.
Ko Maruyama is a freelance animator and instructor at Art Center School of Design in Pasadena. You can find him online in several forums, or via his email at treelined@mac.com