How to Bake Cinema 4D Animations for Three.js: A Step‑by‑Step Guide

Introduction

Cinema 4D (C4D) 3D dynamic design is popular and easy to learn, making it widely used for interactive terminal effects. This article explains how to bring C4D‑created dynamic 3D interactions into browsers using Three.js, a WebGL‑based 3D engine.

Simple Animation Baking

Example: baking a rotating planet animation. Steps: (1) Middle‑mouse select the planet group and open the timeline (Shift+F3). (2) Add the model to the timeline and click Tools → Bake Animation… . (3) Set bake parameters, enable the PLA option, and generate the animation.

1. Use the middle mouse button to select the planet group, right‑click to open the timeline window (Shift+F3). 2. Add the model to the timeline and click Tools → Bake Animation… .

3. Set bake parameters and check the PLA option to obtain the animation.

Clone Animation Baking

1. Convert the baked clone to an object (right‑click → Current State to Object). 2. Add a MoGraph cache tag to the original clone. 3. Bake the MoGraph cache.

4. Add XPresso to the converted group (right‑click → XPresso). 5. In XPresso, add Hierarchy, Object Index, and Data nodes to map animation data.

The Hierarchy node iterates over objects, the Object Index node maps objects, and the Data node provides animation values.

Modifier Animation Baking

1. Delete the original model (e.g., capsule.1) and duplicate it as a container (capsule.2). 2. Add a Point Cache tag to the original model (right‑click → Tags → Point Cache). 3. Store the state, then enable the tag, use Deformer, and enable PSR.

4. Compute the cache to capture point positions. 5. Add a Point Cache modifier to the container model and drag the original tag into the modifier’s object field.

6. Ensure both models have identical point counts; otherwise, errors occur.

Basic Model Animation Baking

Basic C4D models (e.g., torus) have parameters like slices and radius that can be animated. To bake such animations, duplicate the model as a container, keep point counts consistent, and use a Corrector modifier with a Point Cache tag to capture the animation.

Lattice Animation Baking

For lattice objects, convert the current state to an object to serve as the container, group the original lattice, add a Corrector modifier to capture point positions, add a Point Cache tag, store the state, set parameters, and compute.

Enable compression to reduce memory usage.

Mixed Clone and Modifier Animation Baking

Complex animations with multiple nested layers should be baked from the innermost layer outward, checking for errors at each stage. Follow the previously described procedures for each layer.

End of the tutorial; further Three.js and C4D topics will be shared in future posts.