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68 | December 2006

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TUTORIAL |

EXCEL • ILLUSTRATOR • CINEMA 4D

ADD DEPTH TO CHARTS


Infographics needn’t be boring, so why not try taking them to another level by importing a mundane Illustrator
chart into Cinema 4D and making it inspiring. Mark Mayers is on hand to explain how it’s done

Information graphics, or infographics,


can be a far from thrilling subject
matter. However, when the marketing
department or your latest client hands you
a load of data to revamp, stifle your yawns,
because it is now possible to present
thoroughly uninspiring numerical
information in new and exciting ways.
You’ve got the brains and the software:
as a designer it’s your duty to utilise them.
In today’s fast-paced world, people want
Start by opening the Sample.xls Excel
to be presented with information that can
be assimilated quickly. Whether it’s a graph
1 file supplied on this issue’s CD. If you
don’t have Excel, you can skip this step and
3 Now launch
Illustrator
and create a new
for an annual report, sales figures for a move straight on to Step 3. If you do, click on A4 landscape
brochure, newspaper articles or as an Sheet 2 at the bottom left of the window. document. Select
educational aid, infographics are the perfect This is what the Chart Wizard in Excel has the Column
medium for illustrating key information, already generated from the data. Graph tool, click on your artboard, enter
200mm by 170mm and a graph will appear
and designers are often relied upon to use
along with its accompanying Graph Data
graphics in a creative manner, thus turning window. By clicking on the Import Data
a jumble of numbers into a compelling icon you can import the text file you’ve just
graphic. A well-designed infographic created, or import the sample file from the
should be visually stimulating, yet quickly CD – sample.txt. Click the Apply button and
convey a message that’s easy to digest. close the Graph Data window.

ON THE CD
Illustrator’s default graph styles aren’t
You’ll find all the files
exactly inspiring, but one popular way to
you need to complete create a sense of depth is to use Illustrator’s
this tutorial in the folder Extrude and Bevel functions. In this tutorial
marked Tutorial\Cityscape you’ll take this 3D concept a stage further
on this issue’s CD. by importing Illustrator paths into Cinema
TIME NEEDED
4D as splines and extruding them. Finally
you’ll add some realistic textures to
3.5 hours
construct a distinctive infographic that
INFO really stands out from the crowd – visual
Mark
Mayers has
stimulation without the yawn factor! As we
hope to show you, by using infographics in
2 Click on Sheet 1, which holds all the
raw data you will need to extract. Go to
File>SaveAs, select Text (Tab delimited)
worked in and save it to a convenient location. Click OK
the design
industry for
a creative way you can turn a jumble of
numbers into a visual treat. on the following pop-ups and close the
Excel file without saving. Illustrator cannot
4 Select the
chart and
then hit Shift+
over 18 years. He now import Excel files directly, so you’ve just Ctrl/Cmd+G to Ungroup it. The window that
works freelance from his saved the data as a text file. follows will inform you that the graph will be
studio in Cornwall and reduced to regular vector objects and will no
was recently awarded longer be editable as a graph object. This is
Designer of the Year by as expected, so just hit OK.
MetalFX Technology. Visit
www.markmayers.co.uk Tutorial and illustration by Mark Mayers
to find out more. www.markmayers.co.uk

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| TUTORIAL

EXCEL • ILLUSTRATOR • CINEMA 4D

5 Now you can start refining the chart’s fonts and reduce
the point size a little, add dates underneath and enter
8 Lock all layers except for the bars, Ungroup all
and use the Direct Selection tool to alter the top
angles of some bars. Create some small rectangles
values at the top of the bars, using the Align palette to get and place them over a bar, select both and click on
even spacing. Add a legend to the left and delete the two the Subtract from shape area option in the
surplus rules using the Direct Selection tool as shown.
Now create two guides at the top and right of the chart.
Pathfinder palette. Now click the expand button.
Repeat this on some of the other bars.
11 Now you need to separate .ai files for each of
the seven bars. It’s important that you don’t
move their positions at this stage. We’ve supplied all
of the separate .ai files for the previous step as well
as this one to make things clearer.

6 Ungroup the Y-axis


numbers and rules. Create
a new layer by clicking on the Create New Layer icon,
9 Open the Logo.ai file supplied on the CD and
then Copy and Paste it into a new layer in your
working file. Unlock all the layers and make sure Launch Cinema 4D, but hit Ctrl/Cmd+E to
select your horizontal rules and highlight the square icon
in the Layer palette before dragging the rules on to the
that you convert the text to outlines, before choosing
View>Guides>ClearGuides. This step is important
12 access the Preferences before importing your
Illustrator paths. Open the Import/Export section on
new layer. Follow the same procedure so you end up with because otherwise Cinema 4D interprets any the left-hand side, select Illustrator Import and
the text and the bars on separate layers. artwork, including guides, as paths. check the Group Splines box. This will combine your
paths into single objects in the Object Manager.

CHOICE CHARTS
Illustrator has nine
different graphs presets:
Column, Stacked
Column, Bar, Stacked
Bar, Line, Area, Scatter,
Pie and Radar. Each of
these graphs is used to
present different kinds
of data. If you aren’t sure
which type you need,
7 Next use the Pen tool to
join the X and Y-axis
paths and create a closed
rectangular path on the layer
don’t worry, because you
can change graph types
at any time, even after
at the bottom of the stack. It’s
good practice to name your
10 Now you need to save each layer as a
separate .ai file by deleting the other layers
one at a time and going to File>SaveAs. Save as 13 Open Cinema 4D, go to File>Open and
navigate to Bar_1.ai. Add an Extrude NURB
you’ve entered data. layers. I’ve also filled the Illustrator 8 Legacy files because Cinema 4D has and drop Bar_1 into it. Name the NURB Extrude 1.
To do this, just go to paths with shades of grey and issues importing paths from later versions. Give Make sure the NURBS Object Properties are
Object>Graphs>Type. taken off the strokes to make them memorable names to save confusion later. checked as Hierarchical and set the NURB’s
everything easier to see. Do this for all layers except for the bars. Movement to 40. Save the file as Bar_1.c4d.

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TUTORIAL |

EXPANDING GRAPHS
You can Ungroup a graph
at any time, but be aware
that when you do you
will no longer be able to
make changes to it
through the Graph Data
and Graph Type dialog
boxes. It’s just like
expanding an object’s
appearance. It’s good
practice to save a copy of

14 Follow this procedure for the rest


of the bar Illustrator files and save
the resulting Cinema 4D files. Remember to 17 Uncollapse Extrude 11 (which is
effectively your text) and uncollapse all
20 To give the buildings a more complex
construction, add some extra blocks
by going to Objects>Primitive>Cube. Use
the original graph before
ungrouping so you can go
back to it if necessary.
name the NURBS Extrude 2, Extrude 3 etc. of the children. Shift-click to select paths 60 split views to scale and position these to
Next open a new Cinema 4D file, import to 102. These are your paths for the dates that suit. Also try stacking up smaller blocks on
Block.ai and follow the same procedure, but run along the bottom. Next rotate -90, as top of each other – these can now be
this time set the NURB’s Movement to 5. shown, and enter 10 on the Y axis. textured, too.
Name the NURB Extrude 8 and save.

MUTI-PASS RENDERS
Cinema 4D has an
extensive toolset when
it comes to Multi-Pass
rendering. You can create
extra Alpha Channels for
all your different objects
in a scene, and even
create separate

15 Continue doing this with the other


files. Name the Logo.ai NURB
Extrude 9 and give it a Movement of 5, name 18 Use Extrude NURBS because they can
be edited and textured individually.
21 Experiment with different lights to
see how they affect your scene. Apply
some basic metal textures to your logo, text
Channels for colour,
specular and reflections.
Multi-Pass rendering
the Rules.ai NURB Extrude 10 giving it a Select your Extrudes 1-7 and in the Attributes and rules and adjust the Fillet Caps to suit. enables complete control
Movement of 3, and name the Text.ai NURB palette apply a Fillet Cap to the Start and End Try a reflective glass surface for the block in postwork, saving you
Extrude 11 giving it a Movement of 3. Save and enter the settings shown. Also try to behind the buildings. Drop in a Floor plane the hassle of re-
these as Cinema 4D files. Examples have experiment with smaller Fillet Cap settings with a reflective glass surface as well. rendering the whole
been provided on this issue’s CD. on your logo and text Extrudes. scene if you want weaker
light or to colour correct

22 Now it’s up to you how far you take


your infographic. For the main
article illustration
specific areas.

I added a 3D model of
a city, then did a Multi-
Pass render using
Object Buffers, which
created Alpha Channels
for trouble-free
postwork in Photoshop,
where the image was
also colour adjusted
and some atmosphere

16 Open your first Cinema 4D file –


Bar_1.c4d – and go File>Merge.
19 In your Materials palette, select
File>NewMaterial. In the Material
Editor, navigate to City_1.jpg, which is
was added.

Now locate your Bar_2.c4d file. Continue supplied on the CD. Next drag and drop on to
merging all of your Cinema 4D files into this a selection of your building extrudes (1-7).
one document, noting how they snap into Click on the texture icon in the Tags window
the exact same location as your original and roughly follow the settings shown. Load
Illustrator artwork. Now go to File>SaveAs the two other textures supplied and apply
and do a test render to see your results. them to other buildings.

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