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Inspired by the work of Mark Coleran. Satya shows us how to use iterations of simple shape layers to create some beautiful procedural art.
UPDATE: Responding to readers requests, Satya recreated the effect in Cinema 4D and has create a bonus addendum tutorial which in true Satya style is full of XPresso goodness.
RSS readers: click post title to view preview video at Aetuts+.
As a bonus, learn how to create the same effect using Xpresso in 3D using Cinema 4D
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )David Kwasnik June 17th
NICE!! i like it alot.
( )Martijn June 17th
Hey that’s cool.
( )Lyndon June 17th
cool cool, a nice element to add
( )Mark Coleran June 17th
Lovely little piece.
The one that inspired it was done in Cinema 4D. It was however originally created in After Effects but they decided they wanted some depth and a metallic finish to it. It was a great testament to C4D and it’s ease of use as I had never used it before and managed to reproduce an expression based copy of the AE project in half a day.
Nice Work
( )Satya Meka June 17th
Thank you Mark. I love your stuff and your piece done in Cinema 4D is really amazing.
( )Justin June 21st
Would love to know how to do this in cinema 4d…. is there a tutoriaol somewhere?
also could this not be done using trapcode form?
great stuff otherewise and love this site!
( )Satya Meka June 22nd
Hey, I just made an update which deals with making the same effect in Cinema 4D and I am sending it to the editor.
Shadowzproductions June 17th
Wow, thanks for this.. Looks nice.
( )casdullometro June 17th
always the same works from u
( )Rik June 17th
Wow, looks cool
( )nikon June 17th
downloading tutorial but i have question can it be looped ?
( )Satya Meka June 17th
Yes. As the piece uses only one set of wiggle values it can be looped using a wonderful expression written by Dan Ebberts. Refer http://www.motionscript.com/design-guide/looping-wiggle.html . Just apply the expression to the main circle that rotates based on the wiggle.
( )nikon June 18th
nice thx fot link to that expresion and great tutorial
Fernando Araya June 17th
Really, and actually without know, it gave the fix for a problem I was having with moving only on Z space with Expressions… thanks
( )Nym June 17th
Great Effect, love it.
( )vasu June 17th
kewl tutorial dude thanks a lot
( )tnvfx June 17th
i actually like the music too – where did that come from?
( )Satya Meka June 17th
I think it is the “End Credits” composed by James Horner from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”.
( )Dave B June 17th
Now all you need is russel crowe twitching and acting weird and the video can be complete lol =) … sweet music
( )ALJ June 17th
nice one i really like it
( )Ksquareddesign June 17th
Question….. haven’t yet finished downloading the tutorial, but is it possible to make that form into text……………..
( )Satya Meka June 17th
I am sure you can, but requires modifications to the expressions.
( )Nym June 18th
Shouldn’t be too difficult.
( )Try a text, center layer normal text, all the others just the stroke around.
Adjust the expression for the ringscale to the textsize (make sure the Center Point is centered) and then it should work.
mike June 17th
cool!!!
( )shiguang Fu June 17th
好好好
( )symbiosis June 18th
Thanks Satya…..cool effect….and informative tutorial…thanks for sharing the knowledge…..its inspiring….cheers mate
( )Seim June 18th
thank you man. Very well explained
( )Loay June 18th
Looks Awesome !
( )harry June 18th
hey mr. Coleran ! wassup with the “LAYERLAB” ??? is it completely abandoned ? i’d purchased most of your stuff back in the day but one day, it suddenly disappeared ….
( )Mark Coleran June 23rd
It went on hiatus whilst I was doing production work and a few other companies appeared meanwhile. The great Andrew Kramer with Videocopilot and places like Revostock. Despite being first out the gate there is no point and going back to do the same stuff or competing with these guys.
I have a few new ideas and might bring it back at some point in the near future. Just chasing that mythical work/life balance to see if it is possible.
( )Rev65 June 18th
Thanks, Satya! I’m hooking up expression sliders to some of the variables for making changes on the fly.
The only problem with changing the layer name to its index number in the expression is that if you add other layers (ie. adjustment, lights, etc.) later it breaks the expression to the other layers. =(
( )Lloyd June 18th
You can subtract any layers that are above, so for example if you have an adjustment layer as the first layer you would do index-1.
( )Satya Meka June 18th
Yes. As Lloyd said just subtract the number of layers above the first circle layer. In this case just replace ‘index-1′ in the expression with ‘index-1-numoflayers’, where numoflayers is a number indicating the the no. of layers above the main circle. Alternatively, if you just want to add lights and cameras just add them before you create the circles and make sure they are in the bottom of the comp, so that it doesn’t effect the design.
( )Rev65 June 18th
Yes, I though about and did add additional layers (lights, etc) before creating the circles, but only after breaking the expressions and starting over. I like the “index-1″ or”index-1-numoflayers” options, but don’t both require establishing how many “other” layers you’re going to use BEFORE creating the circle layers and expressions? Else upon creating a new layer you still wind up breaking the expressions again. So in the spirit of creative workflow, if I suddenly want to add new layers for lights, adjustment, etc. AFTER creating the circles, is there a way to do that without breaking and resetting the expressions? Not complaining… just trying to understand more. =)
Satya Meka June 18th
A better way to do this is, instead of adding layers to that comp, create a new comp and import the circles comp and then collapse its transformations. That way you can use lights, camera and any adjustment layers without disturbing the expressions.
Rev65 June 18th
Yes, now that’s the answer I was looking for! I knew that whole nested comp thing would come in handy sometime. Thanks, Satya!
L1 June 18th
It Looks Like a Windows Screensaver
( )Satya Meka June 18th
You are amazing ^_^
( )Satya Meka June 18th
oops! that was supposed to be for the war piece..lol makes me look retarded!
( )dotcom June 20th
personal promo ! you’re amazing too thanks for the tut
Ravi chandra June 19th
Nice work yaar …
( )cameradan June 19th
you can use the free sinedots plugin that’s out there on the net and save yourself some trouble.
( )CgBaran Tuts June 21st
Great outcome thanks
( )Khurram June 21st
nice & cool
( )Rev65 June 23rd
Thanks for the C4D update using Expresso!!!
( )Diego SA June 23rd
Am I under drugs effects? Just kidding! This effect is awesome and it would be excellent as a presentation background or a fullscreen flash website. I haven’t watched it yet, but certainly I will try this one! Thank you!
( )jacobvon June 26th
cool works
( )pei July 5th
好啊。。。VER：Y GOOD：
( )chuck July 17th
cooooooooooooool works
( )Anthony September 23rd
This was great many thanks!
( )blipp October 12th
Not only an aspiring, but also an inspiring motion designer! Keep up the great work!
( )