
However, both have their own separate animation systems, which are very powerful. Animationīoth programs are capable of basic keyframe animation of the 3D objects such as scale, rotation and position. Element does a good job at faking reflections, but it still can’t create reflections of objects within objects in the scene. This means that your renders have realistic shadows and reflections, neither of which Element 3D is capable of at the moment. Because Cinema 4D Lite produces ray traced renders using your CPU, it is more physically accurate. Render QualityĬinema 4D Lite might not have the fastest renderer but it definitely has the most accurate and photo-realistic results. Element 3D also has it’s own Depth of Field rendering system, which gives you the option of making your renders look more cinematic, without having to worry about long render times. This gives you a lot of freedom and helps speed up revisions if you’ve got fussy clients – saving you time and money. This means that experimenting with different looks and settings in your AE project is easy to do with Element 3D as you’re getting instant feedback as you make changes. Depending on how powerful your graphics card is, you can render a huge amount of polygons and detailed textures in minutes with Element 3D, that would take hours with the Cinema 4D Lite renderer. Element 3D renders using your GPU, allowing it to render 3D objects in almost real-time in After Effects. If you want to be able to create and edit your own 3D models in After Effects beyond simple primitives, text and mask extrusion, you’ll need something more powerful such as either the Broadcast or the Studio version of Cinema 4D. This means editing the mesh of a model isn’t currently an option.

Unlike most other 3D programs, neither Cinema 4D Lite or Element 3D have polygonal modelling tools. That being said, what are some of the advantages of each plugin? Read on… Modelling So unless money is really tight, having both plugins available for your projects should be a real possibility.
#Element 3d after effects free
Cinema 4D Lite comes free with After Effects if you’ve got an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.

Unlike other AE plug-ins, Element 3D is very inexpensive, you can pick it up for $149.95 or even cheaper here.
#Element 3d after effects software
The simple answer is that both pieces of software have their advantages and disadvantages and that a lot can be gained by having both in your AE toolbox. The inclusion of Cinema 4D Lite in the latest version of After Effects, has got a lot of artists wondering if they need Video Copilot’s Element 3D as well for 3D work in After Effects.
