Ember Studios LLC is happy to announce that starting on June 1st, we will be adjusting our pipeline. We will no longer be using Cinema 4D and we will be updating to Blender and Unreal Engine. This change reflects a closer alignment with our goals.
Cinema 4D (and the rest of MAXON ONE, including Redshift and ZBrush) has been an invaluable tool while learning the ropes of 3D.
Additionally, we’ve greatly appreciated utilizing several powerful plugins including Insydium Fused (Which includes X-Particles and Cycles 4D) and GreyScalleGorilla+, which is a valuable collection of plugins, presets, and materials.
Moving forward, we are removing Cinema 4D from our VFX pipeline and replacing it with Blender and Unreal Engine 5.
A little about each tool below:
Blender-
Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. Advanced users employ Blender’s API for Python scripting to customize the application and write specialized tools; often these are included in Blender’s future releases. Blender is well suited to individuals and small studios who benefit from its unified pipeline and responsive development process. Examples from many Blender-based projects are available in the showcase.
Blender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux, Windows, and Macintosh computers. Its interface uses OpenGL to provide a consistent experience. To confirm specific compatibility, the list of supported platforms indicates those regularly tested by the development team.
As a community-driven project under the GNU General Public License (GPL), the public is empowered to make small and large changes to the code base, which leads to new features, responsive bug fixes, and better usability. Blender has no price tag, but you can invest, participate, and help to advance a powerful collaborative tool: Blender is your own 3D software.
More help is always welcome! From developing and improving Blender to writing documentation, etc, there are a number of different things you can do to get involved.
Unreal Engine-
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genres of games and has seen adoption by other industries, most notably the film and television industry. Written in C++, the Unreal Engine features a high degree of portability, supporting a wide range of desktop, mobile, console and virtual reality platforms.
We have made this shift to be more synchronous with the current VFX landscape and to have a more appropriate skillset when we’re brought into collaborative projects.
If you’d like to discuss our pipeline changes, please email me at michael@emberstudioscreative.com
Thank you!
*PLEASE NOTE*
While we are adjusting our 3D pipeline, none of our other VFX tools will change. We will still be using Red Giant software for composting and effects.
