In the past few years the tools that visual effects and CG artists have used for traditional 2D narrative content have been rapidly changing to adapt to new immersive, VR and 360-degree projects.

One such tool is Cinema 4D from Maxon. Once primarily known for motion-graphics work, Cinema 4D has morphed into a mainstay of 3D modeling and animation and, more recently, enabled the making and rendering of virtual reality content.

“Right now the audience has been mostly people that are already fairly experienced with VR. The audience are people already attending VR film festivals or conferences, or already working in the medium, so I think the big surprises are going to be when it begins to make its way out to wider audiences as the year goes on.” ―Director Ethan Shaftel

Director Ethan Shaftel and designer and animator Frank Stringini recently relied on Cinema 4D and the CV-VR Cam plugin to make the VR film Extravaganza. The live-action and 3D-animation short immerses the viewer in a startlingly offensive puppet show, with the CG tools used in both previsualization and final animation.