My team at work began taking on projects that required 3D assets, and I took the challenge to learn a new beast, Cinema4D.

I chose something in space to begin learning, as I felt the “physics” would be a bit more forgiving. Unfortunately, I chose a black hole. Once I regained consciousness after spiraling down a deep physics rabbit hole, I pivoted to a ringed planet! Similar in nature, and giving something to test lighting on, I feel this is a better option. 

Using texture maps, particle generators, and some compositing skills, I began to understand the ins and outs of rendering and taking a still image from Cinema4D into Photoshop.