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Help me become a Cinema4D expert in a year

• I have decided that in a year's time I would like to be a Cinema 4D expert-- or at least more of an expert than I am now. What are the best resources out there for me to make that happen? I am interested in hearing about classes (online or in person in NYC), books, web resources, etc. If you have personal experiences with what you would recommend, that would be extra helpful. I consider myself an advanced beginner/early intermediate level learner so I am a bit wary of spending money on a class just to learn the basics. I work 10-7 so day or evening classes are tough but something like a 2-day intensive, or something I can do online or with a book, is more likely to be possible. I already have http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/024080953X/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ but feel like I need more. I do quite a few online tutorials but want to have a better learning process than just learning 'tips'. The context for this is TV motion graphics, so my emphasis is on textures/lighting/compositing/ making things look 'high end'/'shiny' rather than character modeling/rigging/etc. Budget is a concern but I can spend a little bit of money (less than $1000?) and would be willing to if it gave me enough of a knowledge boost to be worth to my career. If you have gone through the process of going from beginner to expert in c4d, how did you do it? What did you find was most helpful? Not just resources but what was your method? Focusing in depth on one topic at once or learning each aspect of the program a little bit at a time? Thanks for any insights!

• Answer:

  lynda.com has a couple pretty good video courses for C4D, including one where you make a whole promo from start to finish in C4D and After Effects. Even though you consider yourself intermediate I would just start at the very beginning, there's bound to be some shortcuts and techniques you missed.