This tutorial is about using your own pictures as a background in Cinema 4D.
If you are already comfortable with that,  you better browse the other tutorials :-)

What do you need to follow the steps in  this turorial ?

1. A copy of Cinema 4D of course
2. An nice photo which you use as a background
3. Enough Coffee
   
   
   
   If you are ready, let's go:
   

After you have startet Cinema 4D, go to the "Objects" entry from the top menu.
Navigate to "Scene Objects" and choose "Background". All that you will see at this moment, is a small white rectangle in the main window, and a background object in the object manager on the right.
Don't worry about that, it will change in a few moments.

Next, from the material manager at the bottum of the Cinema 4D working window, choose "File" - "New material".
A new material sphere is now visible in the material manager - double click it.
Check only the color setting at the top of the material window and leave all other check-boxes blank:

Now hit the large rectangle (see the red arrow on the picture above) right beneath "Texture". Cinema's file browser will open and within this browser navigate to the picture you want to use as a background.
Close the material editor and in the material editor you should notice, that the sphere shows now the new material.

Apply the material to the background object in the object manager by simply dragging the material sphere to the background object. Release the mouse button when your mouse is over the background object,.

Normally Cinema 4D applies "Frontal Mapping" as a mapping method. Check this in the object manager by clicking the material icon. In the bottom half of the object manager the material properties will then appear.

After applying the material to the background object, your Cinema 4D workspace should show the picture you have assigned to the background object.

If you use this procedure for a "production rendering" keep the following in mind:

-The dimensions of the rendered picture should not be greater than the backgound image's dimension
-The aspect ratio of your Cinemka 4D scene should match the ratio of your background image
-The higher the quality of your background picture, the better it will look in the finished rendering.

Last but not least, here are some examples for using background pictures :

-You have created a indoor scene where the background is partially (e.G. through a window) seen.
-An outdoor scene where you want to have a a forest as a "far away" background.
-A product presentation, where you want to have a Company's photo in the background.

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