step-by-step MAKING THE SHADOW CATCHER

Create background

I start by cleaning up my image in Photoshop. Once I’m happy with it, I then create a new material in Cinema 4D and add my edited image to the Color channel, turning off the Reflectance channel. Under Create> environment, I add a Background Object and apply the previously created material.

set UP Camera

I create a Camera, make it active and add a Protection tag so I don’t move it by mistake. I apply the same background material to my Plane Object and change the Projection from UVW Mapping to Frontal. I add the Compositing tag to my Plane Object. In the Compositing tag properties, I turn on Compositing Background and turn off Cast Shadows.

Line UP the Floor

I notice that my background image looks distorted. This can be corrected by adjusting my render settings to match the aspect ratio of my background image. Next, I add a Plane Object and adjust the view so that the Plane Object roughly lines up with the floor. I test the perspective by adding a Cube Object to the scene.

add Lighting

The Plane Object is displaying the background image correctly, but I don’t have any shadows yet. I add one main light near the window as the primary light source. I set the type to Omni and turn on Soft Shadows. Next, I add additional lights (without shadows) and tweak all light settings until I have lighting and shadows that match the background.