How to Create 3D Text with Adobe After Effects

1. Hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key on a Mac) and press the letter T key in order to create your desired text in a simple text layer.
2. Select the text layer and set it as 3D. The text is now a very thin 3D layer.

1. With the text layer selected, press the letter P key in order to reveal the layer's Position Properties.
2. Hold down the Alt key (or Option key on a Mac) and click the stopwatch icon next to "Position" to open the Expressions Editor dialog.
3. Enter [value[0],value[1],index*10]; in the Expressions Editor dialog.
4. Hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key on a Mac) and press the letter D key to duplicate that layer.
5. Continue to create duplicate layers until you reach the desired number of layers for the desired thickness of the 3D text. Six duplicate layers were created in the video.

1. Create a new Null Object layer and place it at the bottom of your layer list.
2. Select the original text layer and all of its duplicate layers and pick whip them to the Null layer. This makes the Null layer the parent of all the other layers.
3. Select the Null layer and set it as 3D as well.

1. Select all the layers except for the Null layer and the very front layer and adjust the color of those layers. This will become the color of the sides or depth of the 3D text.
2. Press the letter R key. Now you can rotate the Null layer and all the layers will rotate together.
3. Add additional duplicate layers or remove layers in order to adjust the depth of the 3D text.

NOTE: The downside of this method is that from some angles you may see the space between each layer which will break the illusion.

1. Create your desired text in a simple text layer.
2. Select the text layer and set it as 3D. The Renderer field will appear in the top-right corner.

1. Click the value for the Renderer field or press Cmd+K or Ctrl+K. The Composition Settings dialog opens.
2. The 3D Renderer tab should be selected by default. Choose CINEMA 4D in the Renderer dropdown field.
3. Click the OK button at the bottom of the dialog to save your settings and close the dialog.

1. Expand the layer options for your text layer and then expand the Geometry Options for the layer.
2. Adjust the Extrusion Depth value under Geometry Options to create the desired level of depth for your 3D text.

1. Click the arrow next to "Animate" to open the Animate Menu and select Side > Color > Hue.
2. Adjust the Hue levels in order to select the desired color of the sides or depth of the 3D text.

1. Select Layer in the toolbar to open the Layer Menu.
2. Select New > MAXON CINEMA 4D File... The File Explorer opens.
3. Give your ".c4d" file an appropriate name and save it to the same folder as your After Effects project. A CINEMA 4D license dialog opens.
4. Click OK to close the CINEMA 4D dialog. CINEMA 4D Lite opens.

1. Click the Text Spline tool in the CINEMA 4D Lite toolbar.
2. Replace the placeholder "Text" with your desired text in the Text dialog below Object Properties.

1. Select your Text object on the right side of the CINEMA 4D Lite screen.
2. Click the Extrude tool (looks like a square being extruded) and it will add an Extrude layer to your object panel.
3. Drag your Text layer onto the Extrude layer. 
4. With the Extrude object selected, adjust the Offset value in the Object Properties to create the desired level of depth for your 3D text.

1. Click Create in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen and select New Default Material in the resulting menu.
2. Select a color for your new material. You should choose the color you would like for the front of your text.
3. Drag your material onto your Extrude object in the top right of the screen. The material's color will be applied to your 3D text with the sides or depth color being the darker background color automatically.

1. Click File in the CINEMA 4D Lite main menu and select Save Project.
2. Go back to the open instance of Adobe After Effects. Your 3D text from CINEMA 4D Lite will be there. There will also be grid lines added for reference. The grid lines will not render, but you can turn them off if you'd prefer by changing the Renderer setting from Viewport (draft) to Current in the After Effects FX Control Panel.