I've been planning on taking the sva course on cinema/ae
http://www.sva.edu/continuing-education/computer-art/cinema-4d-and-after-effects-integration-18-cf-smc-3654-a
try that.

ok nice, thanks for the recommendation! i'm hoping my workplace will give me a day each week to learn, i think it'd be valuable

I'm almost finished with the School of Motion Cinema 4D class and it's been really fun, but I would definitely say to get the most out of it you should have as few freelance projects as you can and maybe a day off work each week if you work full-time in order to get your homework out on time. It's definitely made me feel like I have a firm grounding in Cinema 4D and for the amount of content- the value is pretty great. I would recommend it.