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Basic Pro Anmator questions
Hey guys,
bought Pro animator version 4.5.1 sometime back and hadn’t started using it (got it as a special at Digital Juice, but really wasn’t in a position at the time to start learning/using it at the time of the sale offer, then I just forgot I had it 🙂
anywho, I’m trying to learn it and have donwloaded the two tutorials from the latest zaxwerks newsletter. It’s pretty neat from what I saw and an trying to make an animation from and Illustrator logo my brother designed some time back. Here are a couple basic problems I’m having–
1- If I truy to launch Pro animator from within AE (as an effect) the workspace opens partially then seems to hang (flutter) onscreen. I can’t get any response and have to perform a FORCE QUIT of AE to get out.
2- more importantly, I followed the tutorial about converting all may file’s layer paths to layers, killing other unnecessary layers. I then save as an AI Document (I’m using version 10, it DOES NOT prompt me during saving to save it as an earlier format (7,8,9). Then I try to import into PA (launch individual program), import file checking layers and illustrator colors, but the fil does not appear. I’ve tried different times, occasionally I use the 3d forward and back arrow and can scale the item forward but the anchor point is not centered on the image. It’s a pain in the ass.
any tips for these basic issues?
thanks!
Rick
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2 Replies
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1. Make sure your panels are docked. That will always hang things up if they aren’t. If they aren’t, change your workspace to something that’s preset when using ProAnimator.
Personally, unless you’re going to use AE’s cameras, it seems to be much more simple using the stand-alone panel not in AE, but that’s just me.
As far as the help with Illustrator, I’m an idiot on it, but I know if you save as an old type (after you hit save, a second window will come up and ask what version you want to save it in… either click off the “use compression” box or choose an old version prior to Illustrator 8). Now if you can help me with my problems, we’ll call it even 😉
Scott
Scott
OSX 10.5.5
Quad 2.5Ghz
8.5 GB RAM
Final Cut Studio 6.0.4
HPX 2000 -
Hi Rick,
1) Like Scott mentioned, you are running into an issue with undocked panels conflicting with the ProAnimator interface windows. Dock all your panels with After Effects, and you won’t run into the issue anymore.
2) When importing the Illustrator file, check the “Move to Center” option.
Also, check the Object List to see if the objects have been imported into ProAnimator. You can see this in Object Mode by opening the Object drop down menu. If you can see objects in the Object drop down menu, but not in the scene preview, it means you are running with really long spikes. To fix this, use the Select All command, and go to the Object tab. Next, go to SpikeBuster and increase the value to “110”. This will remove all the spikes. Then, go to “Camera Mode”, and under “View”, select “Fit All”. This should fit all your objects into the preview window.
If you’re still having problems, please let me know.
Best,
Edward
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