Invigorator Pro constantly crashing in Creative Cloud 2015

[Cliff Wallace]

So, nothing? No response? I have projects that have to get done and I need solutions. The work around doesn’t always work. Need help here.

[Max Power]

Hello,

I’m having the same problem, only with pro animator.

I did manage to work around it and this works more often than not.

While you are in the edit mode inside of Zaxwerks invigorator go to “save scene as” and save the seen as a native Zaxwerks file. If it crashes on you at least you’re not starting from square one again. If it does crash restart after effects. Clear out your AE files by going to: edit, preferences, general and then click the reveal preferences in Explorer button at the bottom of the window. Close after effects and then go to the window you just opened and delete all single files listed. Do not delete any folders. Restart after effects. Open a new project and then open a new zaxwerks project. Once inside the zaxwerks edit window open up your previously saved project file.

if you’re using Windows 7 I believe this may be related to a power saving issue within Windows itself. I noticed that when the hard drives are spinning/running I have less trouble with crashes. You may wish to check your power settings and set everything to run at full bore. In other words turn power saving mode off.

Max Power
Q-Arts Media

[Cliff Wallace]

I appreciate the feedback, but unfortunately that work around doesn’t help me. I’m on Mac, not PC, and I need to be able to open existing projects and make changes to the textures and then re-render them. I’m integrating the Zaxwerks plugin with other elements in After Effects and I would have to rebuild the entire AE project with your workaround and that’s a non-started. The texturing is where the problem arises. I should be able to apply as texture from whatever option is available, without the whole program crashing. I shouldn’t have to rely on workarounds to make the software work correctly.

Zaxwerks has been aware of this issue for quite some time and they simply don’t seem to care. I guess I’m just one little user and don’t matter. I really like the product when it works. I think it’s innovative, efficient and a pretty easy way to do 3D work for my application in TV. But I seem to keep running into issues when they release updates or new versions. It’s getting to be a really frustrating cycle. I guess it’s time to start investigating other options. I don’t know. Thanks for your input though.

[Rob Mize]

Hi, Cliff… I’ve had the same issue (and others) using Invigorator for some time now. Initially, the team at Zaxwerks seemed rather diligent in trying to resolve the problem, but with no success. Eventually, their responses ceased. I hate to admit it, but the frustration with it has caused me to all but stop using the plug in; which is a shame because: 1. We paid for the software, and 2. I’ve seen some really nice work with this plug in. I hope you’ve had a better outcome.

Rob Mize

[Cliff Wallace]

Nope Rob, the problem still persists in my world. I do such a high volume of work that I don’t have the time to keep chasing solutions, so I hardly use it these days. It’s very unfortunate because I’ve used Zaxwerks products for quite some time and I really do like them. I am especially impressed with the addition of so many new features over the years. But if bugs in the upgrades render the product practically useless, then my investment is wasted. I’m going to have a hard time in convincing myself, not to mention my bosses, that it’s worth it to keep upgrading when they are so often flawed. It’s very difficult to be productive when your tools don’t work properly. I’m still holding out hope that Zaxwerks will find a way to fix things, but I haven’t heard a peep from them in a long, long time. I don’t remember any software patches or updates for some time now, and haven’t seen or heard of what, if anything is coming in the next version. I wonder if they are even still in the game. Dunno.

[Rob Mize]

Cliff… I don’t want to jinx anything but… this morning I installed the Adobe After Effects CC 15.3 Release and installed the Invigorator Pro v8.6.0 Plug-In and… so far – so good. I have a rather complex model ( at least for me ) that I’ve been able to open and work on and it’s been behaving nicely. I’m struggling a bit with getting the reflection map the way I want, but at least – up to now – I’ve been able to work on it crash-free. Good luck !

Rob Mize

[Rob Mize]

I knew it was too good to be true. Stepped away from the computer for about an hour… came back to the project, hit the set up button and “CRASH” ! I don’t have time to fool with Invigorator anymore… gotta move on to something dependable.

Rob Mize