[Alex Dow]

Hi Aaron,

The most important thing you have to think about here is that Illustrator files are vector-based images, not pixel images. Vector based images are great for creating the geometry in 3D ProAnimator. However, any time you want to apply a material to an object in ProAnimator you need to make the image a pixel image. You can do this simply by opening your Illustrator project in Illustrator and Clicking File > Save For Web… and selecting .png or .jpg. The other important part is that you want your image to be larger than 750×750 pixels. If it’s too small then the image might look blurry or fuzzy.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions be sure to ask.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Doug,

Haha sorry for the later response. We have a special Sidegrade price for you to go from Invig to ProAnimator. We have a lot of users that use both Invig and ProAnimator. Invigorator is a little more integrated into After Effects which makes it easier to do VFX shots.

You can find the Sidegrade price here: https://zaxwerks.com/proanimatorae

– Alex

[Alex Dow]

Hi Mark,

Yes you can definitely map video’s to objects following the steps:

For the ProAnimator Standalone:
1. In the material editor click on the thumbnail to the right of the color channel and you’ll get a window asking you to select your image or video.
2. Select your video
3. Apply the material to the object

For ProAnimator and Invigorator Plug-ins:
1. Import your video into AE
2. Place your video in the same comp as your Zaxwerks plug-in and turn off the video visibility
3. Now select the solid layer that the Zaxwerks plug-in is applied to
4. In the Effect Controls window you’ll see an option “Layer Maps”. Select the menu next to Layer Map 1 and select your video.
5. Now go into the setup window and in the Material Editor go to the Color Channel and click the plus button.
6. Click on the color menu list and select Layer Map 1
7. Apply the material to your object

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Ed,

3D Flag v4 will be coming soon and will be compatible with Adobe After Effects CC 2015.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Anthony,

Great to hear you’re loving the programs. We already have in Invigorator exactly what you’re looking for:

You can turn on tooltips by going into the Invigorator/Flag setup window and selecting Help>Preferences…
Then find the “Show Tooltips” checkbox and make sure it’s checked.
Then when you restart the program tooltips will come up when you hove your mouse over a material swatch.

Right now we don’t have tooltips in 3D Flag, but it will be in the next version.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Richard,

I’m sorry to hear that ProAnimator is working sluggish for you. Do remember that every time you have a 20+ lights with fixtures turned on, it is creating a lot of geometry which could be the reason of slow down. However with that said, try these steps to improve speed:

– Go to About > Preferences and turn off the checkbox that says “Show Tool Tips”

– Another thing you need to make sure is that in AE go to Preferences > Memory and make sure that “RAM reserved for other applications is at least 25%-50% of your computers possible RAM.

Make sure you are running the most current version of 3D ProAnimator v8.6.0

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Nelson,

Are you saying that your problem is that you can’t figure out how to get the text to curl around your world? To get it to curl apply a warp track to your text track. Do this by selecting Track > Warp Track and making the warp amount -25.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Doug,

It sounds like 3D Invigorator PRO for After Effects is the right product for you. It easily lets you import 3D models directly into AE and also gives you the same modeling capabilities that ProModeler does. As far as modeling is concerned, you are able to draw any object in 2D and have it extruded and beveled in 3D space. This means you won’t be able to make dancing dinosaurs, but you will be able to make any logo and text in 3D space. It’s also very common for users to find 3D models from other websites then import them into 3D Invigorator PRO.

With all of this said, 3D Invigorator PRO is great for importing models, but it uses AE’s keyframes to animate the objects. Since you are new to AE I’m expecting you might not be a whiz at keyframes yet. If this is the case then I suggest looking at 3D ProAnimator. ProAnimator has everything that 3D Invigorator PRO does plus an entire animation engine. It makes it super easy to animate hundreds of objects at the same time.

Hope this helps,
Alex Dow
Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for the remarks. We are always trying to make 3D Flag more stable, so if you find any bugs or crashes please turn them in to support@zaxwerks.com. The more detailed the better.

Thanks,
Alex Dow
Tech Support | Zaxwerks

[Alex Dow]

Hi Ray,

It sounds like you are creating the sphere and cone directly on top of each other. Then you’re clicking OK to go back to Photoshop and then they are locked together. This is not a bug. You will need to move the objects in the Invigorator Setup window, by selecting your object in the Object List panel and moving its x,y or z values in the Object Controls panel. You can also select and move your objects in the 3D Preview panel by selecting the object button(looks like a little cube) and clicking and dragging inside the 3D Preview window.

Hope this helps,
Alex Dow
Tech Support | Zaxwerks