Brent Willett
Forum Replies Created
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You’re very welcome.
Brent
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Hi James,
A .zxp file is an Invigorator scene file. In the Invigorator setup window, after you save your scene, you should be able to go to File –> Open Scene to open the .zxp.
It works for me in Invigorator v8.6 anyway.
Thanks,
Brent -
Hi James,
Make sure when you save your Illustrator file that “Use Compression” is not checked.
If you’re still having problems after that try saving it as Illustrator 8 file. Or CS2. I always save mine as a CS2 file and haven’t had any problems.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Brent -
Hi Gary,
It sounds like you have set it up right, but the problem is with the After Effects layer hierarchy. The flags of 3D Flag are in 3D space, and the camera moves around in 3D space, but the After Effects layers are still in a 2D stack. Let’s assume, to start with, that you have only two layers with 3D Flag applied to them and you have a camera rotating around them. If you start with one flag behind another and it looks correct, as the camera rotates around, there will be a point where the flag that was in the back becomes positioned in the front, but it’s still on the bottom layer so it’s still behind the other flag even though it’s closer to the camera.
What you have to do is find a point in the timeline where the back flag is about to rotate around to become the front flag, but isn’t quite in the front of your configuration yet. At that point in the timeline, split the layer (Edit –> Split Layer). You’ll now have a duplicate layer, and both layers will be cropped right at your timeline marker, one before the marker and the other after the marker. Take the top layer that you just split, and drag it above the other flag layer. Now as the back flag comes around, it will be on top, and it should look correct.
With four flag layers, it gets a little trickier, but it’s still the same concept.
Hopefully this made sense and helps solve your problem.
Thanks,
Brent -
Hi Theo,
Yes, you can save several different still file formats. Go to the Output panel and click “Render Frame.” It will render the frame and pop it up full screen in front of everything. Then you need to go to File –> Save Picture. When you click on that, a dialogue box will pop up where you can name it and choose the file type.
If you want to save a tiff with an alpha channel, make sure to have the “Alpha Channel” box checked before you render your frame.
Brent
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Hi Aaron.
There’s a way to do it in After Effects that should help you out.
Put your vector image in a comp by itself, but make that comp huge, like 4000×4000 (or whatever would fit the ratio of your vector image). Drag your vector image into that comp and scale it up so that it’s the same size as the comp. Now, click the “Continuously Rasterize” button. It’s the little square on your layer underneath the icon that looks like a little flash of light (see image below). That button will make your vector image look nice and sharp even if it’s scaled up a large amount.
In a different comp, set up your ProAnimator layer and drag in the vector image comp to use as the layer map. Be sure to use the vector layer comp instead of using the vector image directly. Since your image is now very large, it should look clean and sharp on your 3D object inside of ProAnimator, even if you’re zoomed in very close.
Hope this helps!
Brent -
That’s a great solution, Wade, I hadn’t thought of that! I’m glad I could help, and I’m glad you could take the idea farther and make it better.
Brent
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Hi Robert.
Here is a link to a super simple setup of what I was talking about. The flare still goes away behind the text, but there is still a glow from the light cone. And you can play around with different cone materials or the cone length or the spot angle to get different looks.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6085437/Light%20Glow%20Sample.zip
Brent
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Here’s another option that might work for you if you aren’t able to upgrade.
You can create a cone primitive, turn off the bottom and apply a light cone material to it. Those materials are all in the material swatches. It won’t look quite as nice as the actual light cones, but it might do in a pinch. Of course, you won’t get the flares with a cone primitive. But you might be able to parent a couple of cones to a null and line them up with the actual lights. The lights will spin strangely, but flares should stay in about the same spot as they go around.
Good luck!
Brent
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Hi Wade.
I don’t believe you’ll be able to get what you’re looking for in Version 7. The lights get wonky when you spin the trusses. However, if you are able to upgrade, in the newly released version 8.5, light tracks can be parented to other layers. By parenting a light track to a null (or other object) you can get the rotation you want.
You can set up your ring pipe with two lights and turn on the cones. Then use the rotation controls in the Object Controls panel to position the lights so that they’re point outward. Don’t use the “Point Lights At” drop-down menu. If you do this, the light won’t parent to another track. Now, put the pipe position at 0,0,0 to get it at the center point. Add a new null. The null will come in at the center point, so now you can parent the light track to the null and when you rotate the null the lights should stay pointing outward. Here’s the kicker, though, if you use “Show Fixtures” to get your stadium lights, the fixtures won’t stay fixed. They will rotate strangely on their own as the truss rotates, even though the actual lights don’t. However, you can actually import the fixtures as 3D models. Go to Object –> Import 3D Models. The fixtures are ZXO files that are located in Documents –> Zaxwerks –> 3D ProAnimator AE 8 –> Light Fixtures. Once you import the fixture as a model, position the track so it lines up with one of your light cones and parent it to the same null. Then you can duplicate the fixture track, and position it to line up with the other light. Now, when you rotate your null track, the lights and fixtures should stay pointing outwards.
But, like I said, you have to have version 8.5 for this to work.
Hope this helps.
Brent
