[Edward Wu]

Hi Jim,

The best way to wrap 3D Text around a Sphere is to go to the Top camera view, then align the text around the sphere. Enable the option “Drag Using Object’s Axes” and you will be able to rotate the objects, and position them easily with the Object Rolling and Object Dolly tools.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

Did you get a chance to look at the project file I sent you a couple days ago? If you look at that project, you’ll see that the rotation was built from one pose instead of multiple poses. If you click on the pose, you’ll see that the objects are grouped together, and a “Spin Y” action was applied. I typed in a value of 1080 just as a sample, which will cause the cube to rotate 3 times.

I’ll try my best to describe what you’re running into. Whenever you create a new pose, it takes the previous pose in the timeline, and duplicates it. Then, as you adjust the position/rotation in the new pose, the object will “transition” from one pose to the other. Thus, if you grouped the objects in the second pose, and then deleted the pose, the group will be deleted as well. Also, since you deleted the second pose, the new pose that you created will use the same values as the previous pose on the timeline (the first pose). It will not use the values from the second pose you created because that pose is deleted and no longer exists on the timeline. The reasoning behind this is based on how poses and transitions work. Poses, typically are stopping points in the timeline. This means, whenever you have a pose, the objects will not move in position. However, you can still apply actions such as rotations. Transitions are used to get the objects from one pose to the next. This means, if you changed the position from one pose to the next, the transition will find a way so that the objects travel smoothly from one pose to the next. You can apply a variety of settings to set up a complicated transition such as changing the position, rotation, scale, twists, or cascades all at once. The transition will still calculate all the changes that happen between the two poses, and create the animation path with all the changes.

Be careful when applying rotation between two poses. Even though you may apply a rotation of “270”, the transition actually does not look at the value in the rotation box. Instead, the transition will calculate the rotation of both poses, then apply the rotation. This means, since you applied a Y-rotation of -40 in the first pose, and a value of 270 in the second pose, what really happens is that you are doing a rotation from 320 (360-40) to 270 degrees. So, while you may expect the objects to rotate 310 degrees, it may only rotate 50 degrees instead. In situations like this, it’s much easier to create just one pose, and apply the “Spin Y” action, and just type in the rotation values.

In terms of the major usability flaw, it’s not the case. You actually do not need to have any objects selected before setting up the animation. You can simply select any pose or transition on your Object Track, and start adjusting the position, rotation, etc… The objects in the corresponding object tracks will start reacting based on the actions you’ve applied to it.

ProAnimator is pretty stable when it comes to saving and loading. However, I think since you are not completely familiar with how some of the controls work, it may be confusing, and give the impression that things are not working as they should. The program does have a learning curve, but once you get how everything works, you will be able to create animations a lot faster than you may think. Feel free to give us a call if you run into something frustrating again. We may be able to guide you through a frustrating experience in a short amount of time rather than spending hours and not getting the results that you want.

Our number is (626) 309-9102.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi John,

I think we may have an issue where the Orthographic Camera ends up ignoring the Pixel Aspect Ratio when it goes back into After Effects. This may be why you are not able to see your objects when you get back into After Effects. I’m glad you were able to find a workaround to get the same look for your object though.

We’ll look into this issue, and get this resolved.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

I took a look at your project file, and sent it back to you. I wasn’t having any issues grouping your objects together, so please try it again and let me know what you are running into.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

The reason the ProAnimator and the ProModeler were referenced in the same manual is because both programs are essentially the same in terms of object creation capabilities. The difference between ProAnimator and ProModeler is that ProAnimator lets you animate your objects through object or camera animations while ProModeler creates still scenes. So, all the pages that cover object creation apply to ProAnimator as well as ProModeler. Sorry for any confusion. Glad you found the manual helpful though!

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi John,

Good to hear everything worked out!

We’ll take a look into the Orthographic Camera issue you’re running into. There may be an issue with using it within After Effects. We’ll investigate this issue. Thanks for the information.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

In ProAnimator, if you go into the Animation window, and go to the “Object Animations” drop down menu, you’ll see “Make Object Pose” as the first menu option. This command will create a new pose where your yellow time marker is. This command is the same as double clicking an empty space on your time line.

In terms of support resources, if you haven’t done so already, I would recommend going into the Video Tutorials section, and looking at all the ProAnimator tutorials. The ProAnimator tutorials will give you a basic understanding of all the controls, and also the basics on creating an object or camera animation. Those tutorials are only a couple minutes each, so it will not take very long to learn the basics. Once you are finished with those introductory tutorials, I would recommend going to the “Support > Blog” page, and looking for the ProAnimator tutorials in the blog. There are several comprehensive, and very informative tutorials within the blog that will teach you a lot of animation techniques.

Finally, if you want a complete project training, you can take a look at the “Making It Look Great” DVD Training series by John Dickinson. In the training DVD, John takes you from the start of a project, and goes step by step to the end of the tutorial. You will be able to see more information on the DVDs by going to “Training > DVD Training”.

If you have more questions, you can give us a call at (626) 309-9102, and we’ll help you out.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

The Export 3D Objects command is actually used for exporting the models for other 3D programs such as Maya, Lightwave, and other 3D applications. After Effects does not allow you to import 3D Objects such as Maya .obj files, or Lightwave .lwo formats, so you won’t be able to import those formats into After Effects.

At the moment, since ProAnimator does not work as a plug-in for After Effects, you won’t be able to integrate the After Effects camera or lights to work with the ProAnimator objects. This means you will have to set up the camera or object animations in ProAnimator prior to importing it into After Effects. Once you are able to use ProAnimator in After Effects (either in After Effects CS4 or once the After Effects CS5 compatible version is released), you can select a setting “Use Comp Camera”. This will allow you to rotate, orbit the After Effects camera, and have your objects update in perspective as well.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

ProAnimator currently opens up two separate windows. So, you’re correct that you have to click each window in order to “activate” that window. In the next version of ProAnimator (coming soon), we are revamping the software so that there are customizable panels into one centralized workspace similar to how After Effects works. Version 4.5.1 is an official release of the software, so what you have is not a beta or debugging version of the software.

As for the “Make Group” issue, I would have to take a look at your project to see what you are running into. Please send the project file to ed@zaxwerks.com with a project where you are about to group your objects. Then, I’ll try grouping the objects to see if I can reproduce the issue you are running into.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rich,

The product that you own is ProAnimator.

At the moment, our plug-ins are only compatible with After Effects 6.5 – CS4. This is why you are not seeing the plug-in inside of After Effects CS5. However, you can work with ProAnimator as a standalone application, then render your animation out as a movie and import it into After Effects CS5.

We are currently converting our plug-ins so that they are compatible with After Effects CS5. The 64-bit compatible version will also include a lot of new features such as customizable workspaces, a built-in drawing window, object deformation, gradient and noise shaders, and more! When the new version is available, we will contact you by e-mail, and you will be eligible for a free upgrade.

In other threads, we mentioned our other product, the 3D Invigorator Pro. 3D Invigorator Pro is only a plug-in for After Effects, and does not run as a standalone application. The plug-in uses the After Effects keyframing techniques to animate the objects, so it works differently than ProAnimator.

If you have any additional questions, please let me know.

Best,
Edward