[Edward Wu]

Hi Shawn,

Thanks for the detailed post. I looked into this and it looks like you may be running into a bug with spot lights casting shadows. We’ve fixed this issue now so if you send me an e-mail, I can send you an updated version of the software.

Please contact me at ed@zaxwerks.com

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi John,

Typically we don’t seem to have any issues running ProAnimator 4.5.1 on Snow Leopard. Is the new machine also crashing when you are trying to save? Also, does this happen every time you attempt to save a file? If you are unsure, you can try creating a simple scene with just a 3D primitive and see if you can save that scene without any issues. If there are specific steps that lead to those crashes, please specify what steps you are using that is leading to the crashes.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi John,

Be sure you’re using version 4.5.1 of ProAnimator. If you’re using a previous version, you may run into issues when you are using a newer OSX.

To download version 4.5.1, please visit our download page below:

https://www.zaxwerks.com/download/

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Charles,

3D Invigorator uses a different 3D space than the After Effects 3D space. Since the 3D Invigorator objects exists in the 2D Layer, you would need to work with the layer hierarchy in After Effects to make the particles pass behind the heart. What you can try is to duplicate the particle layer so that you have one layer on top of the 3D Invigorator layer, and also one layer below the 3D Invigorator layer. Then, mask out the areas on the top layer where the 3D Invigorator object is supposed to be covering the particles and you should have the effect that you are looking for.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Joe,

If you are not working with shadows and bump maps in 3D Serpentine, you can try rendering with the High Quality OpenGL renderer instead of the Software renderer. This could help the rendering time significantly.

In addition, if you have Nucleo Pro, you can try using that to see if that helps with your rendering speed.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rob,

To help your rendering speed, see if it is possible to make the floor layer a little bit smaller. If your floor layer is very big, it may slow down the rendering time. So by trimming the size of the floor down, it could help with your rendering time.

If you are not having issues rendering with Multiprocessing, you can try turning the setting back on. While some users reported issues with Multiprocessing, others are able to render just fine with Multiprocessing. So, you can try a test and see if you are able to render with Multiprocessing.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Joe,

Right. If you switch to the Effects workspace, and then reset the Workspace back to the default, it’ll dock all the panels. Then, you can just switch between your favorite workspace and the Effects workspace when you are launching the ProAnimator interface.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi John,

Sure, you would be able to run 3D Invigorator Pro on your 32 bit machine and render the movies out through After Effects. You could render out the graphics as AVI format and import the movie onto the 64 bit machine.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Glenn,

Sorry for the confusion. The 3D Invigorator for Photoshop does not have the ability to load custom edges. I was thinking of 3D Invigorator Pro for the After Effects plug-in. Depending on what you want to do, you may be able to try applying a texture map onto a cylinder, and see if that achieves the same pipe look that you were looking for. You can then use a Transparency map to mask out all the areas of the cylinder that you don’t need.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Glenn,

Right, the Digital Juice Fonts are rendered flat with the texture map applied already. With Photoshop, you can get the path of the text, extrude the text in 3D Invigorator and apply the texture map onto the object. If you’re interested in the process, please watch our video tutorial below:

https://zaxwerks.com/training/?p=353

Best,
Edward