[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

Right, the “100” scale value was just an arbitrary number I gave you so you can see your model properly. However, you can go back and adjust this value to a size that fits your project more.

I’m not sure what you mean by “surface”. If you are referring to a texture map, you can do that by going into the Material Tab and setting up a material.

To add a texture map, click on the first dark gray box next to the “Highlight Sharpness”, then load an image as your texture map. Now you can drag the material ball onto your object.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

From the project you sent me, here are the steps you need to do get to the same point for the project I sent back to you:

1) Create a camera (you have “Use Comp Camera” set up, but don’t have a camera in the scene).

2) Take the end keyframe for the Controller, and move it to a different position so you have an animation for the Controller (right now both keyframes are at the same position).

3) Go into the 3D Invigorator interface, select your object, and go to the Object tab. Click the Stats button, and change the scale from 1 to 100. Click the “OK” button to go back into the After Effects interface.

4) As you scrub through your time line, your 3D object will move along with the controller object.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Zeno,

If you are trying to follow along with the steps of this 3D Invigorator tutorial, then you will need to have 3D Invigorator installed on your PC so you can work with 3D Invigorator within After Effects.

However, if you are already well versed in how to create animations within ProAnimator, then you will be able to translate the steps provided here, and create a similar animation within the ProAnimator standalone.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Adeeb,

I don’t do too much research into video cards, so I won’t be able to give you great feedback regarding which video card works best with your existing motherboard. Hopefully another user with a similar setup will be able to provide feedback on this matter!

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

I’ve sent the project back to you. Like I mentioned on the e-mail, it’s important that when you enable the “Use Comp Camera” option, you’ll need to create a camera and set it up for your project. Your object is imported small, so you will need to scale it up to fit into the camera position.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

I’ve sent you a new project in CS3.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

I’ll send you an example project. You’ll be able to see the setup of what everything looks like.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

When you first set up the controller object, it can be just a small Solid, or a Null Object. Make sure that it is in the default (center) position, and make it a 3D layer. Then, create your object inside of 3D Invigorator. Use the “Reset” or “Move to Center” command to make sure that the object is in the center position as well.

Now, you should see that both the 3D Invigorator Object and the Controller Object are in the center position. Next, add a camera and set 3D Invigorator to “Use Comp Camera”. When you start changing the position of the Controller, you will see the object move in the Effect Controls panel as well. However, it might not update on screen. If you click the “Update Lights” button, it will update the scene for you, and you will be able to see the changes.

I attached a screen shot below that shows the setup of the Controller Object and the 3D Invigorator Object. You’ll see that both objects are positioned together.

In regards to the 3D Object you are importing. The model gets imported the same way the model got exported. So be sure that you have the camera set up to look from the default position from your 3D program that you are exporting out of. Then, you should be able to get the model to look the same as when you export it.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

I’m not sure what you mean based on your descriptions. Can you upload a screenshot? Or you can send your project to ed@zaxwerks.com and I’ll take a look at what you’re running into.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Lee,

If you have high quality lighting or motion blur applied to those objects, then it’s possible that it will drastically increase the rendering time. Depending on the way you set up your project, you may not need to import the object at 5000%. Rather than increasing the object size way up, you can choose to zoom in more with the After Effects camera, then you wouldn’t need to worry about scaling up the size of your objects.

Right, the camera automatically fits on a certain scale, but I suppose if the object is too big, it no longer fits with the camera settings.

As for UV settings, when you import an object into our program, it remembers the UV coordinates, but doesn’t import the textures. So, you will have to apply the textures onto a texture map, and apply them onto your objects.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Edward