[Edward Wu]

Hi Lee,

What I think you’re running into is that the .obj files might be coming in really small when you import them into 3D Invigorator. What you can try doing is to change the scale when you import them in. Instead of importing them in at 100%, you can try 400% or more.

Invigorator’s camera automatically changes to fit the view to the object, so when your objects are really small, they are zoomed in automatically. However, when you switch to “Use Comp Camera”, the objects “disappear” because they are too small to be seen.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

When using the 3D tracking, make sure that the 3D Invigorator object is positioned in the center. Then, when you move the Null Object or 3D plane around, your 3D Invigorator object should move along with the controller.

To position your 3D Invigorator objects to the center, you can enter Object Mode, and use the “Move To Center” or “Reset” command.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

Aside from setting keyframes or moving the object around the Effect Controls panel, there are two other ways to animate your objects. The first is to use the Set command to “Track 3D Layer”. By applying a Set to track a 3D Layer, you can keyframe either the 3D layer or Null object and you can try working like that. The other way to animate is to use Expressions.

When you import a 3D object, make sure that the 3D object has been created to import with multiple pieces. If the object was exported as one piece it will import the same way, meaning you will only be able to apply one material to the entire object.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Chris,

The workflow of ProAnimator FX is to keep the ProAnimator FX layer as a 2D layer, but enable the option to “Use 3D Camera From Project”. By enabling this option, when you are doing camera moves and animations, the ProAnimator FX objects will respond to all your camera moves. It will be as if your objects are projected onto the 2D plane, but still responding to all the 3D camera changes.

If you need your ProAnimator FX objects to interact directly (intersect, etc) with your Motion 3D Layer, you will need to apply the image as a Layer Map onto a plane created in ProAnimator FX. By having both objects within the ProAnimator FX 3D space, the objects can interact with each other realistically. Motion’s 3D space works independently from the 3D space of ProAnimator FX, so if the 3D layer is not brought in to the ProAnimator 3D space, they will act independent of one another.

If you have further questions, please let me know.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Mitchell,

When using ProAnimator for the latest version of After Effects, make sure to also install the latest version of ProAnimator as well. For example, if you are using ProAnimator version 4.0.2, After Effects CS4 won’t recognize that version of ProAnimator.

To set up ProAnimator, create your Composition in After Effects, and create a new Solid. Then, apply ProAnimator to the Solid by going to the menu “Effects > Zaxwerks > ProAnimator”. Once you have applied ProAnimator to the Solid, select the Solid, and in the Effect Controls panel, you will see the ProAnimator controls. Click on the “Click to Edit ProAnimator” button to go into the ProAnimator interface.

If you’re using the latest version of ProAnimator, and are still having issues, please let me know the error message that you are seeing.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Bill,

The calendar looks great! Good to hear that you were able to figure it out for your project.

Thanks for taking the time and sharing your techniques!

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Bill,

To do a similar page flip, here are the values you can adjust in 3D Warps. First, you need to set up the “X Position” for your pages. The X Position allows you to set up where you want your page to be. Next, you will need to adjust the “X Center”. The X Center value should be half of the width of your page. If the page is 360 wide, then the “X Center” will be “-180”. The value need to be negative because you want the page to turn from right to left, so the center point has to be moved to the left.

To animate the page to “flip” from left to right, keyframe the “Y Rotation” values, and it will flip from one side to the other. However, by doing this, you will run into the issue where the page flip appears “rigid”. This is where the “Warp Amount” (Using “Bend One Side”) will help. First, set up the “X Warp Center” value to be the same as your “X Center” value. Then, keyframe the “Warp Amount” value to increase as the page is turning. This will help the page look fluid as it’s flipping from one side to the other.

You can play with the Warp Amount values to give the page flip the right feel for your animation. I don’t know of any 3D Warps page flip tutorials, but hope this helps you out nonetheless.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Adeeb,

Unfortunately, video tutorials for 3D Serpentine are not available as of now. However, we have since released new example projects that you can download with the newest version of 3D Serpentine (version 1.0.1). The Film Reel example file contains a fully set up film reel that you can set up by just customizing the pre-comp included in the After Effects project. If you add an image to the pre-comp, you can have that image displayed on your reel. If you want to insert multiple images, increase the Composition size, and increase multiple images, and you’ll have that effect.

Hope that helps.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Maria,

You’re welcome.

I see. The fly-through and look back is a more complicated move than just a text fly-through. If you’re working with the ProAnimator camera, you would have to move the letters off the origin first to give the camera room to move, then you will have room for the fly-through and turn. You will need 3 camera poses. A starting pose that is sitting right outside the pose, a middle pose where the camera has flown through the letters, and a final pose where the camera turns back around.

To create a camera animation, you must first go to the “Camera Animations” drop-down menu, and select “Add Pose”. Then, you will be able to add the middle and ending poses by double clicking at the appropriate spots in the timeline. After you have set up the poses, go to each pose and set up the correct positions by going into Camera Mode, and using the camera tools. You may find it easier to use some of the “Views” presets to help you set up the correct view.

As for not being able to see through the letters, be careful to not use “Hidden Line” instead of “Wireframe”. Hidden Line looks very similar to what Wireframe looks like, except you are not able to see through the characters. So for John Dickinson’s example, he uses a Solid gold color in the front of the letters, but uses the Wireframe look for the sides.

I have an example ProAnimator scene you may look at if you’re still having issues. Contact me at ed@zaxwerks.com and I can send that over to you.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

I’m not sure where this is being referred to. However, I believe this is referring to a 3D Solid / Null Object created in After Effects which is being used to control the animation of an object created in 3D Invigorator.

To do this, first create your objects in 3D Invigorator. Then, in the Effect Controls panel, find the 3D Invigorator options, go into “Sets” and set the “Set 1 Track 3D Layer” as the 3D Solid / Null Object that you animated in 3D space. Then your 3D Invigorator object will move along the 3D Solid / Null Object.

Best,
Edward