[Edward Wu]

Hi Adeeb,

In version 4.5.0 (or newer) of our software, we improved our swatch system so that there is a set of user swatches that gets created when you first run the program. The swatches are located in the following locations:

Windows: “My Documents > Zaxwerks > ProAnimator > Zaxwerks Swatches”

Mac: “Documents > Zaxwerks > ProAnimator > Zaxwerks Swatches”

You should be able to find your ProAnimator swatch inside the Zaxwerks Swatches folder.

As for your exporting error, would you mind taking a screen shot of what you are seeing so I can take a look as well? You can submit the screen shot to ed@zaxwerks.com

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Adeeb,

What is the error message that you are getting?

Also, are you using the latest version of ProAnimator? Our most current version of ProAnimator is version 4.5.1.

If you are not using the latest version of ProAnimator, I would recommend downloading the newest version. Version 4.5.1 contains our latest bug fixes as well as some new features. To download version 4.5.1, please visit our download page below:

https://zaxwerks.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi

Fill out the information, and select ProAnimator (v4.5.1) from the product pulldown menu. You will be sent a download link to your email address.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Stephen,

A. To control where your objects are in space, select your objects and use the “Object Mode” and use any of the directional arrow tools to manipulate your objects. With Object Mode selected, you can use the Dolly, Roll, Track, or Tumble tools to move your objects around. The Object Dolly tool will allow you to “push” objects farther out in space, or to pull it forward. You can also move your objects by going into the Animation window, and using the “Move XYZ” tools to move your objects. When you initially create objects, they are positioned at a default location, so you will have to reposition them to fit your composition.

You can also change the camera angle with the camera presets so you can look at your objects from different angles if that helps you out.

B. In a 3D program, the objects that you create take up space. You can move them closer to you or farther away, unlike programs such as Photoshop where you are just manipulating layers. Thus, to set up foregrounds and background objects, you will need to position your objects in the 3D space so that some objects are animated to be closer to the camera, and some farther away from the camera.

Our User Manual has a lot of information on how to control the scene setup or your object setup, so it can help you learn all the controls. If you don’t have the User Manual, you can download it from our documentation page below:

https://zaxwerks.com/docs.shtml

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

I’m sorry, the link for the Windows Vista help center was not inputed correctly.

The correct link is listed below:

https://zaxwerks.com/helpcenter/?page_id=100

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Scott,

This error message means that you are encountering a permissions issue, or you are not logged onto an administrative account.

If you are having this issue on a Windows Vista machine, then you are running into an issue with the UAC (User Account Control) feature. To fix this, disable the UAC and you won’t have any installation issues. You can see how to do this from our help center link below:

https://zaxwerks.com/helpcenter/?page_id=100

If you are having this issue on a Mac, then you will need to enable permissions for your “Root Directory > Library > Preferences”. For instructions on how to do this, please visit our help center page below:

https://zaxwerks.com/helpcenter/?page_id=129

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rob,

You’re welcome. Sorry to hear you’re still having issues with ProAnimator FX losing its objects and animations. Do you have a Final Cut project and an Illustrator project I can look at? You mentioned that you had a complex Illustrator object that will cause the object to disappear every time. It would be great to have that file in particular so I can duplicate the issues you’re into, and find out what’s causing the issue for you.

My e-mail address is ed@zaxwerks.com

Once you send the files, I’ll take a look at them and get back to you as soon as possible.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Rob,

Unless you are using an older version of Motion, this isn’t a known issue. Can you check what versions of Motion and Final Cut Pro you are using? If they are not the latest versions, please upgrade your software so you are using Motion 3.0.2 and Final Cut Pro 6.0.5.

As for the models that you are creating, you might be looking at your models in Draft settings. If you are working in Final Cut Pro, select the track you’ve applied ProAnimator FX to, and check the Filters tab. If the “Rendering” is set to “Draft Hardware” this means that the models are being viewed in Draft mode. Make sure to switch to “Software” when you are rendering out your project.

In addition, in ProAnimator FX, when you select your objects go to the Objects tab and you can adjust the “Object Smoothness” setting. The Preview setting adjusts your object smoothness when viewed in Draft mode, and the Final setting adjusts the object smoothness with your objects are viewed in Final quality.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Alex,

If you need a Layer Map to fit exactly onto your Illustrator shape, one of the best ways to do this is to trace the outline of the cartoon head inside of Illustrator. You can use either the pen tool or if the image has clear outlines, you can use the “Live Trace” feature to save some time. However, if you are using the Live Trace tool, make sure to clean up any unnecessary shapes or lines.

The key to having the layer map fit perfectly is to have the texture map (the cartoon head picture) be the same size as the Illustrator shape. Since the Illustrator outline was traced from the cartoon head picture, you know the outline is the same size as the picture. However, one thing to check is to make sure that the cartoon head image is cropped to the edges. If you leave margins on the cartoon head picture, the margins are being applied as well, which could be the reason you are seeing the layer map being stretched.

Below are the condensed steps to have your layer map fit onto the Illustrator shape:
1) In Illustrator, import the cartoon head picture
2) Trace the outline in Illustrator
3) Save the Illustrator file without compression
4) Open the cartoon head picture in Photoshop
5) Use the crop tool and crop the picture so that there are no margins on any side
6) Save the cartoon head picture
7) In After Effects, set up your Invigorator project (create a new Composition, Solid, and apply Invigorator to the Solid)
8) Import the the cartoon head picture, and apply it as Layer Map 1
9) In Invigorator, open the Illustrator file to get your 3D shape
10) Apply Layer Map 1 to a new material swatch, and apply the material to your 3D shape

If both files are the same size, the map should fit perfectly. Hope that helps. If you need an example project, you can leave your e-mail address and I will that over to you.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

You’re welcome.

There’s a couple things you can try that might help you out. Check to see that you are using the latest video card drivers. If you are using old drivers, it could cause display issues. In addition, if you are still having issues after updating your video card drivers, you can try resetting your After Effects preferences. Sometimes, the preferences file inside of After Effects can get corrupted and can cause frequent crashes. To reset the preferences file, you can delete the preferences file located below:

Users/User Name/Library/Preferences/Adobe/After Effects

You will see a folder corresponding to your version of After Effects, which contains the preferences file. For example, a 7.0 folder for CS2 with “Adobe After Effects 7.0 Prefs.txt”. Once you delete the preferences file, launch After Effects and the preferences file will be reset.

Best,
Edward

[Edward Wu]

Hi Bob,

Sorry to hear about the crashes you’re running into.

From your descriptions, it’s possible that you’re running into an issue from having undocked panels inside of After Effects. To dock all your panels, go to Workspace, save your current workspace and select the “Effects” workspace. Then, select “Reset Effects” from the Workspace menu. This will reset the Effects workspace back to the default settings. Try running ProAnimator again with all the panels docked and see if you are still running into the same issues.

If this solves the problem for you, you can switch to the Effects workspace before you run ProAnimator, and switch back to your favorite workspace after you are done editing within ProAnimator.

If you are still having issues, you can contact me at ed@zaxwerks.com or leave a message here.

Best,
Edward