[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Paul,

Can your Freehand export illustrator format files? (not eps, ai). If so, you’ll be able to get along. If not, Illustrator is in your future. You might be able to find a cross-grade offer to make it financially feasable. The Pro version of Invigorator bypasses the need for Illustrator-based text converted to outlines. You type your text right inside Invigorator. Very, very cool.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi thowie,

I’m that guy. The circle looks like a diamond in Invigorator and ProAnimator in draft mode, to save rendering time. Look at it in best quality mode (do a test render) and you’ll see a sphere. Or, if you want, use a smaller number for object smoothness in draft mode. Your preview will be slower, but you’ll see the smoothing effect.

If you get stuck along the way, let us know and we’ll try to help.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Cmedia,

Layermaps can be any layer or precomp in your project which you want to apply as a surface attribute to an Invigorator object. It works like this:

Create or import your layermap layer into your AE project. Drag it into your comp window or timeline. For the purpose of this explanation, we’ll use a quicktime movie layer.

In the timeline, turn off visibility for that movie layer.

Now in the Invigorator effect control panel, look for the layermap selector twirlie. There you’ll be able to assign your movie layer to a layermap number.

Now, you need to create a material which includes the layermap. Do this in the material editor area. Either create a new material base or drag one from the library bins to the editor. Decide how you want to use the quicktime movie. Notice the square thumbnail boxes to the side of the various options – basic surface, transparency, bump, reflectivity. You could use the movie to affect any of these attributes. Click the enable texture checkbox.

Next to each of the texturemap thumbnail squares is a pop-up menu where you will find layermap – none, 1, 2, 3, etc. In the channel of your choice, choose the layermap number you designated earlier. You’ll see the effect on your material ball. When you’re done editing, drag the material ball onto your object.

You will see the effect when you render in best quality.

Hope this helps. If I’m not clear enough, let us know where you get stuck, or refer to the manual for more details.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Scott,

ProAnimator and Invigator Pro AE essentially share the same modelilng abilities and similar surfacing abilities for the most part. The biggest differences for me involve how the objects are put in motion. ProAnimator is capable of easily creating incredibly complex motion of a very large number of objects. The AE versions of Invigorator offer integration with the rest of AE’s compositing features but handle the animating process much differently, using keyframes.

As a standalone, ProAnimator creates movies with alpha channels for easy compositing in AE, or for dropping finished animations into the nonlinear editor of your choice. The AE versions can obviously render out movies with alpha channels for use in your favorite editor as well.

For me, there are times when I choose to use the AE version and other times when only ProAnimator will accomplish what I want.

I’d suggest comparing specs on the Zaxwerks site and giving both aps a test drive. The type of work you’re doing may help you decide which is best for you.

If you have more specific questions, we’ll give it a shot.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hansphaal,

Image maps, bump maps, reflection maps and transparency maps are all supported on Invigorator-native objects including text. You apply them to objects as parts of what we call materials, which are essentially really flexible collections of reusable and savable surface attributes for your objects.

The process is pretty simple Use the material editor to create a material. Add images to the appropriate channel or channels. Do that by clicking on the larger square near the sliders for reflectivity, bump, transparency, etc. Small, tga format images work best. Then, apply the material to the object or a portion of the object. Check your documentation for the word “materials” for more details.

You can also map movies or the content of any other After Effects layer by using what’s called layermapping. It’s a simple process, described in some recent posts here. If that’s what you want, do a search, or ask a more specific question and we’ll be glad to help.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Jamie,

The key is making your movie loopable. If the first and last portions aren’t matching, you’ll get a jump effect at every transition. One way to avoid that is to build a precomp which contains multiple copies of your movie, with fairly quick dissolves between them. Make the loop continue as long as you need. Then assign the precomp, rather than the movie itself, to a layermap number and apply the resulting material to your object.

Does this help?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

The feature is part of the Invigorator Pro version for After Effects as well as ProAnimator.

Well worth the price of an upgrade from Classic, assuming that’s what you’re using now.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Larry,

I assume you’re using CS2’s new vectorizing tool to convert the image. It’s essentially Adobe Streamline on steroids. I have it too, but frankly haven’t used it for this purpose yet. Streamline was mostly useless for Invigorator because it created messy paths and needed lots of clean up in many cases.

In any case, the following tips may help:

Invigorator needs only the simplest of shapes. Filled solids work the best. I often place individual shapes on separate named layers in Illustrator to make organizing them easier in Invigorator.

Remove any bit-mapped elements and any vector-based gradients. Invigorator needs only the simplest of shapes.

The rods you refer to may be spikes, which Invigorator’s spikebuster can help you control. You can also clean up the points in Illustrator if you zoom way in on them. You’ll find sometimes the control handles are flpped around. Othertimes, the paths overlap or the angle between three points is too severe.

Before CS2, I’d gotten used to redrawing logos by hand to maintain ultimate control. Perhaps others will pipe in with their CS2 vectorizing experiences, but the best solution may be doing it by hand.

Does this help?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi gybp,

Select both objects in Illustrator and use the make compound path command.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Matt,

You didn’t say which version of Invigorator you’re using, which would determine whether you have to save as an older version of Illustrator. In any case, save your file as Illustrator format rather than eps. Use only filled closed paths for best results. Convert text to outlines as well. Avoid gradient fills or any bit-mapped placed images.

Does this help?

Jon