[Jon Okerstrom]

Hello again,

If you need realism, your best bet would be to import a 3d bear object created in another application. Several sites have libraries of free objects. Invigorator supports many model file formats, howeverr texturing on imported objects is somewhat limited.. make sure the model you choose includes uv coordinates.

I suspect you could build your own bear using primative shapes if less realism is okay.

Invig does allow animation of a set’s z scale, position and rotation. This ability plus apparent scaling done by moving the object in space could give you the kind of motion you’re talking about.

Does this help?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hey Matt,

Now that’s what I call customer service. It’s just another example of why I am such a big fan of Zaxwerks.

Well done!

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi ykeinan7,

You can use the basic Illustrator teddy bear shapes and create something like a “gingerbread man” type of bear really easily. Use the half pipe bevel to round the edges of your shape. Change the depth to adjust the thickness of your bear.

If you’re looking for a bear with a more realistic shape you might want to import a model.

Does the bear move? Give us more specifics and we might be able to provide more focused answers. Hope this helps.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Brandon

Start with the the examples and example files included with Invigorator. Check out the Invigorator tutorials available on Creative COW. Zax and John Dickinson are beefing up the tutorials available on the Zaxwerks site. Beyond that, if you have a specific challenge, let us know and we’ll help you through it.

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Barry,

the key is to crop your tga file exactly to the artwork. Invigorator will stretch or squeeze the image to fit the object. So, if you have any border around the image, you’ll see that on the front face of your object. You’ll also see distortion if the image with border is not the same aspect ratio as the 3d object.

I should add that mapping to sides of objects works differently than the front and rear faces. Those maps start from the lowest, leftest corner of the logo and wrap around it, like a ribbon around a present.

Does this help?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Bob,

Do you by chance have an older version of Invigorator still installed along with the current version? Having two copies of the plugin in the normal Invigorator location can cause error messages.

Otherwise, try restarting After Effects. Can you repeat the sequence of events that causes this?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi Jonathan,

All of the Invigorator versions as well as ProAnimator come with preset material libraries. In our case, Material means any combination of base color and images which can be applied as conventional image maps, reflection maps, bump maps or transparency maps. Throw in settings for specular highlights and you can see that Invigorator materials are highly flexible and much more than a collection of bit-mapped images.

So, where do you go from there?

You can modify any of the preset materials and add the modified versions to your materials library.

You can also use any of the textures you’ve gathered for use with Lightwave or any other app as part of Invigorator materials. You will likely need to either crop or resize some of the high-rez textures out there, or you’ll be wasting processing time dealing with resolution you don’t need. (You may need to convert the format of these files to tga in Photoshop as well.)

As for sizing these additional textures. the best advise is to open some of the default images and use them as reference. You can drop any of these images into the folders where the Zaxwerks maps reside, or create and organize your own folders.

Some people like to keep custom material libraries and images with their associated projects. Others like to build monster libraries and keep the additional tga image files with the default Invigorator files.

At this point, I know of no website where Invigorator material libraries can be uploaded and shared, but who knows what will happen if there’s enough interest.

Does this help?

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi guys,

Perhaps the brand new Illustrator CS2 will provide the answer for challenges like this. It includes a bitmap to vector converter that’s sort of like the old Adobe Streamline, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a lot more powerful and flexible.

I have the CS2 upgrade and will give it a go, when I get a chance to get it installed.

Otherwise, you may just have to do it by hand. It goes pretty quickly after you’ve done a few logo conversions. 😉

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

A few tips, DeathWolf,

First, you’re probably looking at draft mode while you work. Curves will look chunky. This mode is designed for speed. You can adjust the smoothness slider to change the setting.

Second, you can see what your letters will really look like by togging to best quality in the AE timeline and watching your comp window.

Third, if you do have unwanted spikes, you can use spikebuster to address that.

Fourth, the bevel size settings and depth of object settings will affect whether the letters touch eachother. You can offset the bevel to account for that.

Does this help?

As you explore, you’ll find lots of flexibility and power at your disposal. Have fun with Invigorator!

Jon

[Jon Okerstrom]

Hi bS,

ProAnimator’s really great at what it does, but it’s probably not your best choice for this sort of action. You’re better suited using an app that offers the ability to parent objects to eachother, establish IK chains and the like. One inexpensive alternative might be Poser. I’ve seen some animated birds in flight and models from Daz3D. You can buy pre-made flight motions from Daz as well. They aren’t as easy to create as you might think. Otherwise, Lightwave, Cinema, Maya, but those are in a whole different price and learning curve league.

Hope this helps.

Jon