[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Kerri.

By default, images are placed over a Base Color,
but you can turn this off.

Follow these steps to import an image with transparency:
1. Create a new Material.

2. Add an Image Shader to your Color Channel.

3. Turn off Base Color for the Color Channel.

The Material should now have the transparency without the base color.

Let us know if you have additional questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

I see what you’re requesting now. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I’d suggest making the material for the floor completely transparent.
This way, only the reflection will show up in the mask for the floor in After Effects.

I made a test scene in ProAnimator:

The floor has a transparent material with Ray Trace Reflectivity and Falloff applied:

Once back in After Effects, I added a camera and a blue Solid. You can see that the Solid
looks like it’s reflecting the ProAnimator scene, even though the reflection is coming from
within the ProAnimator plug-in.

Let me know if this helps, or if you have more questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

Hello Holt.

You can create reflections of ProAnimator scenes in Reflector floors.

In order to see the ProAnimator reflection, you’ll need to do two things:
1. In the 3D Reflector ECW params, turn OFF the “Hide 2D Layers” checkbox.
2. In the ProAnimator ECW params, turn ON “Use Comp Camera.”

By default, 3D Reflector ignores 2D layers so they don’t interfere with 3D reflections,
but a 2D layer that has ProAnimator or 3D Invigorator is a special case.

Note that Falloff does not work with 2D layers, so you can’t use Falloff with ProAnimator
or 3D Invigorator layers.

Let us know if you have more questions, or would like an example project.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Todd.

A few more comments:
1. The current version (v6) of Invig has an Object Drawing panel in the Invigorator Set-Up window.
You can create extruded and lathe objects in this window (Ctrl+L to create a Lathe object on the PC – Cmd+L on the Mac).

2. When creating outlines in Illustrator and saving the file, make sure “Use Compression” is off in the Save options.

3. If you draw a quarter circle as an extruded object, or import a quarter circle Illustrator outline, you can convert it to a Lathe object using the Object menu.

4. I made a quarter circle in Illustrator. You can get it by right-clicking here and saving file.

5. I made a simple dome Lathe object in Invigorator PRO v6. You can get it by right-clicking here and saving the file.

Let us know if you have more questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Todd.

You should be able to import a quarter circle curve into Invigorator (or draw one in our Object Drawing window).
Then select the object and choose Object> Convert to Lathe Object.

This should create a half dome.

Let us know if you still have questions, or need a sample project.

m

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Austin.

There is currently a bug with the +blur option, creating streaking artifacts in
some situations.

We suggest rendering without blur and then doing it as a post-process.

Let us know if you have more questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

In order, the Update buttons are:
– Update Cameras
– Update Lights
– Update Sets

The last button (red ball) opens the Set-Up window.

If you expect to use Camera, Light, or Set values that you modify in the Set-Up window,
be sure to click the appropriate button when you’re back in AE. We require these button presses
to get around a technical limitation with how we interact with After Effects.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Stan.

Two things to check:
1. When changing lights in the Set-Up window, it’s important to update the Lights once you’re back in AE.
2. Make sure that “Use Comp Lights” is unchecked.

See the image below:
          

If this is what you’ve done and it’s still not working, then please send me your project.
I only need the .aep file – no media files are necessary.

Send files to: matt@zaxwerks.com

I’ll take a look. Thanks.

Matt Rhodes
matt@zaxwerks.com

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Geoff.

One way to minimize the time it takes for the ProAnimator UI to show itself
is to remove any swatches that you don’t think you’ll need.

There are four types of swatches:
1. Material Swatches
2. Object Style Swatches
3. Light Swatches
4. Lighting Style Swatches

To delete unwanted/unused swatches, do the following:
1. Open one of the panels.
2. Select the ones you don’t think you’ll use.
(hold the Shift key while selecting more)
3. Then click on the little garbage can icon in the upper-right corner of the panel.

The fewer swatches to load, the quicker the Set-Up window will open.

Note that if you want to restore the master swatches, you can do so
in the User Preferences window. Look for the “Restore files to factory settings” section.

As for your GL problems, I’m guessing it’s a driver issue.
Please let us know what the error messages say. What is the exact text?

Let us know if you have any more questions.

Matt Rhodes
Zaxwerks, Inc.

[Matt Rhodes]

Hi Brennan.

There was a bug with some imported objects not having their normals set.
Please email me offline so that I can send you a bug fix.

Let me know if you’re Mac or PC.

Matt Rhodes
matt@zaxwerks.com