[Zax Dow]

Hi Marcelo,

The creation of objects, and the set up of the scene is exactly the same in both programs. The difference is the animation.

In the Invigorator you have to use AE’s keyframes to animate the objects and camera. Oftentimes this can be frustrating and very time consuming, especially if you are doing anything fancy.

In the ProAnimator you create animations without using keyframes. There are controllers for animating the shape of the paths, where objects will start and end, and the timing of the objects as they move along their paths. By using controllers rather than keyframes it is much easer to create the animation and you can do it in far less time. Once an animation is created you can save it and apply it to any other set of letters or objects. This means you can create additional versions without having to recreate the animation.

The ProAnimator is truly a remarkable tool.

-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Not for a while. We have to ship version 4 of ProAnimator first!

-Z

[Zax Dow]

. . . and if you are still seeing oddness, then send me the helmet and I’ll check to see if there’s a bug.

-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi there,

Make sure you are using 4.0.4. A couple of versions ago we added auto-spherical mapping to imported objects which is exactly what you’re looking for with a helmet.

Try this as a test. Apply an alignment grid to the helmet and take a look at what’s happening to the map. An alignment grid is extremely useful when you are having trouble with maps. If you are unfamiliar with these little gems I’ve posted one here:

https://www.zaxwerks.com/downloads/AlignmentGrid_500x250.jpg

If this grid isn’t the size that you are using for your layer map, just scale it to fit.

TIP: Since you are trying to apply a logo to only a part of a whole helmet, your layer map should really be a pre comp. That way you can put the logo in the center of the pre comp and the rest of the helmet will be colored with the background color of the pre comp.

Best,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Tim,

The Invigorator always uses UV-style mapping for objects that it builds (objects from .ai files and text). This means the map will wrap itself in and out and around the twists and turns of the model. If you start with a tiny circle you’ll get a pinch at the front and back because that is where the polygons condense to a point.

There is also a mapping break between the front, sides and back of the object.

We might be able to give you a more concrete suggestion is we know what your shape looks like and how is it that you’d like the map to appear?

Best,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Mark,

Yes you can make the Move controller go to any value you want. The slider only goes to 1000, so for anything higher than that just type the number into the edit box next to the slider.

Regarding the problem of where some objects go forward and the others go back. . . most likely this was because you “tweaked” some of the objects at one of the Poses, or did a rotation that changed the Z position of the objects. Here’s why this would matter…

When you have two poses that are exactly across from each other, like when you from left to right with no change in the Z or Y directions, then the ProAnimator can’t tell what forward or backward is supposed to be. So say for a perfect left-right case, an arch direction of 90 made the arch go backward.

But now say you had one object that didn’t get moved exactly to the right? What if you tweaked this object and it ends up moving a little to the front of the other objects? This moves it in both X and Z so the ProAnimator can figure out that an arch direction of 90 would point the arch to the front, not the back. So suddenly the program looks crazy because the arches are pointing in opposite directions.

The fix is really easy. Move all of the objects either forward or backwards a little bit at one of the poses. Once the two poses are no longer exactly across from each other everything works like a charm. Again, this fix isn’t something that you have to do every time you create an animation, it’s just a way to get out of the paradox created when some objects move in positive Z while some move in negative Z.

Hope that helps,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Adam,

Here are a couple of ideas . ..

1- First (please excuse the obviousness of this) but you cannot run more than two copies of the same software that use the same authorization codes. If you only have one license for Invigorator but are trying to run it on two machines at the same time you will get this message.

2- If AE crashes while working on an Invigorator project and you don’t restart your computer, then you will get this message.

3- If you or someone else were using the Invigorator on another computer and AE crashed but this other computer was never restarted, then you will see this error on your computer because the other computer thinks the Invigorator is still running.

There is an easy test to see whether this is a problem on your computer alone or is a network problem. Unplug your computer from the net (don’t turn off your network, actually unplug the cable), restart your computer, then see if you can use the Invigorator again. If it still doesn’t work then the problem is with your computer, if Invigorator now works then the problem is with some other computer.

Best,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

……. that bug was probably compatibility for Illustrator CS files.

Until version 4 of ProAnimator is released, just save your file as an earlier version of Illustrator and it should open up fine.

-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Eric,

Since the error message says to update your drivers, did you? Do that first. You need to get the latest drivers from the ATI website not the Microsoft website. Even if you think you have the latest drivers loaded, reinstall them anyway as a reinstall can often clean up problems that don’t go away any other way.

As an alternative, remove the OpenGL plug-in from your After Effects plug-ins folder.
After Effects >Plug-ins >Standard >Extensions >OpenGL 3D.aex

Tell us what you find.

Best,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Dan,

Please send me the project that is causing this to happen. Also send me a System Profile on your hardware and extensions.

Thanks,

Zax
zax@zaxwerks.com