[Zax Dow]

Kalle, Mike, you HAVE to send a project file when things go wacky. Don’t sit and stew about it. We have excellent support and want to fix it.

Usually there is some setting that got tweaked and that’s causing the problem. For instance if you go into the Flag’s SetUp window and start fiddling with the cloth settings (stretch, bend, shear) you can make the cloth go crazy. Choose the Stiff Cloth Preset to get things back in line.

-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Make sure the comp sized solid has a duration of the entire comp.
If you still have trouble send the project to support (at) zaxwerks.com and we’ll take a look!

Best,
Zax

[Zax Dow]

By default ProAnimator uses UV mapping which means that for the sides, the map starts at the lowest point on the object and wraps counterclockwise around the surface of the side until it gets back to where it started. Map tiling was a new feature of version 5 so for version 4.5.1 you have to use a really wide picture, or layer map, and apply it to the sides as its own material. So one material for the front and back and a separate one for the side.

The size will vary based on how curvy your objects are. A circle is pretty easy to figure the size. An S will require a lot wider of a map. A good place to start would be a layer map that was 100 pixels tall and 2000 pixels wide. If you are using a comp as the layer map be sure that the comp is the same dimensions as the map, otherwise the comp will end up cropping the map.

If you want to get really precise apply a square checker pattern to the map. Then you can see how the squares stretch and compensate by increasing the height or width of the map.

Hope that helps!
-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Georgina,

Sorry I don’t think you can do this. You would be able to if the Layer Tracking feature didn’t turn off the animation controls for each Set. Perhaps we can add this ability in a new version of the software.

-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hey Mike,

Please send a project with the misbehaving Flag to support (at) zaxwerks.com and I’ll take a look!

-Z

[Zax Dow]

Open ProAnimator, then open the Preferences and click the Restore To Factory Presets button, then Exit and relaunch ProAnimator.

If this doesn’t fix it take a look at this FAQ from the Zaxwerks Help Center: https://zaxwerks.com/helpcenter/faq7.shtml
It tells you how to reset the factory presets

[Zax Dow]

The flag will undulate as long as the duration of the layer it has been applied to. So my guess is that your layer isn’t the full length of the movie you are rendering.
This is one of the reasons why it’s best to apply the effect to a solid. If you need the solid to be longer just drag the end longer in the timeline.

[Zax Dow]

Hi Clive!
Animating a background is a creative way to use 3D Flag. Just follow these steps.
– Add a Comp Sized Solid to your comp.
– Add the 3D Flag effect to this solid.
– Add your background image to the comp and turn off its visibility.
– Choose the background image from the Color From menu in 3D Flag’s controls
– Now you can use Size From control to make the background large, or use the camera controls to zoom in close so it fills the screen.
– You can also use the rotation controls to lay the flag on it’s back to get an angled look at the flag or use the camera to look up at the flag.
– To add extra “grandeur” use the Slo-Mo control to make the flag wave in slow motion.

If you need to get the flag to fall less, reduce the gravity setting. This will keep it more rectangular without having to blow the wind so hard.

Hope that helps.
-Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hi Mike,

When cropping is occurring it’s a sign that you have applied the Flag plug-in to a solid that is not comp sized. Always, always apply Flag (or any other Zaxwerks plug-in) to a comp-sized Solid. Besides cropping, using a non-comp sized solid will also throw off the camera which is probably why the object is suddenly flying offscreen in some unknown direction.

My suggestion is to create a Comp-sized solid (leave it 2D, you’re not making the Solid 3D are you?),
Then apply the flag plug-in to the solid.
Then add the image you want on the flag as a separate layer to your AE project, but turn off its visibility.
Then inside the plug-in choose the layer as the color for the flag

This is all covered in the Flag on-line documentation under Quick Start.

If it’s still acting goofy please send the project to support@zaxwerks.com

Best
Zax

[Zax Dow]

Hey Jimmy,

Ed can’t comment on future features, but I can, (heh, heh).

Yes DOF is high on our list of things to add. Version 5 was an incredible amount of work for us. Practically the entire user interface had to be rewritten to support the panel system. But it needed to be done in order to add new features like the drawing window, batch rendering window and expandable materials window. With this now behind us we can concentrate on adding even more cool features that will make your animations look like a million bucks!

Best,
Zax