The ProAnimator 3D title and logo software, winner of the Best
Animation Program of 2005 by Videomaker magazine, has just been
upgraded to version 4. Containing dozens of improvements and new
features the ProAnimator has redefined how fast the production of
professional-level 3D graphics can be.
One of the major new features of version 4 is the ability for
ProAnimator to work inside of After Effects as a plug-in. This enables
the AE animator to get real-time previews of animated 3D objects while
still inside After Effects.
"Using the ProAnimator as a plug-in greatly enhances work flow." says
Zax Dow, founder and product designer for Zaxwerks. "The plug-in makes
it easier to create beautiful multi-layered 3D animation in register
with other After Effects elements. Not having to leave After Effects to
work on the 3D also gives a huge boost to production speed and
flexibility because changes can be made to the 3D elements at any time
without having to re-render movie clips and re-import them into the
final composite."
ProAnimator has a unique new way of creating animation. Rather than
laboriously setting keyframes for every object, ProAnimator uses
behavioral animation techniques to animate many objects with a single
set of controls. This results in animations of great complexity being
very fast and easy to create. Further, it enables multiple versions to
be made with a few simple keystrokes. Animations can be saved as
templates which can then be applied to any group of letters or logo
elements for exceptionally fast graphics production.
The new version of ProAnimator adds animation features such as the
ability to do cascading visibility animation and to distribute pages of
text or Illustrator logo elements around the surface of a cylinder,
making it very easy to do curving logos in the "Universal Pictures"
style.
It also adds many new ways to render the final picture giving the
artist great flexibility in designing with 3D. These rendering styles
include Wireframe Rendering, Hiddenline Rendering, Cartoon Coloring and
Absolute Coloring. Additional special effect techniques include a
Shadow Catcher material for integrating 3D objects into existing 2D
footage and a Matte Material for creating traveling mattes out of 3D
objects.
Other new features include:
Soloing, Ghosting, Visibility and Locking for tracks.
QuickTime and AVI movies as texture maps and backgrounds.
Visibility actions for adding cascading visibility to your animation.
New Path and Pose actions for creating linear or swooping random
motion, with tumbling.
Scene merging.
Track segment labeling.
Track duplication.
Track segment flipping.
A new file format which saves models as a live, editable objects so
they can be reused in other projects and changed at a later date.
For video editors who do not use After Effects, the standalone version
of ProAnimator includes all the new features of the plug-in plus the
ability to export final movies in QuickTime or AVI formats and even use
movie files as texture maps. Background movies are also now supported
and the background can be composited with the 3D elements as part of
the final rendering process, so complete promos, ID's and titles can be
rendered in the standalone ready to drop into the time line of a video
editing system.
An extra plug-in, also included in the bundle, enables the artist to
import camera and object animation data from a ProAnimator project into
an After Effects project. So it doesn't matter if the artist wants the
ProAnimator to follow an AE camera move, or if he wants After Effects
to follow a ProAnimator camera move. All bases are covered in this
tremendous upgrade.
The price of ProAnimator is $695, with upgrades starting at $199.
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