AE PRO 4.0 Addendum

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.
0 PRO Addendum
Zaxwerks Inc.
5724 Camellia Ave.
Temple City, CA 91780
(626) 309-9102 phone
(626) 309-9142 fax
http://www.zaxwerks.com
Sales: sales@zaxwerks.com
Tech Support: support@zaxwerks.com
1996 - 2004 Zaxwerks Inc. All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied
in accordance with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use
only, is subject to change without notice, and does not represent product specifications or commitment on the
part of Zaxwerks. Zaxwerks assumes no responsibility or liability for any error or inaccuracies that may appear
in this document.
The Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator is a trademark of Zaxwerks Inc. After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. FreeHand is a trademark of Macromedia Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows 2000 and Windows XP are registered trademarks of
Microsoft, Inc. OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. All other product names or trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum
Table of Contents
Whats New in 4.0 PRO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Creating Text Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Text Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Setting The Block Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Font Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Size
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Kerning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Width Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Height Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Baseline Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cleaning Up Problems With Font Models . . . . . . . . 14
3D Text Editing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3D Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Making a Primitive Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Changing A Primitive Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Coloring A Primitive Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Animating A Primitive Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Making A Primitive Look Faceted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
How To Squash Or Skew A Primitive . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Zaxwerks Object Import / Export Format . . . . . . . . 20

How To Save A Zaxwerks 3D Object . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Adding Zaxwerks 3D Objects To Other Projects . . 21
Making Imported Zaxwerks
Objects Larger or Smaller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Layer Map Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
How To Animate A Layer Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Finding The Perfect Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Highlight Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
How To Make A Highlight Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
How To Give A Material A Highlight Map . . . . . . . . 28
Creative Uses for Highlight Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Render Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
New Material Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Wireframe And Hiddenline Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . 32
How To Give Objects A Wireframe
or Hiddenline Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Making The Lines Thicker or Thinner . . . . . . . . 35
Setting The Color Between The Lines . . . . . . . . 36
Making The Lines React To Lights . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Making Lines Shine With Reflections . . . . . . . . 38
Applying Grids Across Object Faces . . . . . . . . . 39
3
Cartoon Coloring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
How To Give Objects Cartoon Coloring . . . . . . 40
Absolute Coloring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
How To Give Objects Absolute Coloring . . . . . 42
2D Graphics In A 3D World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Absolute Coloring For Pop Art Looks . . . . . . . . 44
The Stroked Pop Art Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Modified Pop Art Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Making TV Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Making 3D Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Matte Color Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Making Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Masking Out Unwanted Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Making Objects Circle Around 2D Elements . . 50
The Shadow Catcher Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Setting Up The Camera For
A Shadow Catcher Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Changes To Swatch Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

How Swatch Handling Now Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Benefits Of The New Swatch Handling System . . . 68
Regenerating Material Swatches
That Have Been Deleted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Regenerating Object Style Swatches
That Have Been Deleted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Tracking AEs 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

What Kinds Of Objects Can
Track An AE Plane? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
How To Make A Set Track A 3D Plane . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Animating With A Controller Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Adding Objects To The Tracking Set . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
What To Do If Objects Are Rotating Off Center . . . 61
Trouble Shooting Tracking Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Using 3D Tracking To Scale In All 3 Dimensions . . 65
4
Whats New In 4.0 PRO?

Version 4.0 PRO of the 3D Invigorator for After Effects contains
many new features that will appeal to the designer and the fast
paced production artist alike.
Following is a short overview of the new additions. Be sure to
read the rest of the manual as each chapter explains the feature
in detail and includes many creative ideas and suggestions.
3D Text Creation
Version 4.0 PRO contains a full-featured text editor. Each letter
can have its own font, size, kerning, tracking, baseline shift,
horizontal and vertical scale, color, bevel, position and depth.
Building editable text into the plug-in means that changes to the
spelling of a title, adding words or creating multiple versions can
be done without ever leaving After Effects.
Motion Blur
Version 4.0 PRO brings 3D motion blur to After Effects. Anything
that can be created or imported into the Invigorator PRO can be
motion blurred. This includes models made in other programs
such as Maya, 3D Studio and LightWave.
6
3D Primitives
Spheres, cubes, planes and cylinders can be created without
leaving After Effects and images can be mapped onto their
surfaces to create effects like spinning globes, and video boxes.
The Zaxwerks Object Import/Export Format

The addition of this new file format enables you to create 3D
design elements which can be reused over and over in new
projects.
Layer Map Animation

There is a new Layer Map Offset control that enables you to keep
reflection maps moving even once the objects have come to rest.
This keep graphics alive and interesting.
Render Farming
Version 4.0 PRO supports render farming using the standard After
Effects render engine. This gives you unlimited rendering power
without having to buy additional licenses.
Highlight Mapping
Highlight (or Specular) mapping is a professional level feature
that brings enhanced photo-realism to the final rendering. Highlight mapping shows surface texture in the glare and hot spots
that appear on objects.
Wireframe And Hidden Line Coloring

These new types of materials make objects look like they are
drawn by lines rather than solid 3D objects. The lines can be
single-colored or they can be affected by the lights and reflections
in the scene. You can even texture map them if you want multicolored lines. The Wireframe style shows all of the lines in an
object. The Hidden Line style only shows the lines that are facing
the viewer.
Cartoon Coloring
This new material type paints objects with a bold graphic look
similar to how cell animators paint their artwork.
Absolute Coloring
This new material type paints objects a single color that is
unaffected by light or shadow. It is very useful for creating 2Dcolored graphics out of 3D models. Also good for giving a
corporate client the companys colors exactly per spec.
Matte Coloring
Matte Coloring makes a 3D object act like a mask. This is useful
for creating 3D transitions, and 3D traveling mattes.
The Shadow Catcher Material

The Shadow Catcher material option makes the shadows from
your 3D objects appear to fall onto the objects in a piece of
background video. It is very useful for merging 3D imagery with
existing footage.
Tracking AEs 3D Objects

Invigorator objects can now track, or mimic, what an AE 3D
plane is doing. This enables all of AEs manipulation tools,
velocity graphs, animation assistants and expression scripts to be
used to control Invigorator objects.
Changes To Swatch Handling

Version 4.0 has made significant changes to the way swatches are
handled. Swatches are now based on a global library system
which keeps the file size down and speeds up the save process.
It also means that once a material or object style is saved it is
immediately available to use in all other Invigorator plug-ins,
which is great for keeping projects consistent and speeding up
work.
Creating Text Objects

3D models can be created completely inside the software by
using PostScript or True Type fonts installed on your computer.
3D Text objects are created either by clicking the Create 3D
Text button on the StartUp screen or by using the Create 3D
Text... menu item from the Object menu. After that the Text
window opens. NOTE: The delay you experience before opening
the Text window is because the Invigorator is building the font
list. By removing fonts you do not use regularly, the Text window
will open much faster.
The Block Size Arrow
Text Entry Area

The large white area is where you type your text. Letters can be
selected by dragging with your mouse. Once selected, letters can
then be edited. Each letter can have its own font, size, scale,
kerning, and other attributes.
Setting The Block Size
The text entry area
10
The
inactive
area
The size of the text block is controlled with the arrow at the right
side of the Text window. You can see that to the left of this arrow
is the white text entry area. To the right of this arrow is the dark
inactive area. The Block Size arrow sets where the letters will
wrap, and the alignment point for the justification options. You
will see the text wrap change as you drag the arrow.
It is usually a good idea to adjust the Block Size arrow so the

Block Size is as small as possible. Extra white space on the right
side of the block may force your models off center.
Font Menu
The Invigorator can use almost any font that is installed and
recognized by your system. Both True Type and Type 1 Postscript
fonts can be used. To change the font, first select the characters
that you want to change, then select the new font from the font
menu. Each character can use a different font.
Move the Block Size Arrow to the edge of the

letters for the best fit.
After a new font is selected you can use the up and down arrow
keys on your keyboard to step through the font list. Each click
down will apply the next font down on the list to the selected
characters. This is an extremely useful feature! It means you
dont have to know what a font looks like to use it. Just type the
text, and step through the font list until you find a typeface that
looks good to you.
Size
This sets the size of the text objects. It is best to make the text
large, like you would if you were setting type for large displays.
The default size is 72 points. 72 is the smallest we recommend
that you make the type. Sizes smaller than 72 can be used but the
models may require extra fussing to make them look right. Each
letter can have a different size.
Click the large arrow to the right of the Size field to select
from a list of popular presets.
11
Leading
Leading is the amount of space between the baseline of one line
of text and the baseline of the line of text above it. If you set the
leading for a single character it will influence the whole line that
that character is on.
When Leading is set to Automatic, the leading value is written
with parentheses around the numbers. Automatic Leading will
set the leading to 120% of the Size value.
Spacing
The little up/down arrows next to the edit fields
can help you fine tune the values. Each click
on one of these arrows will increase or decrease the value by one. If you hold the Shift
key down each click changes the value by a
larger amount.
Kerning and Leading can be done from the

keyboard. Click the cursor between two letters,
then hold down the Option (ALT) key and press
your keyboards left/right arrow keys to adjust
Kerning, and the Up/Down arrow keys to adjust
Leading.
12
Letter Spacing is also known as Tracking. It is extra space that is

inserted between the letters. The letter spacing applied in the
text window does not animate. If you want to animate letters
getting closer together or spreading apart, use the Spread/Bunch
slider in the Transition controls of the ProAnimator.
Kerning
Kerning is letter spacing that is applied between individual
characters. Negative values move letters closer to each other.
Positive values move them away from each other.
Width Scale
The Width Scale enables you to make a character fatter or thinner
without changing its height. The value is in percentage, so a scale
of 100% keeps the character its original size. A scale of 50%
makes the letter half the width that it normally is, and 200%
makes it twice as wide.
Height Scale
The Height Scale enables you to make a character taller or
shorter without changing its width. The value is in percentage, so
a scale of 100% keeps the character its original height. A scale of
50% makes the letter half the height that it normally is, and 200%
makes it twice as tall.
Baseline Shift
This feature lets you raise a character above its baseline, or lower
it below its baseline. The value is in points so a shift of 10 will
raise the character above the baseline 10 points. A value of -10
will lower it below the baseline 10 points.
Justification
The Justification option works on a paragraph basis. The characters in each line can be made to align with the left or right edges
of the text block, or each line can be horizontally centered within
the text block, or can be distributed so that the first and last
characters of each line will both align with the left and right
edges of the text block.
The 102 has been baseline shifted.
13
Cleaning Up Problems With Font Models

Sometimes fonts can create problems when turned into 3D
models. For example here is a letter k from the font New York.
You can see that part of the letter looks goofed up. This is
because some paths were left open when the font was created.
The Invigorator has a way to fix this that works automatically
most of the time.
Poorly created fonts can cause this type of problem.
When you see this type of problem all you have to do is to set the
Edge Offset slider to a small positive value, such as +0.1. This
will cause the internal boolean engine to clean up the overlaps,
loops and missing parts of the vector paths. Sometimes a different value will do the trick, such as -0.5, or -0.1. Depending on the
size of the font you will find a range of values that dont appear to
have much affect on the font but may help clean up the problem
of a poorly created font.
If the Edge Offset technique doesnt fix the problem, try changing
the setting for Object Faceting.
This same technique can be used to clean up problems with
poorly created Illustrator artwork too.
The Edge Offset slider often fixes problems automatically.

14
3D Text Editing Tips

You can change text at any time and the new text will take on all
the colors and shape settings of the existing letters. Usually this
is a simple matter of just typing new text. However when there is
more than one Object Style being used in the same text block,
you need to know the way the Invigorator applies Object Styles to
new objects.
Say we have the words Coming Up Next..., colored as you see in
the picture, and we want to change the words to Appearing
Tuesday... We want the look of the new title to match the look of
the old title; meaning we want the first A to be black, the rest of
the word pink, and the word Tuesday to be gold and silver.
If we open the Text Window and erase all the letters, when we
type in the new ones they will all be colored the same as the C
because the C was the first letter in the text block.
Double click on a letter to open the Text window..,
When only some of the letters are selected at a time, the Invigorator uses the first letter in the selection as the Master and all
the new text is made to match the master. So by selecting the
letters in three groups, it will keep all three of the Object Styles
used in this title. Heres how to do it...
1- In the 3D window, double click on one of the letters. This will
open the Text Window. You can also click the Edit Text button
in the Object tab.
...or click the Edit Text button.

15
2- Select only the letter C in the word Coming.

3- Type an A, which is the first letter in the word Appearing.
4- Select the letters, oming Up, which are the rest of the letters
on the top line.
5- Type ppearing, which are the rest of the letters in the word
Appearing.
TROUBLESHOOTING TIP!
If you make a selection then hit the delete or backspace
key before typing the new text, the attribute matching wont
work as described in this section. All you have to do is to
make a selection and start typing.
6- Select the whole bottom line. (Next...)

7- Type Tuesday...
Do not drag the Block Size arrow. If you change the position of
the block size arrow, it will change where the text is inserted into
the scene. This may push the text off the screen.
8- Click OK. You will see the new title in the 3D window with the
same look as the old title.
16
3D Primitives
Primitives are simple geometric shapes such as spheres, cubes,
planes and cylinders. The Invigorator PRO can create these
shapes all by itself. Images can be mapped onto primitives to
create things like spinning globes, and video boxes. You can also
create planes to be used for shadow catcher objects which help
to merge 3D objects into live video footage. (See the section on
The Shadow Catcher Material for more on this.)
Making A Primitive Object

Primitive objects are created by using the Create 3D Primitive
button, or the Create 3D Primitive menu item.
Cubes, Spheres, Cylinders and Planes are all 3D Primitives.
When you use this feature a sphere is created at the center of the
scene.
Materials can be drag and dropped onto Primitive objects, but
Object Styles cannot be used as they are only for text objects and
objects created from Illustrator files.
The dimensions of the Primitive can be adjusted in the Object
Tab. The dimension sliders will appear below the Primitive Type
popup and change based on which Primitive is selected.
Creating a Primitive.
Adjusting a Primitives
dimensions.
17
Changing A Primitive Object

You can change from one Primitive to another by selecting a
different type from the popup menu. You dont need to delete the
old Primitive first, then add a new one. Materials and settings are
transferred to the new Primitive, when appropriate.
Coloring A Primitive Object

Primitives are colored by dragging material swatches from the
Material Bin or Material Editor and dropping them onto the
Primitive.
Because each Primitive object has a different number of faces,
the number of docks in the palette will change depending on
which Primitive is selected.
Apply a Material to a Primitive by dragging a
swatch and dropping it onto the Primitive.
For instance, planes and spheres are colored with only a single
material. Cylinders are colored with three materials; one for each
end, and one for the curved surface. Cubes are colored with six
materials; one for each face.
Animating A Primitive Object

Primitives are animated just like any other object. From inside
the Set-Up window assign the Primitive to a Set, and then animate
the Set using the controls in the Effect Controls Window.
A Set can contain any mix of objects, whether they are Primitives,
text objects or objects created from Illustrator files.
18
Making a Primitive Look Faceted

One of the cool things you can do to change the look of your
objects is to make them look faceted rather than smooth. For
instance, usually a sphere is smooth. By making a sphere faceted
it will look like it was carved with a knife.
To do this select the sphere and then press the Stats button on the
Object Tab. In the Object Stats window you will see a field called
Hard Shading Angle. Enter a small number such as 5 and hit the
Apply button. You should see the sphere become faceted. Click
the OK button to exit the Stats dialogue.
Click the Stats button.
Enter a 5 in the Hard

Shading Angle field.
Now you can play with the Draft Faceting slider to add or remove
facets. Once you have it the way you like it, set the Best Faceting
slider to match the Preview slider so that the final rendering
looks the same as what you are seeing in preview window.
How To Squash Or Skew A Primitive

The way the Invigorator works with After Effects enables some
interesting uses. For instance if you want to squash or skew one
of your Primitives all you have to do is to assign it to its own Set,
rotate it off axis and then use the Depth Scale feature, located in
the AE Effect Controls Window, to scale the objects. Since the
Primitive has been rotated off axis the scale function will skew a
cube, or squash a sphere into an ovoid shape. (See the section on
Tracking AEs 3D Objects for information on squash and stretch
and multi-axis scaling.)
When a low value is used for Hard Shading,

the facets appear on an object.
19
The Zaxwerks Object Import/Export Format

Version 4.0 PRO adds a new file format for importing and exporting 3D objects. The Zaxwerks Object.zxo format enables you to
save model files containing 3D logos, live text and other 3D
objects, complete with all colors, materials and object settings.
These model files can be reused over and over in all your other
Zaxwerks projects. This is a huge time saver for repetitive work.
How To Save A Zaxwerks 3D Object

To save Zaxwerks Object files:
Start with everything in its final form.
1- Set up your 3D objects exactly the way you want them to be

saved. Colors, textures, and positions will all be saved into the
file.
2- Select the objects you want to save.
3- Choose the Export 3D Object command, and choose the .zxo
file format in the Export window.
4- Name and save the file.
20
Adding Zaxwerks 3D Objects To Other Projects

Add a Zaxwerks 3D object to a project the same way that you
would Import any other 3D object.
1- Open the project that you want to add the Zaxwerks Object to.
2- Choose the Import 3D Object command.
3- Select the file you want to import. Click the Import button.
The 3D objects will come into the scene in the exact same
position as they were when saved.
TIP: If maps are missing, the program will ask you to locate
them. Thats why its important to keep your maps in a
central folder, such as the Zaxwerks Maps folder, or a
central project folder, such as Client Project Maps.
21
Making Imported Zaxwerks Objects Larger Or Smaller

When you combine objects from different scenes sometimes their
sizes dont match. You have to scale one set of objects to match
the size of the other objects. To do this...
To scale objects, switch to Object
mode and select the Scale tool.
1- Open the Invigorators Set-Up window.

2- Import the objects.
When objects are imported they will all be selected. Leave them
selected. (If they have become unselected you will need to select
them before going to step 3.)
3- Switch to Object Mode, and select the Scale tool.
4- Click in the preview window and drag to scale the objects.
Hold the Shift key and drag along a 45 degree angle to
scale in the X and Y directions proportionally.
Hold the Shift+Control keys and drag along a 45 degree
angle to scale in the X, Y and Z directions proportionally.
Dragging close to the horizontal or vertical directions will
constrain the scaling to horizontal or vertical only.
22
Motion Blur
When objects are moving fast, motion blur is used to fill in the
gaps between successive frames in an animation. In After
Effects, 2D motion blur looks like the pixels have been smeared,
but 3D motion blur looks like eight in-between images. This isnt
really a blur but it does a great job of smoothing out the motion
anyway. The Invigorator creates motion blur the same way as
After Effects.
There are no buttons in the Invigorator to turn motion blur on.
The Invigorator looks at the After Effects settings for Motion Blur
and if they are turned on in After Effects then the Invigorator
turns them on automatically.
Choose the smoothness of the Motion Blur from this menu.
The amount of blur is taken from the After Effects settings. To

make the blur longer go to the Composition Settings> Advanced
Tab and increase the Shutter Angle.
The smoothness of the blur is controlled from inside the
Invigorators Set-Up window. The Motion Blur popup, located on
the Camera Tab, lets you choose how many passes or steps are
used to create the blurred image. The more passes, the longer the
rendering will take, but the smoother the blur will be.
23
Layer Map Animation

Version 4.0 PRO adds a new control for texture maps that will let
you animate the wrap of a texture as it is applied to an object.
This feature is especially useful for reflection maps.
For example, once a 3D title comes to rest, the reflections stop

moving too. This can make the graphic look dead and uninteresting. By animating this new parameter the map will continue to
move so the graphics will remain alive and visually appealing.
A reflection moves across the face of a star.
How To Animate A Layer Map

To use this feature do the following:
1- Click the Layer Maps arrow to reveal the eight possible layer
maps.
Select the layer you want to use as the Layer Map.
2- From the Layer Map 1 popup menu, select the After Effects
layer you want to be the layer map.
3- Below the Layer Map 1 parameter is a setting called Offset.
Animate this setting to animate the movement of the layer map.
Animate the Layer Map Offset to make the map move.
24
4- Use the Layer Map as part of a Material and apply the Material
to an object. If you dont know how to do these things see the
two sections called Layer Map Popups and Layer Map Selector
Popups in the regular manual. (pages 113 and 257)
NOTE 1:
The Offset parameter only moves the layer map horizontally.
NOTE 2:
The Offset parameter is a percentage of the map being used. A
value of 25 will offset the map 25% of its width, not 25 pixels.
Doing offsets by percentage enables you to change maps at any
time during the production process and not have to change the
animation values of the map Offset, even when the dimensions of
the maps change.
NOTE 3:
The Offset feature can only be done to Layer Maps 1 and 2. So if
you plan on using this feature be sure to leave these slots available. Its perfectly fine to skip Layer Maps 1 and 2 and use other
Layer Maps for general purpose mapping. That way you always
have 1 and 2 available when you need them.
25
Finding The Perfect Reflection

Another great use for this feature is to help you find the perfect
reflection. When you apply a reflection map it doesnt always
create highlights where you want them. For instance, perhaps
you would like the highlights to fall across the center of some
letters right at the 2 second mark in the animation. Normally this
is a hit or miss operation. You pretty much end up using whatever you can get because its so difficult to get a highlight to land
in just the right place at the right time.
However, the Offset parameter enables you to slide the reflection
back and forth until you see exactly the part you want at the time
you want it. To do this...
1- Set up Layer Map 1 to be a reflection map.
2- Move the After Effects time marker to the point in time where
you want the reflection map to highlight the letters. In the above
example this means move the time marker to the two second
mark.
NOTE: You must have Dynamic Previewing

turned ON in the After Effects Preferences to
see the highlights move as you scrub.
26
3- Scrub the Offset parameter back and forth until you see the
highlights of the map appear on your objects where you want
them. Value scrubbing is done in After Effects by clicking down
on the numerical edit field, holding down the mouse button, and
then dragging the mouse left and right.
Highlight Mapping
Highlight Mapping, or Specular Mapping as it is known to the 3D
savvy, is a type of texture mapping that only affects the highlights
on an object.
Much of the textural feel of a surface is contained in the highlights. The base paint job on an object may be fine, but over the
top of the paint job the surface may be worn or dirty, and this
type of surface detail isnt seen until you line your eye up with the
glare from a light. Adding a highlight map gives your work a
subtle touch that can make it look much more professional.
Without a Highlight Map
With a Highlight Map
How To Make A Highlight Map

Highlight Maps are made like any other texture map. They are
pixel-based images made in Photoshop or some other paint
program. The image should be grayscale. A color Highlight Map
can be used but only the luminance of the colors will be used. If
the map is four-channel, the RGB channels will be ignored and
only the alpha channel will be used for the highlights.
In a Highlight Map the dark pixels reduce the highlight and the
white pixels keep the highlight. The Highlight Brightness slider
sets the maximum brightness of the highlight, and the map only
reduces it. The map does not increase the brightness of the
highlight.
Typical Highlight Maps
27
How To Give A Material A Highlight Map

An image is applied as a Highlight Map in the same way that all
other surface attributes are assigned a map.
1- Find the Highlight Map thumbnail box, located next to the
Highlight Brightness and Highlight Sharpness sliders.
2- Click on the thumbnail box to open a file picker.
3- Find the image you want to use as the Highlight Map and click
Open.
4- Adjust the Highlight Brightness and Sharpness sliders. The
lower the Sharpness value the wider and more obvious the
highlight will be.
5- Apply the Material to the object.
NOTE: Since Highlights are dependent on the angle that the light
is bouncing off of an objects surface, you may have to move the
lights around to find the best effect.
By turning on the Use Comp Lights feature you can keyframe the
positions of After Effects lights, and make the highlights sweep
across your objects at just the right time.
Highlight maps only affect the highlights.
28
Creative Uses For Highlight Mapping

Mixed Surface Types. If the surface is constructed of two
different materials, such as Tile and Grout, one surface may be
very shiny and the other may not catch highlights at all. In the
above case the highlight map is white for the tile and black for
the grout.
Another case of mixed surfaces is where there are rivets and
welds on metal. Rivets and welds dont show highlights the same
way the base metal does because the surface is uneven. In this
case if you dont use a highlight map, the shine will slide right
across the rivets making it look like a glossy clear coat was
poured over the rivets and polished to a smooth finish.
Hidden Messages. By starting with a black background and
writing a message in white letters, the message wont be seen
until the highlight passes over the object.
Wear And Tear. Chips, dings, scratches, scuff marks and dents
do not show highlights. By putting these details into the highlight
map a surface will show wear and tear.
Fingerprints, Hand prints And Smudges. Start with a white
background, then add fingerprints and smudges in black. When
the highlight passes over the object the highlight wont appear
where the surface is smudged or printed.
29
Streaks. The surface paint job may be fine, but a streaky

highlight map gives the surface a rained-on appearance.
Unfinished Patches. If there is a repair area on a picture of
some metal plating, the patch is usually done with a darker
highlight map so the highlights dont shine off of it. This is
popular for spacecraft surfaces.
Wood Grain. Another example of mixed surface type is the
dark and light areas of a wood grain. Usually the dark lines
shine more than the lighter ones.
30
Render Farming
Version 4.0 PRO supports render farming using the standard After
Effects render engine. To use this feature refer to the instructions in your After Effects manual about installing and rendering
on remote computers. Then install the Zaxwerks folder on the
remote machines the same way you installed it on your main
machine. That is, copy the Zaxwerks folder from the CD into the
Plug-ins folder. The Zaxwerks folder contains the plug-in and all
of the factory preset support files.
One extra bit of information you need to know is that After
Effects does not automatically copy source files, that the Invigorator plug-in may be using, onto the remote machines during farm
rendering.
This means that if you have used a picture or a movie as part of a
material, and that picture or movie is not one of the factory
presets or is a layer map, then you will need to copy that picture
or movie to the Zaxwerks folder prior to rendering the final
movie.
Pictures and movies are the only source files you need to remember to copy to the farm computers. The data used to create the
models such as Illustrator files, fonts and imported 3D models is
carried inside of the project.
31
New Material Types

For the visual designer, Version 4.0 PRO has many new ways to
paint the final picture and broaden your options for being visually
creative. The new types of materials include the ability to draw
your objects out of lines or paint them like cartoons in addition to
the traditional photo-real rendering styles.
Other material options include features for advanced compositing
effects such as making the shadows from 3D objects appear to
fall onto the objects in another piece of footage, and the ability to
create traveling mattes out of 3D objects in your scene.
The new material types.
Wireframe And Hidden Line Rendering

Wireframe rendering is that Techno-looking style where 3D
objects are rendered only as the lines that define their shape.
This has a unique appeal because objects look like 2D drawings
rather than big clunky 3D objects.
A Wireframe Sphere.
32
A Hidden Line Sphere.
Hidden Line rendering is a special kind of wireframe where you

only see the lines that define the visible parts of the objects. In
standard Wireframe you see all of the lines no matter if they are
on the front or the back of the objects. But with Hidden Line the
back lines are hidden and you only see the lines that fall on the
part of the object facing you.
Something very exciting about the way Zaxwerks has implemented line rendering is that our lines respond to lighting! This
means that the lines will get brighter or darker depending on the
placement and intensity of the lights. This gives shading and
highlights to the lines rather than having plain solid-colored lines.
Another unique ability is that the lines can be texture mapped.
This lets you do things like see reflections dance across your lineobjects, or apply texture maps such as brushed metal to the lines.
All of the standard maps (color, reflections, bump, etc.) can be
used.
Line weights can be controlled to the tenth of a pixel and are fully
antialiased for professional results. You can even use the Meshing controls to create a grid of lines across your objects for a
really cool look.
Lines not affected by lights.
How To Give Objects A Wireframe or Hidden Line Look

To give an object a Wireframe look do the following:
1- Create a new Invigorator effect. Click the Create 3D text
button and type the word Wireframe. Use Arial Black as the
font or some other thick typeface.
Lines affected by lights.

33
2- In the Material Editor, use the New Material command. Then

click the color box and use the color picker to pick a medium red.
Close the color picker.
3- Still in the Material Editor, click the radio button in front of the
word Wireframe.
4- Drag the material onto the objects.
The object will still look solid. It will not appear Wireframe until
you do a Best Quality rendering.
5- Hold down the Command (Control) key and click the Test
button.
This will do a Test rendering in Best quality while you are inside
the Set-Up window. You will now see the objects drawn in
Wireframe.
Wireframe lettering is often difficult to read.
Notice that Wireframe shows you all of the objects lines, even the
ones on the back side of the object. This can sometimes clutter
up the image making the object confusing to look at. To simplify
the drawing, use the Hidden Line style of rendering.
6- In the Material Editor, click the radio button in front of the
word Hidden Line. Then do a Test rendering.
Changing the material to Hidden Line improves the legibility.

34
Now you will see only the lines on the front side of the object.
The lines on the back are no longer there, so the drawing is easier
to read.
Making The Lines Thicker Or Thinner

The lines of a Wireframe or Hidden Line material can be drawn
very thick or very thin.
(continuing from the last step)
7- At the bottom of the Material Editor click the Options button.
This will open the Hidden Line Options window.
8- Find the Line Width slider and drag it to a value of 0.5. Click
OK. Then do another Test rendering.
See that the lines are half the width as they used to be. This is
how you make very delicate line work.
9- Reopen the Options window and set the Line Width value to
2.0. Click OK. Then do another Test rendering.
See that the lines are now very thick. When the lines get too
thick they will start to fill in the object and loose the drawn
quality.
Very thin lines
Thicker lines
35
Setting The Color Between The Lines

By default you will see between the lines when you use Hidden
Line materials. In other words the space between the lines is not
filled-in so you will see the other layers behind the Invigorators
layer.
However, there is an option to fill in the space between the lines.
Turn on the Fill With Color option to

fill in the space between the lines.
1- In the Material Editor click the Options button to open the

Hidden Line Options window.
2- Put a check in the Fill With Color box.
3- Click on the color box to open the color picker and change the
color to black. Then click OK to exit out of the color picker.
4- Click OK to close the Hidden Line Options window.
5- Do a Test rendering.
This material creates red lines with a

black fill, in the Hidden Line style.
36
See how the object is now rendered as colored lines with black
between the lines.
Making The Lines React To Lights

In the Invigorator, lines can respond to lighting. This means that
the lines facing a light will be lighter and the lines facing away
from a light will be darker.
1- In the Material Editor click the Options button to open the
Hidden Line Options window.
2- Put a check in the Respond To Lighting box. Then OK out of
the Options window.
Turn on Respond To Lighting to make the lines

brighter or darker based on the lighting.
See how the lines are no longer flat colored but have a very
interesting 3-D look to them?
37
Making Lines Shine With Reflections

Another unique aspect of the Invigorators line rendering is the
ability to give the lines a reflective quality. This is done the same
way regular materials are made reflective; with reflection maps.
In fact you can turn a regular material into a wire rendering very
very easily.
1- In the Material Bin, drag the Punchy Gold swatch into the
editing area.
Drag Punchy Gold down to the Materials Editor.
2- Click on the Hidden Line radio button.

3- Click the Options window and turn on the Fill With Color
option, then make the fill color black. OK out of the Options
window.
4- Select the objects and drag the Hidden Line Gold material onto
the objects.
Line rendering with reflections turned on.
See how the lines have bright and dark streaks in them? Those
are the highlights. When you create an animation, those highlights will pass across the lines making them look really nice.
To see the difference, do the following:
The Map Enable Button.
38
Line rendering with

reflections turned off.
6- Turn off the reflection map enable switch, then do another Test
rendering. See that the lines now look flat and less interesting.
Applying Grid Lines Across Object Faces

You may have noticed that lines are drawn around the front faces
but no lines appear on the front faces themselves. It does not
have to be this way. To create a grid of lines that appear on the
front faces, use the Meshing controls.
1- Select the objects and click the Stats button on the Object tab.
2- Turn ON the meshing option, then set Meshing for Best to 5 for
all three directions. OK out of the Stats window.
3- Make a blue, hidden line Material and apply it to the objects.
See that there is now a grid pattern of lines across the faces of all
the objects. However, since the lines of the faces are the same
color as the lines of the sides it is a bit hard to read. We can fix
that by giving the faces a different color.
5- Make a red, hidden line Material and apply it only to the faces
of the objects. Do this the standard way, by clicking on the
Material Set-Up button, loading the red material into dock 2 and
then dragging the red swatch up to the color chip next to the
front face.
When all wires are one color it can be difficult to read.
Now the grid lines across the faces are red and the bevels and
sides are blue. This makes it much easier to read the words.
Making the front face wires a different color adds to the legibility.
39
Cartoon Coloring
The Cartoon Color type of Material renders 3D objects as though
they were drawn by a poster artist or an animator painting
animation cells.
Standard 3D rendering has a smooth, photo-real look. Smooth
shading paints the objects in continuous tones so curved objects
gradually get brighter or darker. But Cartoon Coloring shades
the objects in bands of color. The bands block-in the color of the
highlights, shadows and base, giving you a big bold look with lots
of punch.
How To Give Objects Cartoon Coloring

Cartoon Coloring gives objects a punchy, graphic look.
To give objects a Cartoon Colored look do the following:

1- In the Material Editor, create a new material. Then click the
color box and use the color picker to pick a medium blue. Close
the color picker.
2- Click the radio button in front of the words Cartoon Color.
3- Drag the Material onto the objects.
Cartoon colored objects in draft mode have three colors.
40
The objects will immediately change to Cartoon Colored shading.

Draft mode Cartoon Coloring has only three levels of shading.
During Best quality rendering, a fourth is added where highlights
appear.
4- Hold down the Command (Control) key and click the Test
button.
This will do a Test rendering in Best quality while you are inside
the Set-Up window. You will now see the objects drawn with full
quality Cartoon Coloring. Notice how there is a dominant base
color, which is the medium blue you chose earlier, then there is a
light, highlight shade of blue and a darker shadow shade of blue.
This is the basic cartoon coloring look. It gives the final images a
very graphic punch. If you dont want the extra highlight shade
just set the Highlight Brightness slider to 0.
Cartoon Color responds to lighting so multiple lights can create
multiple highlights. Too many lights can also wash out the image
so if an image looks overly bright and washed out, turn off some
of the lights in the scene.
Cartoon Coloring also supports all levels of texture mapping so
you can do bump mapping, and reflection mapping to create
cartoon versions of your regular photo-real renderings.
TIP
When using Cartoon Coloring it is recommended
that you only use one light source in the scene.
It is so easy to turn your regular materials into cartoon versions

(just click the Cartoon Color button) that you can try it out just to
see if the design would look better using the more graphic look of
the cartoon style of rendering.
41
Absolute Coloring
The Absolute Color material type is useful when you want a color
to be absolutely what you specify. For instance use Absolute
Coloring when you are doing a job for a corporate client who
demands that their exact corporate colors be used. The colors
cant get lighter as the objects turn toward the lights and they
cant get darker when the objects turn away from the lights. They
cant have highlights, shadows or reflections on them. The colors
are absolutely, 100%, the exact color specified. Got it?
How To Give Objects Absolute Coloring

Creating an Absolute Color material is very easy.
Make a material render with Absolute Coloring by
turning on the proper option.
1- In the Material Editor, use the New Material command. Then

click the color box and use the color picker to pick a medium
green. Close the color picker.
2- Click the radio button in front of the words Absolute Color.
3- Drag the material onto the objects.
Notice that when you apply Absolute Coloring to 3D objects, they
will look flat, as though you cut colored paper in the shape of the
silhouette of the 3D objects. For instance a sphere will stop
looking like a sphere and just look like a circle of color. By itself,
Absolute Color is pretty boring. The real treat comes in how you
use it.
42
2D Graphics In A 3D World
The first creative use for Absolute Coloring is for making 2D
graphics out of your 3D elements.
1- Select the objects, then give them an Absolute Color material.
2- Set the Depth for all objects to zero, (0).
Set the Depth to 0 to get flat, 2D text in a 3D world.
Setting the depth to zero removes the sides and bevels from your
objects. This creates flat 2D cutouts that will look exactly the
same as After Effects text on a 3D layer.
The difference however, is that text done in the Invigorator can
interact with other 3D elements in the same Invigorator scene.
This lets you mix 2D text and 3D elements. The 2D text can
appear in front, in back, or go right through the middle of any
other 3D element. The design implications for this ability are
huge.
43
Absolute Coloring For Pop Art Looks

You can use Absolute Color materials to create cool Pop Art
looks.
1- Create a new project.
The Pop Art look with bevels.
2- Create a text object and type the word Pop Art. Use Arial
Bold Italic as the font. If you dont have Arial, any San Serif font
will work. Click OK.
3- Create bright yellow and medium orange materials and set
them to Absolute Color.
4- Apply the yellow to the faces of the letters and the orange to
the sides.
The Pop Art look without bevels.
Examine what youve created. The bevels no longer look like

bevels. they make the letters get fatter and thinner in some
places but they loose some of their effect.
5- Set the bevel for all objects to Bevels> Basic, Flat Sides.
Use a wide angle lens to push the perspective.

44
Now you have the traditional Pop Art 3D look. Orbit the camera
around the objects to get a feel for this very graphic look. Notice
that although there is no shading you really get a sense of the 3D
nature because of the perspective. Use a wide angle camera lens
to really push the perspective.
The Stroked Pop Art Look

Continuing from the last project. Do the following...
6- Set the bevel for all objects to Inset Face> Outline.
Now you have Pop Art text with a block background. By using
the Edge Scale and Depth sliders you can control the size of the
block background outline around the letters.
The Pop Art look with a parallel outline.
The next step is to create a stroke around the letters.

7- Duplicate the orange material swatch and slightly brighten the
color of the duplicate.
8- Go to the Material Set-Up window and drop a split point on the
front corner of the Outline bevel. Then drag the new brighter
orange material into dock 3 and apply this material to the sides of
the bevel.
Split the Outline bevel at the front corner so a

different material can be applied to the sides.
Going back to the Scene Preview you will see that you now have
a medium orange stroke around yellow letters with bright orange
sides. Again by adjusting the Edge Scale slider you can make this
stroke very thin or very thick.
Once you get your pop art look just right, save it as an Object
Style so you can use it again.
The Pop Art look with a darker stroke.

45
The Modified Pop Art Look

The Modified Pop Art look combines absolute coloring and
regular photo-real shading.
Continuing from the last project...
9- In the Material Set-Up window, double click on the darker of
the two orange materials to load it into the Material Editor.
10- Click the Standard Color button.
This will make the darker orange respond to the lighting.
11- Change the bevel to Bevels> Medium Front. Then adjust the
Edge Scale so you can easily see the bevel.
What you have now is a combination effect. The front and sides
are absolute colored, but the bevels are shaded with highlights
and shadows. This can be a very interesting alternative to the
standard Pop Art look.
The Modified Pop Art look has Absolute Colored
front and sides, but Standard Colored bevels.
46
Making TV Screens
The Absolute Color material type is also useful when making TV
screens. Since the color of the pixels are exactly the same after
rendering as they were before, texture maps end up looking like
they are creating their own light.
For example: build the TV cabinet and screen then apply a Layer
Map of an AE movie to the screen and give it the absolute color
option. The TV cabinet will be shaded realistically by the lights in
the scene but the screen will render the movie at full brightness.
The pre-lit
texture map.
Making 3D Environments
The really cool moody lighting seen in video games isnt done
with lights at all. Rather, it is painted into the texture maps used
on the walls, and then absolute color rendering is used to render
the scene.
To do the same thing in the Invigorator PRO, start with a picture
you want to use as your wall, take it into Photoshop and put
lighting effects onto the image. Darken up the corners and part
near the floor. Paint shadows around the edges of doors and wall
hangings.
Paint lighting right into the texture maps, then use Absolute
Coloring to render them exactly as you made them.
47
Then in the Invigorator create a plane and create a new material.

Use the wall image as the color map for the material and turn on
the Absolute Color option. Then apply the material to the wall.
What youll get is the exact colors of the wall image in the final
rendering. Moody lighting and all!
The Matte Color Material

The Matte Color material option makes a 3D object act like a
mask. When an object with this material is visible it blocks out
other 3D objects that you dont want to see. It can also be used to
create transition effects, such as creating a hole in the movie that
lets other background video show through.
Making Transition Effects

This example shows how to use a 3D object as a device for a
transition.
1- Apply an Invigorator effect to your foreground image and turn
on the Composite On Original option.
2- Inside the Invigorator, create a 3D star.
3- Color the star gold. Then apply the Matte Color material only
to the back face of the star.
Apply the Matte Color material to the back face of the star.
48
4- Finally create an animation where the star flies to the center of

the screen, flips over and then flies straight at the camera.
When the star flips over it reveals the back side that has been
given the Matte Color material. This will create a hole in the 3D
animation which will reveal a background layer behind the layer
containing the Invigorator effect.
As the star flies toward the camera the hole gets bigger and
bigger revealing more and more of the background image. Once
the star has covered the camera the transition is complete.
Masking Out Unwanted Objects

On more of a problem solving level, an object colored by the
Matte Material can be used to cover up objects that you dont
want to see.
For instance say you have some bars that you are using to cast
shadows onto other objects in the scene. You want the shadows
to be seen but you dont want the bars to be seen. Unfortunately,
at one point in the animation, the camera moves and you end up
seeing the bars.
Rather than moving the bars and goofing up the shadows, you can
simply create a plane using the Primitives feature, color the plane
with a Matte Color material, and then position the plane so it will
block the bars from view. When the movie is rendered the
shadows from the bars will be seen but the bars themselves have
been masked out.
Using Matte Coloring as a Transition device.
Visible bars
Place a Matte plane in

front of the bars.
The final movie masks out the bars.

49
Making 3D Objects Circle Around 2D Elements
A wooden mask plus a background image.
Another use for 3D masking is when you want a 3D element to

interact with a 2D element. For instance, say you have a picture
of a wooden mask and you want to make some 3D stars tumble
onto the screen and circle around it. Since the wooden mask is a
2D element, and the stars are on a separate layer, there is no 2D
compositing trick to make the 3D stars appear to circle around
the mask.
To do this effect, just make a 3D cylinder and place it in register
with the wooden mask. Then give the cylinder the Matte Color
material. Finally animate the stars to circle around the cylinder.
When the movie is rendered the stars will disappear as they go
behind the cylinder, and reappear when they come out the other
side.
3D stars plus a 3D cylinder in register with the wooden mask.
This technique enables you to put 3D elements both in front of

and behind another layer at the same time.
When the layers are composited together the 3D stars appear

to be circling the wooden mask.
50
The Shadow Catcher Material

The Shadow Catcher material option enables you to create visual
magic. It makes the shadows from your 3D objects appear to fall
onto the objects in a piece of background video. The magic here
is that the background footage has already been shot and the
objects in it are only pictures, so how can the shadows fall onto
those objects in a realistic manner?
The way you do this is to build 3D objects that mimic the shapes
of the objects in the background footage then give those objects
the Shadow Catcher material.
For instance say you have a video of a package on a table, and
you want to animate a title that flies in and lands on the table
next to the package. As the title comes near the table, you want
the shadows to fall onto both the package and the table top.
The original image in need of titles.
Normally this is an impossible problem. If the title, the table and

the package were actually in the same space at the same time, the
shadows from the title would bend as they crossed over the edges
of the package. If the shadows landed only on the table you
could fake a fairly realistic shadow, but when the shadow has to
bend there is no way to stretch and warp it that will look realistic.
There is a solution, however, and that is to use the Invigorators
Shadow Catcher Material.
A flat shadow doesnt take the package

into consideration and looks pasted-on.
51
Start by building objects that mimic the shapes of the package

and table top. The Primitives modeler built into PRO 4.0 works
well for this example, but you can always build fancier objects
out of Illustrator objects.
Create a rectangular shape out of the cube primitive. Adjust the
cube to match the size of the package. Create a plane as a
placeholder for the table top. Then position the placeholders in
register with the background image of the real package and table.
Position placeholder objects in register

with the objects in the picture.
The last step is to give these placeholder objects the Shadow

Catcher material. Now when you render the animation, the
shadows from the title will fall onto the placeholder objects
which will catch their shadows. The placeholders themselves
wont be seen. Only the shadows that fall onto them will be seen.
When composited with the background video, the shadows of the
3D objects will look as though they are falling onto the objects in
the video, merging the two images into one very realistic image!
Important Note: Read the next section on Setting Up The
Camera For A Shadow Catching Project.
The final shadow flows over the package making the two
elements look like they are part of the same scene.
52
Setting Up The Camera For A Shadow-Catching Project

When doing a shadow-catching project the position, angle and
lens of the camera are very important.
These two edges

are aligned...
...but these edges

dont match.
The first placeholder object you put into position should match to
the largest rectangular object in the background. Position the
rectangle so it is close to matching the background image, then
adjust the camera angle and position until the placeholder object
registers with the rectangular object in the background.
Sometimes the largest rectangular object in the background
image isnt going to catch shadows. This is fine. Create a placeholder to use for the registration phase, then delete it once the
camera has been positioned.
This image is close but the perspective of the camera

needs to be changed so the edges will match better.
Oftentimes the perspective of the camera needs to be changed to

match with the background image. A wider angle lens (shorter
focal length) increases the perspective and a telephoto lens
(longer focal length) reduces the perspective.
Examples of large rectangular things in the background image
would include: table tops, picture frames, books, doors, windows, rugs and even whole walls.
Here, the placeholder and image are perfectly registered.
Once the camera has been positioned and the lens set correctly,
all the other objects you add to the scene will fall perfectly into
place.
53
Tracking AEs 3D Objects

Another great new feature in Invigorator PRO 4.0 is the ability for
Invigorator objects to track, or mimic, what an AE 3D plane is
doing. On the surface this feature might not seem that significant,
however for the advanced After Effects user this feature opens
the doors to incredible new abilities.
Invigorator 3D objects can track an After Effects 3D plane.
54
By tracking AEs 3D planes an AE user is now able to use the

standard 3D manipulation tools within AE to create motion paths
and keyframes for the Invigorators objects. This means that
everything you can do to an AE 3D plane can now be done to
Invigorator objects. You get visible 3D paths, function curve
control, animation assistants and even expression-based control
over your 3D animations!
What Kinds Of 3D Objects Can Track An AE Plane?

Any 3D object that you can get into the Invigorator can track an
AE 3D plane. If you use the Primitives generator to create cubes,
spheres, or cylinders, they will perfectly track along with an AE
plane. You can also make regular Invigorator objects out of fonts
or Illustrator files, or you can import 3D models and track them
too.
When you look closely at it, the tracking is being done by Sets not
individual objects, and since a Set can have any number of
objects in it you can have more than one thing tracking the same
plane. This enables you to do things like set up an entire logo,
put the whole logo into a Set, and then track the Set to an AE
plane. This will make the whole logo move around as one big
group. Another use would be to put a sphere in Set 1, and the
words Universal Pictures in Set 2 and have the letters all orbit
around the sphere in the middle.
Tracking - Illustrator logos
Tracking - 3D text
Many many uses will come to mind once you get a handle on how
tracking works.
Tracking - Imported objects

55
How To Make A Set Track A 3D Plane

It is important for you to understand how this works before you
try to use it in a real project. The first time you try this, start with
a new AE project containing the following:
- A camera
- A Solid that is Comp size. Name it Zaxwerks Objects
- A Solid that is 150 pixels by 100 pixels. Name it Controller.
Create a Primitive.
The small plane, named Controller, is going to be the thing that

gets animated. The Invigorator objects are going to track the
motion of the small plane.
1- Add an Invigorator PRO effect to the large solid. Choose to
Create a 3D Primitive.
Change the default sphere to a plane.
A sphere will be created and placed into Set 1 at the center of the
world. Lets change the sphere into a cube.
2- Click on the Red Ball in the Effect Controls Window to open
the Invigorators Set-Up window. Select the sphere and on the
object tab change the Primitive type to Plane.
The plane is centered on the origin (the 0,0,0 point). This is
important. Moving a 3D object in this window will move it off
center from the Set causing it to not track the Controller plane
correctly.
Leave the plane centered on the origin.

56
3- Click OK to close the Set-Up window.

4- In the Effect Controls Window, click the triangle in front of

Sets, then click the triangle in front of Set 1.
5- The first parameter under Set 1 is called Set 1 Track 3D
Layer. Click on the popup menu next to this parameter and
select the Controller layer.
Tell Set 1 to track the Controller layer.
6- Also in the Effect Controls Window you will see the checkbox
called Use Comp Camera. Turn it ON.
This is also important. If you dont do this, the objects wont look
like they are tracking each other because each object is being
viewed from a different camera.
7- Turn on the 3D switch for the Controller solid.
At this point, if you look in the Comp window, the Invigorator
plane and the AE controller plane should be centered on each
other.
Turn on the Use Comp Camera option.
8- Select the Controller plane and use the tools to drag it around
in the Comp window. Rotate it. Move it. The two planes will be
locked together!
Notice that the Zaxwerks objects dont update until you release
the mouse button. Once youve released the mouse sometimes
you have to click on the Effect Controls Window, or even flip the
visibility switch OFF and back ON again to get the Comp window
to update. This can get annoying but it is a limitation of the
interaction between After Effects and plug-ins.
Turn on the 3D switch to make the Controller a 3D layer.
57
9- Open the Invigorators Set-Up window and change the plane to

a cube. (Be sure not to drag the object while you are inside of the
Set-Up area!) Click the OK button to close the Set-Up window.
Change the Plane to a Cube.
10- Drag the Controller object to manipulate the cube.

Since the Invigorators layer is always in front of the Controllers
layer it will look a little strange at times. The cube has thickness
and the Controller plane doesnt.
Moving the plane will move the cube.
One thing that people do is to make the Controller layer 20 x 20

pixels rather than 150 x 100. Then they only pay attention to the
XYZ crosshairs because the image of the Controller is mostly
hidden behind any Zaxwerks objects. Once youve done a few
projects youll find your own best working method.
By the way, we suggest that you do NOT use a Null as the Controller. With a Null it is very easy to accidentally drag on a scale
handle which will also scale the Zaxwerks objects.
If you have After Effects 6.5 or higher you can use the
Guide Layer feature which will prevent the Controller object
from rendering in the final movie, but keep it visible when
setting keyframes in Draft mode.
Turn the Controller layer into a Guide Layer
(in AE 6.5) so it wont render in the final movie.
58
Animating With A Controller Plane

Creating an animation using a controller plane is done exactly the
same way as animating any After Effects layer.
1- Move the Controller layer to its starting position/orientation.
2- Set the Time marker to time 0.
3- Turn on the animation stop watches for the Transform parameters.
Setting keyframes for the Controller.
4- Move the Time marker to a new time, (such as 2 seconds).

5- Move the Controller layer to a new position/orientation. This
causes a keyframe to be set at the new time.
Now when you play the animation, the Zaxwerks Cube will move
along with the Controller plane.
6- Adjust the bezier control handles of the Controller plane to
make the path curvy, and add some 3D rotation.
When you play the animation the cube still tracks the Controller
plane. The cube will track the controller plane no matter what
you do to it. You can apply animation assistants and expressions
to the Controller and the cube will track it nice as you please.
The animation path of the controller becomes

the path of the tracking object,
59
Adding Objects To The Tracking Set

If you have to add objects to a Set that is tracking a controller
plane there are a few steps you should do to ensure success.
Move the Time Marker to a time where there are no keyframes.
1- Move the Time marker to a time where there are no keyframes

set for the controller plane.
2- Click the Reset button for the controller planes Transform
parameters. This will move the controller back to the origin and
add keyframes for all parameters. The Zaxwerks objects will also
move to the origin. (Remember that you may have to flip the
visibility switch OFF/ON to get the Comp window to update.)
Click the Reset button to move the Controller back to the origin.
3- Open the Invigorators Set-Up window and add the objects.

Remember not to drag or otherwise move the existing objects
while in this window. You may have to drag the new objects to
get them into proper position, but you will be fine as long as you
remember that the origin will be the rotation point.
4- If needed you can select all objects and use the Move To Center
command. Doing this step is only to insure that the objects will
rotate around a pivot that looks normal. You might want to play
the animation, to check how it looks with the new pieces, before
doing this step.
The origin will be the center of rotation.
60

6- Select the keyframes that were created during Step 2 (when

you clicked Reset) and delete them. The objects will snap back
to their proper positions in the animation.
Play the animation to make sure that nothing got goofed up and
that the objects are rotating around the correct center point.
What To Do If Objects Are Rotating Off Center

There are three places that the pivot point can be moved. By
putting the objects at the origin and resetting the three pivots,
everything will re-align and rotation will be predictable.
For the following example lets assume that we have Set 1
tracking the motion of an AE 3D plane called Controller.
1- Move the AE time marker to a time where there are no keyframes set for the Controller plane.
Move the Time Marker to a time where there are no keyframes.
2- Click the Reset button for the Controller planes Transform

parameters. This will move the Controller back to the origin and
add keyframes for all parameters. The Zaxwerks objects will also
move, although they may not move to the origin. (Remember that
you may have to flip the visibility switch OFF/ON to get the Comp
window to update.)
Click the Reset button to move the Controller back to the origin.
61
3- Open the Invigorators Set-Up window. Choose the FRONT

view from the Camera Views menu. Select all objects that are
assigned to Set 1, change to Object mode and click the Move To
Center button. This will center all of the objects on the origin. If
everything looks fine at this point go to step 5. If the objects are
not facing front, but are rotated at some odd angle, go to step 4A.
4A- If you are only trying to fix a single object, click the Reset
button, then click Move To Center again. This will fix the odd
rotation and you can skip to step 5.
If you have several objects that had to be hand positioned to
make the starting position, like for a 3D logo, you cant use the
Reset button because the hand positioning will be erased.
The Reset button
Object Mode
The Move To Center button
The Manipulation tools
4B- If you are trying to fix a logo made of several objects, or some
other multi-object group, you have to use the object manipulation
tools in the Set-Up window to make the group of objects face
front.
Do this by switching between front and side views and using the
manipulation tools while in Object Mode. Rotate the group of
objects little by little until they are facing straight forward. Then
click the Move To Center button one last time.
62
6- In the Effect Controls Window select Set 1, then choose the

Recenter Pivot command at the bottom of the Set popup menu.
This will place the pivot point at the center of the objects in case
it had been moved to a different location.
7- In the AE time line select the keyframes that were created
during Step 2 (when you clicked Reset) and delete them. The
objects will snap back to their proper positions in the animation,
and the Zaxwerks objects should now be in register with the
Controller plane.
NOTE: You MUST do the steps in order to get the desired

results.
Trouble Shooting Tracking Problems

Here is a list of tips and possible problems that you may run into
when tracking.
Be sure that the transforms for the Controller layer are all Reset
to zeros when you begin to set up the tracking. If not then the
center of the Set wont match the center of the Controller causing
the objects to rotate off center.
The Reset button
63
Be sure to have all Zaxwerks Objects set up and sitting in their

beginning positions, centered around the Invigorators origin,
before you tell the Set to track a controller plane. If you move
objects inside the Set-Up window once tracking has begun,
objects can start to rotate off center.
The Reset button
The workflow to insure the best results is this...

1- Start the project and immediately set up all colors, bevels,
depths, etc. inside the Invigorators Set-Up window.
2- Also inside the Set-Up window, position all Zaxwerks Objects
relative to each other. In other words if you need to move objects
forward or back to make a nice looking starting position, do it
before you turn on tracking.
3- Select all objects and use the Move To Center command.
4- Keep the objects selected and assign them to the same Set.
This will center the objects on the Invigorators origin, which is
going to be the rotational pivot for the Set. You are still in the
Set-Up window when doing steps 3 and 4. The objects should
now be in their starting positions.
5- In the Effect Controls Window, choose the Controller layer
from the tracking popup menu.
64
If you followed the above steps the objects will rotate around the
center of the controller plane. If they dont then perhaps the
Controller plane was not Reset before tracking was enabled.
If the Invigorators image is not updating in the Comp window
check for the following:
1- The Invigorators Preview in the Effect Controls Window must
be open.
2- You may have to flip the visibility switch OFF/ON for the
Invigorators layer.
3- The Set-Up window must be closed.
4- Tracking must be turned ON, and the proper controller layer
must be used. In other words, if you are moving Controller Layer
A and the Invigorator is set to track Controller Layer B, then its
no wonder why the Invigorators objects are not moving.
Using 3D Tracking To Scale In All 3 Dimensions

There is a nice by-product of the 3D tracking feature. You can
use 3D tracking to animate object scale as well as position and
orientation. Using the base Invigorator parameters you can only
animate the Depth Scale. But when you tell a Set to track an AE
plane, you can use the scale parameters of that controller plane
to animate the scale of the Invigorator objects.
This enables you to do things like animate the width over time,
make objects bounce, or even do squash and stretch effects. Any
direction, X, Y or Z can be animated.
When Tracking is turned ON you can

scale Invigorator objects by scaling the
Controller plane.
65
Changes To Swatch Handling.

In version 4.0 of the Invigorator for After Effect we have made
some significant changes to the way swatches are handled. Since
these changes may affect your work you should be aware of
them.
The main change is that swatches are now handled as a global
library system. Previously, swatches were held inside of each
instance of an Invigorator effect, this caused file size to get huge
and save times to get very slow, especially when several Invigorator effects were being used in the same project. For instance,
prior to 4.0 it was not uncommon for the AE project size to inflate
to 20+ MB and take nearly a minute to save. All of this time and
file space was being taken up by the swatches. The new global
swatch handling keeps the file size down to a few K per Invigorator effect and project saves are now extremely fast.
The Zaxwerks Swatches folder is now the

central storehouse for all swatches.
How Swatch Handling Now Works

Swatches are now stored in a central folder called Zaxwerks
Swatches. Inside the Zaxwerks Swatches folder are other
folders, one for each of the swatch types.
This central collection of swatches is used for every Invigorator
effect added to an After Effects project. Each time you open the
Set-Up window the swatches are read from the central library and
loaded into the bins. This keeps all projects up to date.
66
Every time you save or delete a swatch it affects this central

library of files. For instance, if you save a new Object Style it gets
added to the Object Styles folder. This makes that Object Style
available for every other Invigorator.
Likewise, if you delete an Object Style swatch it is deleted from
the Object Styles folder, meaning that that swatch is not just
deleted from one project, it is deleted from all Invigorator
projects.
This last statement sounds dangerous. However, you dont have
to worry about deleting swatches and hurting your existing
projects. Materials and Object Styles that are actually used by
objects in a project, not just sitting in the swatch bins, are always
carried as part of the projects data. Think of a swatch bin like an
artists palette full of paint waiting to be applied... and think of the
3D objects in a scene as the artists canvas. Once the paint has
been applied to the canvas, throwing the palette into the trash
does nothing to hurt the picture.
For more information see the section below on Regenerating
Material Swatches That Have Been Deleted.
67
Benefits Of The New Swatch Handling System

So all of this behind the scenes information is nice, but what
does it mean for YOU? Well there are some significant benefits.
The first ones weve already discussed: AE file sizes are much
smaller, and the time to save a project is much faster.
Here are others...
1- When swatches are saved, they are immediately available to all
other Invigorator effects.
This is probably the best benefit. In the past if you saved an
Object Style in one Invigorator effect you had to go through a
process of saving it to a library, and then appending the new
library to all other Invigorator effects. Now all you do is save the
Object Style and youre done. As soon as you open the Set-Up
window in another Invigorator effect, even if it is in a different
AE project, that Object Style is sitting in the bin waiting for you to
use.
2- Swatches can be easily shared between users and computers.
Each swatch is a single file, and those files are located in the
appropriate swatch folders. All you need to do to share a swatch
with a friend is to find the swatch, attach it to an email or copy it
to disk, and give the copy to your friend. If you have used maps
as part of the swatch, you will have to give those maps to your
friend too.
68
Regenerating Material Swatches That Have Been Deleted

Sometimes swatches will get deleted accidentally. Or sometimes
they get deleted from one project but then you open a different
project and wish you had something back.
No worries, mate. Swatches that have been applied to objects
can always be regenerated. Just do the following...
Click the Palette or Material Set-Up

button to display the palette.
1- Select the object that has the Material applied to it.

2- Click the Palette checkbox to show the Material Palette.
All Materials used on that object will regenerate and be displayed
in the docks.
3- Drag the swatches from the docks into the Materials Bin.
This will save the swatches to disk and they will hereafter appear
in the bin.
When the active material palette is displayed, all swatches

applied to the selected object will be regenerated.
69
Regenerating Object Style Swatches That Have

Been Deleted
Like with Materials, Object Style swatches that have been applied
to objects can be regenerated, just do the following...
1- Select an object that has the Object Style applied to it.
2- In the Object Style tab, find the Swatch popup menu and use
the Save Object Style command.
The Object Style used on that object will regenerate. The image
will be displayed at the bottom of the bin. This process will save
the swatch to disk and it will hereafter appear in the bin.
70

AE PRO 4.0 Addendum

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

AE PRO 4.0 Addendum

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

The Zaxwerks Object Import / Export Format . . . . . . . . 20

Changes To Swatch Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Tracking AEs 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Whats New In 4.0 PRO?

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

The Zaxwerks Object Import/Export Format

Layer Map Animation

Wireframe And Hidden Line Coloring

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

The Shadow Catcher Material

Tracking AEs 3D Objects

Changes To Swatch Handling

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Creating Text Objects

The Block Size Arrow

Text Entry Area

Setting The Block Size

The text entry area

It is usually a good idea to adjust the Block Size arrow so the

Move the Block Size Arrow to the edge of the

Kerning and Leading can be done from the

Letter Spacing is also known as Tracking. It is extra space that is

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

The 102 has been baseline shifted.

Cleaning Up Problems With Font Models

Poorly created fonts can cause this type of problem.

The Edge Offset slider often fixes problems automatically.

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

3D Text Editing Tips

Double click on a letter to open the Text window..,

...or click the Edit Text button.

2- Select only the letter C in the word Coming.

6- Select the whole bottom line. (Next...)

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Making A Primitive Object

Cubes, Spheres, Cylinders and Planes are all 3D Primitives.

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Changing A Primitive Object

Coloring A Primitive Object

Animating A Primitive Object

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Making a Primitive Look Faceted

Click the Stats button.

Enter a 5 in the Hard

How To Squash Or Skew A Primitive

When a low value is used for Hard Shading,

The Zaxwerks Object Import/Export Format

How To Save A Zaxwerks 3D Object

1- Set up your 3D objects exactly the way you want them to be

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Adding Zaxwerks 3D Objects To Other Projects

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Making Imported Zaxwerks Objects Larger Or Smaller

1- Open the Invigorators Set-Up window.

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

The amount of blur is taken from the After Effects settings. To

Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator for After Effects - 4.0 PRO Addendum

Layer Map Animation

For example, once a 3D title comes to rest, the reflections stop

A reflection moves across the face of a star.