The Power of Previz ™

www.FrameForge3D.com
©2005 Innoventive Software, LLC
4901 Morena Blvd., Suite 108 San Diego, CA 92117
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Technical Support:
858.270.7515 858.270.2523 fax
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Email: support@frameforge3d.com Quick Start Guide

Read me first to get started in seconds.
Welcome to FrameForge® 3D Studio 2!

To make the most of your experience with the program, before

you begin to work please read this Quick Start manual at the very

least, as doing so will save you a lot of time and frustration later on.

That said, this document—although extremely useful—is not a

substitute for the full User Guide, which we highly recommend

you read at the first opportunity. It contains a lot of valuable

information and details not to be found here.

©2003-2006 Innoventive Software, LLC

4901 Morena Blvd. Suite 108
San Diego, CA 92117
All rights Reserved
I
nstallation Instructions

> Windows
— Start your computer. If you have access to the Internet, make sure you are con-
nected so you can update FrameForge® 3D Studio 2 after installation.
— Insert the installation CD in the CD drive.
— Normally, within a few seconds the installation dialog will appear. (If it does not,
click the ‘Start’ menu, then ‘Run,’ and type the following into the input field
(substituting the letter of your CD drive for the phrase “CD drive letter”): [CD drive
letter]:\setup, then press the [Enter] key.
— Unless you have specific reasons for changing the installation location, please use
the default location. Fill out your program serial number, which can be found on the
back of the full User Guide.
— Click the [Install] button.
— A screen displays the terms and conditions under which you are licensed to install
and use FrameForge® 3D Studio 2. Click the button labeled [I agree] to continue the
installation.

> Mac
— Start your computer. If you have access to the Internet, make sure you are con-
nected so you can update the program after installation.
— Insert the installation CD in the CD drive.
— A window entitled ‘Program Installation’ will appear on your desktop. Inside it will
be an icon labeled ‘Double-Click Me to Install.’ Double-click it to...well, install.
— Unless you have specific reasons for changing the installation location, please use
the default location. Fill out your program serial number, which can be found on the
back of the full User Guide.
— Click the [Install] button.
— A screen displays the terms and conditions under which you are licensed to install
and use FrameForge® 3D Studio 2. Click the button labeled [I agree] to continue the
installation.

> Note: Register and Validate

The first time you launch FrameForge without the CD in the drive, you’ll be asked to
register and vaildate the program. You must do so within 14 days of installation or
the program will not run without a complete uninstallation (removing all files from the
hard drive) and reinstallation.
 FrameForge 3D Studio 2 Quick Start Guide
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U sing This Guide

Text Conventions
To make reading the Guide easier, please note that the following text conventions will be
used:
Italics: anything printed in italics indicates a mouse command. For example: “Click the
object.”
‘Apostrophes’: anything flanked by apostrophes indicates a menu option—’File,’ ‘Edit,’
‘Tools,’ etc.
[Brackets]: any word encased in brackets indicates an on-screen button or key (e.g., not a
keyboard key) that has a visible label; for example: [#], [OK].
<Angle Brackets>: any word between angle brackets indicates a keyboard key; for ex-
ample: “press <Delete> on your keyboard.”
Right/control-click: tells you to position the mouse pointer over the specified item and
press the right-hand mouse button (Windows), or hold down the Control key while click-
ing (Mac). A pop-up menu will appear with a list of options that are relevant to the item
you clicked on.

Mouse Vs. Game Pad

FrameForge 3D Studio 2 gives you the option to work primarily with either your mouse or an
appropriate game controller. To keep things simple, the instructions in this Quick Start refer
only to the mouse; to translate these instructions to “gamepad-ese,” please consult the full
User Guide.

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T he Control Room
Interface
Below is an image of the main FrameForge® 3D Studio 2 screen, also known as the Control
Room. This is where you’ll create your sets, establish your shots, and so on—the perfect
starting point for learning to use the program. It’s best if you “play along at home” and have
FrameForge running while you’re reading this, since we’ll tell you to do things along the way.

> Note: To Keep Things Clear...

When we discuss any part of the screen that is referenced by a letter in the image
below, the text will appear in Bold Italics.

We call this interface the Control Room because it’s laid out very much like a real multi-camera
TV Control Room. There’s a row of Camera View monitors along the top, each of which dis-
plays the set as perceived by a live camera; beneath the monitors is a larger Live View screen.

B G D

E F
Figure A, The Control Room:
A. Blueprint View, B. Object Controls, C. Camera Monitors, D. Object Library, E. Camera Controls,
F. Storyboard Preview, G. Live View

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You can change the order of the camera monitors by simply dragging and dropping them.
You can also change the number of monitors that are displayed—and thus their relative
size—by selecting the ‘View’ menu, then ‘Number of Monitors,’ followed by your preferred
number.
Each camera placed on the set is automatically assigned a unique color, represented on the
corresponding monitor by a camera icon.
In addition to each of the Camera Views, there is also an overhead Blueprint View located
in the upper left corner of the Control Room. Like the Camera Views, Blueprint View can be
brought into the Live View screen by simply double-clicking it.
On the left side of the Control Room is a set of Object Controls for manipulating 3D objects
on the set; to the right is the Object Library from which 3D objects are selected. The area di-
rectly below the Live View screen features a set of Camera Controls for manipulating cameras
on set. Finally, in the lower right corner is the Storyboard Preview Area, which enables you
to scan storyboard images once you’ve shot some.

Switching Views
You can select any Camera View by double-clicking the desired camera’s monitor. To switch
to Blueprint View, double-click the Blueprint View. Note that options such as Magnify and
Scroll, which are specific to Blueprint View, disappear when you bring any Camera View
into the Live View screen.

> Note: When Object Controls are Available

In all views, Object Controls are enabled only when at least one object is selected in
Live View.

By the way—for the purposes of FrameForge 3D Studio’s terminology, an ‘object’ is defined as

anything, including actors, which can be added to a set.

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B uilding the Virtual Set

Your first task will be to create the Virtual Set in which you will add props, place actors and
drop in cameras.

Working with Walls, Doors and Windows

Thanks to FrameForge 3D Studio 2’s unique Room Builder function, you can construct ev-
erything from single walls to complete rooms with just a few drags and clicks of the mouse.
Buttons at the top of the Room Builder dialog enable you to select how many walls you want
to work with, as well as to easily insert door and window openings into walls.

Outward- Window
opening
door

Double
doors

Fig. B, Room Builder

Room Builder makes it easy to construct rooms, complete with doors and windows, before they go on your set.

> Play Along at Home

— Click ‘Sets > Room Builder’; the Room Builder dialog opens.
— Click the [Room] button (the one with four walls) at the top of the dialog.
— Move the pointer onto the input field, then click and drag to draw a rectangular
box.
— When the dimensions are what you want, release the mouse button. The box that
results represents a room with four connected walls, viewed from directly above.

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— To insert a swinging door into the bottom wall, click the [first door] button at the
top center of the dialog.
— Place the pointer over the bottom wall and click. A box representing the door is
placed in the wall. Two lines—one curved and one straight—indicate where the
door is hinged and in which direction it opens. To change either parameter, click
and drag the black dot that joins the two lines, and release when you get the
results you desire.
— To move the entire doorway, place the mouse pointer in the middle of the doorway
box and drag in the desired direction.
— To widen the doorway, first click the button, then place the pointer over either
end of the doorway box and drag outward.
Or...
— Put a larger dimension in the “Door Width” fields at the bottom of the dialog.
— To make the doorway taller or shorter, put the desired dimension in the “Door
Height” fields.
— To place a window in the room, click the [Window] button at the top of the dialog,
place the pointer icon over the bottom wall to the right or left of the door that’s
already there, and click. Move or resize the window in the same way as the door.
— To place the completed room on your set, click [Build Room(s)].

Adding Objects to Your Set

Like any real set, once the flats are up, but before you can shoot anything, you need to dress
the set and position your actors. The way you do so is by selecting an appropriate category
from the Object Library, then dragging the desired object onto the set and dropping it where
you want to place it.

> Note: Don’t Get Carried Away

It’s best to not go crazy and load your set with every detail you can imagine: un-
touched books on every shelf, unused phones and computers on every desk, and
so on. Remember, every object within a set uses up computer resources. The more
objects there are, the longer the time necessary for that set to be drawn and redrawn
on screen as things change and as you move objects around. Therefore, if you fill up
your set with a billion unnecessary details, you’ll pay for it both in the time you spent
dressing the set and the time you spend waiting for the computer to handle it all.

Although it’s usually best to add objects to the set in Blueprint View mode so you can be
sure of their relative positions, you can also add objects in Camera View mode. With that in
mind...

> Play Along at Home

— If your Live View is not currently the Blueprint View mode, double-click on the
Blueprint View to make it active.
— At the top of the Object Library is a text-search input field. Type in the word
“chair.” Icons for all objects in the library that have “chair” in their names appear in
the icon field in the Object Library.
— Click and drag the image of the black armchair into the middle of the room you
built earlier.
— When you release the mouse button, the chair appears on the set.
— Below the text search field in the Object Library is a list of the folders containing

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various objects. Click the Actors (Women) folder.

— Click and drag the first actor icon onto the set and release it somewhat to the right
of the chair.

> Note: What Are You Looking At?

If you look up at the Camera View Monitors, you’ll notice that the yellow monitor
shows nothing but a gray area with, at most, part of a door or window visible. What
you’re looking at is the southernmost wall of the room, which is blocking your view of
the chair. To actually see the chair from the yellow camera’s perspective, you have two
options:

— If this room represents a real location rather than a sound-stage set, relocate your
camera within your new room, either by dragging the yellow camera icon in Blue-
print View, or by “pushing” the Dolly Camera throttle control upwards to dolly
in.
— However, if this wall represents a flat on a soundstage that you can pull out in order
to set up a shot, then you can make the wall invisible for any selected camera. This
simulates you moving the wall out of the way, but does so without breaking your
set in the blueprint view and for all other cameras.
— To implement the latter option, follow the instructions in the Play Along at Home
box immediately below.

> Play Along at Home

— Double-click the yellow Camera Monitor to switch to Camera View mode.
— Click the wall visible in Live View. You’ll notice that only a portion of the wall is
selected; this is because doors and windows automatically subdivide the wall into
pieces.
— Click the [Hide Object from View] button located to the left of the Camera Con-
trols.
— The selected wall section becomes invisible to the yellow camera, revealing the chair
in the room behind it. If necessary, select other wall sections and repeat steps 2 and
3 above so you can see the chair.

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S etting Up Shots

Once you have your Virtual Set created, the next step is to add cameras to set up the shots.

Camera Controls
If your Live View is currently the Blueprint View and you have more than one camera on
the set, your Camera Controls may be disabled—which is to say, they’ll be grayed out and
you cannot manipulate them. This is because when the Live View is Blueprint View, the
Camera Controls are only enabled when there is exactly one camera selected; otherwise
the program can’t know what it’s supposed to control. When you’re in Camera View mode,
however, the Camera Controls are always enabled because they automatically control the
camera through which you’re viewing the set.
Speaking of control, FrameForge 3D Studio 2 uses a
unique control tool called a “multi-throttle,” which
joins two functions in a single handy tool.
Depending on the control’s purpose (roll, pan/tilt,
zoom, etc.), floating your mouse pointer over the Fig C, Muilti-Throttle Control
Click an up or down arrow to move
dial creates two or more buttons marked with
the camera in single increments.
direction arrows. When clicked, these buttons move
the camera in the selected direction in discrete
increments; holding down the <Ctrl/command> key
while clicking reduces the amount of movement by
about a fifth; holding down the <Alt/option> key
increases movement by the same proportion.
If you click and hold an arrow button (or, when
applicable, the round button in the center of the Fig D, Slider Deployed
multi-throttle dial), a “throttle” slider pops up. Simply Click and hold an arrow button to
drag the slider button in the desired direction to move deploy the slider control for larger,
the camera. The farther you drag the button from faster movements.
center, the faster the camera moves.

> Play Along at Home

— If your Live View is not currently Blueprint View, double-click the small Blue-
print View in the upper left hand corner of your screen in order to make it active.
— In the Live View, single-click the icon of the yellow camera to select it. A gray
triangle representing the camera’s field of view extends upward, indicating that the
camera is selected.
— Click the appropriate Camera Controls to frame the chair on the set into a nice
medium long shot, leaving enough visual space for an actor to sit on the chair.

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> Note: Choosing the Right Camera Controls

To decide which Camera Controls to use, you might find it useful to refer to the
field-of-view triangle in Blueprint View, as well as the actual framing you see in the
Camera Monitor.

Adding Cameras to the Set

Even if you’re prepping a one-camera shoot, you might want to place multiple cameras on the
set. For example, say you have two people talking and you want to make over-the-shoulder
reversal shots. Rather than move one camera back and forth, it is much easier to position the
actors and then set up two cameras, one over each actor’s shoulder.
To add a camera, set the Live View screen to Blueprint View. Then simply double-click a
blank area where you want the camera to be placed. A new camera icon will appear there,
with a corresponding monitor automatically assigned to it. The camera will also automatically
point at whatever object was selected when the camera was added (if no objects are selected,
the camera points north, or toward the back of the set).

> Note: When Monitors Overflow

If you add more cameras than the number of monitors that are being displayed, the
additional monitors will be off-screen and accessible via the scroll buttons to either
side of the monitors. Remember that you can reorder camera Monitors by simply
dragging and dropping them.

Quick Panning
If you want to quickly set a camera to point at any object, first select the object by clicking it.
(If you’re in Blueprint View, you’ll also need to select the camera you wish to pan.) Then click
the [Q] button–which stands for Quick Pan–located below the Pan/Tilt multi-throttle.

Leveling
If you want to quickly reorient the tilt or rotation of a camera so that it is level to the ground,
click the [R]—Reset—button below the Pan/Tilt multi-throttle.

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F leshing Out the

Virtual Set
Now that you’ve practiced the basics of creating a set, adding objects and setting up cameras
and shots, you’ll want to add details to the set by moving and manipulating various objects.

Selecting Objects Once They’re On the Set

In Live View (either Camera or Blueprint) you can simply click any object to select it. To
select multiple objects, hold down the <Shift> key while clicking on each additional object in
turn.
Alternatively, you can click and drag a selection rectangle to surround all the objects you
want selected. Objects that fall completely within the rectangle will then be highlighted in gray
selection boxes.
Whenever you click an object to select it, any object on top of it is also selected. Thus, if you
click a table which has a computer on it, both the table and the computer will be selected. If
you click just the computer, only the computer will be selected.

Deselecting Objects
If you select a group of objects and want to deselect only some of them, press the <Shift> key,
and while holding it down, click the object in the currently selected group of objects that
you do not want to be selected.

Manipulating Objects on the Set

After you have one or more objects selected, you can either drag them around the set or you
can use the Move Object Control for more precise positioning.

> Note: Quick Movement of Objects

You can instantly “transport” objects from one location to another by selecting the
objects you want to transport, then pressing and holding the <Ctrl/command> key
and clicking where you want the objects to jump to.

You can also use the Spin, Tilt and Elevate Object Controls to further adjust the position
and orientation of objects.

Moving Objects With the Chessboard Paradigm

To simplify matters, we’ve made it so that moving objects around in FrameForge is like sliding
pieces on a chessboard rather than using the complicated X-Y-Z axis controls of a conventional
3D program.
Drag the mouse away from you and the object slides away from you; drag the mouse towards
you and the object slides closer. Left/right mouse movements do the obvious things, all based
on your viewpoint. For more complex movements, use the appropriate multi-throttle controls
found on the Object Controls panel.

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Collision Checking
As you drag objects around, you’ll run into instances where one object will suddenly jump up
on top of another, or move even more radically, such as when a man automatically sits down
in a chair. This is called “object collision,” and reflects the fact that in real life, two objects
can’t occupy the same space at the same time.
When two objects collide, if there is no predefined “relationship” between them (such as be-
tween the man and the chair), then the moving object will jump on top of the stationary one.
When you pause for a moment, the program will “reseat” them as closely as it can, but you
can adjust this interaction further with the Elevate Object Control. You can also temporarily
turn off collision checking by clicking ‘Tools > Disable Collision Checking.’

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D etailing Objects and

Applying Poses
By now your set is looking pretty good. All the objects are in place, but you want more detail
in the camera view. Almost every object has pre-defined parts that can be modified in some
fashion, whether it be color, texture or position.

> Note: What a Person and a Door Have In Common

Although poses are most often applied to actor objects, any object that has defined
hinges may have poses stored for it.

Applying Poses
There are two types of poses: Full and Partial.
Full Poses affect the entire object; their names are identified by angle brackets: such as
<WALKING>. Partial Poses affect only portions of objects, and their names are identified with
an asterisk at the end: such as handshake*, which is found under the “arms, right” category.

> Play Along at Home

— Switch to Blueprint View.
— Select the Actor object and drag her in front of the chair.
— Right/Control click the actor, and a pop-up menu appears.
— Select ‘Apply Pose,’ then click <WALKING>. The actress assumes a forward-striding
pose.
— Repeat step 3, but this time, select ‘Apply Pose,’ then ‘Arms, Right’ followed by
‘Handshake, (offering hand)*’. You’ll see that this pose affects only the actor’s right
arm.

You can define any pose you like, save it for future use, and even share it with other Frame-
Forge 3D Studio users online at www.frameforge3d.com/community.
Speaking of sharing and other interactions...

Relationships–Never So Easy in Real Life

In FrameForge, a “relationship” is a special kind of predefined pose that specifies the interac-
tion of exactly two objects with one another.

> Play Along at Home

— Switch to Blueprint View mode.
— Click your on-set Actor to select her. She should be facing the same direction as the
chair that you dragged on earlier.
— Slowly drag the actor around to the front of the chair, then backwards as if to sit
her down on the chair.
— Watch as the Actor does, in fact, SIT DOWN on the chair.

How did she “know” how to sit? Because we’d previously defined a relationship for her and
that chair. First, we manually posed the Actor so she was seated nicely in that particular chair,

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then we stored the relationship between those two objects and told the program to automati-
cally apply that relationship whenever the Actor collides with the chair.
Please see the User Guide’s section on Object Relationships to learn a lot more about this
incredibly valuable function.

Posing an Object
There are two places where you can pose objects: on-set and in the Green Room.

Editing a Pose On-Set

Select the woman Actor, then Right/Control-click and select ‘Edit Pose On Set’ from the
pop-up menu that appears. A Hinge Manipulation Dialog Box appears, and at the same time,
something odd happens to our Actor: a tri-colored “jack” erupts from the center of her body.
This jack (named after the similarly-shaped child’s toy) represents the three “axes,” or direc-
tions, in which the selected part of an object can move in 3D space.

> Note: Dem Bones

In FrameForge, the poseable parts of Actors are called “bones.” A forearm is a bone, a
fingertip is a bone, a neck is a bone.

In the Hinge Manipulation dialog, a drop-down list displays

the name of the bone that is currently selected. To select, for
example, the neck bone for movement, simply click your
mouse pointer on the actor’s head/neck area. If the position
of the actor makes this awkward, you can also click the
arrow to open the drop-down list of bones, scroll down to
“neck,” and click.
Either way, the Jack shifts up to the Actor’s neck, indicating
that you can now manipulate that particular bone.
You can now move the Actor’s neck (and therefore her
head) by using either the Jack or the colored sliders in the
Hinge Manipulation dialog, as described below:

Pose an Actor With the Jack

Each axis of the jack terminates in two geometric shapes—
a wheel and a knob. The wheel allows you to rotate the jack
itself, which is useful but not what we’re concerned with
here. For our purposes: Fig. C, The Control Jack

> Play Along at Home

— Place your mouse pointer over the nearest knob on the blue axis. When the pointer
icon turns into a bent arm icon, you know you’re ready to manipulate a bone. (If the
icon becomes a green jack, you’ve selected the wheel, and should try again.)
— Drag the mouse up or down (imagine you’re using it to spin the knob), and the
Actor’s head tilts accordingly. When you find a position you like, release the mouse
button.
— Click the “X” button to close the Hinge Manipulation dialog.

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Fig. D, Slider Controls

Editing a Pose in the Green Room

Editing the poses of objects in the Green Room rather than on set has two advantages: you’re
free of the distractions of the rest of the set, and you can rotate the object freely and view it
from all angles without affecting its actual position on the set.

> Play Along at Home

— To bring the Actor into the Green Room, either double-click her or right/control
click her and then select ‘Edit Pose in Green Room’ from the drop-down menu.
— Follow the steps listed above to adjust bones and create a pose.
— To view the Actor from different angles, put your mouse pointer in the main view
field with the Actor, then drag to spin the Actor around. When you’re done adjust-
ing her bones, click [Apply]. Any changes to her limb positions are implemented,
but the Actor’s overall body position and orientation is the same as it was before
you took her into the Green Room (no matter how much you spun her around
there).

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C reating the Storyboard

Now that you’ve created your Virtual Set and positioned all your cameras, it’s time to store
shots to the Storyboard and then arrange them to your taste.

Storing a Shot
To store a shot, you can either click the [Store Shot] button under the monitor which is cur-
rently displaying the desired shot, or, if you’re viewing the shot in Camera View mode, click
the [Store Shot] button there.

> Play Along at Home

— Double-click the yellow camera monitor to switch to Camera View, then click the
[Store Shot] button.
— A dialog box appears, allowing you to enter information about the shot. For com-
plete details on this, see the User Guide. For now, just click the [Apply] button.
— A black-and-white rendering of the Shot you just took appears in the Storyboard
Preview Area in the lower right corner of the Control Room.

Viewing the Storyboard

Every shot you store is saved to the storyboard. To view
the order of stored shots, you have two options. The
first is to look at the Storyboard Preview Area (also
known as the Storyboard Preview). In the Preview area
you can also navigate between shots by clicking the
various arrows, as seen in the image to the right. Fig. E, Storyboard Preview Area

> Note: Where Shots Get Stored

The next shot you store will be inserted where the “Append Frame” box in the Sto-
ryboard Preview Area indicates (in this case, following the first frame but preceding
a blank frame—in other words, at the end of our infant storyboard). When you use
this preview area to view stored shots, make very sure that the Append Frame box is
situated where you want it to be before shooting a new shot; otherwise you’ll have to
reorder the misdirected shots, later, in Shot Manager.

Speaking of Shot Manager, that’s the second place where you can view shots. To get into it,
click ‘Tools’ on the main menu, then select ‘Storyboard Shot Manager.’ (Or, optionally, you
can click the [SM] button in the Storyboard Preview Area, as seen above.

The Storyboard Shot Manager

This detailed interface allows you to look at all the shots you have stored, change their order
and descriptions, and modify how each of the shots looks by adding movement arrows or
even digitally painting in additional features.

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From Shot Manager you can also print the storyboard, along with shot descriptions and blue-
print views of the setups for each shot, or create a “slideshow” for viewing the storyboard on
your computer.
But by the time you get to that point, you’ve extended your knowledge beyond the Quick
Start stage. For additional information on anything relating to FrameForge, please consult the
full User Guide. Meanwhile...

You’re off to the races!

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