Here’s a Sneak Peek showing the new text handling features of 3D Invigorator/ProAnimator 5.

The Invigorator/ProAnimator text window has all the controls needed for professional graphics work, with many enhancements over the 4.0 version for making your work faster, easier, more fun and more visual.

One of the completely new things about what you will see in the demonstration is that you can do bezier editing of the text without first having to convert the text to paths. Text is both live and point-editable at the same time, meaning if you have to make texty-type changes, such as changing the justification or adding words, you can do it and the bezier edits will be preserved.

Highlights include:

- Fonts are shown in their typeface.
- Type the font names to jump down the font list.
- Use arrow keys to step through the font list, applying the font to your text as you step.
- Font Favorites save Font, Size, Leading, Baseline Shift, and all other font attributes.
- Bezier edits can be made to the paths of live text.
- Tool tips explain each control.

The time has finally come. Zaxwerks is proud to announce the release of our first two plug-ins that are CS5 compatible! Yea, Hoo-raw, Three Cheers and all that.

First out of the gate is 3D Reflector 2.0.

Not only did we make it compatible with After Effects CS5 but we added features too. For instance, the plug-in now supports 16 and 32 bit rendering. We also added a feature that lets you choose the composite mode for the reflections. This can make reflections look tons better especially when creating reflections in bright surfaces.

Finally we created a new online documentation system. These online docs are accessed from inside of After Effects and let you get your hands on movies, tips and explanations of the controls right when you need them. The online docs are continually updated so if there is a new development, bug or technique, you’ll find it the next time you click the button.

Also being released is 3D Serpentine 2.0.

Like 3D Reflector, 3D Serpentine has also been upgraded for 16 or 32 bit rendering, and it has its own improved online documentation system.

These two plug-ins are available now via the Zaxwerks website. If you bought either software after April 2010 you qualify for a free upgrade. Standard upgrades are $25. If you’d like to take advantage of our new release pricing and save 25% off of a new copy, add the software to your cart and enter NEWS25 in the Discount Code field of the order form.

Click on the image above to watch his title animation

Stan Arthur, is a full-time video producer for Stetson University College of Law. Initially Stan was hired as a Multimedia specialist. “It took me several years to convince the university I could produce their informational films in-house.” But once the opportunity was presented to him Stan took it and ran, and has since produced over 75 short films and two feature-length documentaries.

In his outside freelance life, he has also done music videos, commercials and was one of five finalists in a nationwide filmmaking contest in 2007. Stan tells us, “The contest was executive-produced by Spike Lee, and he even hosted the finals in New York City. I didn’t win, but man, what an experience that was.”

Stan began using Zaxwerks ProAnimator after having given up on another well-known 3D program. “After a few days I had had enough. I didn’t get the language and with my schedule I didn’t have the time to learn it.”

“Then I watched a promo video for ProAnimator and I was sold. I was pretty impressed that as soon as I typed out a text object it popped right into the 3D scene already with a bevel. I think it took me about 5 seconds to “TRY” camera moves, even before I applied styles or colors. It was too cool!”

ProAnimator gave a big boost to Stan’s production value and, after watching the tutorials on the Zaxwerks website, his work quality raised even further. “It’s easy to get started but anyone who’s interested in more than basic 3D title animations should watch the tutorials.”

Now Stan adds 3D effects no matter what the budget. “Its always fun when you get to do a 3D animation for a small company. There’s nothing like turning those jobs around in an hour with something that dazzles their socks off. ProAnimator makes that possible.”

“I recently did a job where I had to recreate a company logo from a business card. Their logo was a TV remote so it was unlike anything I’d ever done. I created a rectangle in Illustrator that had 12 holes in it, configured like the remote’s buttons. I opened it in ProAnimator and tweaked the bevel on the holes. Then I made a sphere, scaled it and positioned it under and poking up through the bottom left hole, to look like a remote button. Then I duplicated the button and filled up the holes. I really couldn’t believe how quickly it came together.”

“I also had to add the company name flying in. I decided to render the final movie in two passes, the remote and the company name, so I could adjust the timing in After Effects. The other pieces consisted of a starfield, a planet Earth and some radio waves. The final sequence made the remote look sort of like a spaceship flying slowly in from the bottom of the frame, heading for Earth. It looked amazing and the CEO flipped over it.

“I think the really cool thing about it is that I was able to create it while sitting on my sofa, watching Sunday football, using a rather modest laptop. The combination of ProAnimator, After Effects and Illustrator has enabled me to say, ‘Yes, I can do that’ to any job request.”

“ProAnimator is unique because it bridges a gap between artists and techies. It makes it incredibly easy for a guy like me to get what’s in my head up on the screen. I don’t know any other application that can compare.”

“Currently I’m working on a 20 minute travelogue film that was shot in seven different cities. In the past I just did standard title slides. This year I took establishing shots of each city and inserted organic-looking 3D titles like you see on the show ‘Fringe’. It worked like a charm and took very little time to create.”

“I love doing the unexpected for clients. With ProAnimator it’s very easy to exceed expectations. (laughs) As you can tell I’ve become a Zaxwerks Evangelist.”

It’s no surprise that the question we get asked the most is “When are you going to release CS5-compatible versions of your software?” We’ve been working on it for a long time now and things are finally to the state that we can talk about them.

When I worked in production I used to talk to software companies and wonder how they could possibly work so slowly. As a production guy I could get a dozen projects done in the time it took them to come out with one measly bug fix. Now that I work in software I have a different perspective. If Zaxwerks plug-ins were simple it would be a different story. If only we’d stuck with filters and effects instead of workflow and interfaces we would have been done long ago. But as luck would have it we don’t write simple plug-ins and we feel that interface and workflow is King, so we ended up firmly laying in the bed of our own creation.

Recently some folks have remarked that there’s not much going on in the Zaxwerks camp. To the outside observer that’s probably true. But I wish you could see the amount of action that really has been going on at Zaxwerks over the past two years. Software development is horribly front-loaded. You can’t do a 2-week project and release it; or a 2-month project. Software projects are much bigger. In our case this version has been a 2-year project.

The biggest problem with our CS5 conversion has been that it caught us while we were already in the middle of adding features. In order to add the new features and take Invigorator/ProAnimator to the next level we also had to rewrite the entire user interface. 4-view windows, movable panels, built-in vector drawing, better text handling, how the whole program flows and works as a unit, none of these could have been done with the old way the program was written, so we had to rewrite.

We were well into the middle of this project when Adobe let us know there would be no support for 32 bit plug-ins in CS5. That was a bombshell. We had to convert to 64 bit, but you can’t rewrite your code, add new features and do a conversion all at the same time. There wasn’t anything we could do except to finish the new features before we could start the conversion. This means we’ve been sitting on new software with new features for months, but couldn’t release it because it’s not compatible with CS5. Talk about frustrating!

To fill the void caused by the conversion delay we started the newsletter. I figured that a new tutorial and user story every month would at least help you learn new things and perhaps inspire you with examples of work others have done. While writing the newsletter we have uncovered lots of interesting projects and have discovered some real treats in the production world. If you’ve missed any newsletter all the back issues are available on our website. Sorry, however, if that made it seem like we weren’t working on the software. If it makes any difference please know that the newsletter hasn’t detracted one bit from the forward progress of the programming.

Do I wish we had all the CS5 versions done right now? Hell yes. Is CS5 compatibility our top priority? We have been working on nothing else for months. Have we been making progress? Absolutely, and the end is in sight. I hesitate to share formal release dates because in software you can get blindsided pretty easily and we’ve been blindsided on this conversion several times now.

So is there any good news? Fortunately there is. The Windows conversion has gone very well. There are actually two parts to the conversion, one is converting to 64 bit and the other is converting old Carbon calls on the Mac to the new Cocoa calls. Windows doesn’t have the Carbon/Cocoa issue so its conversion is nearing completion. The Mac conversion however involves thousands of changes which will still take a few more months to finish. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start releasing CS5 compatible plug-ins as they are completed.

So here’s the projected release sequence. As usual I need to give you a disclaimer that plans can change and no matter how likely it seems that things are on track schedules can shift in dramatic ways, but with that in mind here’s what we project as our likely release schedule.

First to be released will be 3D Reflector for both Mac and Windows. This plug-in has no interface other than what you see in the After Effects, Effect Controls Window. So its conversion has gone the smoothest. 3D Serpentine will be next for similar reasons, followed by 3D Warps. We have to do a bit more work on Warps but it’s not too bad. The good news is that both the Mac and Windows versions can be released at the same time, so the CS5 version of 3D Reflector is expected to go public two weeks from today. The others will follow shortly.

After that we’ll release 3D Flag, Layer Tools and Werks1… but only for Windows. The Mac versions require the big switchover to Cocoa because of all the custom interfaces we built for those plug-ins. So the Mac versions will be delayed for a month or two but at least you Windows guys will be up and running. In my mind it’s not ideal to release for one platform before the other but if we can make half of you happy that’s better than none of you. Also, releasing the Windows versions first doesn’t slow down the Mac programming so you Mac users can rest assured that you’ll get your updates as soon as is humanly possible.

Next we’ll release the standalone versions of ProModeler and ProAnimator. Since the standalones are not restricted by the 64 bit or the Cocoa issues, these programs will stay 32 bit for the time being. The upside to this is that we’ll be able to release both the Mac and Windows versions at the same time. This will be the debut of all the new features we’ve been working on. It should be exciting.

Following this will be the Windows-only releases of 3D Invigorator Classic, Pro and Photoshop, and possibly the ProAnimator plug-in. More excitement, with champagne popping around the office.

At this point all of our Windows software will be released and compatible with CS5. Next it’ll seem like we’ve gone dark for a month or two as we feverishly work on the Cocoa updates for the Mac. If you are a Mac user you’re probably cursing under your breath right now, and I apologize for that, but these are the cards Apple and Adobe have dealt us. Once we’ve rewritten our windowing system we’ll knock out each plug-in in order of complexity. First 3D Flag, Werks and Layer Tools for Mac, followed by 3D Invigorator Classic/Pro/Photoshop, and finally ProAnimator. Then some serious champagne popping and maybe a day or two off. Whew.

So I hope this talk has helped you understand what’s going on inside Zaxwerks. I understand and share your frustration at not being able to use our software inside of CS5 yet, and even if you aren’t happy with us perhaps you can at least appreciate the road we’ve been on for the last two years and how it’ll finally see fruition in these next few months.

Stay tuned. There’s going to be a lot of software coming out of Zaxwerks in the near future. Those of you who have purchased recently will qualify for free upgrades to the new software. Drop us an email at zaxwerks@zaxwerks.com to see if you qualify.

Thanks for listening.

Zax Dow
President
Zaxwerks Inc.