Handwriting
The problem I had run into wasn't so much the "softness" of the
opacity effect, but rather an apparent averaging/softening "wrapped
around" from the left edge to the right. (Say for example that this
represents frame 10 of an object with an animated opacity map that
moves from left to right, full black becoming full white. In this
case X= fully opaque and 0= fully transparent with 1-9 representing
10-90%. My object looks like this: XXXXXXXXX83000000000005X.) In the
case where I lofted a circle along an S or G with mapping coords, the
end of the S and G "appear" at the same time as the beginning.
I have already finished the animation, and disguised the problem thru careful
lighting and camera moves, but I did want to point it out to the originator of
this thread as a potential problem in his project.
In my case, I'd like the best solution for my own future reference. I love the
effect. I suspect that my anim opac map has too low a resolution. I think I
used 100 x 200 for a 100 frame effect. I have yet to send you my demo reel. It
shows the lettering that gave me the grief. I'll send you a copy as soon as I
append my latest work. Perhaps Bob Bennett still has the earlier copy I gave
him at Autodesk University.