CompuServe Thread

I have just been given the job of editing a few .FLC files. I said we should buy Animator Pro, the boss said we should use our existing tools. Can anybody help me point out that Animator Pro is worth buying. What does it offer to .FLC files that 3DS can't do. Unfornatually I don't have the original project files to these animations. We have VFD and 3DS4. Thanks for your reply's Geoff Coope

>> Can anybody help me point out that Animator Pro is worth buying. What does it offer to .FLC files that 3DS can't do. Unfornatually I don't have the original project files to these animations. << Anipro and 3D Studio are apples and oranges. if your boss thinks one will do what the other does, your boss doesn't know one of them. for years these two packages have complimented each other. Animator Pro is a 2 1/2 D pixel-editing program. it deals with the output 3DS can generate. it also has the potential to expand 3DS's potential (such as through its ability to generate any of the map types). some (including me) see AniPro as a giant map-generating IPAS routine. <gg> AniPro is programmable (C-language). it is also a powerful scriptable playback utility which can exploit all system resources. it gives complete control over the palette of frames, and can help reduce your rendering times down to 1% of their original time on certain types of animation. the drawback/problem with AniPro (as it has been forever it seems) is that it works only with 8-bit images and animations. while these are sufficient for many applications, much the bulk work of 3D Studio output is truecolor (series of 24-bit TGA images). if you are using 3DS to primarily generate FLCs though (8-bit), AniPro is a must. the time it can save you, its ability to expand 3D Studio's capabilities, and the control it gives you over every frame's palette are invaluable. -dave

Get the dos (8bit) animator pro…the windows one is crap ..IMHO Simple things like reversing a flic file in the old dos anipro take seconds on a p75 with 24mb….under windows…minutes and you have to pingpong it then delete the original frames…..awful!!! For using stuff from studio…dos version is better also because you can spawn it from the shell. What I mean is …that you can add anipro to the function keys in studio and drop in and out as you need…..it is great for 256 flc files!!!!! Windows….why bother…. Louis

>> Simple things like reversing a flic file in the old dos anipro take seconds on a p75 with 24mb….under windows…minutes and you have to pingpong it then delete the original frames…..awful!!! << hi Louis. while i am a major AniProhead <g>… the issue is not that simple. if we start comparing times, then we need to also compare task and data. 24-bit images are typically a bit larger than 8-bit images… so it reasonable to assume that editing 24-bit movies will take longer than editing 8-bit flics on the same system. also, depending on the flavor of Windows, you may be seeing dramatic performance hits. finally, depending on the content of the movie, AniPro may or may not be suitable simply because of the movie's content. if an artist is trying to create effects using varying degrees of opacity with images, for example, it's a moot point. GLASS ink only goes so far. there are just as many cases where AniPro is by far the more practical tool than AniStudio. they are very different products. to apply this simple theme of apples and oranges to your example… AniPro is fast (no doubt), but it cannot handle (at this time) reversing a 24-bit AVI file. so perhaps we could ask Geoff what pixel depth he needs to use before we suggest AniPro over AniStudio. yes? of course you're entitled to your opinion, and Animator Studio did have a rocky beginning… but we're 5 months into the product at this point on its 3rd round for release 1 and it's really getting powerful and stable. when someone asks me what program to use.. the first thing i say is "tell me what you're planning to do." 🙂 qualify the task… then pick the tools. to say a hammer is a piece of crap and a screwdriver is way better (when pounding nails may be what's needed) is a bit skewed. IMHO. -dave

True enough….and you know how hard it is to admit your mistakes 🙂 Your right on all counts…ask what colour depth 1st etc.. I would however still suggest to the guy that if he is using 3D studios .flc files for playback on PC that he uses 256 files and anipro for editing, if he needs to edit 24 bit stuff sure use anistudio but make sure it is a killer PC. BTW…how many people actually play around with 24 bit avi's etc….and what in your opinion is a groovy graphics card good for this kind of stuff. We use Matrox 4mb pci mga cards (impressions)…and find them to still be awful, and almost impossible to give to other people to playback…talking about 320×200's mainly. Louis

>> needs to edit 24 bit stuff sure use anistudio but make sure it is a killer PC. << i agree. folks handling vast amounts of work files (image files and animations in this case) really need to look into Pentiums or better with plenty of resources. >> BTW…how many people actually play around with 24 bit avi's etc….and what in your opinion is a groovy graphics card good for this kind of stuff. << well, it depends what one is doing withe images. my first "introductory station" had a Diamond Speedstar Pro 24-bit card, a Targa 32+ for outputting to video and an Intel Personal Video Recorder for recording 320×240 digital videos. -dave