#AA basics
5 messages in this thread
Hi,
I'm newly initiated to Autodesk Animator – fresh out of the box this week. I
bought the animator so I could design and run animations from educational
software I'm developing in TPW 1.5. How can I show a FLI file from within my
application – do you have a DLL to do this, or do I need to access the FLI
through AAPlay (How?, CopyRights?)
Also, the animation samples which come on the CDROM with Multimedia
Explorer are amazing, and I'm fairly sure that most of these are beyond the
league of the basic Animator (and my very basic "artistry"=Stick figures) What
is the difference between Animator and Animator Pro (I know that resolution can
be increased with Pro, but that's the limit of my knowledge), and what is the
Upgrade Cost? What does 3DStudio consist of, and what does that run?
Thanx,
Scott
Hi Scott,
Animator Pro does provide more resolutiona and tools. 3D Studio is a
3 dimentional modeling and animation package capable of producing
still images in 24 bit color (16 Million colors), producing 8 bit 256
color animations, and can interact with video equipment to allow you
to place your still images or animations to tape. It is considered
by many, with the current release of R3, to be "in the league with
the big boys". You may wish to announce where you are located so that
one of the many dealers who actively participate on this forum can
invite you to see a
demontration of these products and to see one of the video tapes
showing off the output capabilities of these products.
Jonas [ADESK]
You're hitting turkey day, so you might want to send this to Nik again
next week. There are developer's kits for including flics in your
code. I don't remember who you have to contact for this, but Nik
should know. Animator Pro is resolution-independant and contains a
number of new features, including animated cels, more complex
tweening, etc. It's not considered an upgrade from Animator (which is
still being sold in parallel with AniPro). Its price is $795 (last I
looked). AniPro, along with 3D Studio are considered "professional"
products and are sold only through official multimedia dealers. You
can get the number of a multimedia dealer nearest you by calling
800/879-4233. They can give you a complete demonstration of both
products. 3D Studio is a 3D modeling, animation, and rendering
package that sells for $2995, retail. It's been awhile, but I'd guess
that some of the animations you saw on the CDROM were created in 3D
Studio and, possibly, augmented in Animator.
I think Jack and Jonas have pretty much covered the questions you have. As far
as royalties, and playing animations from your own application, I think you'd
benefit from calling that 800/879-4233 mentioned by Jack and purchase the
Windows Animation Developer's Toolkit (it's around $30). This will include
some files that you can find here on CompuServe (like NEWPLA.ZIP or VBXFIX.ZIP)
but it also includes documentation about the calls.
Use of our tools and animations: if it's not for commericial distribution, go
ahead and use them. Commercial use of images requires written permission from
Autodesk, and probably some credit for the images somewhere in the animation.
Nik
Thanx guys. I'll look into Windows Animation Developer's toolkit.
Someone told me about a $130 upgrade from Animator => Animator Pro.
Know anything about it?