#WANTED:Animator Pro Book
17 messages in this thread
I just started using Animator Pro and would like something a little better in
the way of examples and instruction that what the user guide has to offer.
Is there such an animal?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Bob
Pickin's are slim on the books, Bob. But the forum is filled with capable,
experienced users all willing to lend a hand when they can.
The SysOps here wear the ADESK logo and have a direct pipeline
to the creators of the program.
I'll gladly help with any particular problems you confront.
The hardest thing I had to deal with in learning Animator Pro
was use of the optics menu. ( I'm X,Y,Z deficient. <G> )
In retrospect, it seems quite easy.
I've never hand much use for the Trace Menu, as I don't do that kind of work.
Nor is programming in POCO a strength. But Ed Kellerman, a fellow forumite,
can help in this department. He's done some fascinating stuff with POCO.
My most advanced use might be in the area of scripting.
Anyway, I think it's all there in the manual.
But if I can be of assistance,
jot a note to my number.
Kevin Gibson
Kevin,
Thanks for the offer. I will take you up on it immediately:
Is there a semi-painless way to take an animation that you have created and
overlya that animation on a bitmap. I know there are palette issues here, but
first things first. I have an 82 frame animation that I did on a black
background and would like to use a bitmap immage as the background. Is there
some way to copy the entire sequence of frames onto a single frame/picture?
Thanks for you help in advance.
Bob
Bob,
So you're gonna make me work instead of my ususal clowning around, eh?
< Is there a semi-painless way to take an animation that you have created >
< and overlay that animation on a bitmap? >
I think I understand the question.
But pallette considerations are not the last thing you want to address.
You'll find that out later.
—————————————————————————–
Load the screen (background image), insert a number of frames equal to the
number of frames in your movie.
Load your movie as a cel. Use CEL/FILES/LOAD If it's a .fl* file make sure
that option is lit. Switch to the directory where the movie is and load it.
Turn the time select and key buttons on.
That's the T and K buttons in [T][F][K] near the bottom right corner.
( The proper use of these buttons is the first hurdle for a lot of beginners.
Especially learning how to do things over time. )
Cel/Move to position the cel where you want
to project your movie.
Then paste it. Make sure TIME, NEXT CEL and ALL are lit.
If you want the movie you're projectin' to move across the screen,
position it with Cel/Move at the starting point and when you paste it
(with the time select button lit) paste it where you want it to end.
This is the most painless solution I can offer.
I hope it jives with your section of the universe.
Refer to page 8-3 of the reference manual for further confusion.
Kevin Gibson
Animation Nation <tm> -=What have I gotten myself into?=-
Sure Bob, To composite a flick making a specific color slot/color the
key color so it is clear can be done this way. (RTFM – Animator Pro,
pages 3-11,12,13,14)
As you noted, get the background GIF and the flic using the same
palette. I suppose you can do this with FIT on, but I haven't tried
it. Oh yeah here it is the manual – it will ask you what to do if
the color maps are different.
You can start with the GIF as a single frame "resident" flic, pick
COMPOSITE from the FLIC menu, select Overlay (to put the FLC "in
front" with the GIF showing through in the key color areas). When
the Composit past End? dialog appears, pick wrap at end – to continue
using the GIF frame. (I usually get this wrong and have to do it
again the right way around.)
There is a course going on in the NAAUG section of the forum that covers some
topics in Animator Pro – check it out.
There were a flurry of books when Animator first came out. Animator Pro added
a few features, but the big change was the ability to set various sizes for
flicks and screen resolution. So, the books are/were helpful (they also tend
to rehash the manual). See if your library can get them on inter-library loan
if they don't have them locally. "The Best Book of Autodesk Animator", by
McClelland, and "Using Animator" by Sharp are the two I have.
Working through the manual and tutorials is basic. Understanding the basics
and the subtleties of how the inks and tools can be used, plus optics really
frees your mind up.
Chuck,
You Silver Tongued Devil You.
You prove my point.
This forum is filled with people willing to help if given the chance.
Thanks for reminding me about the NAAUG courses. I've been meaning to check
them out. Do you have to be a member of NAAUG in order to participate in
the fun and games? If so, can I pay by credit card over the phone?
I hate the mail.
I didn't get into the book thing in chatting with Bob, because as you pointed
out, they, for the most part were on Animator not Animator Pro.
Rehashes of manuals don't do anything for me, but I did pick up a tip or two
when I read them, which I use when presenting classes.
Tell ya. I'm wary of anything that proclaims itself "The Best…."
Thanks for helping me double team the answer.
Kevin Gibson
Animation Nation <tm> -=It's a beautiful day!=-
P.S. I'm all for the part about "frees your mind."
The NAAUG course materials for Animator Pro are available in Lib 14. I haven't
paid, but maybe I'm missing something.
Chuck Jameson
Silver Tongue Software
/* The NAAUG course materials for Animator Pro are available in Lib 14. I
haven't paid, but maybe I'm missing something. */
Just a note, NTP is free, but if you find the materials and work of the
volunteers valuable, please consider joining NAAUG. The dues are only $25/yr
until February when they go up to $35/yr. Not bad for what's shaping up to be
21 courses this coming semester. -dave
/* Thanks for reminding me about the NAAUG courses. I've been meaning to check
them out. Do you have to be a member of NAAUG in order to participate in the
fun and games? If so, can I pay by credit card over the phone? I hate the
mail. */
The telecourses are free to anyone, but in the same mindset as shareware, if
you feel these are worthwhile, please consider supporting the program by
considering becoming a member. Dues are $25/yr until February. -dave
Dave,
I really don't need to consider supporting the program. I've already begun!<G>
I uploaded the PCGNet list of BBSes to the 3D Studio Library (PCGNET.LST)
and have uploaded the same file on FIDONET twice. ( And I ain't finished! )
I've even gotten feedback from our friends over in Northern Europe
that the list arrived there via the Graphics Conference.
Jan Hoolwerf, who lives in Ede, the Netherlands, and keeps in touch via
BBS Bennekom, wrote to let me know that the list had arrived safe and sound.
The original concept behind Animation Nation was to support nation-wide
user interest in Animator Pro and 3D Studio. My efforts even drew attention
in Cadalyst and Cadence magazine.
But, alas, I confess before one and all, it proved to be far too large and
expensive of an undertaking for yours truly. I have continued my
pro-Autodesk activities in a much lower profile manner since stumbling
into the arena.
In the wake of my activities, I have noticed a substantial and positive impact
on the sale of Autodesk products. Animation Nation was founded in
Austin, Texas around the time 3D Studio was first released. I promoted
the product through group meetings that sometimes numbered in the hundreds.
( I've got it on 3/4" tape. ) An Autodesk dealer there, who demonstrated
3D Studio and Animator Pro at the meetings, was recently recognized as being
one of the country's strongest performers and reports that they continue to
move a significant number of packages each month.
My more recent efforts involved positioning Digimation as a mail-order
catalog firm. As the sole full-time employee in the fall of last year,
I conceived of and produced the first catalog for the company.
You may be familiar with it's success. ( I am sorry to say that our parting
was not under the best of circumstances. )
I have always thought that there was a need for the type of activities you
are now carrying out under your new appellation, the National Autodesk
ANIMATION User Group. I watched with skepticism to see just what would emerge
from the announcement made at last year's Autodesk University. I've talked
periodically with one or two of the individuals who were elected as
representatives to the committee regarding what, if anything, was actually
being done by the former AutoCAD organization to embrace Animator Pro and
3D Studio users. The appearance of the telecourses was a welcome surprise.
Although reports indicate that Autodesk University is still too heavily
weighted on the AutoCAD side, I am encouraged by some of what I have seen.
My conversation with Ms. Clinton at SIGGRAPH was also reassuring that
Autodesk was going to finally put some serious muscle into supporting
Animator Pro / 3D Studio User Groups at large instead of the wimpy efforts
that have marked the past.
I have already begun efforts to support a local node on the net.
I hope to have it online in the very near future.
Dave, I know I've got the materials around here somewhere, but save me the
pain of looking for it and tell me how I can give you my money.
Do you take credit cards? Can I do this by phone?
What does $25 buy me? How much more do you want?
And while were out here in the street talkin' 'bout things
why dontcha explain the bennies.
There's a lot of people, including myself, who seldom
stroll down that backstreet you guys are chattin' on.
"Hurricane Kevin" Gibson
Animation Nation <tm> -=You might say I'm an evangelist.=-
P.S. Who or what is Toxic Frog? And where did the name come from?
BTW I thought that stuff on Thread Drift a la Bacon Bits was absolutely
hilarious. It made me laugh so hard, it took me three or four attempts
before I finally got to the end. You're whacked!
And it's a good kinda whacked! You ought to display a little more of that
humor in the Multimedia side of the house. I vote for a reprint!
Hi Kevin;
The North American Autodesk Users Group has been working hard to incorporate
multimedia into every aspect of itself; from the way we make presentations to
the telecourses we offer. Kathy Clinton has been a great help too. It looks
like we're offering 4 courses this coming semester… good stuff too. For info
on how to join NAAUG, call the NAAUG center at Autodesk at 415-491-8480. Dues
go up for people starting membership after Feb 1st, so make sure to do it (if
you decide to) before then. <g> They accept all sorts of payment methods. You
can even reach Toby (the guy at NAAUG central) here at CIS 75663,2071.
/* And while were out here in the street talkin' 'bout things why dontcha
explain the bennies. */
There's a lot of'em. Ted Boardman can elaborate since he's Multimedia SIG and
they have their own list of bennies, but the main ones for NAAUG are direct
access to Autodesk, it's programmers and sales teams on wishlist items for
future implementation, access to them physically at the annual meeting, special
interest groups with disciplinary focus at the annula meetings and roadshows
(we travel to various cities each year to "bring Autodesk and NAAUG to your
neighborhood), we support local user groups with all kinds of discounts and
resources (like the Starter and maintenance Kit), and we provide modem programs
over 5 major nets including this one (such as the telecourses, the newsletter
exchange program) and such. In addition, there's the old standbys; the
quarterly technical newsletter, the resource and utility disks, teeshirt,
secret decoder ring… <g>. It's a good sized group, about 4500.
/* P.S. Who or what is Toxic Frog? And where did the name come from? */
<taking NAAUG hat off for a moment> Mark McGraw, Greg Schutz and two new
arrivals (don't know if they want me to post their names here yet) and me make
up Toxic Frog Multimedia. We started offas a simple group of volunteers who
decided to work together to do some neat work for a few large organizations
that had no money but desperately needed animations and presentation graphics
to get going. These included two public tv stations, a facilities management
company, a hospital and three charity organizations. It was hobby-work, but all
of us get into this stuff pretty seriously. Anyway, the short of it was that
several companies that had money got wind of our work and asked (after seing
it) if we could do work for them. Next thing you know, business was coming in
from all over. We're a weird company. We walk into most offices in jeans and
tie-dye, we aren't cocky but we have no wish to do work for jerks, and we don't
play the corporate shuffle game. It's been a profitable hobby so far for
something that started out as "fun". Last month we did the graphics for the
annual NAAUG meeting, and our next project is for companies which have to make
large presentations. They have discovered the power of animated slides. On the
side, we've also done numerous training and setup sessions at 10+ companies,
showing them how to make MM products profitable in the first two months. Very
exciting work. The name; well… that's a quickie. I like frogs, they're my
favorite creature. My world collapsed for a week after Jim Henson died. Mark
wanted to call the group Toxic Slime. Greg thought the world Multimedia should
be in there somewhere. We hadn't decided the final name, but one of our clients
had heard about our choices so far, and in a goof told someone we were "Toxic
Frog" or something… this 3rd party dude called and asked (when we picked up
the phone) "hello, is this Toxic Frog?" I loved it. What an image. Not only
that, but the name is hard to forget. I'd be standing in a group of ten, and
people would be asking me about my nametag. It's weird, its curious, it's
memorable. Our slogan "a dangerous leap in presentation graphics". Love it.
'Nuff about me. You're the only one I've ever explained this to. 🙂
/* You're whacked! */
So my wife keeps telling me. <g> -dave
Dave,
For the Benefit of all: In the 3D Studio Library #3
[75313,620]
PCGNET.LST/Text Bytes: 5633, Count: 182, 15-Oct-94 Last:12-Nov-94
Title : Professional CAD and Graphics Network BBS List
Keywords: PCGNET BBS BULLETIN BOARDS NAAUG 3DSTUDIO ANIMATION NATION TM
PCGnet BBS List – Professional CAD and Graphics Network Bulletin Boards.
PCGnet BBSes can be found throughout the world. PCGnet distributes 3D
Studio meshes, utilities, IPAS routines, NAAUG telecourses and
hosts conferences on 3D Studio. This list appeared in 3D Artist Magazine,
Issue #16 and was accompanied by an article on PCGnet's activities by Adam
Shiffman. Uploaded as ANSI file by -=Kevin Gibson=- Animation Nation <tm>
[dl time at 2400b: 1 min]
>> I just started using Animator Pro and would like something a little
>> better in the way of examples and instruction that what the user
>> guide has to offer.
In Section 14 – NAAUG, a telecourse program is being offered with classes in
ANI, 3DS, ACAD and others. Very good place for more detailed instruction.