Check out these videos, the tutorial is great, and it is really impressive what this plug-in can do in After Effects.
I already have ideas bouncing in my head for Direct Response uses for something like this, once the product is rendered out in 3D at least.
Zaxwerks has finally upgraded 3D Invigorator Pro to Version 6. And it had better be a whopper of an upgrade now that After Effects CS6 has Ray Traced Extruded Text and Shapes.
New features for Invigorator Pro include:
▪ Ray-Trace Reflectivity & Shadows! (NEW)
▪ Ultra Realistic Shadows with Ambient Occulusion (NEW)
▪ Create Glass or Water with Refraction (NEW)
▪ Super Easy Grid Creator (NEW)
▪ Increased Number of Sets and Layer Maps (NEW)
Here is what they have to say:
Our new Ray Trace renderer produces ultra-cool pictures, with reflections of objects in other objects, smooth realistic shadows, and glass refractions. Mmmmm. Sweet, sweet pictures.
New workflow features include the ability to trace pictures then map the picture back onto the object with one click; the ability to turn whole folders of images into 3D objects; and the ability to collect all project related files if you have to move the project from one computer to another. If you’re not a 3D-techie this means it’s now easier than ever to turn client artwork into flying 3D objects.
Best of all in version 6 are the new Object Fragmentation features. This set of features lets you slice, chop or crack your 3D objects into little fragments. Big deal, most 3D programs can do this, right? Not even close. What ProAnimator does is to turn fragmentation into a design tool where you can change your mind as the design evolves. Slice your logos into planks, strips, cubes, chips, chunks or shards. No pre-planning required. Change the fragmentation, change the text getting fragmented, change the bevels, change the color, change anything at anytime for the greatest flexibility imaginable.
ProAnimator 6 has also added more animation controls especially designed to take advantage of the thousands of pieces generated by the fragmentation features. So now you can take your thousands of fragments and spin, tumble, whip and cascade them in cooler, fresher and more eye-catching ways than before. Spill the fragments into the screen and watch them assemble into your logo. Drop the fragments and watch one word turn into another. This can be done with any text, logo or imported 3D object.
Stop for a moment and realize that now you can design on the fly with fragments as easily as full objects. It’s like a particle system that’s easy and fun to control and completely real-time and interactive. It’s all waiting at your fingertips to give your work an exciting edge over your competition.
It is $399 or $99 for an upgrade from 5.0.
VideoCopilot has finally released it’s long teased Element 3D plug in for After Effects for $149.95. or $195.50 with Pro Shaders, $249.50 with Motion Design Pack and Pro Shaders or $495 including all 6 3D packs and over 500 in 3D models to use with it.
Looks pretty damn cool actually and I would love to give it a try! Been watching videos for some time, and it looks really damn powerful without having to have extensive 3D skills.
Looks like you can do particle effects with real 3D elements, very very cool. I have some ideas just from looking at the footage.
Trapcode’s blog has an excellent tutorial by John Einselen on how to create realistic dust hits with Trapcode Particular.
After updating to After Effects CS6 11.01 I started getting an error message about CUDA not working.
Strangely CUDA was still working fine in Premiere Pro CS6, so it had to be the AE Update.
And I am running the latest CUDA.
The thing is it just wasn’t showing up in After Effects and was using CPU instead of CPU for CUDA.
I tried trashing After Effects preferences, but that didn’t work, so I found and downloaded the standalone 11.01 update installer and that fixed the issue for now.
Re: Vision Effects has released updates to all of it’s plug ins to support Adobe CS6 After Effects and Premiere Pro.
Personally I can’t live without Twixtor and ReelSmart Motion Blur, so these are welcome updates.
Todd Kopriva has an article on GPU acceleration in After Effects CS6 including CUDA and OpenCL.
Jeff Foster at the Pro Video Coalition has an excellent article on real world usage of After Effects CS6’s 3D motion tracking on some very shaky real world footage.
It looks pretty damn impressive actually. I am looking forward to giving this a test drive (and can’t wait for the shadowcatcher feature either).