3D ANIMATED TEXT

[davegee]

.......to see what can be done.

Best viewed at 1920x1080.

DG

PIXELS2.zip

[Lin Evans]

Hey David,

You've been having fun I see!! Very nice demo of possibilities. Probably, it would be much easier though to just use Xara 3D and run it as an animated gif, but it certainly does show the flexibility of constructing 3D objects from geometric forms with PTE.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Thanks Lin,

An hour to spare and foul weather outside so......................

Xara 3D - never heard of it.

Animated GIFs - what happens if you want to tweak something?

Besides, these take up hardly any disc or memory space.

All good fun!!

DG

[colin hill]

Dave,

Looks like you had some fun, very well done.

I love animation and playing around with shapes etc.

Colin

[davegee]

Thanks Colin.

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi Dave,

http://www.learntoma...dave/pixels.zip

That's true - they are small, and it's fun doing them.

However, Xara 3D is "so fast" for doing animated text, it's hardly worth the time it takes to construct in PTE. This one took 12 seconds to make. It took longer to zip it and upload than it did to make the 3D text. It's an inexpensive and "very" powerful little program which lets you output to Flash, animated gif, etc. They have lots of great programs - one of the best web creation software packages around..... This one is low res and slow frame rate, but you have total control over that. A large number of fonts can be used, you have control over lighting, extrusion, texturing, etc., etc.

Here's a link to their site (They are a U.K. Company).

http://www.xara.com/us/products/

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

That's true - they are small, and it's fun doing them.

However, Xara 3D is "so fast" for doing animated text, it's hardly worth the time it takes to construct in PTE. This one took 12 seconds to make. It took longer to zip it and upload than it did to make the 3D text. It's an inexpensive and "very" powerful little program which lets you output to Flash, animated gif, etc. They have lots of great programs - one of the best web creation software packages around..... This one is low res and slow frame rate, but you have total control over that. A large number of fonts can be used, you have control over lighting, extrusion, texturing, etc., etc.

Lin,

Maybe we can go back a little?

I am trying to learn all that there is to know about 3D animation in PTE. By using a third party programme to do the work for me what am I gaining or adding to my knowledge base?

When 3D animation was introduced we had cubes up to our ears for weeks and then it died down. I see very little 3D animation in PTE shows these days but what is there is subtle and makes me wonder if the use to which it is being put was worth all of the effort that Igor put into it?

The letters thing is perhaps not a good example of the way it could or should be applied in PTE but the knowledge gained in actually doing it is priceless. It is also a perfect way to show how things are built, how they fit together and how each element is related to other elements.

I'm putting together a project about Innsbrucke and the 3D animation is part of the intro.

Will Sara allow you to put together a title something like this (short clip)?

EEEEEE.zip

DG

[Lin Evans]

Hi David,

I understand your reasoning and the value of learning how to manipulate PTE to do various 3D animations and I quite agree with you. Xara, at least the version I use for text, isn't designed for general purpose 3D animation. It's value is only for quickly creating and manipulating 3D text. So if you just want to create flashy 3D animated text, then it's definitely easier and faster to use it and export as Flash or animated Gif and use it with your show than to build the alphabet in block geometrics with PTE. On the other hand if you want pictures, photos, etc., to be part of the text as in your sample, then using PTE is the solution since Xara, at least as far as I know, doesn't have that capability. What it does do, however, that you can't do with PTE, is create the animated text using multiple fonts, three color user adjustable lighting which changes as the characters animate, and a wide choice of templated animations. To learn about what it can do, follow the link and watch a few of the demos.

I think that the beauty of PTE is that the power is there for those who want and need it (and are willing to devote the time necessary to the learning curve), and the simplicity for those who don't. Also the 3D transforms add to the utility of programs like Xara because you can further manipulate the already impressive animation using PTE's own impressive tools. PTE is a bit like Photoshop in that it has something for everyone. People such as Jean Pierre (JPD) who was miles ahead of the rest of us, and was able to extract the maximum from not only PTE's internal tool kit, but by using outside software (Excel in his case) to make it jump through hoops even Igor and the development team didn't know it could do! Then there are those who just want to output a simple slideshow with nice transitions and background music and/or voice narrative. It works for both! Though I personally have always loved animation and use it often in demonstrations, I rarely use it in the same ways in my own slideshows for friends or clients. Sometimes subtle is better and sometimes "in your face" animation is desired. I think that a tool which can do both as PTE can, is the ideal choice for those who enter competitive events. I don't believe that having the "potential" for creating amazing animations is wasted with PTE in any way. Few Photographers ever learn the "depths" of Photoshop's power, but it's there if they need or want it. Graphic artists often do things with Photoshop which amaze those of us who rarely need or even see some of the more esoteric possibilities. PTE is similar. We have photographers, artists, AV competitors and a host of other specialists all enjoying these features in varying degrees. It's all good in my opinion.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Agreed - I have managed to eliminate Photoshop from my Workflow for PP'ing NEF files but for preparing the necessary PNG files for this project it is essential.

For making the JPEGs for PTE it is not required.

So although I could easily do without CSX for my photographic work I still use it for creative purposes and therefore (sometimes) have to "plumb the depths" as you say.

DG