after effects plug-in - zaxwerks 3d software...using the object menu, you can easily create 3d...

After Effects Plug-in

PRO

User Guide

Zaxwerks Inc.

5724 Camellia Ave.Temple City, CA 91780(626) 309-9102 phone(626) 309-9142 faxhttp://www.zaxwerks.comhttp://www.digitalanarchy.com

Sales: [email protected] Support: [email protected] can also fill out a help request form at:http://www.digitalanarchy.com/support/form.php

© 1996 - 2010 Zaxwerks Inc. All rights reserved.

This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and does not represent product specifications or commitment on the part of Zaxwerks. Zaxwerks assumes no responsibility or liability for any error or inaccuracies that may appear in this document.

The Zaxwerks Invigorator for Photoshop is a trademark of Zaxwerks Inc. Illustrator and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 7 are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc. Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. All other product names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Table Of Contents

System Requirements Mac & Windows Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Install 3D Invigorator for Photoshop Zaxwerks Software License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . 8 Install Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Multiple Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Project Setup Creating a Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Making the Solid Comp Sized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Matching the Solid to the Comp Settings . . . . . . . . 9 Applying 3D Invigorator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Authorize the Software Filling in the Authorization Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Run the Program as a Demo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Create 3D Objects Using the Start-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Using the Object Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Create 3D Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Choosing a Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Choosing additional Font Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Customizing Text Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Text Input Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Expanding the Text Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Create 3D Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Open Illustrator File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Selecting an Illustrator File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Open By Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Use Illustrator Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Dismantle Incoming Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Save Without “Use Compression” . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Interface Launching the 3D Invigorator Interface . . . . . . . . . 13 Customizing the Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Saving the Current Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Assigning a Workspace Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Deleting a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Switching Between Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Renaming a Workspace Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Menu Options Adjusting Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Panels Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Opening and Closing Panels . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Closing a Panel Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Dragging a Panel to a Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Resizing a Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Creating a Panel at a Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 New Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Open Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Merge Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Save Scene As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Paste on New Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Clear Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Clear Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Select All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Duplicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Select Invisible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Deselect All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Move to 3D Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Reset Tweaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Convert to Lathe Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Help and Preferences Shadow Map Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Duplication Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Default Hard Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Shader Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Number of Undos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Restore Swatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Restore Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Restore Gradient Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Restore User Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3D Preview Window Camera Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Light Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Object Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tumble Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Roll Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tracking Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Dolly Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Scale Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Zoom Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Drag Using Object Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3D Display Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Background Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Background Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Lens Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Camera Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Render Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Split Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Grids Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Object Controls Panel Reload or Replace an Illustrator File . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Edit Text Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Object Pivot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Object Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Object Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Object Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Object Smoothness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Depth Slider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SpikeBuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Show/Hide Object Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Bevels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Material Swatches Panel Duplicate Selected Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Select All Unused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Delete Selected Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Clear Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Missing Texture Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Applying Materials to Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Saving Materials to Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Reset Material Swatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Material Editor Panel New Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Duplicate Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Save Material to Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Delete Selected Shader Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Duplicate Selected Shader Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Copy Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Paste Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Preview Material Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Rendering Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Adding a Shader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Transparency Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Highlight Texture Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Bump Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Reflectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Standard Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Absolute Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cartoon Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Anisotropic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wireframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Hidden Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Matte Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Shadow Catcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 JPEG, Photoshop, TARGA Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Object Style Swatches Panel Save Object Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Apply Object Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Unlink Object Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Remove Object Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Remove Object Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Duplicate Object Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Select All Unused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Delete Selected Object Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Show Names and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Clear Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Arranging the Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Resaving an Object Style to the Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Material Palette and Profile Viewer Panel Applying Materials to the Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Camera Manipulation Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Split Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Repositioning a Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Material Palette Chip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Assigning Materials to a Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Turn Splits On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Light Editor Panel Editing Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Save Light to Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Shadow Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Disable All Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Turn On This Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Light Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Light Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Adjusting the Light Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Light Swatches and Lighting Style Swatches Panel Apply Swatch to Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Duplicate Light Swatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Delete Selected Swatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Clear Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Save Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Apply Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Duplicate Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Delete Selected Lighting Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Output Panel Invigorator Renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 High-Quality OpenGL Renderer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 AntiAliasing Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 AntiAliasing Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Loading a Text Substitution File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Object List 3D Preview Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Changing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Layer Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Editor View Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Layer Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Layer Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Editor Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Editor Ghosting & Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Create 3D Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Import Illustrator File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Create 3D Primitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Create Lathe Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Create Null Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Convert to Lathe Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Group Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Ungroup Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Deleted Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Object Editor Rotating Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Repositioning Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Customizing Parametric Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Editing the Bevel of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Object Editor Buttons Object Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Path Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Point Selection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Pen Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Autocurve Pen Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Add Point Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Remove Point Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Convert Anchor Point Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Point Bevel Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Shape Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 3D Text Window Selecting the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Switching the Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Jumping in the Font List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Previewing the Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Font Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Effect Controls Panel Manipulating the Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Using the Comp Camera & Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Animating the Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Substitution Batch Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ripple Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Warp Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Warp Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Warp Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Creating New Materials Adding a Shader Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Re-arranging the Shader Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Blend Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Gradient Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Customizing Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Text Substitution Variable Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Example Text File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Drawing & Editing Logos Loading the Background Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Adjusting the Background Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Drawing & Editing Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Loading an Illustrator File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Open By Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Working with Lathe Objects Y-Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Profile Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Customizing the End Caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

System Requirements

To run this program, your system must be able to run Adobe After Effects CS2 or above. The following requirements are the minimum system specifications to run the program.

Macintosh

• PowerPC G4, G5 processor, or the Intel Mac.

• Mac OS X (10.3.9, 10.4.11, 10.5.6, 10.6.2 or later).

• 1 GB of RAM.

• 52 MB of available hard-disk space to install the application, in addition to the hard disk space required to install Adobe After Effects.

• 1024x768 monitor resolution

• Adobe After Effects CS2

Windows

• Pentium 4 or above.

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7.

• 1 GB of RAM.

• 52 MB of available hard-disk space to install the application, in addition to the hard disk space required to install Adobe After Effects.

• 1024x768 monitor resolution

• Adobe After Effects CS2

System Requirements 7

Install 3D Invigorator for After Effects

To install 3D Invigorator, insert your installation disc, or unzip the file you downloaded and double-click on the installation icon. Click the “Accept” checkbox, and press the Install button.

Installation 8

Check the accept checkbox before continuing with the installation.

Click Change Location to customize where you want to installthe program.

To do multiple installations, click the “Do Another” button. Otherwise, click the “Quit” button.

Find the install icon from your installation disc or your download file.

Project Setup

To apply 3D Invigorator, first create a comp sized Color Solid. Be sure to click the “Make Comp Size” button. If you apply 3D Invigorator to a Solid that is smaller or larger than comp size, you will experience clipping at the edges of the Solid. Keep the Solid layer as a 2D layer, then go to the Effects > Zaxwerks menu, and apply 3D Invigorator.

Project Setup 9

Go to the Zaxwerks menu to apply 3D Invigorator Pro.

Click on the Make Comp Size button so the project fills the entire project window.

Be sure the Solid settings match the project Composition setting.

Authorize the Software

The first time you run the plug-in, you will need to authorize the software. Enter your name, your organization, and the authorization code. Be sure to include the dashes when entering the authorization code. Once you finish entering the authorization code, click the OK button.

Authorization 10

Fill in the information, and click the OK button.

Click the Demo button to run the program as a trial.

The authorization code will follow this example format: IAEP50-A1234-B1234-C1234.

Create 3D Objects

Use the Object Menu to quickly create 3D Objects.

This is a quick overview of how to create 3D Objects. Let’s begin with creating 3D Text. The first time you apply 3D Invigorator, you will see a start up menu to create objects. Select Create 3D Text to customize your own 3D Text.

Creating 3D Objects 11

You can also use the shortcut command to open up the 3D Text window from your workspace.

Type your text message in the text input box.

Additional font styles are listed in the submenu.

Press the OK button when you are finished editing the 3D text.

Choose a font from the font list.

Customize your text properties.

Drag the edge to increase or decrease the text field.

Select Create 3D Text from the start up menu.

Create 3D Primitives and Objects from Adobe Illustrator Files.

Using the Object menu, you can easily create 3D objects based on text, primitives, and vector outlines. We’ll cover more on Vector Objects and Lathe Objects in the Object Editor section.

Creating 3D Objects 12

Create a 3D Object from Illustrator paths.

Create spheres, cubes, planes, etc with the 3D Primitive tool. Lathe objects allow you to draw the profile of a shape, and extrude the shape by spinning it around like pottery.

Select an Illustrator file to create a 3D object.

Open each Illustrator layer as a separate 3D object.

Separates grouped objects into individual pieces.

When saving your Illustrator file for 3D Invigorator, make sure to save without using compression.

This will apply the Illustrator fill color to the object, and the stroke color to the edges. If you want to use gradients, save the gradient as a JPEG, and apply it as a texture map.

Interface

Customize your own workspaces for improved workflow.

First, click the Options button, or the little red ball to open up the 3D Invigorator interface. The interface allows you to design different workspaces for different needs, and quickly switch from one workspace to the other.

Interface 13

Create and assign your own workspaces.

Click to quickly switch from one workspace to another. Hold down the alt key and click on a workspace to clear a button. Hold down the shift key and click a button to rename the workspace button.

Click the little red ball to open the 3D Invigorator interface.

Click Options to open the 3D Invigorator interface.

Adjusting Panels

Resize, position, open and close panels to customize your workspace.

Interface 14

Click on the panel’s name and drag it to a new location. Once you see a yellow box around the tab, let go of the mouse to drop the panel.

Drag panels beside other panel spaces. When you see a yellow line beside the panel, let go of the mouse to drop the panel at that location.

Use the Panels menu to open and close menus.

Click the small box to close the panel.

Drag the horizontal or vertical edges of panels to resize them.

Menu Options

The top menus allow you to do simple file organization such as saving and loading scenes, undo, create objects, open and close panels, and also get help.

Interface 15

Use merge scene to combine your current scene with a saved scene.

Select Clear Objects to clear all objects from the project. Clear Scene will remove everything including camera views.

Copy and Paste selected objects. When using the Paste command, if there is an object already selected, the pasted objects will be placed into the same layer as the object that is currently selected.

Reset all object positioning from Object Tweaks. This can help you realign your objects in both the 3D Preview window and the Object Editor window.

Move the selected object to the center of the 3D scene.

Click to quickly import or export 3D objects.

Convert a Vector Object to a Lathe Object, or vice versa.

Creates a basic lathe object. Edit the shape to form shapes such as bottles, vases, or bowls.

Help and Preferences

Use the Help menu to get keyboard shortcuts, and use the Preferences menu to set up 3D Invigorator.

Interface 16

Duplication offset determines where your objects are placed once duplicated.

Change the Shadow Quality. Before the final rendering, be sure to increase the Shadow Map size.

Sets the number of Undos.

Set the default width and height for Gradient and Noise textures.

Restore materials, workspaces, gradients or the user preferences.

Sets the object faceting angle. A low value will create a lot of facets in your curve while a high value will create a smooth curve.

Use the Help menu to learn shortcut commands.

3D Preview Panel - Tools

Select Camera, Light, or Object mode, then use the tools to set up your scene.

Interface 17

Enable the “Drag Using Object Axes” checkbox to move your object along its own axes as opposed to the current camera view.

Rotate around your camera, lights or your objects.

Roll your camera or your objects.

Move your camera or your objects side to side or up and down.

Dolly in or out on your camera or your objects.

Scale your objects bigger or smaller.

Select your objects. Double click on the tool to select all objects.

Click to zoom in. Hold down the “option” (“alt” on Windows) key and click to zoom out.

Camera mode. Switch to Camera mode to move the camera around.

Light mode. Switch to Light mode to change the lighting.

Object mode. Switch to Object mode to move the objects around.

Interface 18

3D Preview Panel - Displays

Set up your scene with different preview settings, background settings, camera positions, and more.

Click to select between Wireframe and Texture displays.

Click to select a background color.

Click the picture button to load a background picture. The slider bar on the top controls the transparency. Click the checkbox to turn the background image on/off.

Select a camera lens.

Select a camera preset.

Click to render the current camera view at Best quality. You can only render the preview from the Main Camera.

No Split keeps the preview in one big window. You can choose to split the preview window into two horizontally, veritically, or split into 4 views.

Enable and disable Floor Grids, Title Safety, Action Safety and other grid options.

Object Controls Panel

Customize the shape of the 3D objects that you create with the objects panel. Depending on what objects you are selecting, the menu will change accordingly.

Interface 19

Reload or Replace an Illustrator File. The Illustrator File must have been opened with the “Open By Layers” command checked in order to use this feature.

Change an object’s pivot, position, rotation and scale.

Set the depth of the object with the depth setting. If your objects contain sharp spikes, adjust the SpikeBuster to remove the spikes.

Enable meshing for shapes that you will apply Warps to. The lower the Mesh value, the more cross sections there will be on a shape.

Adjust the Object Smoothness. Increase the Preview value so an object looks smoother in the 3D Preview window. Increase the Final value for better rendering results.

Show or hide the different parts of an object.

Apply a bevel and customize them by applying different bevels on holes, and adjusting the scale and offset.

Click a disclosure triangle to reveal or hide the parameters.

Material Swatches Panel

A material swatch contains colors, texture maps, rendering styles and now gradient and noise shaders. When you apply a material onto an object, a copy of the swatch is made automatically. To edit the material, go to the Material Palette, and double click the material. The material will then be loaded into the Material Editor panel.

Interface 20

Use the swatch commands to duplicate, and delete materials. If you use the Clear Bin command, you will erase all your swatches.

Drag material balls onto objects in the 3D preview window to apply the material. To re-organize the bin, drag the material balls around in the bin in the order that you prefer. To edit a material preset, drag and drop the material into the Material Editor.

A material ball that has a question mark on it means it is missing a texture map. To fix this, load the swatch into the material editor, then click on the missing texture map to replace it or you can choose to delete the swatch.

To reset your swatches, go to the Help menu and open the Preferences window. In the User Preferences, click the Restore button to restore all material swatches back to default.

Material Editor Panel

Edit the details of a material to give it character. Assign texture maps, bump maps, and reflectivity maps for realism, or apply color settings like cartoon color to give it a fun look. Double click a material swatch to load it into the editor. Materials applied to an object are copied into the Material Palette. To edit a material applied on an object, double click the material from the Material Palette. To create Gradient and Noise shaders, see the section on Creating Materials.

Interface 21

Select a jpeg, photoshop, or targa (.jpg, .psd, .tga) file to use as a texture map.

Use the material commands to create, save, duplicate, and delete materials. When editing a material preset, duplicate the material first to avoid losing the original.

If you have added shaders, you can click on the Shader block to delete, duplicate, copy or paste the shader.

Select a material type to change the rendering style.

Click to add a Shader block.

Preview material ball. You can drag this ball onto your objects, or into the material bin to save it as a swatch. To edit a material preset, drag and drop it onto this spot.

Apply texture, bump, transparency, and reflectivity maps by double clicking on the image thumbnail.

Object Style Swatches Panel

An object style contains all the settings of an object. All the materials, edge profiles, depth settings, etc, are saved as a style so you can quickly apply an existing style to your objects, or save your own object styles for future projects.

Interface 22

Use the swatch command menu to access commands such as Save, Apply and Unlink. Unlink Object Style will unlink objects using the same object style so you can apply changes to one object without affecting all linked objects. Show Names and Notes changes the display to a list view where you can add notes about Object Styles, such as what project they were used in.

To apply an Object Style drag a swatch onto your objects in the 3D preview window. Hold down Option (Alt) when you apply an Object Style to several objects to create a link. When objects are linked, any changes made to one object will result in a change to all linked objects. Editing a linked Object Style will result in the Object Style in the bin to be edited. To re-organize the bin, drag the material swatches around in the bin in the order that you prefer.

If you deleted an Object Style, you can recreate the swatch as long as you have an object in the scene that is using that Object Style. Select the object from the scene, and use the Save Object Style command. You can even load up old projects to save the Object Style, and use as a preset for new projects.

Material Palette and Profile Viewer Panel

With the material palette and the profile viewer, you can assign different materials to individual parts of your object.

Interface 23

Drag and drop material swatches into the palette to apply more than one material to an object. You can add more materials to the empty palette docks.

This number represents the material palette swatch being used on this part of the object.

The edge indicator shows where the front, back, side, and hole edges of the object are. Similar to being above the object looking down at it.

Click on the edge to create splits to assign different materials to different parts of an edge. You can also split an edge so the holes are colored with one material while the outside edges are using another material.

Using the split tool, click on an edge to create a split. Drag the split (red arrow) to change the size of the split.

The camera manipulation tools for the Profile Viewer canvas.

Hides or shows splits.

You can use the Profile Viewer if your selection is a 3D text object or an Illustrator File object. If you are using a 3D primitive, this panel becomes inactive.

Light Editor Panel

Lighting is set up by creating multiple lights that illuminate from different angles. You can set up the light colors, angles and intensity. Each light can be saved as a light swatch.

Interface 24

Select a light to edit. Lights that are not turned on are italicized. Lights appearing in bold have Shadow Casting turned on.

Save your current light as a light swatch.

Enable shadows to be cast. You must have another object positioned nearby to catch the shadow.

Disable all shadows from all the lights.

Adjust how bright or dim the light is.

Drag the arrow around the sphere to adjust the direction of the light.

Click on the color box to change the color of the light.

Light Swatches and Lighting Style Swatches Panel

When you apply a light swatch, it will apply it to the current light. However, when you apply a lighting style swatch, it affects the whole “mood” by changing all the lights at once. If you save a lighting style, it saves all the lights into one style.

Interface 25

Use the apply command to apply the light swatch to the currently selected light.

Double click the lighting style to apply the swatch to the scene.

Double click a light swatch to apply the swatch to the currently selected light.

Use the swatch commands to save, apply, duplicate, or delete the selected light style.

Output Panel

Control the quality of your exports. Antialiasing determines the output sharpness for your project. Different sharpness settings are used for the web, video, film, and print. The renderer determines the quality of your final render. Text Substitution allows you to load in a text file for versioning.

Interface 26

The Antialiasing level represents the averaging used within a single pixel. The number after the Antialiasing level means additional anti-crawl filtering used to reduce flickering on TV. This number blurs across pixels.

The Invigorator Renderer is the Best Quality Renderer. The High-Quality OpenGL Renderer is a fast speed render that does not render with shadows or bump maps.

If you are a web developer who prefers to use JPEG compression instead of GIF, then a smoother Antialiasing setting such as “3x3 + 0.6” might work better than the “4x4” setting.

Load a text file for text substitution. The text file should be formatted like the example below:

name1 job1 place1 car1 etc...name2 job2 place2 car2name3 job3 place3 car3 etc...

No AntialiasingWeb sharpWeb smoothVideo sharpVideo smoothVideo smooth+Film sharpFilm smoothPrint sharpPrint smooth

Antialiasing Level = 1x1Antialiasing Level = 2x2Antialiasing Level = 4x4Antialiasing Level = 3x3 + 0.6Antialiasing Level = 5x5 + 1.0Antialiasing Level = 5x5 + 1.5Antialiasing Level = 5x5Antialiasing Level = 5x5 +1.0Antialiasing Level = 3x3Antialiasing Level = 5x5 + 0.6

Interface 27

Object List

The Object List allows you to see all the objects in the scene. You can assign different objects to different sets by dragging them from one set to another. You can also toggle the visibility and lock each object with the controls.

3D Preview of the objects that are currently selected.

Change the view of the Object List Preview window.

Drag an object on top of another object to create Layer Hierarchy.

Click to store a visibility state for objects in the Object Editor window. To reset a View Set, hold “Option/Alt” and click the View Set.

Turn the Object on/off in the Object Editor with the Editor Visibility button, or turn off the visibility of all other objects quickly by clicking the Editor Solo button.

Quickly import, or create 3D Text, Illustrator, Primitive, Lathe and Null Objects.

Turn the visibility of the objects on/off in the 3D Preview window. Turn the lock on/off to lock the objects from being moved or edited.

Convert a Vector Object into a Lathe Object or vice versa.

Group the selected layers.

Ungroup the selected objects.

Delete the selected object layer.

Interface 28

Object Editor

Create or trace logos directly within the Object Editor. Use familiar tools such as the Pen, Pencil, Shape, and Text tools to quickly create the models that you need.

This profile viewer lets you quickly see the bevel applied to the object, and edit the profile by drawing your own bevels.

Drag the semi-circle to rotate the object.

Customize settings to get the shapes that you want.

Drag the red selection boxes to resize the objects.

Displays the name of the object that is currently selected.

Object Editor Buttons

The Object Editor contains many powerful vector tools that will allow you to quickly create your logos. The most important tools are the selection tools. Learn how to manipulate curves, and quickly switch from one tool to another with the keyboard shortcuts.

Interface 29

Object Selection Tool (Hot key V): Useful for selecting objects

- Holding down control changes to the Point Selection tool.

- Alt dragging an object copies the object.

- Option/Alt clicking on an object selects all objects in the Object Editor.

- Arrow keys nudge the selected object(s) in the direction pressed.

- Shift + Arrow keys nudge (in bigger increments) the selected object(s) in the direction pressed.

Point Selection Tool (Hot key A): Useful for selecting and editing anchor points.

- Holding down Option/Alt changes the tool to the convert anchor point tool.

- Holding down control changes to the Curve Selection tool.

- Command + Dragging on a control handle will let you change the length of the control handle without changing its direction.

- Arrow keys nudge the selected point(s) in the direction pressed.

- Shift + Arrow keys nudge (in bigger increments) the selected point(s) in the direction pressed.

- Double clicking a section on the curve creates a new anchor point.

- Double clicking an anchor point removes the anchor point.

- Option/Alt + Delete deletes the selected anchor point, and leaves an open path.

Path Selection Tool (Hot key O): Useful for selecting an individual curve when there are more than one curve in the Object.

- Holding down control changes to the Point Selection tool.

- Option/Alt dragging an object copies the object.

- Command clicking on an object selects all objects in the Object Layer.

- Arrow keys nudge the selected object(s) in the direction pressed.

- Shift + Arrow keys nudge (in bigger increments) the selected object(s) in the direction pressed.

Object Editor Buttons Continued

Learn all the features and keyboard hotkeys for all the tools in the Object Editor. The pen and its subset tools are the perfect tools to use to create precise shapes and path editing.

Interface 30

Pen Tool (Hot key P): Useful for drawing controlled paths.


- Holding down Command changes to the Selection tool.

- When drawing a path, you can move any anchor point by dragging the anchor point.

- Double-clicking (in a blank area, not on an existing point) adds a new point and also joins it with the first point of the path.

- If your first point is a smooth point, but you want to close the path with another handle bar while constraining the original handle bar, hold down the alt key, and drag the first point.

- Pressing the “Delete” key on your keyboard deletes the last anchor point that is drawn, but keep your path active so you can continue drawing. Continuing to press the “Delete” key will delete the previous anchor point.

Remove Point Tool (Hot key P, then Shift + P): Useful for removing points on a path.



Convert Anchor Point Tool (Hot key P, then Shift + P ): Useful for converting corner points into smooth points. Drag to change the direction of the curve, and drag on the curve handles to constrain the curve.

- Holding down the Option/Alt key allows you to manipulate the selected handle bar while the other handle bar is constrained.

- Holding down the Shift key allows the handle bar manipulations to be at perfect angles.

Auto-Curve Pen Tool (Hot key P, then Shift + P): Useful for drawing smooth shapes without having to adjust curve handles.

- Same keyboard shortcuts as the primary pen tool.

Add Point Tool (Hot key P, then Shift + P): Useful for adding points on a path.




Learn all the features and keyboard hotkeys for all the tools in the Object Editor. The pencil tools allows you to quickly draw curves while the cornering tools are for quick corner smoothing. The Cornering tools lets you quickly round out corners of your objects.

Interface 31

Pencil Tool (Hot key N): Useful for drawing quick sketches or paths.

- Holding down Alt changes the tool to the convert anchor point tool.


- Command clicking any part of a path with the Point select tool selects all points on a path.

- Start drawing on the endpoint of an open path to extend the path.

- Edit existing paths by beginning and ending the pencil line anywhere along the path.

- Draw in the center of a selected path to make holes.

Point Bevel Tool (Hot key C): Useful to quickly create a beveled corner.

- Click and drag at a corner point. This will create a circle at the corner point. Expand the circle to increase the amount of corner beveling.

- Select multiple corners to round them all at once.

- Once a corner is rounded you can click on other corners to round them the same amount.

- Rounding can be changed by dragging on the rounding circleafter reselecting the object.

Point Rounding Tool (Hot key C then Shift + C): Useful to quickly create a rounded corner, or to convert a rectangle into a rounded rectangle.

- Click and drag at a corner point. This will create a circle at the corner point. Expand the circle to increase the amount of corner rounding.




Point Curvature Tool (Hot key C then Shift + C): Useful to quickly create a curved corner, arches, and even turning squares into circles.

- Click and drag at a corner point. This will create a circle at the corner point. Expand the circle to increase the amount of curvature at the corner.




Interface 32


Learn all the features and keyboard hotkeys for all the tools in the Object Editor. The shape tools allow you to create many basic shapes quickly, and also customize their appearance to become more complex shapes. To edit the paths, click the “Convert to Outlines” button. Then, use tools such as the Point Selection tool to adjust the path.

Square Shape Tool (Hot key S): Creates a basic square.

Circle Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S: Creates a basic circle.

Rectangle Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic rectangle.

Oval Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic oval.

Star Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic star. Change the number of sides to create starbursts. Adjust the Tip Roundness to create flower-like shapes, and change the Valley Roundness and Depth to change the look of the star.

Rounded Rectangle Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a rounded rectangle. Adjust the Roundness to change how much the corner is smoothened.

Polygon Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic polygon. Change the number of sides to create different shapes such as Pentagons, Hexagons, and Octogons.

Cross Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic cross. Adjust the Horizonal and Vertical Thickness and Offset to change the appearance of the cross.

Gear Shape Tool (Hot key S, then Shift + S): Creates a basic gear. Adjust the number of teeth the gear has, as well as the tip width and the valley.

3D Text Window - Keyboard Shortcuts

Learn all the keyboard shortcuts to fully utilize the 3D Text window. To switch the focus from the Type window to the Font list, press “Ctrl / Cmd + F”. To switch the focus back to the Type window, press the “Enter” key.

Interface 33

To hightlight the text, drag the mouse or use the “Ctrl / Cmd + A” command to select all.

Click to add the selected font as a Font Favorite. This saves all font attributes such as Size, Scale or Base Line Shift.

If you made a lot of edits to the text, click the checkbox to prevent letters from falling out of position.

Font Favorites are added at the top of the font list. “Ctrl / Cmd + 1” selects the 1st Font Favorite, while “2” selects the 2nd.

Press the left and right arrow key to navigate between the Font List and the Styles submenu.

With the text highlighted, you can preview fonts quickly by pressing the up and down arrow to move up and down the list. The “Page Up” and “Page Down” also allows you to navigate quickly through the font list.

To quickly search for a font, press “Ctrl / Cmd + F” to have the focus on the font list, then start typing the font name.

Typing letters in the font list will jump to that font name. For example, typing “arial” will jump to “Arial”, while typing “tr” may jump to “Trajan Pro” or “Trebuchet MS”, depending on the fonts that are available on the system.

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Effect Controls Panel

Create all your animations by keyframing the Camera, Lights, Sets and Warps. You can integrate your animation by enabling the Composition Camera and Lights.

Click to use the Composition Camera and / or Lights.

Switch between Camera, Lights and Sets mode. Being in Camera mode allows you to manipulate the camera, while being in Lights and Sets allows you to make changes to the lighting and the objects.

Create your animations by keyframing the camera, lights, sets (objects), and object warping.

Adjust the Batch number to change the text substitution variable from your data file.

Preview the objects in the Scene Preview.

Use the manipulation tools to quickly control your object and camera positions without going into the 3D Invigorator interface.

For any changes that are not being reflected in the After Effects Comp, click the update buttons to get an update.

Applying Warps on Objects

Use the Warps controls to apply interesting bends, folds, and twists to your objects! This allows you to create many transformations that would otherwise be impossible.

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The Ripple Controls are only used for the Warp Styles “Linear Wave” and “Radial Wave”.

Select the Set to have the Warp applied to.

Choose warps such as bends, folds and twists.

Apply the warp in the X, Y, or Z direction.

Determines how strong the warp effect is.The limits set the area within which the warp occurs. If the limits are larger than the plane then the warp is applied to the whole plane.

Applying a twist to 3D Text.

Creating New Materials

The Material Editor panel gives you full control to create high quality textures and patterns for your objects. Adding multiple shaders, then using the composite modes allow you to create complex materials directly within the program.

Tutorial Project 36

Click on the “+” to add a Shader block. You can add as many shaders as you like to a material.

The base color is the default color on an object. If you add shaders that have a transparency, then the base color will show up.

If you have multiple shaders, use the up and down arrows to rearrange the shaders. Use the “x” button to remove any shader.

Add Gradient or Noise filters to create cool effects for your bump maps, transparency/alpha maps, or reflectivity.

Use blend modes to composite multiple shaders.

Copy a Shader/RGB/Alpha box by clicking on the box and using the copy command. Then click where you want to paste, and use the paste command.

Double click a material box to quickly load a texture map.

Gradient and Noise Filters

Gradients and Noise are perfect tools to use to create fancy materials in a short amount of time. Learn the controls to customize the look that you want. Applying a Noise to a reflection map creates a simple, but realistic reflective surface.

Tutorial Project 37

Choose a gradient style such as linear or radial.

Choose a Noise filter to customize.

Select the colors for the noise. Adjust the opacity sliders to make a color transparent.

Change the appearance of the noise.

Adjust the brightness and darkness of the noise.

Randomize the appearance of the noise.

Customize the gradient color by clicking a Color marker, then choosing a color. Drag the color markers around to change the gradient.

Double click a preset to edit the gradient.

Text Substitution

Load the text file from the Output panel. Then create the 3D Text and set up the variables for the text substitution. Changing the Batch Number will switch to the next row of data in the text file.

Tutorial Project 38

Variables are labeled red, and are placed in double point arrows such as <<1>>. The number loads the item number in the data file. You can type in additional information after the number to help identify the variable.

Regular 3D text will be labeled in black. Both the text variable and the regular 3D text will be extruded.

Load the text file. The text file can have as many rows and columns of information as you need.

Change the batch number for quick versioning.

team_data.txt

33 Dan Jones Power Forward21 Eddie Smith Center3 Bob Hill Shooting Guard

Batch #1

Drawing Logos

A common situation is a client sending you a JPEG logo and want you to extrude it. To trace the logo, first import the background image. Then, use the Pen, Auto-curve or Pencil tools to trace the logo.

Tutorial Project 39

Use the Pen/Auto-curve and Pencil tools to draw the logo shapes.

Edit points and curves with the Point Selection tool and the Convert Point tool.

Use the Object List to organize and label individual pieces.

Preview the object you are currently drawing in the Object List preview window.

Click to load a background image.

Turn the background image on/off.

Lock/unlock the background image.

Use the red bounding box to move or scale the background image.

Use the rotation wheel to rotate the background image.

Working with an Illustrator Logo

Even though you can draw a logo completely within the program, sometimes clients will still send an Illustrator logo to you. Now, you can still import your logo and do all your editing directly within the program. No need to switch between programs.

Tutorial Project 40

Select the Illustrator file to open.

Open By Layers takes each Illustrator layer, and creates an object using each layer.

After importing the logo, all the Illustrator paths are fully editable. To fix or change any part of the logo, simply select the path, and edit it with any of the path tools.

With Open By Layers enabled, every object will be labeled with the Illustrator layer name.

Working with Lathe Objects

It’s easy to create a lathe object. In the Object Editor, create a Lathe object and draw the profile of the object. When you draw the object, drawing the right side of the object will lathe as if it was spinning on a pottery wheel.

Tutorial Project 41

Using the Y-axis as a guide, draw the lathe path to the right hand side of the Y-axis.

Adjust the lathe path to change the appearance of the lathe object.

Edit the shape of the lathe in the Profile Editor. A circle means the path will be extruded as a circular object. This is useful for creating objects such as bowls and cups.

Keeping the path close to the Y-axis the path will be mirrored on the opposite side. By pulling the path to the right, it will widen the lathe object.

Control which which axis the lathe object is built from. The build angle controls whether the object is lathed in a full circle.

Customize the shape and sizes for the front and back end caps.

Preview the lathe object in the Object List preview window, or the 3D Preview window.

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