You have been CHALLENGED! AEtuts+ and Zaxwerks wanna give you the opportunity to both learn and create. For the whole month of May you will be able to use ProAnimator free of charge and teach yourself how to use it. Additionally, you can take what you learn and show off your skills by entering our animation contest. See the details below about specifications and prizes!
The Challenge
Download Free PC Version
File size 15.2MB
Download Free Mac Version
File size 20.3MB
Along with our own tutorials: “Workflow In Zaxwerks ProAnimator” Part 1 and Part 2, You can also download these quick tuts to help you get started:
The Rules
Please read the following carefully *before* submitting your content.
- You can send as many animations as you like, but if you just send a bunch of different versions of the exact same thing… we won’t be posting ever single altered color scheme… so save your bandwidth.
- The name and the e-mail address must be valid, and they are the ones that will be credited. We will contact you before announcing the winners with that e-mail address (in case you win).
- All the animations must be released under a free license. By submitting you agree that the content will become public domain.
- We welcome any type of animation, Logo Reveals, Looping Bugs, Transitional Wipes, Vanity Slates…. Note though that because this is a contest that we’ll be voting on, we do need at least 5 seconds of video to judge.
- The free license of ProAnimator will expire June 1st… don’t let time slip by without getting in there and learning it.
- We ask that you send us a direct URL to your video preferably Youtube or Vimeo.
- All entries must be submitted before midnight 12am EST May 31st. We will then open them for voting in the beginning of June.
- You must use Zaxwerks ProAnimator with no additional help from other 3d software (After Effects isn’t considered 3d in this case). Finally, you must include either the AEtuts+ logo or the Zaxwerks logo in your animation in order to qualify!
- If you have any questions email me at aetuts@tutsplus.com.
The Prizes
The winners will be chosen by votes. Once we receive the final entries, we’ll post them all up gallery-style then you and ALL of your friends will be able to vote. Your goal should be Creativity.
- First Place will have proved they can use it so will be given the complete ProAnimator Bundle (OSX or Windows) retail value: $1,669.00
- Second Place will be given a full license for ProAnimator (OSX or Windows) retail value: $695
- Third Place will be given a full license for 3D Serpentine (OSX or Windows) retail value: $199
- Honorable Mention 1 will get a 3 Month Premium Membership
- Honorable Mention 2 will get a 3 Month Premium Membership
- Have lots of fun! =))
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By Adam Everett Miller
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Way cool guys! You think of the best contests
.
Although, how do you know who knows how to use this program from the start? Some of us have to learn how to use it and some of us have known how to for a while.
Good point! Those whom already know will have advantage over those whom doesnt
Just that much more of a reason to start cranking out the tutorials and really learning the plugin… There are a couple on this site, and a few on Motionworks.com.au if you want to check them out. Some really good stuff.
It’s a pretty simple to use program. You shouldn’t have to much of a problem.
and you know, you can say that about everything… even if there was a general AE contest and we told you to download the After Effects trial version, someone that has been using AE longer than you would have “an unfair advantagge” but you just need to push yourself. If you want it bad enough… and you should…. you can win.
You can want it as bad as possible, but that can’t change anything. I have about an hour of free time in my day, basically if I put it at the top of my list I’d have about an hour to work with it. Besides, even if I had all the time in the world a lot of people entering this contest have been working with this for years and do it as part of their profession. You can say if you want it badly enough you can get it, but that doesn’t change anything at all.
We’ll see if some people who aren’t “pros” win this contest.
And if there was a drawing contest and you weren’t a traditional artist you might not be as good as someone that was drawing and painting all their life, how is this an issue? If you want to get better at the program then go for it: do the tutorials, look around the web for inspiration, and practice a little. Don’t just sit around and complain that their isn’t a contest designed for your specific level of knowledge. After all, any successful person is so because they can and do go above and beyond the masses – no one should be rewarded for doing something everyone else can. So maybe you won’t exactly blow away the competition this year, but in the future you might be on top, but that’s up to how much dedication you really want to put forth.
love you guys,
great business idea
Sick idea man.
Never heard of the program actually, but I’m using it now!
Thanks
Quick mention: The fourth intro video link links back to the first mov file, change to “04″
Seems a nice idea.
Though pros might have a extra advantage.
I also wonder how many tutorial outcomes will flood through your inbox…….
Silly question: 32 or 64bit versions?
Right now ProAnimator is only 32 bit… Zaxwerks are working on 64 bit conversion, but its not out yet.
Looking forward to the 64bit version… that should crank up the speed of the work being done
Hey Contestants,
The 4 tutorials listed are very important to watch but they are just the start. Each is about 7 minutes long. After those the two brand new ones done by Rob Birnholz posted on this site are excellent for learning the program.
Here’s a hint: Get into the Advanced Animation controls. That’s where the real power is, especially Pose and Path Actions.
There are also some animation presets in the program that demonstrate interesting techniques.
- Swarm demonstrates graceful reveals, which could be done with letters or planes.
- High Impact demonstrates multiple poses with short transitions between each one.
- Crazy Snaps demonstrates that you can butt poses next to poses for instant position changes.
- Pop Sequence mixes cascading with pose popping to get a multi-layered look.
Examine how these animation presets are constructed to learn the animation engine.
Good luck!
Zax
Those whom already know will have advantage over those whom doesnt
Actually I admire this plug-in; I haven’t used it for a while now; but when I start getting involve with 3D using AE this plug-in was my best friend; I used it as a trial and this is a chance for me to use it again and I might get the software “IF” I win; but I encourage everybody to try it. it get confusing sometimes especially when using AE camera; but you will get used to it quickly.
Good Luck.
this sounds great!
Hey Great Idea,
Just a small problem for me all the presets that come with this ProAnimator don’t seem to show up for me in both the plug-in and the standalone can you guys help?
Did you fix your problem? I don’t have them either.
The program installs swatches to the “Documents (My Documents) > Zaxwerks > [Program Name]” folder. Sometimes, when installing for the first time, an user may run into a issue where the swatches did not get copied over properly.
However, the user can delete the folder and the swatches will be rebuilt the next time the user re-launches the program. This means, if the user is using ProAnimator, they delete the “Documents > Zaxwerks > ProAnimator” folder. Then, re-launch the program, and the animation presets and swatches will be there.
Thanks Adam I just modified it a little bit.
I copied the animation presets and zaxwerks swatches into MyDocuments>Zaxwerks>Proanimator folder which i allowed the program to replace all files in it
thank you it woorks now!
Ha. Sometimes, I really can’t believe some of the comments on this site. A free site (save for plus members who are supporting the site) with great tips and tutorials keeps getting negative comments. Everyone wants something for nothing, then if you give them something for nothing, it isn’t good enough.
I see this as an opportunity to learn a great piece of software that I’ve been curious about and that, otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to touch for quite some time down the road. I think it is a great idea, and I hope it generates a lot of traffic and business for AETuts and Zax. Thanks guys for the opportunity.
…that wasn’t a reference to the issue encon92 mentioned.
save your sanctimonious speech.
it is not free.
to access this site it implies that you have access to some sort of subscription based internet service, and a computer on which to view it. neither of those are free.
once you are on the site the receive revenue from banner ads just like most sites (which are not blockable by common addons such as adblockplus). on top of that they have a premium section.
there’s nothing wrong and being entrepreneurial and seeing how much people will pay for what they used to get for free, but don’t think that the “free” site is free. it has an existing frame work of paying to view the content whether it is based in access fees or advertising.
it’s just like a television subscription: pay to access the shows, pay for variety by commercials and advertising on the show, pay for premium content like HBO… it isn’t free.
WOW! This is amazing! Thank you Zaxwerks and AETuts+, I can’t wait to get into it.
pro animator not working cs5 after effets … hepl me plsss… thank you
ProAnimator isn’t compatible with After Effects CS5 at the moment. It’s currently being updated with a ton of new features, as well as being converted so that it is 64-bit compatible.
In the mean time, you can use the plug-in in After Effects CS3 & CS4, or run it as a standalone application.
Here is my entry for the challenge:
http://www.vimeo.com/12153747
This was fun and gave me some new material for the reel! Thanks for holding the competition guys!
Peace.
Ryan Snider
Tangle Wire