3D Invigorator PRO for After Effects

3D THAT FEELS FAMILIAR
 

3D Invigorator PRO is the program that brings big-time 3D motion graphics to your After Effects work. 3D Invigorator PRO renders quickly and can create beautifully sculpted 3D models quickly and easily without extensive training.
 

At Zaxwerks we believe the key to workflow is familiarity. We feel that if we give our users tools they are familiar with, they learn the program faster and can be more productive. To that end we've made 3D Invigorator operate as a plug-in for After Effects so you never have to leave your main program.
 

FAMILIAR MODELING
 

The tools in 3D Invigorator act like tools you are already familiar with. If you know how to draw Bezier curves, like the ones you find in Illustrator or Photoshop, you already know how to model in 3D.
 

The modeling is done as you are drawing the curves so you can see exactly what you are getting as you draw. There is no guesswork and no multi-step process to learn.
 

The models stay live so if you have to make changes, a quick adjustment to the curves will rebuild the model in 3D without you having to do anything.
 

This type of immediate feedback and easy control makes the modeling very familiar and friendly. It helps you feel at home right away.
 

FAMILIAR ANIMATION
 

The most familiar animation controls are the ones you already know. Every animation system has its own peculiarities, so do you want to learn a whole new animation system or would you like to use one that has the controls you already know? If you didn't have to learn a new system wouldn't it be easier to learn?
 

3D Invigorator PRO uses the After Effects timeline for all of its animation. There is no new animation system to learn, period.
 

If you know how to set keyframes in After Effects you already know how to animate in 3D Invigorator PRO.
 

FAMILIAR LIGHTING AND LENS FLARES
 

Light comes from somewhere, right? It doesn't just magically come from some invisible point in space. To help you create lighting that looks and acts real, 3D Invigorator PRO has lighting controls based on real world lights.
 

It's pretty cool. With a mouse click you can arrange your lights in a ring or on a truss. Then create industry standard fixtures like ellipsoidals, fresnels or motion control rigs with another click. One more click lets you see the beams coming from the lights, and a final click turns on lens flares. 4 clicks for all of that? Think about it.
 

But what makes it truly familiar is that all of this can be done using After Effects lights too. This means you can position and animate your familiar AE 3D lights, and then get the trusses, light beams, fixtures and flares to go along with them.
 

If you know how to use After Effects lights, you already know how to use 3D Invigorator PRO's lighting.
 

FAMILIAR SURFACING AND TEXT STYLES
 

What could be more familiar than drag and drop? 3D Invigorator PRO comes with over 200 seamless materials that are applied by dragging a thumbnail picture and dropping them directly onto your object.
 

Adjusting the surface materials is done live with no need for rendering so the feedback is extremely fast and interactive.
 

3D Invigorator also introduces the idea of 3D Text Styles. These are thumbnail pictures which encapsulate everything needed to model and surface a text or logo design. This lets you set up the look of a design and save it as a preset, after which you can completely model and surface any number of other versions by simply dropping the thumbnail onto your text or Illustrator shapes.
 

If you know how to drag and drop, you already know how to texture and use 3D Styles inside 3D Invigorator PRO.
 

FAMILIAR BEVELING
 

3D Invigorator PRO's bevel creator is the most advanced custom bevel creator in any 3D program. It will also feel the most familiar to you because it uses regular old Illustrator-style, Bezier curves.
 

The program comes with over 100 professional bevels to get you started. You can always edit them or create your own. The ability to create your own bevels can't be understated. This ensures your designs will always look fresh.
 

As with modeling, the bevel drawing is live, so you see the final 3D model as you draw the bevels. Bevels can be made of multiple pieces. They can also be divided so different materials can be applied to each part. In fact the term "bevel" doesn't begin to describe what's possible.
 

BEST OF ALL, NO ROUND-TRIPPING
 

Round-Tripping is what happens when you use After Effects with an external 3D program. You render a movie from the external program, import the movie into After Effects, maybe import the camera data too. But then the client makes a change. Uh-oh!
 

So now you have to go back to your external program, make the changes, re-import the movie, re-import the camera data, fix whatever problems this causes, etc., etc. Each change creates another round-trip. Every round-trip is a headache that just wastes time.
 

With 3D Invigorator PRO round-tripping doesn't exist. As an After Effects plug-in there is no time lost re-rendering, moving files back and forth or fixing mistakes. It is literally the fastest 3D workflow possible because you stay inside of After Effects 100% of the time.
 

3D Invigorator PRO Plug-in for After Effects

• This plug-in only works in Adobe After Effects.
• It is not compatible with any other host.

Macintosh

• Host: Adobe After Effects CC 2017 and higher
• Mac OS X 10.12 or higher

Windows

• Host: Adobe After Effects CC 2017 and higher
• Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10

NOTE: If you run into any compatibility issues please contact us at support@zaxwerks.com and provide your system set up.

Version 8.6.1 - Major Release (Windows current version is 8.6.0)

• Real-Time Rendering
  • Optimized OpenGL and Ray-Traced Renderer- Our Open GL and Ray Trace Renderer is now faster than ever! Create hundreds of thousands of polygons without having to worry about slowdown. Everything updates in real-time with texturing, lighting and shadows.
  • Auto-Rendering- With Auto-Rendering, whenber you make any changes the scene automatically renders. No need to keep having to click the Render Test button to see what your objects look like.
• Depth of Field - Use Depth of Field to create highly realistic images where some objects are in focus while other objects are out of focus.​
• Instancing
  • ​Instanced Objects - With instanced objects, the program automatically duplicates as many objects as you want without slowing down the program. These objects can than be distributed using the distribution tools.​
    • New Distribution Types - Use new distribution tools such as assigning your objects to take on the shape of a different object, or other simple shapes such as cubes, spheres and more.
    • Materials - Apply the same material or different materials to the instanced objects.
    • Randomization - Use our randomize controls to place objects in random positions instead of scattering objects one by one.
    • Instanced Text- With instanced text, you can set the text to be instanced by character, word, or paragraphs. This lets you distribute walls of text to create amazing text backgrounds quickly and easily.
• Normal Maps
  • Applying Normal Maps - Our Material Editor gives you the ability to load either a noraml map or bump map to create realistic effects.
  • Realistic Material Presets - Our material presets have been re-edited with normal maps for ever more realistic effects for your objects.
• New Lighting Controls
  • Image Based Lighting - Apply Image Based Lighting for highly realistic lighting effects for your scene.
  • Shadow lights - Create a light that doesn't affect your scene, but has the ability to cast shadows.
• Note: Wireframe and hidden line rendering styles are no longer supported. If you have any old projects that are using wireframe or hidden line rendering, the material will render as a solid color instead. You may use the Grid Shader as an alternative for Hidden Line rendering.
• Added global reflections. You can now use a single map for all reflections in the scene.
• Added global reflection rotation. By setting a rate of rotation the global reflection will keep moving so the reflections don't go dead when objects stop moving.
• Materials can now be dropped onto trusses and each truss can have its own material.
• Added foreground compositing, so you can overlay screen UI or pre-rendered scene elements.

Version 7.0.0 - Major Release

• Lighting
  • Advanced Lighting Controls - Create your own lighting animations using After Effects keyframes.
  • Set up your lights to track objects, the camera and more.
  • Use Fan controls for lights to fan out, or converge at a point.
  • Work with Parallel, Point or Spot lights to create a realistic 3D environment.
  • Lighting Fixtures - Dozens of lighting fixture presets.
  • Variety of Trusses and Pipes - Create complex trusses such as box, triangular, rectangle trusses, or laced and ring pipes with a click of a button.
  • Lens Flares - Dozens of Lighting Flares can be used for any lighting effect. Contains a wide variety of flares to use for professional stage effects.
  • Flare Editor. This lets you create extremely realistic glows and spikes to produce the perfect flare for your scene.
  • Light Cones - Customize your light with dozens of different beams such as hard, soft, smooth, wash, and many other moody lights.
  • Lighting Rigs - Use lighting rigs to instantly add stage elements to your project.
• Gorgeous Photo-Realistic Materials - Over a hundred highly detailed, seamless materials.
• Newly Designed Interface - Re-designed buttons and easier to read text.

Version 6.0.0 - Major Release

• Ray Tracer Renderer
• • ​Refractions - Create realistic looking materials that simulate the effect of glass, ice, or water.
  • Ray Trace Reflectivity - Make surfaces reflective. You'll be able to see the other objects in the reflections!
  • Falloff - Apply to make the reflections fade off over a certain distance.
• Ambient Occlusion - Darkens corners and areas where one object is close to another to add realism for shadows.
• Ray Trace Shadows - Create more realistic shadows than using Shadow Maps.
• Grid Shaders - Create Grids or different line patterns. Useful for creating tiles.
• Collect Files - Used to collect all media files that are being used by materials.
• Import Images - Select images to import and they automatically get mapped onto 3D Planes. It's easier than ever to create 3D backgrounds.
• Trace Background - In the Object Drawing window, use the "." command after tracing a background image to instantly transfer the background image onto the object you are tracing.
• Increased Number for Sets and Layer Maps - Animate up to 16 Sets and apply up to 16 Layer Maps for your materials.
• Shadow Catcher Plane - Select a 3D After Effects layer to use as a shadow catcher layer.

Version 5.0.0 - Major Release

• Auto-versioning. Set up variables in 3D Text objects and then drive the variables with a text file. This takes versioning to the next level by enabling you to create one animation and then render countless additional animations based on changes in the text file.
• Improved 3D Text engine increases the compatibility with many font types.
• Customizable Workspaces
• Object List lets you select objects easily.
• Integrated Drawing Window lets you use familiar tools such as the Pen, Pencil, Shape, Text, Selection to build and edit professional logos
• Draw custom bevels with the Profile Editor.
• Create and edit Lathe objects easily in the Drawing Window.
• Bend, fold, twist your 3D objects with all the exciting features of 3D Warps. With over a dozen different deformations that are all fully customizable, you have endless possibilities.
• Cornering and Auto-curve Pen tools allow you edit or draw curves with ease.
• Use Gradient/Noise Shaders & Blend Modes to create sophisticated texture maps without having to leave the program.
• New UV, Spherical, Planar, Cylindrical, Cubic, or Camera View mapping lets you create different looks for your 3D Objects.