ProAnimator is nice, not hard to use, just a little different. Output is good, but Vegas8 maybe just as good or close. If money is not an issue, buy it fast but if budget is than go for vegas8. Email DSE and ask if he doesn't see your post.

Going to hang on for VP8.
Developers in Madison have known of the need for a pro titler for some time and I'm betting we won't be disappointed.
Besides most of the time i just need a clean title, though some taseful 3D movement might work in the right project at the right time.
ProAnimator demos are great, but it's the graphics designer who makes it art.
Owning paint and brushes does not make me an artist.
I also bet the VP8 titler will be easier to use, 'cause everything Vegas is user friendly,----right?
ProAnimator looks a little too, well Premier Pro, for my liking.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Half off is good though, if you can make time to learn it.
I'll likely continue to farm our complicated 3D animation when the need arises, maybe to people who've mastered ProAnimator.

"ProAnimator demos are great, but it's the graphics designer who makes it art.

Well said. And that applies to anything, whether it be Vegas, ProAnimator, Photoshop, etc.

I've been playing with a *borrowed* version. My biggest problem with it is how simple it is to use and initially got myself tied up in unneeded layers of complexity. I was expecting a steep learning curve and it's drop dead simple for quick and simple with heaps of presets or you can tweak the heck out of it. You can also import Illustrator files (haven't tried that yet) or even dxf files. Did try the latter and it didn't like the file, I think you're restricted to 2D objects.
The QT output works just fine in Vegas, I've found for tweaking the positioning track motion works a treat. The output is very clean and you can adjust the amount of AA to suit your time budget. For timing back to what you're overlaying a pencil and paper solved that problem for me, just jot down the TC with a note.
Haven't the slightest clue to how it stacks up against what's in V8, although V8 will not do 3D extrusions if that's your thing and I don't know about lighting and camera moves.

Bottom line, this is about as easy as it can get with anything 3D. If it's what you want and you can justify the expense buy it. Personally I much prefer this approach than trying to cram everything into the one application.

My one downer on Proanimator, the motion blur is no better than Vegas manages . Maybe some of the other tools from Zaxworks fill that need.

And yes it's a very AE kind of thing but you don't need to buy AE to use it. And I don't know why this is considered a negative thing, even the FCP mob have no problem talking about AE or Fusion or Combustion.

Bob.

great comments, thanks... I went ahead and got it, because the presets make it easy to use... that's important... would be nice if a 3rd party real artist would create/sell presets that we could use...

and in fact that would be a great add-on for Vp8 too, re if anyone wants to create and sell files (vegs/whatever they're called for V8's titler) as well, for presets... saving time is great, with presets (kind of like web 'templates' in concept) for how to do fancier/more professional titling, in v8 and other apps like proanimator and ae..


-ken

Ken, I believe DVGARAGE has a lot stuff, if I remember correctly, couple of its members had a large lib of presets for proanimator plus textures.