Text Animators, a tip.

farss wrote on 12/12/2007, 5:59 PM
Don't know if this applies to ProType, I'm yet to plumb the depths of that but it does seem to apply to all the 3D ones that I've tried and might explain why so many of us get lost.

Follow the tutorials, use the workflow they describe and don't try to look back.
It seems to me what happens is this. You create your text, you can edit your text, you can adjust the 3D parameters of the text. Then you start animating the text. At this point it's no longer text, it's vectors. You can no longer edit the text, make a typo upfront and you have to start again. Get the bevels not to your liking or the materials ugly, again start again.
So get each step right before you go onto the next step and it seems pretty quick and easy but understand that it is an irreversible process. From what I've seen Boris and Proanimator work this way.
Just thought I might save some of us from a bit of angst.

Bob.

Comments

Grazie wrote on 12/13/2007, 12:18 AM
Wise advice Bob.
Steven Myers wrote on 12/13/2007, 5:08 AM
I guess I don't understand this.
I've been using ProType often for very simple animations, and I can go back and edit the text any time I feel like it. Perhaps there's an additional step I'm not doing, and which would make the text uneditable?
Chienworks wrote on 12/13/2007, 8:07 AM
It depends on the software. Some software will flatten any text into shapes in order to more easily manipulate them. Other software retains the original text allowing you to edit it and then regenerates the display from the altered text. Software of the first type is probably a (thankfully) dying breed.
farss wrote on 12/13/2007, 1:54 PM
I hope you're right, it's sure a PIA after building an animation and then realising you've got a spelling mistake and have to redo the whole thing again. It's not actually flattening the text, it's extruding it into a 3D object but yes, you'd think it not do difficult to write the code so it tracks the conversion parameters so when you want to go back to the text as text it could rebuild the whole thing without having to trash your work.

Bob.
Xander wrote on 12/13/2007, 2:19 PM
I use pro-animator an have not had issues changing the spelling after doing animations.
Chienworks wrote on 12/13/2007, 2:20 PM
Well, i wasn't thinking "flattening" in spacial terms. I was thinking more like the photo editing function when you combine all the layers into a single image. At that point the original layers and masks and objects are no longer available for further editing. You're left with the resulting bitmap only. As with the issue you mentioned, the original text object is now lost and the only way to edit it is to restart from scratch.
BigBadBz wrote on 12/14/2007, 8:13 PM
Boris Graffiti (and I assume Red does as well) "maintains" the text so that it is always editable.

Regards,
Paul