Zaxwerks ProAnimator

Harold Brown wrote on 10/19/2007, 8:05 PM
I am looking at purchasing ProAnimator. I first saw it at NAB in 2005 at their booth. I downloaded the demo version and it works good. Hard to see total quality because of background that I chroma keyed out.

Can some of you guys give me an idea of how much you use it vs basic titles like in Vegas and the Pro Titler that is now available. Do you use it mostly for illustrator files or both? I am looking at this as an ROI. So far I do fine without it so I want a return on my investment if I buy. The learning curve is great so that is a plus.

Maybe it just gives your work that extra something that says quality and that has value too. Maybe you use a different package that is similar and your input would be of value to me as well.

Thanks,

Comments

Coursedesign wrote on 10/19/2007, 10:05 PM
I hope you'll be buying it from Digital Juice at half off while the getting is good...

Which tool to use is totally a matter of what fits your content style.

The quality of the output from this product is outstanding. Just don't use it for credit rolls :O)

This site has great free tutorials for it.
kentwolf wrote on 10/20/2007, 10:08 AM
>>...Maybe you use a different package that is
>>similar and your input would be of value to me...

I bought it (ProAnimator) as part of the half-price sale via Digital Juice.

It's OK, but not as good output as Red 4, which I have been using for some time. It is also dramatically lower cost than Red 4. When I bought Red 3, it was something like $1200 or so. To me, that is not cheap. It was, however, a good investment, in my opinion.

When I got ProAnimator, I guess I kind of had the idea for a quick and easy way to do 3d elements. I see I need to buy Adobe Illustrator to do that pretty much.

With ProAnimator, it is easy to use to make 3d text. No question about it. That appears to be its' strength. The output looks good too. It has nice text effects. It's just not on par with Boris Red, in my opinion.
Harold Brown wrote on 10/20/2007, 9:38 PM
Red 4 looks like quite a challenge to learn but I love what it can do! I wish I had a business need for it (so I could pay for it)!
Zelkien69 wrote on 10/20/2007, 9:54 PM
I'm currently working on a project with ProAni for the text and am so pleased that I'm rendering single frame animations and using the text for all my title screens. PA is great software, evan at full price.
Coursedesign wrote on 10/20/2007, 10:21 PM
The output looks good too. It has nice text effects. It's just not on par with Boris Red, in my opinion.

Boris Red is a general purpose package, while ProAnimator is highly specialized.

I'm not clear on if you are saying that the output quality from PA is not as good as what you get from Boris Red?

If so, you have a work flow problem.

I don't use Boris Red, so I can't comment on that specifically, but I see PA animations every day on TV with the most exquisite quality.

PA only does two things, but imho it does those two things very well.

Boris Red is like a six-foot Craftsman roll-top tool cabinet, about as capable, and about as easy to learn fully.

kentwolf wrote on 10/21/2007, 1:18 AM
>>...If so, you have a work flow problem....

Not the issue.

Specifically of what I speak, I have need, on occasion, to zoom in really, really close to 3d output elements. While this may not be "normal," I need to do it sometimes.

Red output is very good at these close zooms. Depending on what you make, it can be absolutely razor edge flawless. ProAnimator is OK, but not near as crisp.

If you're not zooning in this close, ProAnimator works just fine.

Red is quite daunting to learn. It's kind of like Photoshop. It can take you as far as you want to go.
farss wrote on 10/21/2007, 5:31 AM
PA has a number of render quality options, have you tried dialing that up, it sure runs a lot slower but might solve your problem.
kentwolf wrote on 10/22/2007, 12:49 PM
>>...PA has a number of render quality options...

I did not know that. I will take a look.

Thanks!
Jay Gladwell wrote on 10/22/2007, 2:11 PM

Cool! Does that render files in SD or HDV?

farss wrote on 10/22/2007, 3:08 PM
Just about any res you want.