[Plugin] Animator - v4.5a - 22 Jul 25

TDahl

Is there a way to control the thickness or weight of edges (lines) as they appear in the exported movie frames (MP4, etc.)? I am using SketchUp Pro 2018 with Animator v2.6c. I noticed that edges are rendered with thicker lines in Animator's frames than they are when I use SketchUp Pro 2018's native Export > Animation function.

In a video editor, I would like to seamlessly transition from a native animation exported clip to an Animator-exported clip, but there is a clear visual discontinuity between the line thicknesses of the two clips at the transition point. Attached is a still picture with a native animation-export on the left and an Animator-export on the right. The boundary is a bit subtle side-by-side, but it is a quite evident "pop" when viewing a video that abruptly jumps from the thinner to the thicker line weight.
Comparison of edge line thickness between native SketchUp and Animator exported frames

fredo6

@tdahl said:

Is there a way to control the thickness or weight of edges (lines) as they appear in the exported movie frames (MP4, etc.)?

Yes. I need to update Animator for that, because there is now an option about the line thickness.
That would be an extra parameter in the generation dialog.

Fredo

Mill29

Hi,
Thanks a lot Fredo for this wonderfull tool!
Just for information, it works well with Thea render V2

lazara

Fredo my sincere congratulations on your wonderful animation tool for Sketchup. It is very useful to me in the reconstruction of 3D traffic accidents. Thank you very much for your development and constant updating.

TDahl

Animator v2.6c is telling me that it has expired, but there does not seem to be a newer version available yet. Any estimate on when a new version (or a re-release of v2.6c with an extended expiration date) might be available?

TimHforProMinent

Hi,

I am having trouble with Animator V2.6c. I get the below message,
I run 2020 on a Windows Machine.

This version of Animator has expired
Please upgrade to the latest version

and I have the latest version.

Thanks, Tim

fredo6

New Release: Animator - v2.7a - 15 Jun 20

Requirement: LibFredo6 v9.5k

Minor release

Extension of validity

See plugin home page of Animator for Download of RBZ from the PluginStore.

See Main Post of the Animator thread for more information.

fredo6

@timhforprominent said:

Hi,

I am having trouble with Animator V2.6c. I get the below message,
I run 2020 on a Windows Machine.

This version of Animator has expired
Please upgrade to the latest version

and I have the latest version.

Ooops! My fault. Forgot to update it in due time. Thanks for signaling.

Fredo

TDahl

Animator v2.7a downloaded, installed, and started up fine - thank you for the quick turn-around!

TimHforProMinent

Fredo,
Thank you very much, downloaded and installed without problems.
Thanks for such a great Plugin.
I am still learning all the functions.
Tim

rong1937

Hope to create scenes in sketchup

thank you

fredo6

@rong1937 said:

Hope to create scenes in sketchup

Are you asking for creating scenes (which is a generic capability of Sketchup) or using scenes in Animator?

rong1937

@fredo6 said:

@rong1937 said:

Hope to create scenes in sketchup

Are you asking for creating scenes (which is a generic capability of Sketchup) or using scenes in Animator?

Yes. which is a generic capability of Sketchup.

Thank you

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Calcifer

Hello Fredo,
I have been using animator extensively for the past year and a half and I have a bunch of questions / comments I wanted to send you. Sorry if I am throwing everything at once.
Over time I ended up with very complex models and complex animations. Which is a lot of fun but also leads to some challenges in terms of organization.

First, now animator works perfectly with VRay. Thank you for the fix.

I sometime have a clip far into the timeline, let’s say, at 45s. When I want to edit it, I click on it. However, when I exit the clip, animator always brings me back to timecode 0.0, which can be very difficult to navigate, especially when trying to adjust several clips around the same timecode (here, 45s) and if I were zoomed in on the timeline.
Would it be possible to return to where I come from and not to 0.0?

I like how movements and clips are separated by colors and I know it’s possible to assign a color element. However, it displays only a small square of color. Would it be possible to assign a color specifically for the full clip? I sometimes think it would make the whole timeline clearer.

In one of my projects, I am currently using 15 tracks in the timeline. When the project is complicated, with a lot of overlapping clips (some with pursue or repeats), if I change the length of one, it jumps to a different track and it becomes very complicated to locate on which track it went. And it seems that it’s moving the other clips. Would it be possible to ‘’lock’’ a clip on a specific track? I think this is why I was hoping to change the whole clip into a different color. To be able to locate it easily once I come back to the main timeline.

As someone mentioned in a previous post, it would be fantastic to be able to import an already animated object from a different file. Or be able to import specific clips and/or movements and re apply them to the new model.

The easing feature is what makes your plugin so great, among other things. However, for now, the in and out value of the easing have to be the same. Would it be possible to enter different values for in and out?

Would it be possible to have grey (semi transparent) bars that show a defined aspect ratio? For example, if I make a video of 2:1 ratio, grey bars would allow to see what will end up in the final frame. It would be really helpful when exporting with V-Ray.

I was wondering if there is still a time limit for each frame rendered on VRay? I remember you mentioned there was a 10 minutes limit for each frame rendering time. Is it still the case?

Finally, because my models are now very heavy and complex, animator becomes quite slow. It takes some time to get inside a clip and get back out. Or just disable it. I tried converting my non moving objects into proxies but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I also now have to export the file (in natural mode) to judge if my animation is correct. Is there anything I could do differently to make animator run smoother?

I am sure there are very good reasons why everything is the way it is, and I apologize if these features exists and I am just unaware of them. I just thought I should send my questions. I wonder if anyone else thought about the same things. Thanks again so much for your fantastic plugin. It really changed my way of using SketchUp.

kumarakeke

hi Fredo,

thank you for this useful plug in!
anyway i'm facing an issue using the newest Animator version (2.7a). everytime i click 'Generate a Video for the Film' button, a ruby console window always shows up. pls see below image:

im using Sketchup Pro 2019 19.2.222, Windows 10 Pro and also already installed the latest LibFredo6 10.9a.

did i miss something?
thank you very much

abhi100

@kumarakeke said:

hi Fredo,

thank you for this useful plug in!
anyway i'm facing an issue using the newest Animator version (2.7a). everytime i click 'Generate a Video for the Film' button, a ruby console window always shows up. pls see below image:

im using Sketchup Pro 2019 19.2.222, Windows 10 Pro and also already installed the latest LibFredo6 10.9a.

did i miss something?
thank you very much

Yes the exact problem happens to me and I can't generate videos. I am running Sketchup version 2017-17.2.2555 64bit. I haven't seen any solution for this problem in any forum yet

fredo6

Just in case, could you tell me what is the version of your Internet Explorer browser (go to IE and find menu version).

I don't know if this is related however.

But as I cannot reproduce the problem, I need to have more information.

Thanks

mitch7780

Hi,

I'm new to animating in Sketchup but I've seen so many good reviews for Animator that I thought I would give it a go.
Really easy to learn, simple but detailed and gives a great result.
However, I'm experiencing a few issues, they are as follows:

On occasion some of the buttons disappear or are missing segments.
Groups or components aren't highlighting when you need to make a selection when creating a new movement.
Sometimes when a new movement is selected none of the action tabs appear to select to enable you to make your desired movement.
A number of times I've created an entire film, which takes time, I press the save button and exit the extension. If I go to open the extension back up the entire film has gone.
Also, once a film has been created, I've saved it, opened it back up and all of my groups and components have moved, either reversed their original positions or are totally somewhere else in the model.

Really sorry to highlight these issues, especially if it's something I am doing wrong. I would very much like to keep using this extension but I need some help with the above.

Many thanks

fredo6

@mitch7780 said:

However, I'm experiencing a few issues, they are as follows:

I would need some examples or screenshots in order to troubleshoot or at least understand the kind of issues you are facing.

Fredo

ntxdave

Fredo6, we would like your feedback/input on a thread we have started about animating 3D characters in SketchUp.