MotionMonkey FAQ

As with any comp with a billion layers, things are going to run slow, and depending on your machine, it might become unworkable. This is true of MotionMonkey as well as any other project. So some stategies might help when dealign with an overly complex project.

 

The way MotionMonkey creates it's animations by parenting your original layer with a control layer. It also duplicates your original layer, turns it off, locks it and places it at the bottom of the comp. If you have the Allow Intersection checkbox off, it will also put an adjustment layer in between each layer so they won't pass through each other....so you can build up layers really fast.

 

With that in mind, heres a few suggestions:

 

1) Edit- Make sure you don't have more layers than you need.

 

2) Make sure Allow Intersction is on, unless you really need it.

 

3) Pre-comp sections - This will help organize, allow for more control if you want to change motion types, and make things more manageable. You might want to pre-render these if necessary.

 

4) If you're on a Mac, you can stop the screen updating by clicking off After Effects (go browse the internet). For some reason, locking caps doesn't work. Once the build is done, AE will automatically pop to the foreground again. The same holds true for Unbuilding.

 

5) Worst case scenario - If all else fails and you know that once the animation is built, shuttling thru it will give your computer a heart attack, I suggest you take the following steps:

       a) Create your comp, drag in your layers, set the work area, add it to the render queue, and click on the Render Settings button. Adjust the custom end time to a few seconds after the work area ends (since the animation will still need some time to complete). .Don't build the animation before you do this.

       b) Duplicate the comp and do the same if you want multiple variations (its always good to have a few unbuilt comps around anyway- it'll save you from having to UnDoing It and wasting  time).

       c) Set the MotionMonkey's UI and click Do It. (If you have multiple comps, after the build, do those too). Don't look at it...don't shuttle thru it. 

       d) Go right to the Render Queue and click Render. 

       e) Check the finished animation.

 

Since MotionMonkey is so fast , this might be the most efficient method if you have no other choice....Just let me Monkey do it, then go from there. Adjust the UI and build again if necessary.

How can I pull back so all the text is visible at the end of animation?

 

My layers/animation/text/computer isn't working/too slow. What can I do?

Start by trashing you preferences and restarting.

Since Kuler no longer allows you to downoad .ase files, theres a way you can create your own (there might be others- please send them along if you know of any)

1) In Illustrator, open up the Swatches window:  (Windows/ Swatches)

2) If there is a library loaded, you can select each of the first 5 colors and click on the new color icon at the bottom of the window to edit the colors to the ones you want to save to as an .ase. (The first 2 color boxes are reserved for none and the registration mark and will be ignored by the .ase file). If theres no colors saved in the library you can just follow the same steps starting with the new color icon.

.ase files contain a maximum of 5 colors, but you can have less as well.

3) Click the button at the top right of the window revealing the list of commands. At the bottom of the list theres "Save Swatch Library as .ase". Click that and save where you can easily access it.

 

Also, heres a few links you can download .ase files - please send us additional links to post if you know of others:

2 Color Combos: http://www.designbolts.com/2015/12/19/10-best-2-color-combinations-for-logo-design-with-free-swatches/

3 Color Combos: http://www.designbolts.com/2015/12/24/10-best-3-color-combinations-for-logo-design-with-free-swatches/

http://www.designbolts.com/2015/12/29/8-awesome-color-combinations-for-your-2016-graphic-design-projects/

http://blog.graphicleftovers.com/8-trendy-color-palettes-with-free-adobe-swatch-exchange-files-ase/

http://veerle.duoh.com/inspiration/

If you're on a Mac, hold down the Command + Option + Shift keys as you start AfterEffects, this will allow you to delete the corrupt preference file. On a PC its Control + Alt + Shift.

 If that doesn't solve the problem, switch fonts and  build a simple project (you can even use the default text in the text box).