MotionMonkey
  • Trevor GilchristTrevor Gilchrist
    Looks fantastic, but makes me kinda bitter that I JUST spent however much on LayerMonkey which is now (as far as I can tell) rendered redundant... (every pun intended). I am ALL for progress, and don't worry, no doubt I'll buy this too. I have nothing but respect and awe for these tools and their authors, but I might as well throw my LayerMonkey script in the trash after a week.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey Trevor. A few thoughts-

    At first glance they might feel similar, but they're actually very different. Their similarities mainly center around the mechanics of how they handle layers and markers ... But after that, they diverge greatly.

    LayerMonkey will lay out your comp based on Dan's TypeMonkey algorithm (as well as a horizontal and vertical with a justify option) and animate a camera in between them... MotionMonkey doesn't do that...it relies on your layout and doesn't have a camera..so in that respect LM is closer to TypeMonkey than MotionMonkey.

    On the other hand, MotionMonkey creates much more complex animations, with millions of possibilities and with far more control than LayerMonkey.

    I've found that LM actually works as a great complement to both other monkeys...and a great way to connect all of them.

    Concerning MM, I've really only been playing with it for a few weeks, and it continues to surprise me what it's able to do...hopefully everyone will start posting some experiments to see whats possible.

    But trust me, it's very unique, and differs from LM in many ways. Download the trial and you'll see what I mean.

  • Trevor GilchristTrevor Gilchrist
    I bought it anyway, on blind faith that everything you do is amazing.
  • Mark SantellaMark Santella
    Too much fun!!!  Working with the trial.  I have purchased Type Monkey  and Layer Monkey.  Would be nice if you extended a discount to your loyal fans.  If not I get it and I see it is on sale now. Thanks again this is great.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey mark- we will once we get out from under NAB and getting the launch done, but it wont be any more than the 30% discount this week - so I think the best deal will be this week for sure.
  • Mark SantellaMark Santella
    Thanks Orrin.  I am a full primate now.  I own all 3 of your products!!!!  I didn't see the NAB before my comment.  My apologies.
  • Ray FrakeRay Frake
    Is there a need to do your layout in Illustrator - or is that just a suggestion because it would be easier if you're animating a lot of objects on the screen at the same time?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey ray- nope... That was just an example. You can use layered .psds or just lay it out in ae. It'll resolve in whatever layout you start with no matter how it was created.
  • Ray FrakeRay Frake
    Thanks, Orrin. That's what I figured, but better safe than sorry. Making my purchase now.
  • Neil HerkeNeil Herke
    Hi, just bought this and having a small issue. My layered comp is 2 secs and I apply Motion Monkey, the animation hasn't quite finished by the end of the 2 secs (layers still animating in). I then need to unlock all the layers and extend everything to get it to work.

    Am I doing something wrong? 
    Thanks
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hi, just bought this and having a small issue. My layered comp is 2 secs and I apply Motion Monkey, the animation hasn't quite finished by the end of the 2 secs (layers still animating in). I then need to unlock all the layers and extend everything to get it to work.

    Am I doing something wrong? 
    Thanks
    Hi Neil- the only thing you're guilty of is not building your comp long enough. ; )

    Since MM is so fast, the easiest way to make any kind of changes to the project is to Undo it, make your changes and Do it again. So in your case. just unbuild and extend the length of the comp. BTW- you should get in the habit of making longer comps than you need for MM. It just makes things easier.

    Keep in  mind, when you set your work area, thats not going to be the length of the animation, its just the amount of time its going to take to trigger the layers. You have to factor into that the speed of the moves (fast is 20 frames, medium is 40 and slow is 60) and add to that some time for if your interpolation has any reverb (Inertia, Bounce or Spring). But the length of time of the reverb is effected by the Intensity setting- the higher the intensity, the longer the reverb.

    So you can kind of calculate how long your animation will be by adding the work area to the speed of the moves plus a little bit extra depending on the Intensity.

    Its pretty Zen. You'll get a feel for it once you get more practice.

    If they were all triggered simultaneously (set your work area at 2 frames), and they were all slow linear or EZ moves, then they'd all finish at 2 seconds.

    Make sense?
  • Brad NallBrad Nall
    Works great I can see this saving me tons of time... One question is there any way to turn OFF the rotation. I see where it can be controlled CW/CCW but I don't see a way to turn it off. Maybe I missed something, thanks.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hi brad- sure... If u have random motions selected in the top section(round radio button), just select slide and/ or scale and make sure none of the spins are selected.
  • Brad NallBrad Nall
    I knew it was operator error. Thanks.
  • Neil HerkeNeil Herke
    Hi, just bought this and having a small issue. My layered comp is 2 secs and I apply Motion Monkey, the animation hasn't quite finished by the end of the 2 secs (layers still animating in). I then need to unlock all the layers and extend everything to get it to work.

    Am I doing something wrong? 
    Thanks
    Hi Neil- the only thing you're guilty of is not building your comp long enough. ; )


    Hey, For some reason I had it in my head the animation time spanned the length of my comp. Its working now :)
    Thanks. 
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Excellent! Another great script. I bought it on the strength of the animated landscape in your promo - the buildings and trees etc. was that a single sequence? Would be nice to see how you did that and how quick and simple it was to achieve. Can you give any info on how it was done?

    On another topic, will the upcoming changes to AE adding the CEP infrastructure and HTML5 panels make a difference to your products in the future? Not seen much talk about this yet.

    Paul.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Excellent! Another great script. I bought it on the strength of the animated landscape in your promo - the buildings and trees etc. was that a single sequence? Would be nice to see how you did that and how quick and simple it was to achieve. Can you give any info on how it was done?

    On another topic, will the upcoming changes to AE adding the CEP infrastructure and HTML5 panels make a difference to your products in the future? Not seen much talk about this yet.

    Paul.
    Hi Paul- Those illustrations were graciously donated by Dzmitry Shashko (http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vectors/vectors-by_dzm1try-order_latest). The originals are even better but I had to mess with them cause some of the blending modes didn't work so well in ae.

    Anyway, those layers were each separate comps - one for the mountains, village, city, cars, etc. They literally took seconds to build. I set them on Fast Speed, Extreme Intensity and Interpolation Inertia, Bounce and Spring. The work area was about a sec.

    If I recall the only real difference between the comps were the  motion settings.I don't recall which was which, but they were:

    Slide / Down
    Slide / Right 
    Spin X / CW (with Anchor set to Bottom)
    Scale / Up
    Slide / Up

    Looking back I should have turned Motion Blur on too, but I was in a pre-NAB rush to get stuff out asap.
    Hope that helps. I'll try to get out a tut for it in the next few weeks.

    As far as the HTML5 goes- we're looking into that. We've been so focused on getting MM out that everything else has taken a back seat. 


  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Thanks Orrin :)

    Yeah it's a shame that AI files often don't work 100% in AE. Normally some tweaking involved with blending modes. I'm looking forward to trying my first quick animation. Seems like complex graphics with lots of layers look best. Add some camera moves too and I think it'll be a great tool.

    Form my initial playing, would it be a good idea to have an option to set the duration based on a user entered figure as well as the comp and work area settings? I found that I would apply MM and then change the work area to render the full range of movement. If it wasn't quite right, I'd have to un-apply and remember to set the work area back again. If there was an option to set a custom duration, that woul stay the same each time. Or have I got the work flow wrong?
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Oh, just reading the docs and after playing a bit, I have the following observations that may well be feature requests:

    1) is it possible to add an option to the anchor point that uses the layers anchor point? I had some non-symmetrical rounded elements that I wanted to rotate in but they would look best rotating around the rounded part. Is this possible to do currently?
    2) how about a set of options to modify the speed settings rather than them being hard coded. To get exactly the speed you want. Maybe similar for the intensity. You could still keep the high, medium, low etc for simplicity (I'm guessing this was the reason?) but be able to fine tune through some options? Would that work?

    Cheers.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    1) is it possible to add an option to the anchor point that uses the layers anchor point? I had some non-symmetrical rounded elements that I wanted to rotate in but they would look best rotating around the rounded part. Is this possible to do currently?
    2) how about a set of options to modify the speed settings rather than them being hard coded. To get exactly the speed you want. Maybe similar for the intensity. You could still keep the high, medium, low etc for simplicity (I'm guessing this was the reason?) but be able to fine tune through some options? Would that work?

    Cheers.
    Hi Paul- The anchor point is contingent upon how the original art is imported. If you want the anchor to be based on the layer size, import it using Layer Size rather than Doc Size. Check out the Preparing your Art tut I posted.

    Your other suggestions are great, but some of our options are limited to what can be achieved by a script....your thinking about the length of animation was pretty much our thinking originally, but that was not viable - even for Dan...which tells me its pretty much impossible. Same for the Speed and Intensity.

    Keep em coming!



  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Hi Orrin,

    Re the anchor point, I'm not sure I explained it properly. What I mean is that I want MM to honor the layers existing anchor point. I.e. If I have a layer that I want to have the scale and rotation centered around a particular user selectable point, I would use the pan behind tool to set the anchor point and then in MM I would select a 'use existing anchor point' option to have MM use these instead of creating a new anchor point.

    Does that make sense?

    I'm not sure I understand why it wouldn't just use the layers existing anchor point anyway? That would seem much more logical on the face of it. Is there something I'm missing with the way it works?

    Cheers!
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hi Orrin,

    Re the anchor point, I'm not sure I explained it properly. What I mean is that I want MM to honor the layers existing anchor point. I.e. If I have a layer that I want to have the scale and rotation centered around a particular user selectable point, I would use the pan behind tool to set the anchor point and then in MM I would select a 'use existing anchor point' option to have MM use these instead of creating a new anchor point.

    Does that make sense?

    I'm not sure I understand why it wouldn't just use the layers existing anchor point anyway? That would seem much more logical on the face of it. Is there something I'm missing with the way it works?

    Cheers!
    Its just the way MM works...look at it this way- if you have 100 layers, and you want them to swing in from the bottom, putting the anchor point at the bottom of each layer manually would be a pain in the butt. It won't be automated for all uses, but hopefully we can help for a bunch of them. 

    If I understand you correctly, I guess the one way to do it would be to position the layer correctly within ai or psd (if its that kind of a file) in relation to the centerpoint in the original file, then import them all using Doc Size and use the centerpoint as the anchor. Then position them manually in the screen before the build.

    You could also pre-comp the layers individually and do the same thing.

    But you make a good suggestion, and I'll bring it up at the upcoming executive board meeting. Thanks!


  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Thanks Orrin - yes I guess I could position as you say although that would be tricky get get exactly right I think.

    Having the option to use the layer anchor would be even better and much quicker / more flexible! ;)

    Have fun at the executive board meeting! (visions of large oval rosewood table and wall to wall glass on the 43rd floor overlooking the city!)
  • Gary BirdGary Bird

    Hi guys,

    I just want to say thanks for the awesome work on MotionMonkey - such a huge assistant it should be built in to the next version of AE :)

    I'm taking the liberty of inserting the link to my first very quick test of it, using Element 3D in AE (amazingly easy to use and endless permutations possible):

    https://vimeo.com/92006733

    Cheers, and thanks again.

    Gary Bird


  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    If the CEP/HTML5 panels allow even better colour picking or even just the ability to enter RGB hex values in the future, that would be great. Having spent most of the day creating a promo with MM and TM, the default AE colour picker is a pain!

    I'll post a link to the promo later... much fun doing it.
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Here's the link to the promo I created:



    or



    I still found that I could really do with the anchor point feature I discussed - would have made life a load easier!

    Really enjoyed using TM and MM - great fun!
  • Nick SchneiderNick Schneider
    Hey Orrin - might be a dumb question but everything I'm seeing is animating in - how do I animate things out with MM?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hi Nick- 
    Theres no dumb questions here. I'd just build it, pre-comp it and do a time reverse. When I created the Raven animation in the demo, I created two, one the that slid down, the other that slid up, then time reversed the one sliding up. I might have also used the EZ Go interpolation on that too.

  • basem alideebbasem alideeb
    Hi Orrin,

    I just bought it , it's really useful .. 

    I want to ask if is it possible to invert the animation 

    What I mean to make it animate (out) with the same way of (animate in) but in the reverse direction to end the animation of the layer

    So, is it possible to add this feature ?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    What I mean to make it animate (out) with the same way of (animate in) but in the reverse direction to end the animation of the layer
    So, is it possible to add this feature ?
    That feature got left off this version because the easy work around is to do a couple builds in two different comps (unless you want the exact same move), and them bring them both into one comp and time reverse one of them. You might even want to try having the reverse one EZ Go and the normal one EZ Stop.

    Let us know if you think of any more features!
  • basem alideebbasem alideeb
    Thanks Orrin, 

    Actually I'm still new user for Motion Monkey,

    I will come back if I have any new idea for you .. 

    thank you so much 
  • ole sturmole sturm
    What's the difference between Layer Monkey and Motion Monkey and in what scenarios would I use the one over the other?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    What's the difference between Layer Monkey and Motion Monkey and in what scenarios would I use the one over the other?
    Hi Ole- 
    First I'll repost an answer I gave to this same question when we launched, then I'll give you some thoughts on when to use one over the other: 

    At first glance they might sound similar, but they're actually very different. Their similarities mainly center around the mechanics of how they handle layers and markers ... But after that, they diverge greatly.

    LayerMonkey will lay out your comp based on Dan's TypeMonkey algorithm (as well as a horizontal and vertical with a justify option) and animate a camera in between them... MotionMonkey doesn't do that...it relies on your layout and doesn't have a camera..so in that respect LM is closer to TypeMonkey than MotionMonkey. 

    On the other hand, MotionMonkey creates much more complex animations, with millions of possibilities and with far more control than LayerMonkey.

    I've found that LM actually works as a great complement to both other monkeys...and a great way to connect all of them.

    Download the trial and you'll see what I mean.
    ---
    Every designer is different and have their own way of thinking, so you might view things a bit differently than I do - or discover something I never thought of, but I tend to think of MotionMonkey as a great way to assemble an image- whether its a logo, a banner ad, an end tag, infographic or whatever. Run in reverse, it also is a great way to transition out. You can certainly do it by hand, but as you get into dozens or even a hundred layers or more, you can see how MM will save you a ton of time.

    Its also capable of creating kinetic typography  if you have a specific layout in mind...but then you need to animate your own camera.

    LayerMonkey is very much like TypeMonkey, but I tend to use because I like a less frantic camera movement...instead of a camera moving from one word to the next, I like to have it move from one phrase (pre-comp) to the next  - see the Combining Monkeys tutorial. MotionMonkey can also be used to create those pre-comps (e.g.- create layered illustrator files, animate them using MotionMonkey, then transition between them in LayerMonkey).

    So my short answer is that each Monkey has their own strengths, but are strongest when used in combination with each other.
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Hey Orrin,

    Have you guys ever considered having a way for all three Monkey's to have some kind of repeatable apply function with a randomize button? Might be better if I explain:

    I often apply a Monkey and then have a look through the animation and I might think the animation looks great but maybe the ease in method isn't quite right or the base font needs changing or any one of the other options needs changing. However, if I undo and then apply it again with the tweak, the animation may then look very different.

    What I was thinking is that the variables would be the same for everything, no matter how many times you apply the Monkey - then, if you want something different, you would hit the randomize button.

    I was thinking that would help tremendously when experimenting to get the right look - something I do constantly when using the monkeys. Rather than having to undo multiple times and losing the animation I really liked.

    Am I making sense? A feature like that would hugely speed up the design process :)

    Cheers,

    Paul.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey Orrin,

    Have you guys ever considered having a way for all three Monkey's to have some kind of repeatable apply function with a randomize button? Might be better if I explain:

    I often apply a Monkey and then have a look through the animation and I might think the animation looks great but maybe the ease in method isn't quite right or the base font needs changing or any one of the other options needs changing. However, if I undo and then apply it again with the tweak, the animation may then look very different.

    What I was thinking is that the variables would be the same for everything, no matter how many times you apply the Monkey - then, if you want something different, you would hit the randomize button.

    I was thinking that would help tremendously when experimenting to get the right look - something I do constantly when using the monkeys. Rather than having to undo multiple times and losing the animation I really liked.

    Am I making sense? A feature like that would hugely speed up the design process :)

    Cheers,

    Paul.
    Hey Paul- We have discussed changing the settings after a build and then updating selected layers...is that what you mean? Its on the list (tho we're not sure its possible until we actually get into it). Keep 'em coming!
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Yes I think that would work - anything that can preserve the bulk of the animation and let you refine would be good - without having to undo and lose the other parts you may be happy with.
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Yes I think that would work - anything that can preserve the bulk of the animation and let you refine would be good - without having to undo and lose the other parts you may be happy with.
    Paul- follow up question...would it be better to have a random seed generator so you could repeat the same layout, unbuild it, change the settings and rebuild it...or an update button that enables you to go into a built layout and change the settings on specific layers?
  • Tobias TesarTobias Tesar
    Hi, 
    just discovered this and I will surely buy this.

    But please add a random seed control. Right now it changes the random seed everytime the user clicks "Build it", so like Paul said, there is no chance to recreate an animation. It always gets randomized.
    Let the user control when the random seed changes, don't change it automatically (or at least make this function optional).

    Thank you
    Tobi
  • javier gamarrajavier gamarra
    Hello:

    In mode trial missing Monkey Tool, how can i get this script to try entirely.


    Thank you

    Jav
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey Javier- at this point, theres no trial version of Monkey Tools - it's only available when you purchase one of the Monkeys.

    Sorry!

    -oz
  • javier gamarrajavier gamarra
    ok, Thank you Orrin 
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Yes I think that would work - anything that can preserve the bulk of the animation and let you refine would be good - without having to undo and lose the other parts you may be happy with.
    Paul- follow up question...would it be better to have a random seed generator so you could repeat the same layout, unbuild it, change the settings and rebuild it...or an update button that enables you to go into a built layout and change the settings on specific layers?



    Sorry, I missed your follow up question.

    Ideally, maybe both would be awesome!? An initial seed generator that only changes when you press a button (or manually type it it) and also an update button too.
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    How are you doing with an updated version - close yet?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey Paul- nothing yet...we've been focusing on a new product, but its on the pile for sure.
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    Any teasers on what you're wporking on - same vein as the monkeys?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    sorry-  top secret. Even Dan and I don't know what it is yet.
  • Paul GalePaul Gale
    do you get your instructions from a race of ten legged super beings?
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    lol!
  • John LiauJohn Liau
    What is the max amount of layers motion monkey will support? I am making an .ai file that has several hundred if not thousands of layers and i want it to animate using motion monkey, will it work? Thanks!
  • Orrin ZuckerOrrin Zucker
    Hey John- it'll support as many layers as you want...but it might be more a question of how powerful a computer you have. Remember, for each layer there two created, and the original is turned invisible and locked away. 

    My advice would be to break it into different comps (after you just try it first...you never know).

    Good luck!
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