Importing Illustrator files?

mediainstinct · Post by **mediainstinct** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:06 pm

When I import an Illustrator .ai file or Illustrator .eps file I do not see anything in the window. The layer is set to view. What am I doing/not doing correctly? I am new to Anime Pro. I look forward to your input.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:33 pm

I don't use Illustrator, but the help says this:

If your files are in Illustrator format, make sure that you save them as Illustrator 8 (or earlier) format.

But overall, most people aren't happy with the results of importing Illustrator files. AS calculates curves differently (to be optimized for animating), so there's no way to get a perfect interpretation of the AI curves. They usually need to be cleaned up quite a bit.

I, as many here, would strongly suggest tracing artwork with the AS drawing tools. Sure, this may seem like more work, but it's worth it.

Mark Bremmer · Post by **Mark Bremmer** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:42 pm

For organic shapes, the AS tool set is really good because it does play nice when animating. However, the .ai files do allow users to bring in geometrics that AS has a difficult time creating. But as the help says, .ai v8 or earlier...

human · Post by **human** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:19 am

I agree with everything Synth said.

Now, IF you want to do morphing--what Anime Studio users call "point to point" animation--on Illustrator files without these serious import problems, you can use:

-- Toon Boom Animate;
-- Adobe Flash; or
-- Microsoft Expression Blender

I have looked at all of these, and they are all good for morphing, although it's true what you hear around here: they don't support bones to the extent AS does, not one bit.

I just imported a late-model Illustrator file into Blender 3 Beta, and it looks terrific. (Blender calls "point to point" animation "vertex animation.")