- How do I install the plug-in?
- I like what you do and use your plug-ins/shaders in my work. How can I show my appreciation?
- Is it possible to animate the shading and lighting effects?
- Why don’t you make your software open-source?
- How do I use Normality?
- Under what license conditions is Normality offered?
- Why do you advertise your software online if most of it is not available for download?!
- My 3D renderer wants me to choose between world-, object-, camera- and tangent-space normal passes!
- Will you add [insert random feature] for me?
- Normality just says “After Effects error: Couldn’t find main entry point for normality.plugin (48::72)?”
- I get a run-time error whenever I apply Normality on Windows!
- Does Normality work in Combustion or Digital Fusion?
- The shaded objects show some aliasing artifacts.
- I’ve applied Normality to my normal pass layer but nothing happens — everything is black!!
- How do I export a normal pass from 3ds max / Maya / Cinema 4D / Softimage / Blender…?!
How do I install the plug-in?
Installation is very straightforward and is achieved by simply copying a file to a specific location.
Mac OS X
Copy the plug-in file (e.g. normality.plugin) to your Adobe After Effects plug-ins folder, e.g.:
/Application Files/Adobe After Effects CS5/Plug-ins/
Windows
Copy the plug-in file (e.g. normality.aex) to your Adobe After Effects plug-ins folder, e.g.:
C:\Program Files\Adobe After Effects CS5\Plug-ins\
I like what you do and use your plug-ins/shaders in my work. How can I show my appreciation?
A small donation is always appreciated. Thanks!
Is it possible to animate the shading and lighting effects?
Absolutely. You may set keys for all shading parameters and animate the lights using After Effects’ built-in controls.
Why don’t you make your software open-source?
I am a strong proponent of open source software and have contributed to various projects over the years.
However, I feel that my personal projects do not lend themselves well towards the open source model.
For example, the number of After Effects users who are also capable and willing to develop plug-ins is very small. Of this small group of people most are happily employed and probably do not have the time or motivation to work on external projects.
In fact, my plug-in Atlas has been open source under the GPL license since late 2009. To date not a single contribution has been made nor has anyone offered to port the software to other platforms, despite strong interest in the After Effects community.
How do I use Normality?
Please refer to the Normality 3 User Guide or check out the tutorial videos on Youtube: Normality 3 Video Tutorial and Part 2.
Under what license conditions is Normality offered?
The license permits anyone to use Normality on personal or commercial projects under the condition that my name (“Stefan Minning”) is listed in the official production credits.
If you feel this is unreasonable or not possible in your specific case, please get in touch so we can discuss are more traditional compensation method.
Why do you advertise your software online if most of it is not available for download?!
Simply put: I’m a computer graphics artist and software developer working a day job in the animation industry – I am not a salesman.
I don’t have the time, motivation or skills required to deal with the business aspects of selling, distributing and supporting software.
However, if you like my work you can hire my services and I will be happy to develop custom software/shaders/plug-ins according to your specifications and individual requirements.
My 3D renderer wants me to choose between world-, object-, camera- and tangent-space normal passes!
While Normality will happily accept any normals you offer it, in everyday production situations camera-space normal passes have proven to be the most useful option.
Will you add [insert random feature] for me?
If I find it particularly useful, I might, maybe. Let me know what you have in mind.
Normality just says “After Effects error: Couldn’t find main entry point for normality.plugin (48::72)?”
Normality requires Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and an Intel processor. Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and the PowerPC platform are not supported.
I get a run-time error whenever I apply Normality on Windows!
You must install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 run-time library.
Does Normality work in Combustion or Digital Fusion?
No. Normality uses a newer version of the After Effects API that other vendors have so far not implemented.
The shaded objects show some aliasing artifacts.
Normality expects the normal passes you feed it to be properly anti-aliased, so make sure to set your 3D renderer to filter them. Simpler filters such as “Box” and “Gaussian” should be preferred over more harsh filters like “Mitchell” or “Lanczos” in order to mitigate aliasing effects between overlapping objects. Unfortunately, in some cases aliasing artifacts are unavoidable as any 2D relighting solution obviously relies on the normal passes’ pixel values. If the 3D renderer blended the pixels between overlapping objects it will confuse Normality and cause unsightly effects such as aliasing.
I’ve applied Normality to my normal pass layer but nothing happens — everything is black!!
You probably forgot to add a light to your After Effects scene.
How do I export a normal pass from 3ds max / Maya / Cinema 4D / Softimage / Blender…?!
Sorry, I’m not familiar with the workflow of each and every 3D program. Please refer to your 3D renderer’s documentation or consult a professional graphics board such as CGTalk or CreativeCow for assistance.