Video Copilot Element 3D

About Video Copilot Element 3D

The usual way to get 3D geometry into a motion graphics shot involves a separate 3D application, a render queue, a wait, and a set of passes to composite. Element 3D removes all of it. The renderer runs on the GPU inside the compositing application, so geometry appears in the viewport at close to interactive speed and a change to a material or a light is visible immediately rather than after a render.

It imports real model files with their materials and textures, and it extrudes text and shape layers into geometry directly from the timeline, with bevels, edge control and separate materials on the front, back, bevel and sides. For title work that is most of the job done, since a headline can be built, lit and animated without ever opening a modelling package.

The replicator is where it earns its reputation. A single object is scattered across a grid or a form in the thousands, then animated as a group with the same falloff and offset controls that motion design depends on, and each copy can vary in scale, rotation and material. Whole abstract sequences that look expensive are two objects and a handful of parameters.

Lighting and materials are physically reasonable rather than approximate: environment based reflections, an ambient occlusion pass, motion blur, depth of field and shadow options, plus multi-pass output so the composite still has control after the render. It reads the host camera and lights, so geometry sits inside a tracked shot correctly rather than floating on top of it.

What is included in this build

• GPU render engine running inside the host compositing application
• Model import with materials, textures and animation preserved
• Text and shape layer extrusion with bevels and per surface materials
• Replicator for scattering and animating thousands of copies of an object
• Environment based reflections with an ambient occlusion pass
• Motion blur, depth of field and shadow controls
• Multi-pass output for keeping control in the composite
• Reads the host camera and lights so geometry matches a tracked shot

Changed in version 2.2.3 build 2192

• Improved performance on current generation GPUs
• Better material import fidelity from common model formats
• Replicator handling of very high copy counts made more stable
• Reduced memory use on scenes with large texture sets
• Fixed viewport artefacts on multi-monitor setups with mixed scaling

Installation walkthrough

These steps assume a clean machine. If a previous release of the same application is present, deal with that first, since an overlapping install is the most common cause of a setup that stops halfway.

1. Close the host compositing application completely before starting.
2. Install the current graphics driver from the GPU vendor first.
3. Extract the archive and run the installer as administrator.
4. Point the installer at the host application's plugin folder when prompted.
5. Launch the host once and confirm the effect appears in the effects list before starting work.

System requirements and file details

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