u/PancakePie100

Hello all,

I'm new to both motion design and Cavalry in general, so please bear with me. (As a disclaimer: I haven't really done any training for the software just yet--other than looking at a random smattering of video tutorials--only because I just want to get started on creating my animation project, and figured it be a great way to get acquainted with the software by just jumping in and fiddling with it.)

For fun, I am trying to create my own animation based on the music video for Looping the Rooms by Rusino (mainly, the scene between and 0:38 - 0:49, as the link shows). I want to create bars/rectangles that pulse to the song's backbeat, and I thought it's Sound Behavior functions would be great for this (as shown in this video and official documentation page).

However, I am having difficulty figuring out how to make them pulse to that specific backbeat in the song. The bars just pick up all the sound in the audio, really, so it pulses erratically. I tried seeing if I could isolate the backbeat from the Equaliser, but I can't pinpoint which band corresponds to it. (I thought it'd be easy to tell - just click the band that moves up and down to that beat I want! But none are doing that, and I don't think increasing or decreasing the number of bands helps...).

Can anyone tell me in simple terms how to do this?? Thank you!!

--

EDIT: Okay, I have run into another weird problem too. Might as well put it here.

I want to import a PNG of a drawing I made in FireAlpaca. The drawing itself, from what I can tell is not transparent, but when I exported it from FireAlpaca, I did set it as a transparent image (so, you know, the color around the drawing wouldn't be white, like the canvas, etc.).

Importing the file into Cavalry, I am baffled that the image seems to be invisible. It's shown as a layer in the timeline but it isn't visible in the viewport. I don't know what is going wrong...

Hi, everyone.

I’m trying to get Maxon Autograph running as smoothly as possible on my current laptop, but it crashes a LOT, even with simple 2D animation. I am guessing it’s due to limited specs on my laptop, but I’m hoping someone here has tips for squeezing the most stability out of low‑end hardware. (I’m not well versed with the world of computers–I figured out this stuff through a quick Google search—so…sorry to be a bother, but please explain this stuff to me like I’m five).

My laptop specs:

• Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
• Intel Arc integrated graphics
• 128 MB dedicated VRAM (yes…MB, not GB…)
• 32 GB RAM
• 1.8 TB SSD

Autograph lists 4 GB VRAM minimum, and I only have 128 MB dedicated. I know that’s way below spec, but I’m mostly doing simple 2D motion (no 3D, no heavy effects) so I’m trying to see if there’s any way to make it workable.

Optimizations that might help?:

• Lower preview resolution (¼ res, draft mode)
• Disable GPU‑heavy effects and OpenFX
• Avoid 3D workspace entirely
• Use smaller textures (720p instead of 4K)
• Work in a 720p timeline
• Disable real‑time playback
• Keep layer count low and avoid blurs/glows

I guess my question is if these would definitely help/if I can make Autograph work relatively okay on my little laptop, or if I am better off investing in a fancier computer. As I am currently somewhat broke at the mo, and REALLY want to get into motion design affordably, I am really hoping can make this work somehow.

Also, if there are any hidden settings, config files, or workflow tricks that can make Autograph more stable on integrated graphics, please let me know! Thank you!!

Hi there!

Hope you all are well. I need some advice on how I can break my habit staying up watching TV too long at night. More specifically, I'd love to know if there is some way to completely lock my TV for a set time.

I'd prefer that, since I am not consistent at keeping goals and stuff like "just set a time to get off and make it a habit! ^w^" does not work for me at all (I am not great at being consistent with habits and have very low impulse control). The one thing I have had success with curbing screentime in my life is creating unavoidable locks (Cold Turkey blocker on my computer, for my phone: Screen Time lock feature with password protection where only my family knows said password). It sucks - my LG TV used to have a feature to block it between set times, but they recently removed it with an update (which I have no idea why. I'm very miffed about it). There doesn't seem to be any other good alternatives (router or plug locks, whatever they are called, seem to be a bad idea, because I can just...unplug or remove them from the device and plug it directly into the wall :/ ). If anyone has any better ideas, I'd really love to know.