Sat, Oct 19, 10:48 PM CDT

12 Weeks With Cartoon Animator 5 - Week 5

Mar 23, 2023 at 07:30 am by gToon

This is the fifth of a series of articles over the next 12 weeks that will cover my research and learning about the 2D animation program Cartoon Animator 5 created by Reallusion. I will share my learning journey including any problems or issues that occur. My end goal is to help you understand what you can do with Cartoon Animator 5 and perhaps try it out yourself. You can read the first week's article here. 

Last week, we completed our short animated project and although it needs polish, it doesn't look half bad and it only took about 15 minutes to complete. This week I'll go over my recent Reallusion customer service experience and then briefly cover the process of applying 3D motion to a 2D actor. 
 

Customer Service at Reallusion

 When I first installed Cartoon Animator 5 on my Windows 11 machine, I activated the new content manager. All of the content I had previously purchased was downloaded and installed perfectly. Any new purchases are also installed without a hitch. However, when I tried to install the free resources the download icon would just spin and spin until I'd get an error message saying the content couldn't be downloaded. 

Despite restarting and updating my graphics drivers and getting Windows 11 current, the problem wouldn't go away. It's particularly odd since I have Cartoon Animator 4 on my Macbook Air and it downloads the free content just fine. 

Time to contact customer service. 

Error message when attempting to download free content
 I know that most customer service for mid-level or larger software companies is usually very busy, so I like to search for FAQs or forum posts on a particular problem first. You are much more likely to get your problem solved this way than waiting for customer service to respond. 
 
Reallusion had a specific FAQ on this download problem which featured a long list of things to do to solve the problem. I worked my way through the list, which is somewhat technical, so not all users are going to benefit from the instructions. Unfortunately, nothing worked. I still couldn't download the assets. 
 
Reallusion's Support Home is well-organized
Reallusion has a good support service, but I knew it would take a bit of time since the support team has to understand not only my specific problem but my workstation set-up as well. Sometimes the problem is in the Windows settings. Reallusion provides a small app that reads your system and reports back to the support team so they can have your details handy. I used the program and attached the resulting file to my support request. 
 
The next day I received a response (they use the "ticket" system and create a specific page for your communications with support). The support team wanted more information and asked that I run another program that they provided. I ran the program and attached the results. 
 
They had some suggestions about adjustments to Windows settings which I tried, but it didn't solve the problem. I still couldn't download the free content.
 
Eventually, the support team referred the issue to the development team thinking it might be a bug. Turned out it was. This took about 3 days. All told I worked with customer service for a week. I was just about to give up when the support team suggested that I download the free content separately and install it that way (outside of the Content Manager).
 
Problem solved.  
The feedback tracker system at Reallusion
While my original problem didn't get fixed, I was given a workaround that got me the content I needed. Took some patience on both sides to solve the issue, but I felt I was taken seriously. And in addition to the forums, Reallusion has a nice Feedback Tracker system where users can view other customer service issues and perhaps find the solution to their problem
 
Customer service can be a problem but don't assume an adversarial relationship from the start and you'll usually get good service. One thing to note is that I never told the support team I was reviewing the program, so I wouldn't get any special treatment. I was pleased with the results of my customer service request and would not hesitate to contact them again should another issue come up. 
Next Week: Converting 3D Motion to 2D Actors
Tags: 2D Animation cartoon animator cartoon animator 5 reallusion
Sections: Featured Industry News

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