Hi Craig,
The Animation clips are not widely discussed, but I have done an series about it, with a special idea: Team-Work. Which means, they discuss the Animation clips for all kinds of animation to use them on a single set up.
http://youtu.be/dKjgGPDswDE
This is a teaser, but after the preparation, I have showcased this complete animation at the “DMALA” here in L.A. a while ago. Done in just a few minutes. A real workflow as a client sits beside you and ask for quick changes in realtime. ChoreographiX CGX.
http://www.cineversity.com/vidplaytut/animation_techniques_for_teams_part_01_course
The Rangemapper, as all the tools for XPresso are discussed here on CIneversity. Just use the search. I have learned XPresso by trial and error, just explored one node after the other. It is over a decade ago by now, but I stick with my idea about XPresso, it has two parts, the information that runs through the “wires” and the nodes.
The information in the “wires” need to be known, precisely, and you will find quite some tutorial discussions here during the last summer. I think I got alone 100 questions about it. ;o) Nearly.
The nodes needs to be learned one by one, and work easily with a few for a certain target. You learn as you go, and if you hit the wall, ask.
You need some kind of basic mathematic to get deeper in those. I can help there as well if needed, to a certain degree—“time-wise”.
The Rangemapper has a vertical and a horizontal scale. It works like the Curve tool in Photoshop or AfterEffects. One scale represents the incoming data, and the other the outgoing. The way the data is “translated” is based on the spline curve. As the curve in the mentioned image editors.
I hope that helps to get started :o)
All the best
Sassi
