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A:M Forum Rules
GENERAL FORUM GUIDELINES
The A:M Forum is for technical support and the sharing of tips and ideas between users/prospective users of Hash software. It is moderated constantly by technical support representatives.
DO'S!
-Ask questions about the software.
-Assist other users... everyone was new at this once.
-Inform people of your version/platform when asking for help.
-Share resources; tutorials, models, textures, tips and techniques (link to useful websites).
-Post links to your work, or where your art is being used online (on websites, in games, toons', etc.)
-Search the A:M Forum and FAQ. The question you are about to ask may have already been answered.
-Organize and inform others about user groups, IRC chats, image and animation contests, job opportunities, etc.
-Discuss what you are working on and let everyone know about magazine reviews and articles that relate to your projects.
DON'TS!
-Do Not be rude or disrespectful or mean to other forum members in any way. Personal attacks will be removed.
-Do Not post bug/crash reports to the list (send bug/crash reports to http://www.hash.com/reports.
-Do Not complain about forum content. Complaints or suggestions can be sent directly to hash@hash.com
-Do Not reprimand other forum members for violating forum rules, that's the moderators job, which (unless you are a moderator) you are not.
-No complaining or whining on the forum or distribution of misinformation.
-No flames of any kind.
-No Off Topic posts. (Posts in the Off Topics section should be related to A:M in some form or fashion or benefit the A:M community as a whole).
-No soliciting of any kind without prior approval.
-No threads or comparisons related to other 3D Applications.
-No "Wish list" or feature requests, they should be sent to www.hash.com/reports for categorizing and prioritization (User requests define the future development of the software).
-No "me too!" posts
-No discussion of Hash Internal Affairs (finances, advertising, PR.)
-No posting of private email to the forum unless permission of the author is granted. (Private correspondence should remain private)
-No very general questions like: "how do I make a good 3D model" make your questions as complete and concise as possible.
If you have questions as to whether it's appropriate, send it to: support@hash.com, We'll be happy to let you know whether it is, or is not appropriate.
User Led Forum Considerations
Firstly and foremostly, please remember this is Martin Hash's forum and that it is every A:M User's primary resource for information about A:M. In order to remain relevant we need everyone's continuing support and interest.
Secondly, understand there is a distinction between A:M (the program) and the A:M forum. There are some topics and issues that are outside the scope of this forum and most can be deduced by reading through the forum guidelines. These include such things as Hash Inc internal policies, business practices, trade secrets, and specific plans for the future not yet publicly released. Each of these would be fascinating topics of their own but are better reserved for private communications with a representative of Hash Inc.
Related to the second, is purchasing, customer service and other areas outside the purview of the common user who may have no interest in such things; subjects relating to money exchanging hands are beyond the scope of the A:M Forum and often can lead to conflicts of interest between users and/or Hash Inc. (If Hash Inc cuts you a deal on volume purchasing it's really no one else's business). Likewise, individual complaints about a product or service are best remedied by going direct with Hash Inc representatives empowered to make decisions. Please allow them them the time necessary to resolve your specific issue and consider the cost of customized solutions.
This last area is likely the source of much confusion because many see the A:M Forum as the official outlet for Hash Inc... and it is. But the forum is not designed for conducting business and private matters best resolved by going to Hash Inc directly. Similarly, bug reports are best resolved by entering them directly into the A:M Reporting system.
Many problems can be easily addressed at the user level just by asking fellow users in the forum. If someone at Hash Inc suggests the forum as a source, it is very likely a problem can be easily resolved. For tougher issues there is even more reason to take the issue directly to the source... you don't want the issue discussed... you want it resolved quickly.
Finally, remember that we want to pass this forum on to future moderators and generations of A:M Users in the absolute best condition possible. A:M is just that good a program and is worthy of our consideration.
Thanks for making the A:M Forum a great community.
4,166 topics in this forum
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Forum Filter
by AZ3- 1 reply
- 1k views
I'd like to see only the forums I have posted in as an option. I'll bet there's a simple way to do it, but the older you get, you know.
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 followers
- 10 replies
- 1k views
I need to know how to do skies and put clouds in the skies. Everytime somebody does make a sky, they always say that it is made from a dome shape. I don't understand what they are talking about. Can somebody please help me?
Last reply by the_black_mage, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
I am running an IMac 3.03 with 4Gb of RAM, using OSX 10.65 and 15J of AM. I am trying to finish off a project that has had a few difficulties but, I have a recurring problem which, if I was a less affable fellow, would have me screaming. This afternoon ( UK time ) I was rendering out some test QT files of Action files for the project. One file would render and I would select the next one. When I go to save file as, to change the name, the program freezes up and every time I click the mouse I get the fault sound. I can't even click CANCEL . The only way to get out of it is to Force Quit under OSX. Then reload. This happens each time I have rende…
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 0 replies
- 1k views
Darrin Mossor has some really excellent tutorials on his website. There are several subject that I thought I would like to do a tutorial on but Darrin says it better than I ever could. Some of the information might seem a little outdated (most created in 2002) but they are must read tutorials. For instance: Layers Tutorial by Darrin Mossor Other tutorials can be found here: http://www.mossor.org/Desktop/index.html These tutorials include: - Writing with Sprites - The Duplicator Wizard -or- 5 minute instant DNA - Walking a Centipede Along a Path -or- Building Complex Animations from Simple Pieces - Footsteps in the Snow (using Animated Dis…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 1k views
Exercise 1 Completed
Last reply by FlyingMonkieBoy, -
- 13 replies
- 1k views
Starting with the basic three light setup, I began adding lights to my chor. At first, the additional lights did what they were supposed to do, but after about five or six additional lights, my keylight seemed to turn off with the other lights doing all the work. Turning off the last added light, turned the keylight back on. I figured the last light was somehow defective, so I deleted it and created a new one. The same thing happened, the keylight, although the chor said it was on, was actually not doing anything to light the scene. Another test confirmed this. Instead of deleting the last added light, I just turned it off in the chor and the keylight immediate…
Last reply by Eric2575, -
- 7 replies
- 1k views
I have a model i'm rigging at the moment, and I just cna't figure out how to get the bottom of his robe to work right-- i'm using simcloth, and applied deflector to his legs and everything, but when I move my guy around in a chor., and try to render the cloth, it gives me an error. any ideas? thanks!
Last reply by breakthelocke, -
- 10 replies
- 1k views
Hello All. Really newbie question here. I've modeled a fish and am supposed to animate it useing deformers. I've done a serach on the TechRef. PDF and can't find anything that'll show me how to use deformers. I've searched this site and have only found people talking about them but not how to use 'em. Any toots out there? If you need more info let me know. Thanks. SMC
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 10 replies
- 1k views
Any Ideas?
Last reply by UNGLAUBLICHUSA, -
- 6 replies
- 1k views
Just a quick question... I'm opening up the different models that come with A:M to sorta get a feel for how they're put together, and to marvel at how you can accomplish so much with so little using patches versus polys or even SubD surfaces. I am wondering, though, why is it that with some of the models (Kee Kat, the Rabbit and I think one other I was looking at), the eyes are sorta "sunken in" inside the characters' heads? I notice that when you bring them into Choreography, that's not the case. Only in the model view. Can someone explain why this is? Is there a specific reason for it?
Last reply by mouseman, -
- 4 replies
- 1k views
I would like to have 2 versions of A:M so I am considering buying a used version and paying the $99 for the upgrade. Is this an acceptable approach? As long as I have a valid serial #, is there any issues? I want to have a second machine that I can push my rendering over to while I am continuing to work on my main machine. Thanks.
Last reply by luckbat, -
I down loaded the "fat guy" model, but it won't open in my program. Does a model have to be imported?
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
Well, first off, I'm completely clueless when it comes to just about everything on animation master. I know very simple things, such as the mirror button... which is the only way i know of to make my work 3-D. One of my problems. Question #1: How can you make images that arent the same all the way around-- I ask this stupid question because when you use mirror say you drew half a square, it turns it into a cylinder shaped figure. I know if you mess around with it, you could get it back to say, a cube shape, but I'm sure theres some easier way. Question #2: This may be normal, or not able to be changed, but when i go into shaded mode, my picture is not smooth…
Last reply by Kelley, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 1k views
I'm going to bring my bvh questions to this request that I think would do the hash community some good. I'm begging anyone who can to make a bvh video tuturol. Something using a simple charater like thom. Showing how to connect each constraint (orient like, aim like and ect). I've been to zandoria.com and have tried to follow the instructions on thom but I can only get certain body parts moving right(not all of them). If I new enough I would make a help video like this myself but as you can tell I only know so much. I think if there was another help video that needed to be made, this would be the one. I humbly ask!
Last reply by jakerupert, -
- 3 replies
- 1k views
Hey everyone. I was hoping to download a version of V.15 in order to access TSM2 rigging. However.....when I click on the FTP link, I get a blank window. Does anyone have a way to access the proper V.15 version of A:M? Detbear
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
I have an issue.....am trying to rig my TV but am stuck..... I want: * to have each part [ eyes, body ] to move individually..but have the eyes attached and move where ever the body goes... * to have his eyes not effected when I scale or distort his body.... any ideas on how to go about this would be great..... [attachmentid=17231] thanks
Last reply by DarkLimit, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 1k views
What does the specular color, size and intensity do? Is that what color the lighter area's are going to fade to? Such as, if you had a blue diffuse color and a white specular color, the blue would be whiter in the highlights? Thanks, Ben.
Last reply by bedheadben, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
I built this model in AM and i got to version 30 of the model (i like to work in versions incase something goes horribly wrong) anyways, whenever i try to activate the shaded view on the model the program freezes up on me im not really sure what to do
Last reply by eptigo, -
- 13 replies
- 1k views
everytime I load a rotoscope on my laptop all I get is a blank box. The project workspace says the rotoscope is there but there is no actual picture in the window. Anybody know what setting I need to change? Thanks.
Last reply by Stronghorn, -
- 5 replies
- 1k views
this is something that has bothered me for a while. is there an easy way to just remove patches from a group without making a new group minus the undeisered patches?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 13 replies
- 1k views
I'm working on a short film using AM and I'm interested to know how people organize their projects and chors. My short, like most, has a number of shots that need to be animated using a fairly consistent group of objects (characters, props, scenery, lights etc). I've started by making each shot a chor in one single project: if I was to have 12 shots, I would have 12 chors in that project. I am rethinking this since I've noticed that each chor seems to get stuffed into memory whether I'm working on it or not. So my question is, how do you take your scenes and shots and organize them into projects and chors? Thanks, Alan
Last reply by alano, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 1k views
Hey so i was trying out the sweeper plugin that comes with animation master and i cant get it to work. There is a drop down list for crossections but mine stays blank. I looked at the tutorials on the sweeper website and i follow the directions percicely (i think) Is there some hidden setting or a secret code i have to know? I named the crosection the right way but it dosnt display. If anyone here uses sweeper could you please help me with this? Thanks
Last reply by clonewar12345, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 1k views
hi. people keep going on about this darktree thing and i was wondering, what is it
Last reply by Caroline, -
- 7 replies
- 1k views
Hello everyone What is the one best method of texturing models in AM? I know there's Decals and Stamps, and I've seen the various videos on this topic @zandoriastudiosvideo on YouTube was a big help Although it seems the process might be a little too involved? Or has it changed in recent versions of AM? Is there a video tutorial that explains the process of taking a model to texturing and decaling and baking for export? Thanks!
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 9 replies
- 1k views
Been working some more on terrain texturing today, trying numerous techniques and still coming up pretty blah. You can't really see much here since it's a low-res preview, but there's not much to see. Just giving you an idea of a section of ground I'm working on. Basically a large grid pushed and pulled into terrain shapes. Now, how do I go about texturing this properly? I can't figure out a good flattening technique; endless decals-on-decals to patch stretched looking sides are starting to look pretty lame, porjection mapping a material doesn't seem to be going anywhere useful... suggestions? Thanks a ton!
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 17 replies
- 999 views
Me again - I have been playing around with the Babbage Patch water tutorial for the past 6 hours and having problems making it work. I downloaded the project file - and have it in AM 14. Anyone that has done this tutorial in a recent version and got it working - I would love some help. I have the "final scene" open and put the two created actions "displace motion" and bump map in it. I go to render it for 5 seconds and it just renders the image w/ no motion... not sure what I am doing wrong - I have trying things over and over an no success. I did get the displacement map motion working when I rendered it. Thank you - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 1 reply
- 999 views
Over the transom... Each of those is a deep topic, but.... CP weighting allows you to apportion the influence of more than one bone to a CP, rather than having it rigidly attached to just one bone. This is useful for the stretches and shrinks that surfaces between bones do, such as at the elbow or knee. Fan bones are another way of creating that in-between behavior, but slightly different outcomes than CP weighting. At the Sept 26, 2020 Live Answer Time I showed several comparisons of fan-boning and CP weighting. We talked abut rigging and CP weighting quite a bit last year at LAT. Several of those might be worth watching. my tutorials…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 998 views
I have been working on a complex model. I am "cleaning it up" removing some unessesary cps, and consolodiating patches. I have much of the model hidden. When I go to group and delete some patches, A:M closes abruptly. I was hoping to do a Copy-flip-attach. but If I can't delete some of these extraneous patches because of closing, I doubt I would be able to do the c-f-a for the same reason. this is in 11.1b... on a P4 3.4 GHz w 1 GB ram and a 200MB HDD. Should I report it, move to a later version of 11, or move to v12 s?
Last reply by oakchas, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 998 views
my model was going fine... yet some kind of issue occured (i cant remember what) and now i can see only parts of the model, yes the model has textures all over it, and no matter how i load it, like into another project, it is still visible in partial places, but when i render it it looks just fine.... does anyone know how this might be fixed?
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 7 replies
- 997 views
I need some textures for models i am playing around with, if someone could lead me the right way to download some that would be greatly apreciated. Thanks
Last reply by gaber64, -
- 4 replies
- 997 views
So I was moving another window and some how dragged my timeline off screen. there is still the time controls and slider at the bottom and despite clicking on views and checking time line it still doesnt reappear! Awesome.
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 3 replies
- 997 views
Hey guys I em back know, still very new to this but got alot of time now i got my copy at comic-con san diego in 2006 i remember A.M. website you used to be able to post your TAoAM stuff and they would email a little gratz you completed this project or what ever, was just wondering if they still did that i also like to know if there is a place to download already made models for animating just somthing to mess with (aliens,lara croft,orcs,T-Rex) i did find 1 T-Rex but my version of A.M. wont open it
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 10 replies
- 996 views
OK...sorry if this has been brought up...(i'm sure it has, I just couldn't find it in the search), but what does everyone turn off on the computer to increase render time? (Virus programs, etc). There was a post talking about what to turn off, but I can't find it. Thanks.
Last reply by Ganthofer, -
- 5 replies
- 996 views
Hi everyone, I'm just starting to do my own modeling in A:M, and I'm trying to close up the "hole" in this shape. How should I go about doing it? I was wondering if I could just extent the splines from the bottom up to the horizontal spline at the top of the hole and attach them as hooks, but it doesn't seem to work. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I'm successfully creating hooks. When I see pics of people's hooks, it's just a spline leading into another at a 90 degree angle, but with no control point joining the two. When I do it, I get a control point... what am I doing wrong? Or if hooks is not a good solution here, what would you suggest? Thanks for any…
Last reply by edlundart, -
- 4 replies
- 996 views
Hi there, currently i am still on the demo on V.17. Since i am going on holiday on the 12.12. i will buy my regular Version when i come back in January, to make the licence last longer ;-) Right now i wanted to install the TSM 2, but its not showing up. My questions are: Is the TSM not working with the demo? And, is the TSM 2 working with the regular version of V17? Thanks for helping, best regards Heiner
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 11 replies
- 995 views
I'm sorry but the english is not my first languaje. It wanted to put an example ilustrative of which it happens to me in case I need the words. Why this cuts? How can to clear them? Thx for all.
Last reply by animar3d, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 995 views
Working in a chor, hit "H" to hide but now all other objects are GONE. Still listed in the PWS but not visible. Anyone heard of this? Can't send the PRJ too complex referencing millions of outside items and haven't been able to reproduce it but can't see all but the object i had on when hitting "H" Only want to salvage many hrs. of work. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 6 replies
- 994 views
I captured these pictures from " Hezarfen the movie " for study how to render like this with A:M. This is the linked. How to render like this? Is it a Toon Render with good painted Decal? Did they use Fog? (notice at far distance) Have AO in the scene or not? I tested Toon with multiple lights and Fog without decals and AO/off. It's not good enough. Please guide me how. This is my test and my setting. This is the project file. DogAndDude_Test.prj Thank you
Last reply by mouseman, -
- 6 replies
- 994 views
Like to know if there a way to lay font in a arc or instead along a straight path... Think I saw a post here I have been digging but cant find it or if someone can explain again or direct me to the link. Trying to make a logo for a friend. thx...Here is a sig i made i put lettering around logo moved each letter manually.is there a easier way
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 993 views
hi, just purchased A:M, but am experiencing problems on my mac. I've a MDD DP 1gHz Mac, with 1.5GB ram , OS X 10.4.6, and standard graphics card (Radeon 9000 Pro, 64MB). I am forced (!) to use a PC at work (trans to I rarely use it), and compared the performance of the two. I used Lambrina, with a Can-Can chor. On the PC (a very lowend P4, standard GPU) it will play without dropping frames, no problem. On my Mac, the same file is practically unuseable - it drops so many frames. Am I missing something? If it's the GPU, would something like a 9800 Pro (either 128 or 256 MB) make a difference? At the moment, it makes using A:M for animation nigh impossible. Hope you guys can…
Last reply by popster, -
- 4 replies
- 993 views
Hey guys, got hired to do a custom 3D deep fryer basket for a patent application. I'm rendering the final model and I noticed that the camera (as camera's will do) is sort of warping the edges of the model. The further out from the center of the camera lens the more the perspective changes slightly. Is there any way to get a flat perspective so I can render this model like it was a drawing on a piece of paper? Any help is as always much appreciated. You probably know what I mean but image attached just the same.
Last reply by Rob_T, -
- 9 replies
- 992 views
I'd like to model a fly rod, but the only problem I see is with the fishing line. I'm really bad with bones and constraints and what not, but I'm guessing i'd probably want to assign bones to the line or something to make it limp. I also need to wrap it around the reel, obviously. I just wanted to know what the best way to go about making the line was before i started.
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 6 replies
- 992 views
not urgent, just curious. if doing a close-up real close up, something makes the model partly disappear. parts closest to camera just vanish. i first thought it's about the FOV tool in camera - that anything between that line and camera didn't render. but no. moving that line didn't help. then i thought maybe patches actually interfered with "camera", so i moved the camera. no change. too close was too close. i read stuff back to 2004 and found a solution, change the camera view to match another view, so you can do the pose wherever it works. (haven't tested yet.) but does anyone know what's behind all this?
Last reply by dblhelix, -
- 4 replies
- 992 views
I seem to have gotten that almost perfect angle with a window in perspective view. I would love to make that view into the camera view. Is there a way to turn the persective view into camera view? Thanks, William
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 990 views
I have some live-action footage I am using in an animation. The footage used a green screen and in After Effects I eliminated the green to leave only the actors and an alpha channel. I imported the footage into AM as a TGA sequence. So far, so good. I want the footage to be lit by a klieg light that has volumetric turned on. The problem is that the volumetric effect is lighting up the transparent part of the footage somewhat brighter than background objects, so the actors appear to be in a rectangle that is unnaturally brighter than the surrounding scene. I don't understand what is causing the klieg light to (apparently) reflect off the transparent part of the…
Last reply by RoyBU, -
- 2 followers
- 13 replies
- 990 views
Hi all, I have a question related to setting up a project. I'm building a set that will be used for three or more animations in different parts of the set.(different camera set ups) What I want to know is would I be better off to copy this choreography several times and set up my cameras for the different animations or just keep building off one timeline? I was debating because copying the three choreography's would add to the project size, but so would adding to one time line. I was also thinking that if I used 3 sets, I could eliminate (or hide) different parts of the set that were not visible to help decrease the render time. Just wondering what the "P…
Last reply by bighop, -
- 8 replies
- 988 views
I'm following the Take a Walk tutorial in the manuel using a model I made. I made the first 4 keyframes, and now I want to use them to make the other 4 key frames using the paste mirrored command, but everytime I use it the the frame number I want to paste mirror the keyframe in, nothing happens. I never had this issue using the rabbit model, so is my model at fault?
Last reply by KenH, -
- 6 replies
- 987 views
Does any one know a way to animate a bicycle chain. I've puzzled over this for some time. I even tried placing a bone in each link with not much luck. All the other parts are working fine, but it just looks silly with the chain not moving. Camillo
Last reply by Camillo, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 986 views
Ok.....just wondering....is it normal for a 10 second movie to take 3 days to render???
Last reply by Robert-Jank, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 986 views
Go thru this every year when I renew (Got a new Computer and trying to get AM on it.) but run into this every year, I buy it-money is charged from my card- and ??????? no serial number, no download and no instructions- just a receipt in my email with no serial or download instructiions. Is it just ME? What am I doing wrong? Any help appreciated. Admin update: Jason has fixed this license mishap and Edward is back in operation!
Last reply by robcat2075,
