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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.
4,140 topics in this forum
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- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 396 views
Have a walking character (driven by walking action) with stride length on & constrained to a path. Fine so far but now I need to tweak the walking so that the characters stance comes to stand straight up at the end of the path but can't alter any skeletal motion with a chor action on any frame where the stride length is active. So does stride length "lockout" anytweaking???? Any help appreciated.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 2 replies
- 366 views
Hi guys, I was in the q and a this weekend and tried to ask this question, but I don’t think I communicated it very well. Attached below are scans off the tutorial I’m trying to follow. The main question is: How do I select modeling mode from inside the choreography? I can’t, it’s grayed out. What is bizarre is that somehow or other I got it to work briefly, I have no idea how… I was testing things out, pressing a number of options at the top and all of the sudden it became selectable. I selected it and started building the cube as instructed, and when I turned my head (or whatever), it went back to being unelectable, and the cube I had drawn could not be selec…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 replies
- 515 views
Hi guys, Well, I come to you now because I find myself at another impasse. This is something which I get the impression should be simple but I’m making it harder than it really is. This is also an instance where I think I would benefit much more from an in-person, class type setting then trying to interpret words out of a book. It’s a communication issue. The project is the creation of a gear. Everything up through the first image I am fine with. I can get something which looks like figure 6.13 I have also gathered that when they go on to say “select two CPs, skip two CPs”, we are actually talking about groups of eight CPs at a time. The illustrations …
Last reply by Kaijubait, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 373 views
Thought I had done this before but now can't bring up the curves for the CP's moving in a Pose. I have a Pose of an eyelid blinking from 0 to 100% and a keyframe at 50% but can't find a way to see the keyframes/curves in a timeline. I'm getting radical splining happening at the keyframe. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 4 replies
- 473 views
Long ago I used to think that decalling was a simple process but then this started happening. I can stamp this image a dozen times and sometimes it ignores different patches randomly.Anyone else ever run across this or is AM picking on me again? Have tried making the patches larger-no effect. Tried applying decal in an Action with all the CPs flattened completely-no effect. Tried a TGA-no effect. Higher rez image-no effect. I've run out of ideas to try. Any help appreciated. LandTest.prj
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 2 replies
- 1k views
hi, I've been changing some of the shortcut keys so I can work on my laptop which doesn't have the numeric keypad. One key I want to remap but can't seem to find in Tools/Customize/Keyboard tab is the "*" key, which Expands/Collapses the PWS. Is it not exposed or am I missing it? -Jim EDIT: sorry for posting this here and not New Users. I was here looking at the existing Keyboard shortcut list!
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 638 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, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 904 views
Can anyone guide me to some tutorials on thread/cloth texturing techniques? Tried the Weave plugin but couldn't get it to do anything. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 642 views
What did I do??? See attached pic. NOTHING in the prj. was changed. Open it up today and all my chrome is gone. Environment map worked fine 3 yrs. ago so what has changed and how do i get my chrome back?? I'm sure I'm missing some small detail but can't get the env. map to work like it did before. Any help appreciated. Checked the image used and it seems fine.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 5 replies
- 470 views
Messed up a pose and can't delete it. What am I not seeing? Any help appreciated. Apologies if I've asked this before.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 480 views
Hello All, I am new here. I just use Hash recently. Just to say Hi to all
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 618 views
Set up the gradient materials and the pose sliders exactly as robcat did but can only get the trailing end to work. Been over and over all the details for 2 days and I give up. See attached prj file. Hope your listening robcat. I'm missing something obviously. Just can't find it. ThreadsEnigma.prj
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 replies
- 686 views
Howdy guys, I run across a new problem today as I continue my AM learning journey. Suddenly, when I use "copy, flip, attach" on my model, the objects are placed on top of and upside down to the original piece rather than becoming an attached mirrored image (thus making a whole) like I want (and what I used to get). I assume this means that an X or Y axis needs to be changed somewhere, but where, on what, and how? Thank ye much... - Mikre
Last reply by Kaijubait, -
- 5 replies
- 604 views
Greetings. I've had a question pop up in my head while going through tutorials, looking at others' work and so on. I notice some projects set lathe cross-sections to 4, others to 6, or to 8. I saw one using 12. And I wonder "how would I know how many to use in my projects?" So, I decided to stop trying to figure it out myself, and just ask. What a concept! Is there a certain method used to work this out? Is it "pick one and adjust as you go?". Are there specific factors to determine this? Is it something where it's "okay" to choose too many or too few and adjust later as needed? Thanks!
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 3 replies
- 642 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, -
I have v.19 installed on a couple of Dell INSPIRON 7490 (6RKVN1) laptops (I7 10510U/16GB) as a replacement for lab computers. The software is working, but I don't see any other libraries, projects and files in the tabs on the left side of the workspace. Where do I need to copy the data files for them to be available?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 489 views
Hey all.... I can't seem to hear an imported sound(WAV) in the choreography. Seems like you could at one time. Am I missing something, or perhaps forgotten how to toggle it on?? Detbear
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 629 views
Thanks to all the help from robcat and others with my "thread" reveal pose I set it up and it works fine in the pose window, and the threads flow as wanted but as soon as I put it into the choreography - ZIP! NOTHING! No effect and the pose slider is wigging out-displaying numbers that aren't the same as the timeline. See attached PRJ and JPG file screenshot. Any help greatly appreciated. Why would it work in the pose windows and not the chor?????? ThreadsTest01.prj
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 8 replies
- 783 views
Hi, Is there known issues with the CutPlane Wizard plugin? I've tried to use it a few times to create a 45 degree cut so I can make a corner desk. It works fine until I close the the widget window. Then AM crashes to desktop - no warnings or anything. It just shuts down. Is there another, better way to accomplish this?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 10 replies
- 714 views
I remember having trouble with this in the past, but I was hoping that it had been solved simply. When I render an image file from Hash as a PNG, JPG, or other, the Alpha channel doesn't export automatically. As a result, when I import the image back into A:M to be used in a "Layer", it has black instead of transparency. If you have an Alpha channel set in the render, it should show up in the image as transparent. But in an A:M render this is not the case. Am I missing something. 1. Render an object as a PNG with "Alpha" buffer set on. 2. Import that image back into A:M and create a layer with it in a Choreography. 3. Does the transparent area sho…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 10 replies
- 684 views
Hello, I continue my exploration of AM which I find brilliant in the design. On the other hand, the tutorials are not progressive enough. to explain the details ;-). When you are looking for something, you very quickly come across sometimes complex tutorials ... which is great when you have already acquired the basics of use! For example, I'm looking for a tutorial that could help me build a character with a basic IK skeleton. In the exercises, I only find examples with compensation bones and other somewhat complex details that I don't want to tackle until I have fully understood the basis in an exercise that takes me when up to interesting movements. …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 790 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, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 678 views
Hello, There is an important procedure that I do not understand in animating a character and his poses. 1 - I created a model: the head 2 - I created a bone to be able to move my eyes horizontally or vertically. 3 - I assigned the points of the eyes to the bone 4 - I created two poses (vertical and horizontal) for the eye movements. When I place the head object in the choreography, the pose sliders work but the eyes don't move !? Is there a basic tutorial (exercise) that allows you to follow the different stages of a simple creation chain: from modeling to the calculation of movement in the choreography ? The tutorials that I find always c…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 605 views
Hello, Here in France I have a few days of vacation to accelerate my exploration of AM which I find brilliant, only the rather long calculation times bother me. The rest of the program is fine with me. In the tutorial : at 8:57 the user clicks on a bone and duplicates it with the control key. I can not reproduce this action !? I do not understand why ? Do you have another example please? I don't have any examples of how to use smartskins, do you have any? This is what animation master lacks. These are simple examples of simple situations. When I understand the basics of AM better, I will try to find time for many very simple examples. This can help…
Last reply by createo, -
- 1 follower
- 23 replies
- 1.5k views
I found my disc copy of am I bought back in early 2000s, it has disc and book with code to activate.. The problem is my newest computer i built doesn't have a disc drive any longer.. idk it the disc today would be able to run in a new disc drive.. is there a way to download the program and still use the old activation code in the book.. I know it was supposed to be a bound to one computer only.. Just curious.. Thanks
Last reply by Jason Simonds, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 942 views
Hello, I am continuing my face creation tutorials and I have a group duplication problem with its decals. At 10:00 we duplicate the eye patch to create the second one and the decals are duplicated with it. When I do this, the decals don't duplicate !? What am I forgetting ?? greats
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 799 views
Hello, I continue to explore AM with the tutorial on youtube: https://youtu.be/1CFLb0w4X4A I have some questions : - Realtime rendering looks weird !? Do you know what this is due to ? Did I make a bad handling or a bad adjustment? - Some of my model's normals are in the wrong direction. How do I unify the normals? Thank you in advance and have a nice day teo
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 578 views
Hello, I continue my exploration of AM. Despite the technical documentation ( in English), I do not understand the direction of operation of the function copy / flip / attach. Does anyone have a simple example please? thank you in advance. teo
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 709 views
Hello, That's it !! I finally bought AM 2021, for 1 year. If in a year I am still going, I will buy the CD version! I thought about it a lot because my main problem is the rendering speed which is not in current standards. As soon as several "complex" parameters are used, the calculation times become disproportionate It is still possible to render with another software like Blender but I don't want to switch from one software to another as needed! When I will test the export plugin to blender I am amazed that the extrusion extrudes all the points, even those "inside" the object !? Is there a specific procedure to have only the "outer points" extruded…
Last reply by createo, -
- 4 replies
- 1k views
Righty-O folks, I come before you with a new quandary today. I am working my way through the tutorial attached in David Rogers' "Animation:Master A Complete Guide" book (modeling a face). I am ok up through what you see in figure 5.38. I break the spline and it looks just like that. It is what comes next that gives me issues. I am unable to create the nostril hole as instructed in figure 5.39 WITHOUT that hole patching/filling in. It is obviously not supposed to fill in, it is supposed to be a hole, but it isn't happening for me. Two other things that confound me, but not as much as the first, main issue are that: 1. In addition to drawing the loop in figure 5.…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 2k views
Hey Hashers, Didn’t think I would be back so soon with another question (s). I tell ya, I was doing just fine breezing through this book until I got to Action Basics. This is deceptively the shortest chapter in the tome, yet it’s the one that’s caused the most head scratching. Ok, so I tried to scan the part of the book that's befuddling me and upload it here, but that's just not working out for me. I will retype it: “Each driver has it’s own setting for it’s default interpolation, located in the PWS next to the name of the driver. There are actually three pull-down menus located under that image, the first and last of which look ghosted out and are for …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 2.1k views
Hey there, Hashers. I purchased a copy of A:M way back in 2007, and am only now getting to the point of learning it. I know it’s 13 years out of date by now, but it works for me and I have no immediate desire to upgrade. I am learning by going through the ANIMATION: MASTER, A COMPLETE GUIDE book by David Rogers. It’s as old as the version I’m using so everything seems to synch up well for the most part, but I have hit a snag in Chapter 4 (Action Basics) that I just can’t move past. In the process of animating my model (a flower sack), it instructs me to copy frame 0 and paste it on frame 24…. OK, HOW? I don’t mean how do I do a copy and paste, that’s comput…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 2.1k views
Embarassed that I don't know how to do this. I have a Chor that I want to copy so that I can make another version with all the light settings intact but if I do a "Save As" it re-names the Chor and saves it to disk (which is good) but I want to be able to make a new version with the objects arranged differently but keep all the light/camera settings etc. BUTT!!! If I import the Cho it won't let me rename it. Am I making any sense? I know this should be AM 101, but normally a "Save As" function makes a new file in most apps. You guys are very patient with me and I appreciate it. Especially you Robcat. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 2 replies
- 1.9k views
In Action I activate the other items icon and the groups all show up but I can't select ANY of them. Is this normal? Any help appreciated.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 2.5k views
Hello everyone. I've purchased A:M, the yearly sub option, and am diving into some tutorials. I'm going through Fuchur's tutorial here. It's a project-based tutorial, which is my favorite kind, so I'm looking forward to working through it. I've hit a bump, however. I located a couple versions of Zevel via a forum search here, but none of the versions I found seem to be recognized by A:M. I have it installed to the HXT folder, and I've closed and re-opened the program, but it doesn't show in the list when I right-click on the spline. Is it maybe an outdated? Is there an updated version that works with v19? I can bypass the beveling steps if necessary. No big de…
Last reply by WolfsongCG, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 2k views
Spent hours setting up constraints finger joints, all was working well. Came back later, opened the project and boom. Most of the constraints had vanished. For some reason a few remained (see attached) but they were "broken" and had question mark on them. This was made with new pose on/off when I started and everything seemed to be working. I did notice as I was doing this that AM was creating an Action file and all was going into that but after closing the window and returning to the project all constraints but a few had turned to vapor. I also saved constantly while I was working on this. Again I've stumbled into a Moron Mode somehow and cant get out. Any help ap…
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 2 replies
- 2k views
This is intended more for the newbies out there to help you to get acquainted with the software. Yes, you can move on to modeling more organic pieces fairly quickly, but I would encourage you to take some time and really learn what is possible with the more "mechanical" forms. I'll be posting examples (pics and models) of each of these soon, but this is a list of models that are a combination of various shapes (squares, rectangles, circles, spheres, and so on) that, when put together, give you quite a bit that you can actually use in various projects. There are an endless variety of sizes and shape combinations. And, these can vary from realistic to cartoony. …
Last reply by WolfsongCG, -
- 5 replies
- 2.2k views
Hi there. Working more through Fuchur's excellent Tank tutorial project and have completed the second video, which ends with adding boolean holes to the end of the turrets. I noticed an odd thing (well, odd to me, surely familiar to others). If I do an in-program render, the booleans show up fine. However if I render to file, the boolean cutters are rendered. Is this a sign that the boolean isn't calculated in the render, or maybe the cutters have to be set to not render, or...? Not a huge emergency and I'm sure the solution is simple enough. Just call me curious. Here's the shots. One is in-editor, one is the rendered-to-file. Really great tutorial s…
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 13 replies
- 2.5k views
Damn SEAMS!!!! Can't get rid of them. Only "seams" to happen with bump mapping. Tried stretching, shrinking the seam in Action to compensate but to no avail. Bump is fine everywhere but the seam. It is an image applied after the color decal using the "add image" function. I expected to get some kind of seam from mapping front and back half of the model but wtf is this? Please see attached and thanks in advance for any help. I can't think of anything else to try.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 2.2k views
Always something with me. Today it's hair. Trying to follow the tech ref manual re hair and most of it works, the grooming tools work well but am trying to achieve color variation along the length of the hairs as in the book but not any details of the numeric settings. Trying to get close to the 2nd enclosed pic. See last pic for my results. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by Wildsided, -
- 2 replies
- 2k views
Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask this. I've already received a trial license in the past, and want to upgrade to a full (yearly sub) license in the near future. What is the process for that? Will it simply "upgrade" the trial key to a full one? Or will a new license be provided? Tried finding an answer to this on the forums, but couldn't find anything specifically about that. Thank you.
Last reply by WolfsongCG, -
- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 1.9k views
Anyone know how to cure the effect of an object spinning with increasing speed until it looks like its going in reverse? Like movies of propellers and wheels. Other than just slowing it down to a crawl. Had tried to come up with a way of making the chain advance along a path using expressions but just animated the chain & sprockets separately. Thanks in advance. Sprocket01.avi
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 2k views
I am Scoot Sunderland, a new member. Nice too meet you. Thanks
Last reply by Wildsided, -
- 4 replies
- 2.1k views
Trying to apply a decal as cookie cutter to a grid that will be curved slightly. Image has alpha and looks fine in Photoshop, alpha is clear w/black all around. See attached pics. Am I the only one who has constant problems with everything I try to do in AM????? Always loved AM but AM don't love me BACK. I'm sure its something stupidly obvious. Any help appreciated-sorry to be such a painus in the anus.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 8 replies
- 2.1k views
v190j.1 Windows 7 Followed the manual to the word for setting up sprite emitters for fire, smoke etc. but can't get any color in the sprites in spite of setting up the rgb channels in Action as instructed. Can't find the "moron" mode switch. Been over the instructions a dozen times. (the one in the manual re fire, smoke and sparks) What am I missing? (I'm sure its something embarrassingly obvious. Any help appreciated greatly.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 5 replies
- 2.1k views
Shadow options turned on for ALL objects, camera and lights but no shadows rendering from the camera in the chor. Any help appreciated.
Last reply by svetlik, -
- 3 replies
- 2.2k views
I am wondering if there is a way to add a row of splines between two other rows without having to hand stitch it.
Last reply by Frederick, -
- 6 replies
- 2.2k views
So I'm trying to make a generic "starfield" since they seem to have gotten rid of "front projection maps" I made a basic flat pane model and have tried applying a starfield image to it as a decal. Everytime I try, the program crashes. It even does it on VGA image size. I'm using a Windows 10 Machine with an AMD Radeon graphics card. It's a Dell XPS Desktop. What am I doing wrong?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 2.6k views
Started using AM after many years away now that I have more time to devote to animation projects again. I've got this cauldron steaming very nicely and I want to change the color of the steam to pink (love potion) over time. I keyframed the shortcut to the streak emitter's attribute's diffuse color to change over a few frames and I get a lovely gradient of this on the timeline (see pic). Alas, the actual attribute's color remains stubbornly gray. I've tried reloading the project in case things needed to be started from scratch but no joy. I feel I must be missing some simple switch or something. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Alan
Last reply by yoda64, -
- 15 replies
- 2.8k views
I restarted a subject I did earlier about fractal sum. I made this Thunderbird and wanted it to have a flare of light and smoke. This isn't that bad, make a small transparant disk and position it at the end of the engine. That is.., if the object is flying one direction all goes well. But the fractalsum asks a lot of calculation, which makes it hard to navigate between the frame position. So after all is planned and I want to change direction at say after 15 sec I have to wait several minutes before my computer has calculated this position. This is a bit weird because after another frame I have to wait again. So I compromised my choreography by shutting down all fra…
Last reply by robcat2075,