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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.
4,160 topics in this forum
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- 9 replies
- 919 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, -
- 2 followers
- 13 replies
- 919 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, -
- 12 replies
- 919 views
In doing some clayrenderings with the nullshader and the settings of Tralfaz I find , that though decals are switched off, they do render anyway. 15i on PC Is this some known issue? Should this be reported? Any workarounds? Oh well, please not deleting all the decals.... And second I find some black spots/lines mostly, where I used hooks. Is this indicating some problems for rendering scenes lateron? For the clayrendering I could live with retouching in Photoshop, since I only need stills for the time being.
Last reply by jakerupert, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 918 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, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 918 views
Hey wats up everyone my name is Alejandro.I've been looking around the Animation Master forms,SynthEyes forms,and can't find the right form on how to use Syntheyes with Animation Master.If Anyone knows the right form that will explain everything clearly on how to work with Sytheyes,motion tracking then getting it to work with AM that would be great! I've got a big favor.If anyone Can!I'm not saying U have to!It would be great if someone FINALLY MADE A video tutorial,explaining how you,motion track in SynthEyes,with Animation Master.WHAT ARE ALL THE STEPS,the right video files.This would mean alot to me! I will be checking everyday for Anyone's response!
Last reply by Bendytoons, -
- 7 replies
- 918 views
The title and description pretty much sum up the problem. It seems that after using Voodoo and Icam, only so much tracking is captured for A:M. After a second of decent tracking, the camera starts to skip around and/or get stuck on some random angle. Is it the lighting? Is it too much camera movement? Did I make the video too long? I hope I can find out.
Last reply by Luuk Steitner, -
- 4 replies
- 917 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, -
- 8 replies
- 916 views
Hello everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. Mundanely, my name is Marni. My ID on these boards is marefyre. I'm a married 30-something living in Florida. I went to Sheridan College for their Classical Animation course back in the early 90's, but left after 3 years and didn't go into the field, in fact, I'll admit I abandoned it. For years. Recent odd occurences have re-kindled my interest in animation, and in learning A:M I foresee finally being able to tell my short stories and create the demo reel I always wanted, but couldn't achieve in my academic years. I found A:M at MegaCon 2006 here in Orlando, and after seeing the prices for DAVE school and Ligh…
Last reply by Leo73, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 916 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, -
- 11 replies
- 916 views
Ok hopefully pretty simple i have farious block type shapes that are all 50% transperant in a project im working on , is there a way i can have to objects that are say yellow move to the same space but have both the parts that are touching and the parts that are not remain the same 50% transperancy. more or less a block moves through another block of the same type and i dont want you to be able to tell that theres one inside the other
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 915 views
OK, AM crashed, and the file got corrupted. Luckaly, I had an export of my model. So I imported him. He was perfect when I imported him, but when I did a Render of him, all I got was a colored wire frame! (all of it was white, but the wireframe only was colored.) How do I restore my model to his former glory?
Last reply by Tacku, -
- 6 replies
- 915 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, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 914 views
Well, I've decided to get A:M. Even though I will post here again, I just wanna say thanks to you guys, these forums have been very helpfull with my decision making. So, I'm going to buy it in about three months or so, until then I'll make a good old fasioned analog effects mafia movie, and put off my fan film until I get A:M. Thanks again!
Last reply by Tacku, -
- 8 replies
- 914 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, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 914 views
I've had a look for the answer, with no luck. Your site says I can get the cd ver and it can be used on different computers. What does that mean? I have 4 computers at home, they are all different, can I install it to all of them? And for that matter, my friend has a different computer, can I install it there. A:M CD Version for $299.00 Can be used on different computers. Unlimited usage – never expires. Any minor updates released in the following year are free for you to download.
Last reply by jakerupert, -
- 9 replies
- 913 views
How do I make a copy of all the rigs and lips poses that already have it own tap and make a new tap call it all and have all the rig and lips but still have the rigs and lips tap on the poses????
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 14 replies
- 913 views
Kinks.actFollowing the recent advice here I am plodding along with my project. However, I have encountered a curious problem ( another you ask ? ). I am going for the second pass on an action file to put it the hand and face movements when I noticed that, somehow or other, the left hand bone has reversed direction and is now pointing back along the forearm. It still affects the cps of the hand but can go a bit wild when I try to move it. Can anyone explain whats happened and, most importantly, how I can correct it ? Thank you kindly in advance. regards simonFingers_Janitor_15.mdl
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 912 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, -
- 1 reply
- 912 views
Hello everyone Do I need to buy two licenses if I want to install AM on both my laptop and my desktop? Thanks for help.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 911 views
I'm attempting to create a simple prop for a friend's use in Poser, in this case a Falcata sword (really nasty weapon back in the day, I'd like to get one, heh). The problem is, when I get to the edge portion, the edge itself going up and down the length of the blade is curved, but on the sides of the blade, it's relatively straight. The problem I'm finding is when I engage the angle tool on the spline on the side to keep it straight, the spline going down the length of the cutting edge also is angled, which makes the cutting edge look blocky. How do I make it so that only the splines I want to be at hard angles remain at hard angles and the splines I wan…
Last reply by kthardin, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 911 views
Hi everyone, i'm new to Animation Master but from what i've seen it's a great piece of software. I'm having a problem and I can't seem to find anyone else with the same problem! Whenever I exit the program I get the following error: Animation Master 2006 /Applications/Animation Master 13.0/MasterPrefs.ini was not found I have to click OK about 10 times for it to go away! I've checked and the MasterPrefs.ini file is definitely there, i've got read+write permissions on it and i've even done a repair permissions on the disc. I'm running AM 13.0c on a MacBook Pro, OS X 10.4.7 (with all updates applied), 2.16Ghz CPU, 2GB RAM and a 100GB HD.
Last reply by tysono_71, -
- 8 replies
- 911 views
Why does animation master have some many problems it keeps not doing what I want it to do. Also it keeps freezing on me all the time.
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 12 replies
- 911 views
"Hello World !", when i click on the magnet mode icon then on any cp the influence handle doesn t appear, any suggestion ? THX
Last reply by maddle, -
- 1 reply
- 911 views
On my Win XP SP3 when I hit the "0" key for shaded-wireframe, my control-points are black. Is this an artifact, or is there an option for the color? The black CPs are hard to see. -SB
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 910 views
were do you get newton physics i have v12
Last reply by Vong, -
- 11 replies
- 910 views
Hi Spline-Wrestlers, As I just got my 2007 subscription I was very happy about also finding the "AM Extras DVD ROM" in my package! Thanks to all the people who donated all that stuff and to the people who compiled it into this nice DVD. Maybe a typical "newbe" question... But now I wonder what I am allowed to do with all that fantastic material - especially the models & materials. I could not find any licence file or something like that. I think users would need some clarification here...? - What exactly means "donated" (as stated on the label)? Public domain? - Or is it all for my personal study and learning, only? If so: this should be stated …
Last reply by jon, -
- 2 replies
- 910 views
After working some on my "flour sack" model, I saved the model, then decided to close A:M. When I agreed to save the project, the error: "RPC Server unavailable". Then when I went to close it again, it crashed. Any configuration issues I should change? Or just one of those things? -SB
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 908 views
Hi, Im doing the face tutorial. I have a problem som of my "polygons" sometimes get a strange from, sometimes only on one of the points. Ive tried to fix it with the bezier handles but it dont work. Is there some relax tool i can use? And while modeling, ive seen that i canuse 5 pointed polys but should i stay away from 3 sided? It seam like them give me alot of trouble. What do i do wrong when this happens?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 908 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
- 907 views
Hi all, I'm starting up yet again with exercise 6 after being away for quite a while, and I'm running into the same problem that stumped me before. I hope I can explain it properly. I want to have Shaggy walk up to the door before he tries to open it, so Ive made a path, dropped Shaggy onto it and then dropped a "resolute walk" action onto him. The walk cycle lasts for 7 seconds. When he reaches the end of the walk cycle, I want to bring him to a standing stop with his feet together and his hands at his side, but the walk cycle goes about 3 or 4 frames too far in terms of the hand and feet positions. Can I stop him before the end of the path/walk cycle and make …
Last reply by Gary, -
- 10 replies
- 907 views
AM 1.5 seems to have installed but will not open. I installaed AM 1.5 from CD - I also checked box 'copy CD to hard drive' I thought that would help. Not sure what copy to hard disk does??? Software installed and I rebooted. Click on AM icon and software loads - I see different components being installed. Then the AM desktop is opening but before it fully loads it dissapears. There is no error message it just closes. Any ideas? MORE INFO FROM EVENT VIEWER 1) Faulting application master.exe, version 12.0.0.0, faulting module ~df394b.tmp, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x000abca8. 2) Fault bucket 544831591. 3) <DR WATSON> The…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 906 views
Hi, anyone can help me here? i just started my AM program....but when i creat splines or patches, i cant see my control points...y just reviewed in tools, costumize, and appearance, and it tells me that my control points are 2 in size and red in color....but i cant see them when modeling....why??? regards!!! DANIEL
Last reply by C-grid, -
- 13 replies
- 906 views
Hi - I have a client that wants a steel looking ball smashing through glass - landing on the ground violently shaking and turning different colors while smoking and then blowing up into his logo. I figured I could do the changing colors with a pose slider, but doesn't seem to be working - anyone have any ideas? Thanks - E
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 1 follower
- 14 replies
- 906 views
i'm still working on that same head from another topic, but i've deleted most of so i could start over. I added two rings around the eyes and one around the mouth ( i was told to do that in another forum). but know i'm not sure how to go about connecting the eyes nose and mouth. i managed to connect them earlier but the face wasn't smooth and the lips didn't come out quite right. First- how do i connect the parts? Second- how do i make the lips protrude naturally? thanks if you can help ~Hisako
Last reply by Jeetman, -
- 4 replies
- 906 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
- 905 views
What's the best way to mix live video with 3D Animation Do I use non-linear editor? or somthing else? Thanks
Last reply by Eric800, -
- 8 replies
- 905 views
I've done plenty of cubes or other 90 degree shaped corners and beveled them, but when dealing with shapes that don't have those corners, I'm lost. The plugin called zevel has it's use, but it's far from perfect and has it's limitations. I'm currently trying to do some trial n error bevel tests on a pentagon, but am struggling with my patch work, even tho I can get the corners better looking the surface that should be flat has a curve and there are other patch/curve problems. Did a quick search, but ik keep running in to cube bevel tutorials. These I can do, but a pentagon or octagon I'm unable to get looking good. Are there any guides that explain how t…
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 904 views
You will have to excuse my very green question but this is what I need the most right now. I can see by the demo videos online that AM is very intuitive and seems fairly easy to learn...just what I need. I am so close to buying AM but need to know how easy it will be to import Illustrator files of say a company logo with paths, extrude them, fly a camera around/thru it and then settle into the scene where I want it. I've played around with other product demos online but they lack a good set of tutorials on just doing something this basic. Do you have any examples of logo/text animation done in AM and a step by step guide. Thanks in advance for your help and understandi…
Last reply by Slipin Lizard, -
- 7 replies
- 904 views
Well I'm in the process of using hair to create foilage. So far so good. Now I need to model a vine. I was thinking of using splines to simulate the vine. can i use a single spline as an emitter?" One more question... Can an emmited object be given more flex points like an emmited streak?
Last reply by the_black_mage, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 904 views
lesseee... 1. is there a way to simultaneously (=identically) change light cone values on a group of lights? it could be just me (this pc), but shift-choosing is problematic due to the refresh freezing. any tips/workarounds appreciated! 2. how to grapple with the oddsy roll handle - it changes when rotating the.. hmm the yellow balk? indicating light direction and gets in the way. if i delete the entire param in pws this changes xyz rotations. this is not serious but a bit of nuisance at larger quantities of lamps/lights. 3. the fill light is a bit of a performer isn't it? one fill just needs to be present and on and the entire chor is awash with its influe…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 followers
- 10 replies
- 903 views
Hello All, I made a simple character consisting of pieces of chalk and a chalkboard eraser. I'm a teacher and I'm using this as a "Bug" intro to a video my class will be doing later this year. Anyway... I created a simple walk cycle 24 frames. I made a path and constrained the eraser to it Assigned the action. Extended the Cycle length to 15 seconds The character walks ok, but it will glide for about two frames at the end of the cycle, and return to his walk cycle and glide at the end again. I did set the stride length, but I must be missing something. It's bugging me because when the character walks, you can see there is just something not rig…
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 5 replies
- 902 views
I'm working on a fire extinguisher model to put out some text I've set on fire. I'm at the spray part of it and am not sure how to handle it. I was thinking about using a particle system to generate the spray on the end of the nozzle. I want the fire extinguisher to be able to be "turned on" though so I need the spray to be off and later on. My other thought is to use a small circular model placed in the end of the hose to generate the spray from. I can put this in place or remove it any time I want. Is there a way I could group this with the end of the nozzle so I don't have to consantly position them individually? ie if I move the nozzle the spray model shou…
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 7 replies
- 901 views
I'm modeling a shotgun shell, and I would like to put some decals on the side. I have one decal that I've created that says "Remington" and it has an alpha map. I import it and change the application method to cylindrical, but when I apply it there are about 20 different "Remington"s stamped around the entire model. Spherical and Planar produce different, but undesired results. Any suggestions?
Last reply by KenH, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 901 views
Hi, I'm currently modelling a cartoon polar bear (see attached) and I want to add some fur to his body. I've tried to do this following the tute in the help section in A:M, but haven't quite got it to look any good. Either the fur is not dense enough, then too dense, then it hangs down perfectly, but the hair at the top hangs through the patches making any upward facing part look bald. I've also had a problem with the fur sticking through things like the character's nose, scarf and gloves. Any tips on decent settings for the emitter and other fixes would be gratefully received. Thanks. PAUL
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 1 reply
- 901 views
How does one find out how many patches in a model?
Last reply by largento, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 901 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, -
- 2 followers
- 9 replies
- 900 views
I've been looking at some of the models on the AM disc and I noticed that they have very smooth surfaces. I was wondering what the best technics to smooth out models were especially when it comes to character modeling or Is there a plugin available? I'd like my models to have that sculptured look to them.
Last reply by grumpei_troll, -
- 9 replies
- 899 views
I am using the shield prop from the extras CD in a choreography. Every time I open this project I get the message "Missing Image IO plugin" for the file "bouclierADc.wmp". That file is in fact in the path listed. I checked my options and determined that the IO plugins are in the standard place. However, there is no iio file listed for a "wmp" file. I have these: AVI.iio BMP.iio EXR.iio JPG.iio MOV.iio PCX.iio PNG.iio TGA.iio Is there someplace to get the needed plugin?
Last reply by RoyBU, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 899 views
I've been trying to add video to the choregraphy.. and the file type is avi.. but when i import it.. it shows a blank. help please.
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 899 views
Hi, I'm needing to make a snowball being thrown at the camera. I'm using the "It's a pitch" tute for the character action (using my own character). When the snowball hits the lens/screen, it needs to splat out (like snowballs do!). Any thoughts on how I can make this happen effectively? Thanks. PAUL
Last reply by Sollywood,
