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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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- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 885 views
I may get a little long winded, so please feel free to move on to a more interesting post. I was a child in the 50's, watching Lassie and the Beaver in first run in black and white. My dad had one of the very first remote controls: Me. In Junior High in the early 60's I explored Time and Space with Heinlein, Asimov, and Van Vogt. I went to my first concert in 1965. The Beatles played the Memorial Coliseum here in Portland Oregon. In the late 60's I explored Time and Space in a different manner, and from the few high points I remember, I had a pretty good time. Pong became a sensation and "Asteriods" became astronimical entertainment at a quarter a pop. …
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 885 views
Hi Guys I know its been a little while. Where can i find the data download zip? Cant remember.
Last reply by jason1025, -
- 1 reply
- 885 views
I've been thinking about doing a short project, something like a goldfish in a bowl and I was thinking about using cloth to generate the fins. Does anyone know of any good cloth tutorials?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 7 replies
- 884 views
Hi Everyone, I just have 2 questions that I havent been able to figure out myself so far.. 1) If I want to use a custom resolution (like 5000 x 5000) which is not the same semi-widescreen shape that the program defaults to, how would I change this to get an actual view of what the output would be (5000x5000 should be a perfect square). I noticed that if I change the resolution to 5000x5000 when rendering that it will change the 'stage' to that resolution afterwards.. but I would like for an immediate change so that I can see what I'm working with before going through the rendering process. Sorry if this is confusing, I'm not sure how else to word it. 2) I …
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 13 replies
- 884 views
Hello - I am working on an animated Fan Character for a client and I need to be able to have the blades of the fan rotate. I created a bone facing forward in the center of the fan and attached all the CPs to the fan blades, so that is set up fine. I started a new action and between frame 1 and 5 I tried to rotate the fan 359 degrees to the right, but it set it rotating to the left at -1 degree (the programs quicker way to get there). Any ideas on how do I do this? Here is a pic of the character, so you can get a visual. Thanks - Eric
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 7 replies
- 884 views
i am looking at some of the products there for sale...5 cds and SIGGRAPH DVD Trainings...also 3d AM Paint and so forth. what are the 5 CDS in the AM package about? it is about $500. i really want to create anime on it but it seems that just the AM software is not enough. 3d paint looks pretty cool to draw your models though.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 883 views
I have installed the splitpatch plugin by Yoda_64 and when I select a patch(s) to split there is no splitpatch option in the wizards submenu. I'm using AM 15OJ+ on an ImacG5
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 882 views
i exported a wav file from adobe sound booth, and tried to import it into Animation Master, but AM doesnt seem to like my audio file for some reason. what kind of prerequesits must my audio files need in order for AM to accept them?
Last reply by eptigo, -
- 7 replies
- 882 views
Is there anyway to detach (using the detach button) just a CP and spline segment. What I am asking is there anyway to select a spline segment and the associated CP and detach just the selection from a nexus of other splines?
Last reply by DJBREIT, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 881 views
selecting five points doesn't always trigger the five point tool. i have to select the five points again and again to trigger the five point tool. do i need to do something different? rich PS. using the key pad 1 through 6 to constrain the cp is great.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
A:M 98
by KJ'd Beast- 5 replies
- 881 views
I purchased a copy of Jeff Paries The Animation: Master Handbook way back when and I'm finally getting around to reading it. I am dabbling with the demo version A:M 98 (V6.??) How much of a difference is there between the version I'm using in the book and the current version as far as the interface is concerned, specifically short cut keys and modeling and animation methods and implementation? I don't want to spend a lot of time relearning the interface if it has changed significantly because I would rather buy the current version if that is the case. Thanks. Keith
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 880 views
What are nurbs? Thanx
Last reply by the_black_mage, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 880 views
Hi, I added a background image (jpg), an underwater scene, to an animated fish I created. Some of you who have been assisting me may be aware of the fish. Anyway, every time I render the animated fish with the background the background image is washed out almost completly. This happens with every image I add not just the under water one. I tried removing all the lights to figure out which light was the problem but even with NO LIGHTS it comes back as washed out. Any ideas or suggestions. I really am stuck. THX all. 4 got to add that my modeled fish is lookin like it's got lights beaming out of it in wireframe mode. What's that about? See atache…
Last reply by El-manchego, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 880 views
every time i try to import a 3ds model; i get the error message saying " trying to access an unnamed file past it's end" and that is all anybody know what i am doing wrong? help much appreciated kevin
Last reply by ruscular, -
- 5 replies
- 880 views
Hi - I have a possible client who wants a talking 3D character created that when you go on the page - he shows up at the bottom of the page with a transparent background so you can see the site through him. This is exactly his idea, but with an actual person: http://www.onsitevideos.com can I export out of AM as images with a transparent background? Would I import those directly into flash w/ trans back? Or would I export the anim w/ a blue-screen background color and key it out in Premiere... but then what in premiere - export them out as images... I don't think you can export a .mov file w/ trans back. Anyway, and help or suggestions would be grea…
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 6 replies
- 878 views
Running ver. 16 and have been trying to add video to cloth sheet. (cloth not added to model yet) I import my image/animation, now when I go to apply it to the model I am unable to find 'Add Decal' I see 'Add Image'....... Any way when it is applied to the model it looks like below. Why is it placed in each section? Why is it flipped, flopped, right side up and upside down? Maybe I never noticed it before?!?
Last reply by Walter Baker, -
- 3 replies
- 878 views
I created my pose slider for my squetch ball, it was there before I switched to cho mode, now that I'm in cho mode and scrubbing through my frames of my animation, I can no longer see the pose slider. I've tried clicking on the squetch bone and the base bone in the PWS, neither of those brings up the pose slider. Have I done something wrong?
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 877 views
Okay, I am this far on this tutorial. I have tried this tutorial a number of times since I first received A:M v11.1. [attachmentid=12934] Anywho, my question is this. I am about to start adding splines around the brow and cheeks, as it sais in the book, but do I do this like it was done in the Plane tutorial???? Or do I just click add, and just start from an exsisting CP. Thanks
Last reply by Odog2020, -
- 4 replies
- 877 views
hey anyone know of the best way to make animal fur/hair?? im tryin to make fur for my squirrel model
Last reply by the_black_mage, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 876 views
Hi everyone. I'm trying to model this very basic shape, whatever it is, and I somehow made a 3-point patch, I've no idea how, but I need to do it again, I checked on boards and in TAOM but there's no mention of 3-point patches. All I got is "a patch must be composed of at least 3 points, but no more than 4." If I draw a simple 3-point spline, it won't make a patch when I change to Shaded mode, but this one does, I copied the three splines and pasted them a little farther in my image to show what I mean. Another thing I noticed about that is that the copied version seems to be, very clearly, fatter than the original. The shape wasn't altered in any way. I th…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 876 views
Hi Matt Can you tell me how you got that perfect gloss on the top of the globe?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 876 views
Got a new mini pc but it came with OS11. Anyone know of any compatability issues?
Last reply by Madfox, -
- 7 replies
- 875 views
I've been applying decals of Soviet Revolutionary Posters over brick wall. The posters go on fine, then after a while, disappear. The white areas on the wall show where the posters were. The one remaining [near ground level] has since disappeared. The container in the PWS then changes from 'SOV. POSTER_01' to 'SOV. POSTER_011' [or...SOV.POSTER_03' to 'SOV.POSTER_031'] The 'Image' inside the container says 'SOV.POSTER_01'. Is the brick [as first decal applied] over-riding the poster? Something else?[attachmentid=13991]
Last reply by Dhar, -
- 4 replies
- 875 views
I am new to ALL of this, so please bare with me. I am a teacher and purchased the program for High School kids. We have been doing great with the program until we got to exercise 7. We followed the steps on the mannual as well as on the videos, but we are stuck on the part about the Dictionary. We tried downloading it, but couldn't, we tried looking for it on one of the CD's, but couldnt find it. Can anyone HELP!!
Last reply by LilLuie, -
- 10 replies
- 875 views
Hi, I'm treating to get an expression to be able to control a point with the movement of several other points, I mean a point that moves automatically the average of the distance the controller points move, you know, just like when you add several "Translate To" dynamic constraints to a one bone and it moves in the middle when any of that controllers bones is moved... I have tried to "concatenate" (cause it seems not possible to add several expressions to a same parameter) little expressions in this way "..|..|..|Spline #164|CP #169.Translate ..|..|..|Spline #165|CP #170.Translate" but it doesn't works and I have tried to join'em in all the ways I can imagine "&, |, …
Last reply by Ramón López, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 875 views
Hi - I am practicing w/ hair and was trying duplicating the orange hair sample at the bottom of this page http://www.hash.com/Technical_Reference/v110/Hair.htm I get everything, but the issue that I am having now and awhile back is the hair is not taking it's color from the underlying surface's color (CellTurb conbiner) it is white. Is there some setting on am not doing? Thanks for any help.
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 12 replies
- 875 views
Let me know what ya think, did it in about 45 min one day during my lunch hour. NevikGreeting2.mov
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 5 replies
- 875 views
I'm setting up to do the FW-190 tutorial and have reached the point where I'm not going to be able to actually see the rotoscope model I'm supposed to be modeling. Specifically, the grid is in the way. I've tried setting the grid size to 0 but it still persists in being there. How do you hide the grid, or failing that, how can I place the rotoscope image in front of it? (I notice that in the tutorial photos there is no grid at all.)
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 14 replies
- 874 views
need some opinions. this is a first test here on a fireworks display. i have tons more images to use for sprites but just started with this simple one. any suggestions? firework_test1.mov
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 8 replies
- 873 views
Hi all, Must be an easy question for the masters but I am somehow stuck. I want to create an on/off pose, where I can change the surfacecolor or material lets say from white to black or from none to metal and maybe a decal to show / dont show. and cant seem to find a way to achieve this. Any hints, step by step tutorials help?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 10 replies
- 872 views
Hi folks! It's been a while. I own version 10 of A:M and I bought it back around the time it came out. It was when I was just starting to get into animation, and I didn't really understand anything I was doing. I still don't understand much that I'm doing, but the difference is I understand that I don't understand it. A while after getting into A:M I tried a bunch of other programs. Around last August I switched to Maya and have been using it since. I've drifted from doing modeling (which drives me insane) to effects work (which is pretty cool), but the reason I originally got into this field was to do character animation. I'm starting to return to that now. …
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 6 replies
- 872 views
I have a choreography where the Knight character is hanging from a wall, and he needs to swing his body up over the top. I've studied videos of "urban" climbers, who climb walls, buiding etc, and what they do is swing their legs so that they can hook one leg over the top of the wall. To do that the pivot point is centered at about the neck and shoulders. No matter what I've tried, I can't get the knight to swing properly. I have the hands constrained to the wall so that they don't move during the swing. I've tried swinging the model bone in an arc, and moving the feet and hips in an arc, both to no avail. Most of the time, the hands get really screwed up, and…
Last reply by Geophizz, -
spline
by Stronghorn- 7 replies
- 872 views
I upgraded to v.15 and now my splines are drawn at sharp anglses, I can't seem to find the setting to fix this. I have tried the smooth button and nothing changes. anyone know what I need to do? I want to draw a three point spline that loops hangs between the fingers on a hand....but they are angled instead of curved.
Last reply by Stronghorn, -
- 1 reply
- 871 views
We can always learn a lot from those that have tried and tested Animation:Master over the years. 'Tis the stuff of legend. In 2002, Darrin Mossor put a few tutorials and resources together. They are still great resources today. http://www.mossor.org/Desktop/ Here you'll find the following tutorials: - Displacement Map Footsteps - Writing with Sprites - Playing with Layers - Duplicator Wizard - Action Reuse/Centipede Along a Path - Displacement Mapping on a Garbage Can While there have been some changes to A:M's interface and functionality since these tutorials were written they are still a good read. As a minimum they still serve as …
Last reply by Tony, -
- 7 replies
- 871 views
Hi , anyone know how long it take to AM support to give me a new activation code ? Thank you.
Last reply by yoda64, -
- 7 replies
- 870 views
I'm doing Excercise 13, in fact this is the 4th time I've atempted it, and I keep getting the same results. Everything works great until I create a new Action, and turn the IK Arms Setup, Thoims right arms twists up. As I stated, I've gone through the excercise 4 times, and each time, his right arm twists up, and it twists up in the same way. So what have I missed? Warehouse.txt
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 5 replies
- 870 views
Hi everybody, I don't know if I have a glitch or what, but I have had this A:M software for a while and I am finally getting around to using it. I went through the first tutorial (still image of Keekat) and hit the "render to file" button, saving it as a targa file on the desktop as in the online tutorial and the final scene just renders black, no KeeKat. What did I miss? Thanks! Bob
Last reply by Scenic18, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 870 views
I am getting restarted with AM and wish to use my mac pro lap tops . Can you tell me if am works best on vista ? or on the current mac operating sytem? Also -i have a hard time keeping track of my old account info and I wish to renew my subscription early this year . Is there a wayto retrieve info on customers other than the original registration number ? Comment You guys are still my favorite for 3d animation since Maya has all those expensive ever changing plug ins -it is just not friendly to the solo animator , Cheers and thanks for a response . Bruce ps 1 I can not wait to get restarted esapecially with the online tutorials . p…
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 870 views
don't even know where to start. to the left, a render with an object with a decal appointed as displacement map, 200% to the right, a model view with said decal as color, just to illustrate here. there are so many things going WOW! so just pick one.. any one.. what is UP with this render? been following a tut on the xtras dvd, a battleship side. didn't seem difficult. hoping this is not of the "turn the lights on!" type of problems? does the decal have to cover all of topography to render? didn't even bother to position it for testing - and the round gaps will have modelled detail eventually, without displacement map.
Last reply by dblhelix, -
- 7 replies
- 869 views
HELLO! Well, as I'm now seriously thinking in bought A:M I wonder... if I buy the software now in October or near the next November (or in the middle of it), will I obtain the v13 of the 2006 or I will obtain the v14 of the 2007? Or I'll obtain now the v13 and I'll be able to update the program to the new v14 for free the next year? Well, I don't know and I'd like know so... THAN YOU!!! BTW: Ningún problema para comprar esto desde España, no? Bueno, si alguien quisiera compartir experiencias...
Last reply by Ramón López, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 869 views
if youv ever played any sci phi games you will notice that they usualy have a force field or bubble that has a really cool plasma effect , halo 1 in the control room for example , i was woundering if there was a way to do this in AM sort of like this with out so many colors and transparent rainbow image and sorta lke this, its the one on the bottom as i couldent add the pic here as saying something about picture extentions picture any other vareation on this would also be appreceated as i need some thing workable before flashy
Last reply by Caroline, -
- 5 replies
- 869 views
Exactly, can it be fixed? Or is it one of those things that you can't and just have to fuss over?
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 9 replies
- 868 views
I've been looking around to get a really good render of a car I'm working on. one of the tutorals i found seems like it would work but i need to do the thing called primary visibility. in other words the model is there but not there and can be reflected by another surface with out showing on the camera, you know what i mean? heres what i'm talking about.... Rendering better cars look at no.1
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 followers
- 4 replies
- 868 views
I copied the head of "Fat Guy" onto an re-rigged body. The old rig wouldn't work with the v13's Rig. I re-rigged the body, and it works, however the face is another problem. Using basic face bones and groupings for the face, but the face distorts when I added an action from the library. So I copied and pasted with bones from the first model, but as you can see the face is a bit messed up. Even when I create new bones, and attach them, the face distorts when I apply an action. Is there too many bones? Not enough?
Last reply by KenH, -
- 3 followers
- 12 replies
- 868 views
I'm trying to learn how to mix animation with live action video and I'm having a hard time learning. I've seen a few tutorials but they aren't complete enough as I'm too inexperienced to pick up on how to do the directions. This CD is referred to often, but it always points to pluginz.com and apparently they don't have it anymore. Does anyone have any idea how I can get one, or the replacement if there is one? Thanks.
Last reply by robinsn, -
- 9 replies
- 868 views
Right, I'll try and explain my problem here as best I can. It started a while ago after I did the "Door is stuck" animation. I completed the exercise and I went back to it to re render it and when I played it in the editor each keyframe stays there while it carries on and it seems to kind of create a copy of the same model at each keyframe. So I end up with my model at the end of the small animation being a mess of what looks like lots of models all in one. Then I was working on something yesterday and the keyframes slowly started deleting themselves when the animation bit finished. it will output to an animation file ok, there is noting like this on the ac…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 8 replies
- 868 views
say, how do you display the x and y axis lines. i am going over the controls and i cant find it. also in the flower power exercise, in creating the yellow bud, it creates a doughnut shape instead of a circle shape.
Last reply by north, -
- 7 replies
- 867 views
I did the "Can You Say That?" tutorial and rendered it out, [never mind that it still looks like it was dubbed from an old Godzilla movie] but I'm wondering what to do from here. How do I get one of my characters to say the right thing at the right point in the Choreography? Should I save it as an Action>Library and drop it onto the character at the right frame?
Last reply by Kelley, -
- 4 replies
- 867 views
I'm fooling around with the lights and camera to get a better feel in how to use them fast and easy and tried to have them circle around static object (model) With both the light/camera I through I could easily draw a circle path around my object and have aim at the object to keep it centered all the time. But both don't seem to want to snap to the path and attach them selfs to it. I've tried manually setting up the camera/light to do a circle motion around an object but this is very time consuming or at least the way I'm doing it. I'm pretty sure there is an easy way to move the camera/lights around in a fluent circle motion Searched around looking for a…
Last reply by wildcard, -
- 10 replies
- 866 views
Continuing my fascination with clunky World War One-ish things, I started to build a seaplane. [bi-plane, center pontoon hull] Last night I was setting Specular highlights. I had done most everything: the hull, engine, fuel tank. nacelle, and the cockpit. [and had Saved] Just before wrapping up for the night, I came back to find that the cockpit nacelle's dark green upper surface, and the brown leather rims, had defaulted to the red used on the nose. Today, I undertook to repair that. After three attempts, I gave up. I can change the colors back. [i remove them from Groups first] But as soon as I assign Specular color, it snaps back to red. Might I have exceeded a limit t…
Last reply by KenH,
