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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.
4,160 topics in this forum
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- 7 replies
- 806 views
I am a new user, and while trying to model a character, I have encountered many problems. In a nutshell, the whole thing is very overwhellming. I would appreciate any advice any experianced modelers here have to offer. Also, if anyone has a cool model they want to donate, that would be awsome! Many thanks.
Last reply by Leo73, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 806 views
It seems that When glow is set to on and you have reflection on something like the ground, the reflection does not render correctly. Is this a known issue? Should I bother to put in a bug report?
Last reply by new guy, -
- 7 replies
- 806 views
I'm trying to select just the points that make up the right half of the spline ring where the leg starts. However, when I do that the point right in the middle that I have circled in red keeps getting selected. If I try to deselect it, I also lose the point that is directly to the right of it. Any ideas what I am doing wrong here? I need to get my weighting identical to what it is on the other side.
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 10 replies
- 805 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, -
- 5 replies
- 805 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, -
- 6 replies
- 805 views
Dear Animation Masters: I'm new to A:M and this forum and I'm getting the modeling and such down but the technical stuff...not so much. I hate to say it but I have that love/ hate relationship with A:M. I love the creative side but hate the technical/ computer side. I know several of you feel my pain. Anyway, I'm interested in making a very simple memory game using A:M and I was wondering if there's a plug in that allows a user to interact with the animation...meaning I model the objects, set up the animation and choreography, and during the animation you can click on the objects with a mouse to make them do certain things (flip over, stop, change colors, etc). Has a…
Last reply by Ilidrake, -
- 9 replies
- 805 views
(This topic has been split off from another discussion.) I would like to see a basic discussion first of how A:M uses percentages. I am of the old school that says a percentage is a fraction of something (and that 0 and 100 are the min and max.) So I would like to know the basis that A:M is uses for each property. Same for numbers. Some are easy like particle count or size (cm default but whatever the unit.) But velosity - is it furlongs per fortnight or what? I know it is probably just me, but it would go a long way to helping me be a better animator.
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 4 replies
- 805 views
I'm working on an animation exercise right now, and if I try to just translate the mesh I can move that just fine. If I select the bone that I have assigned to the mesh and hit the "n" key and try to move it, though, not a darn thing happens. I am not sure what I'm doing wrong, I don't think I have anything toggled that I shouldn't. Any ideas?
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 804 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, -
- 6 replies
- 803 views
Ok...just bought a new CPU. High end processor, ATI Vid card 5870 with 1gb dedicated mem. However, I'm still experiencing the "trail" effect when I move a model. For example, there is a "Chewbacca" model with hair all over his body. When I move him in the choreography mode, it leaves a bunch of "lines" or trails of his hair. What I did notice, is if I shrink the image, the trails disappear, at least until I move the model again. Anyone have this issue or know how to fix it? I thought it was my CPU, but now I'm thinking it's some setting...? Hopefully the upload of the image will help...
Last reply by Neu_Type, -
SSS
by thumperness- 5 replies
- 803 views
I see a lot of references, in the forums, to SSS... What does SSS stand for?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 5 replies
- 802 views
I just recently found my older copy of A:M 10.5 and am trying to install it but have run into 2 problems. 1: it tells me I'm using an unsupported newer version of windows. 2: Once I got past that it is asking me for a serial number which I have no idea where that could be. Thanks for your help Dave
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 802 views
Hi guys What setting decreases the distance between the cloth and the deflector? this setting also kind of gives a feel for how thick the cloth is.
Last reply by jason1025, -
- 6 replies
- 801 views
Hello everyone, I want to do the Exercise 2: (Chorus Line) cancan with an interesting twist but it's not going well. I'm hoping others (who may have run into this problem) can possibly explain what is happening and can also tell me a way to get this to work. My idea is a 30 second to 1 minute short of the "cancan" dance that has gone wrong. My idea is nothing long or laborious (I think). It's just a quick simple chain of events that is bestowed on the unsuspecting characters hehe. In general, what I want it to be is shaggy's foot slips out from under him and he falls (quite hard) on the stage breaking through the floor which a loose board then shoot…
Last reply by Jeetman, -
An AMV combining different artisits work and swicthing between scene. We would pick a song, then each do a little animation for it... still need to get my copy of AM back from my teacher though...
Last reply by clonewar12345, -
- 8 replies
- 801 views
Sorry to those who may know the obvious answer because I am not sure how to go about searching for this certain question. So I will try to ask as best I can. I notice on some of the rendering in the W.I.P the background is a whitish color while the model comes out in a light gray look that looks very real. How do I go about setting it up so my preview renders look the same way?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 801 views
I need help with a character but first I need to embed all the decals or anything else that goes with him so I can post the model here for someone to look at and tell me my mistake please. Or....is my model already to go and the decals are in it now?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 800 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, -
- 6 replies
- 800 views
Another question but is there a way to paint your colors for a more realistic looks. It seem like softwares like cinema 4D can paint. but is there a way to do this in A:M.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 7 replies
- 800 views
Is there a list anywhere - other than the list of fixes that comes out w/ each iterative update, that lists the major (and minor) feature changes and enhancements among the various versions? When I started using A:M back in '95, when there was a version number change (as opposed to a letter extension), there were pretty major changes, like adding hooks, hair, cloth, etc... However, for the past few versions, I have no idea what's changed other than bug fixes and can't seem to find a list of what enhancements or changes have been integrated. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, TommyDAQ
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 799 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
- 799 views
Hey everybody. I have been on the search for a while now for something to explain computer animation. I have done some stop motion projects but I would reall like to get into computer animation soon. So could you guys give me some info or places where I could get some info about computer animation. By the way I want to know about the technical stuff first because I can animate on paper and Stop Mot but I don't know all the technical stuff for computer animation. This infromation will probaly be a factor in whether or not I save up to buy infromation master. Thanx everbody.
Last reply by Muff, -
- 9 replies
- 799 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, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 798 views
I'm going to be a new user of A:M in the next month just wondering if my computer will run A:M It has a Dual 2 core Processor, Two hard drives with 500gb each, and 2gb memory i did see that earlier version seemed to have trouble running with the dual core processor but will it work better with the recent version of A:M? thanx chris
Last reply by khickman, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 798 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, -
- 6 replies
- 798 views
its in the question broskies
Last reply by KenH, -
- 5 replies
- 797 views
Hey All, I have had AM for a week now and I am having some weird things happen. I have been trying to follow one of the video tutorials on walking cycles. I double click the an actor, it opens up, I close that window and double click Actions, set the view to shaded. But, when I try to rotate the model it vanishes leaving only the bones visible. This is happening on a lot of different models. What is causing this? Thanks for your help! T MAC
Last reply by triath5147, -
- 2 followers
- 10 replies
- 797 views
Does anyone know were i can download Rebump X? I saw it in one of my animation master books and it looks cool but i cant find it anywear on the internet. If someone could post it for me to download that would be great. Or if you could email it to me my email is daniel.x16@gmail.com thanks
Last reply by clonewar12345, -
- 2 followers
- 9 replies
- 797 views
I have heard this word over and over in A:M, and I am confused about it, what does it mean? What does it do? Did I spell it right? Stuff like that....
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 797 views
Hey Hashers! So I've been trying to get this glass look on a Coke bottle, but it's pretty darn hard. Anyone have a clue as to how this can be achieved? I've zipped the model and mats. Anyone wanna give it a try? Thanks in advance! GlassCokeBotlle.zip
Last reply by new guy, -
- 9 replies
- 796 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, -
- 9 replies
- 796 views
I don't really care if it is rigged or not I need one fast for a School project (don't ask why) the project is due in seven days. Please help.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 6 replies
- 796 views
If i want to have an object decrement its Y position every frame I should be able to do a standard value reassignment like Y=Y-1, shouldn't I?
Last reply by Xtaz, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 795 views
ok i have fianly managed to rebuild most of my models that i lost and i have created a basic corograpy ( i know i cant spell) any ways i have 9, 4 leged robots who have a basic walking animation and i have them walk along a predefined path and the leags move correct to the speed ( that took a while ). my question is seeing that i have used a rounded terrain instead of blocks is there a way that i can make it so that the legs on my bots dont go through the ground. Ie touch it but go no further.
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 795 views
I'm wondering if there is a way to import camera data from another program. We're using, primarily, Vue to create a landscape and I would like to be able to insert Animation:Master elements as well. We can export a camera that would work for After Effects, Maya, and perhaps others. I'm not exactly sure how much we can convert the data, so please give as many options as possible for import and we'll hopefully find a medium that will work. Thanks!
Last reply by Luuk Steitner, -
- 12 replies
- 795 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, -
- 2 replies
- 794 views
Ok, I'm sure the problem is on my end, but I thought I'd post here and ask just in case anyone has any helpful information. I have a number of object in .OBJ format, with materials. Import seems to be a bit hit and miss on whether I get any materials in at all, which is pretty understandable. I have texture maps for all the materials but I'm sure there are some odd settings somewhere! Is there anything I should look out for in importing/exporting OBJ files to use in other applications? Any gotchas, or things I shouldn't do? I have Silo and that's what I've been using to twiddle my OBJs. I'm on AM V12 (latest release of that). If AM V13/14 has better OBJ …
Last reply by ddustin, -
- 3 replies
- 794 views
Hey all,-- Never seen this, but a decal won't show up on the modeling window but does in render--anybody know why this might be? Thanks, Rich
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 5 replies
- 793 views
Hi all, I have been doing the tuts the video ones as well as reading and after the 3rd I decided to play with the actors and there bones a bit to get used to them. I can't load certain actors though I get "The parameter is incorrect" even thought I get the right file for hair and such things. I tried restarting A:M and my computer as well as checked my drivers, they are up to date... Any idea's? I await your wisdom Thank you ahead of time
Last reply by LuLu, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 793 views
Hi All; I have been using AM for about two years and love it. But, even with all the fun, I have not been able to figure out how to make a hole in a compliated 3D shape. So, if I wanted to make a hole in a shere, or a rod (at a right angle). How would I do that ? From the other posts, some say I should make the hole first, then build around that.... but that can't work for the intended applcation. In AutoCAD, it uses a 'filet' where everything on the selected side of the shape is deleted, leaving the balance; thus creating a hole, or window.... Thank you for your efforts. ! KM
Last reply by phatso, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 792 views
I have modeled a character, and for a scene I am animating his hand needs to appear to be on fire. So I created a material with particles, however, when I add the material to his hand and render it there seems to be a beam of random particles that are emitting from nowhere. I have included a pic illustrating what is happening as well as the specifics of my material. Can anyone tell me what is going on, and more importantly, how to stop it?? My Particle Material My crudely drawn example of the problem Any ideas as to what is going on??
Last reply by markeh, -
- 8 replies
- 792 views
I am making a face and made part of the right side of the face and wanted to copy flip and paste it to see what it looked like and I'm not sure why but when I do it makes a copy of partial face in front of it and attaches the tips of the nose... I checked my views and yes I'm in frontal view when modeling the front of the face so I don't know what's happening. I'm very new to AM so if you answer my question, please be as detailed as possible. original face my problem... Thank you guys.
Last reply by Jaff, -
- 13 replies
- 792 views
Hey, im really confused. if there is anyway to make it come back or something, but when i go render to file, or anything that brings up that list of types of renders, its got all of em, exept for Final render, which i cant find and want to use. Also another problem, when i have a test render of the frame im on, on. then i go to the real render, it pops up an error box and the only button on it exits out of AM. The last problem i have is with my subscription i bought, it is not letting me on. it says system clock set back -30 but i dont get that, is it talking about the computerss clock down at the bottom right of the screen? and if so why is it doing th…
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 1 reply
- 791 views
The Art of Animation:Master (Online) Please add your exerices to this topic and others will join in. The Art of Animation:Master is being completed on a continual basis in the New Users Forum. Meeting deadlines can be an important skill to master early on but this course is self paced to allow each person the flexibility they need to learn the basics of Animation:Master. The course can be completed in as little time as necessary or as much as is needed by each participant. Note: You may want to download the videos first. All available Video Tutorials related to TAOA:M can be found on one page: The Art of Animation Master Video Tutorials The Art o…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 5 replies
- 791 views
I'm trying to finish all of TAoAM and was just about to start the one where they all do the cancan...number two i think. i open a choreography, and start to drag the stage to the choreography window...then a window pops up that says "parameter is incorrect" and the mouse dissapears onthe AM screen...help?
Last reply by .:shortdog:., -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 791 views
I am using a model that will need to talk but it has no mouth things in the pose slider or a jaw bone. So how can I make this easy by just adding the voice and the mouth move along with it. And also can I use the model in a movie without dealing with copyright issues if I make it look significantly different.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 791 views
So I was animating today and the movement looked not natural so I was wondering how to make it look like the way we move.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 5 replies
- 791 views
This should be simple. I started my chor animations at frame 0 and now want to shift everything over to start at frame 100. In the PWS graph I switched to key mode and tried to select everything by dragging a box around all the keys, then hit the right arrow key to shift them. The problem is that there are about 6 channels that won't shift. They are user properties (poses) that turn IK hands on and off, a null's translation keys, and camera translation keys, among others. I've tried everything I can think of, including the "Move Keys" command, and those few channel's keys still will not move. Any suggestions? Using V15.0e on WinXP Thanks!
Last reply by strohbehn, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 790 views
How do I render a file so that the whole size of the window is only 1.5in high and 2.5in wide? This is for like a signature.
Last reply by Fuchur, -
fire
by LaLaLaKellie- 5 replies
- 790 views
how do i change a fire sprite action in to a material???
Last reply by Rodney,