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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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- 9 replies
- 1.1k views
I was thinking of making a holiday themed animation as a small project and figured I'd open the challenge up to other people learning A:M Here's the simple idea: A Gingerbread village. Here's the rules: Nobody who's got more than 2 years A:M experience. (We'll let them critique it after!) Needs to be done by Dec 24th Everything on theme Capable of being assembled into a project at the end (Same scale) I'll post a gingerbread tree in photo and model. Feel free to modify/ re-scale if you like, but mostly I'm posting it as a starting point. Some ideas: A house (or houses) Snow, Candy cane fences,…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 reply
- 418 views
Hey again. The last post I made was about the missile smoke and I got that all worked out. Now I have a new problem. I've made a Mig-17. I've tried to find camo for it, but it's been almost impossible and I've been searching for hours. I'm looking for the camo scheme for Colonel Toon's mig- a Mig camo in the vietnam war. I need a pic of it from the side view and from the top view. Anyone have anything that they could hellp me with?
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
Hi! I would like to turn my A:M renders into photographic prints. I'm excited that A:M can render at any resolution (go patches!) so does anyone have any ideas as to what pixel size I should render to approximate a really good 35mm camera negative? I'd like to then take this "negative" and print it out at a photo shop. I'm thinking of prints that would be in the range of FEET as opposed to INCHES, so a 3ft by 5ft picture that you would hang on a gallery wall. Some of the size would have to come from a smaller negative being "blown up." I know that there is a "super 35mm" preset on the camera output options, but would this be good enough to blow up to big format …
Last reply by Laconic, -
- 1 reply
- 449 views
Hi, I forsee that I'll have to do some heavy duty time intensive rendering, but I work on a Macintosh. I imagine that there are PC based computers that can really crunch with great processing power. I'd like to know if I can create my animations using A:M for the Mac and them render them using A:M for the PC? Any help would be appreciated... T
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 18 replies
- 1.4k views
ok iv just gone over the creating materials tutoral and have made some pretty interesing things , know what id like to know is can the materials be made to move. example i have a for lack of a better term rock that the material makes it look like its electrifyed , id like to be able to make the electric bits move
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 6 replies
- 608 views
I just felt the need to say thank you. All my life your program is exactly what I have been needing to let my creativity flow and bring my characters to life. I only wish I found it years ago. I cannot express enough how much this program has made me smile. I am a disabled Veteran and cannot work so I was searching for something to use my many free hours on. And wow did I find it! You have a loyal and dedicated customer in me and I will when I can buy every addon and cd possible! I look forward to anything you create and will definantly put it on my to buy list. Again just thought a THANK YOU was called for. Robert Thompson / The Spleen
Last reply by TheSpleen, -
- 9 replies
- 758 views
ok I have fluid working no problem. Problem is I need it to start at frame 48:00 and it wants to start at frame 00:01 how can I set it to start at that frame? Thank you.
Last reply by TheSpleen, -
- 1 follower
- 15 replies
- 1.9k views
This one is a bit more involved than I might otherwise target, but our own forum member steve392 has daringly volunteered it for inspection, so have at it! The centaur nature of the character complicates things a bit, but I think you can still examine this mostly in terms of a biped doing a standing jump. Which is a good basic body mechanics challenge for an animator. There's quite a bit going right here. Can you spot what's going wrong? side_jump.mov 3/4 view same jump
Last reply by alano, -
- 1 follower
- 23 replies
- 2k views
I am trying to animate an item that has moving video on it within the animation. Plan 'A' is to have a television in the background. I have tried to use one of my previous animations as a decal. I can import it, I can apply it (although it is a blank image at time of application) and then it's lost. Still shows up in the image folder in the decal area but doesn't show up rendered or in choreography. Ideas? Plan 'B' is to build a movie projector in an animation. Thorough the manuals, It would seem I can just import a video and use it as a light gel, but I am running into the same issue: I can import it to the image file, even adjust/crop etc. But nothing…
Last reply by Glider, -
- 12 replies
- 1.1k views
When I activate the Cloth Wizard in a choreography, it works pretty well. When I activate the Cloth Wizard in a different choreography, with the same model, the cloth just bounces all over the place or something, when I simulate. I notice that each time I use the Cloth Wizard, a new Spring System folder appears in the Objects folder; I assume this means I can reuse this one spring system in other choreographies, instead of clicking "Cloth Wizard" every time, but when I put a model with that spring system into a different choreography, I can't figure out how to use the system. However this is done, I presume you can do the same with spring systems you create from…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 14 replies
- 1.6k views
Hi sorry to ask probably a silly question. But I have just finished a short film that is about 1minute long and it took 22hours to render is this normal or could it have anything to do with that fact I used an extra light and so created two lots of shadows. I'm using a MacBook with AM v15. Any help or advise will be great thanks.
Last reply by Gorf, -
- 2 followers
- 12 replies
- 1.4k views
OK due to some post by other iv come to the conclusion that textures most likely wont do it for me( note there was nothing wrong with the post they just steered me in a new direction) so i need to know how to make materials, any help would be nice
Last reply by Helojammer, -
- 7 replies
- 654 views
OK really two question 1st can i take a image say 500X500 pixels and have it applied to the entire model 2nd once done can i get the image to move around it , kinda like a chain rolling around a gear curenty im trying to come p with a worm hole effect , the model itself consists of really distorted donut shapes but i cant seam to get them to you know look worm holeish with out the use of textures, and then i get into the problem of there being a big square just sitting there.
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 9 replies
- 752 views
Okay, I'm wandering into new territory again and need some help. :-) I'm working on a shot for the Christmas greeting I'm doing and I want to do a focus switch ...to transition from one character to another. So, I've turned on Depth of Field in the camera and set it up. When I do a preview render with no multipass, I get exactly what I would like. Foreground character is in focus, and background character and set are nicely out of focus. But when I do a multipass render, not so good... With more passes (say 9), there's almost no blurring at all. Is there a trick to this?
Last reply by largento, -
- 13 replies
- 1k views
All the sudden when I try to render something it just renders a blue color any idea on how to fix this.
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 4 replies
- 620 views
It's been a while since I've been on the forum, but I was away working on an idea for an animation that I intend to expand on. Now that I am back back, I have a question for anyone who can answer. I'm experimenting with smoke and I know how to work that. One thing I don't know how to do is to get smoke to start up after a certain period of time. I have an aircraft with missile bays. When the bays open, I have the missiles firing. That is when I want the smoke to start up and go. The plane will be moving too, obviously, and I don't think it would look to good with smoke coming ot of the fuselage in some random area. Anyone know how to work this? I'll put the missile video…
Last reply by captainrex, -
- 1 reply
- 447 views
How does one Lock models in the choreography so you don't accidently move them ect.
Last reply by Jeetman, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 503 views
Hi - I am working on another dental animation and need to have a metal piece move in and attach to the upper jaw bone - then have the mouth close and it stay in the exact place I put it in the chor. I tried using Translate to and Orient Like and also Kinematic... it moves a little bit when I close the mouth because the jaw bone is moving. I tried setting some different interpolation methods - but didn't seem to help. Is it possible to lock it in place like I am trying to do to remain in the exact place I constrain it? Thanks for any help. -Eric P.S. - Happy almost Thanksgiving!
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 2 replies
- 443 views
Suddenly, when I do "final" renders, the shot I was setting up looks completely wrong. Namely, this character looks either toon rendered or over-exposed, and I can't find what's been changed in the surface info. Does this effect look familiar to anyone?
Last reply by danf, -
- 1 follower
- 15 replies
- 1.4k views
Hey folks, can anyone help me, I'm working on a model and suddenly I can't select any control points. If I click on one or any of them nothing happens that I can see. On a rare occasion if I try and grab a whole section of points the green selection box will grab another area of the model. I tried opening older versions and the same thing happens, which is nothing, so then I thought perhaps reinstalling the software might help. It didn't, same problem. I'm going through the Posts now to see if this has happened to anyone else but I may as well start a new post also and get the ball rolling, Help me animation masters, I'm getting desperate. Aj
Last reply by largento, -
- 1 reply
- 526 views
Ok it has dawned on me that for some reason AM is currently using only one of my cores on my quad core machine , is there a way to tell AM to use other cores to speed up its rendering time or is it just set to 1 for a reason .
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 6 replies
- 602 views
Hello - I attached an image - I am using fluids and getting a black circle outline on the water droplets. Is there a setting under the fluid emitter or something that is causing this? Thanks - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 9 replies
- 762 views
I designed myself a new character today. Very happy with him but............ when I go to render him I get this................ I know it is a toon render. but his entire body and all the rest of him are not tooned! only his face! So I started with the nose of another character, that nose must have had the toon settings set on it. How in the world do I turn this off??????????? I have a half toon/half 3d character LOL
Last reply by TheSpleen, -
- 2 replies
- 525 views
Is it possible to configure A:M to zoom on the mouse pointer? I realize I can use the Bound Zoom when I need to zoom in on a specific area, and that works great, but using the scroll wheel and mouse pointer together to zoom in on a target area has become second nature... Just curious.
Last reply by AMSpector, -
- 3 replies
- 483 views
Ok heres my deal, i use a program to extract a model from a game , the program saves it into a format usable by a program called 3d studio max, when it loads into max the models akin to perfect , ie surfaces are nice , colors are accurate, and hey there are even textures , now when i save the model in a format usable by AM ".3ds" it loads in about 1 min and as said above looks like it went through a blender , the main form is still there but thats about all that there is , also i will try and upload a pic soon as due to a system change i currently cant access AM
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 13 replies
- 1.3k views
Hi all Sorry, very newbie question here. I am trying to make a short film with two different camera shots, but I'm having trouble. Can anyone tell me how to get two cameras to work and how to render them at different points of the film. I would like to have the first camera slowly zoom in one my actor then change to the next camera that is in a different place and continue the shot. Then may be go back to the first camera again. Hope this all makes scene to someone. Thanks for any help from anyone, if you could be as simple as passable because I'm not that up on tect talk. Thanks again Jeff
Last reply by Jeff B, -
- 5 replies
- 480 views
Hi - for some reason I thought I was able to import an .ai file into AM awhile back - but now I am not seeing how I would bring it in. Can anyone tell me if it is possible? Thanks for your help - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 1 reply
- 496 views
how is the best form to export a model to STL ( Stereo Lithography Files ) ??? MDL to STL ??
Last reply by cronos, -
- 4 replies
- 529 views
i need open it , is my work week ( Unable open file- error ) ??? is a .mdl file momia_George_ok_v_15.zip
Last reply by cronos, -
- 8 replies
- 734 views
Hello, hope everyone is good - it's been awhile since I posted, I have working on teeth animations... getting a bit boring. Anyway, I have a new client that wants his logo merging out of some water, kind of as a fountain... I was thinking I could bring his logo in as an .ai file and 3D it - then place it under the fluids fountain - does anyone have any samples they can show me of a fountain they have done w/ fluids, that would give me an idea if my idea is possible - I hadn't had a chance to play w/ fluids much from when it came out in the new version. Thanks for any help. -Eric
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 583 views
I'm extremely knew at all of this, but I was wondering how you import model files into A:M. I have some Twilight Princess models I downloaded that included the model and texture files and I would really appreciate it if someone could explain step-by-step how to import the model and get the textures on it. I've tried, and it says it can't import the model. I believe the file is compatible with A:M, they're .3Ds files and the textures are .tga files. Thanks in advance!
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 18 replies
- 1.4k views
See if you can figure out what has gone wrong here: bouncingBallX.mov Hint: it's about gravity. Don't worry, it's not by anyone from this forum.
Last reply by danf, -
- 1 reply
- 386 views
I have a couple minutes of animation, by my estimate, about a week's worth of rendering, and I'm going away for the weekend. Is there a way I can set my computer up to just "go!" while I'm away?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 0 replies
- 291 views
ive made a library. how do i create one of those .lib files for it so i can move it to another system?
Last reply by sir fen the usa, -
- 6 replies
- 530 views
ok with all the model making if been doing with ships and such its goten to the point where iv actualy made a few that for lack of words ......... actualy look ok , know for one of them i would like to add a warp core lookalike to a section , if you ever watched star trek the next gen you know what im taking about , but i dont know of a way to do this any ideas
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 replies
- 369 views
ive been having some problems here. last night i lost my materials in the library. i tried everything and finally reinstalled windows clean. after getting AM back i was able to get the library/materials to show up from the tin woodsman CD data but cant get them to show up via "extras DVD" anyone seeing this? the models show up just no materials.
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 45 replies
- 3.6k views
I think your product looks great. The tutorials really are a good sales tool even if that was not the intention. I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions before I buy. Maybe I haven't looked closely enough but is there somewhere that gives the specs for the minimum and ideal computer (speed memory etc) that your software will run on? What is your policy on running the program on two different computers . Currently I run large renders (2+ hrs) on a faster computer while I continue to work on another (does this require 2 copies, network license, site license, don't care) While I don't mind copy protection, I do mind registration prote…
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 2 replies
- 459 views
Hi guys, im currently making a model but i dont quite know whats happening. To explain it whats happening is in the modelling stage i can see all my splines and cp's but when i switch to shaded mode i have patches missing. Now when i render the mode all the missing patches show up as if they are there. its frustrating while trying to model and patches are missing but really they are actually present. any ideas? Thanks for your time..
Last reply by Soltek, -
- 2 replies
- 510 views
How do I go from running to easing into a pose. I am not very good at explaining but I will do my best. I have the shaggy running (Using the running action in the library) along a path and am trying to get him to be able to ease into a pose after he slows down. The problem I am having is I can't get him to run and then ease into the pose. Keying the bones after the action in the choreography makes the bones stay in that position when scrubbing through the timeline in the Choreography. Thanks. Here is a render of shaggy running and then slowing down. It is a bit sloppy though. Running.mov
Last reply by J90, -
- 2 replies
- 472 views
I am new to animation master and I was wondering if anyone knew how to make a sphere. NOT copying from a model. This is the best I could get a sphere to look
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 4 replies
- 636 views
I rendered out a still JPEG of one frame of animation. This took 3:36:30 (hours, minutes, seconds). Why did it take so long to render only one frame? here are the settings, no advanced, just regular final.
Last reply by MasterFunk, -
- 12 replies
- 722 views
I am sure there is a simple answer to this. I need a shot of a desert sun as if someone were looking straight up at it. so blue sky and sun only. then I am going to animate circling buzzards. Any suggestions on a good sun please?
Last reply by TheSpleen, -
- 1 follower
- 15 replies
- 1.5k views
I just learned how to make Normal maps in another post. Now that I know how to do it I am perplexed as to what the difference is. What is the difference?
Last reply by R Reynolds, -
- 9 replies
- 950 views
I made it, but feel free to rip it, I think there are plenty of problems. http://homepage.mac.com/somniac/.Pictures/s08what2.mov Here are a few problems I notice, and I wonder what the solution might be: -the depth of field antialiasing is falling along a LINE!!! That's no depth of field to me. -Weird butt-shadows! What's up with that? I should note: -I have a "fill light" since in the video I've already established the sun is to this character's back. What I'd ideally have is a sort of ambient dome-lighting, like what the blue sky actually does. Is there such a method? -Slightly jerky step? I think my character's motion is mostly tim…
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 4 replies
- 475 views
For some reason whenever i open up Hash animation master v 15 (which i subscribed for), Once it open some thing pops up and says system clock has set back (-40) And then whenever i press ok or x animation master just closes and i cant use it. Heres a photo of it.
Last reply by AMkyle, -
- 9 replies
- 887 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, -
- 4 replies
- 450 views
For all of you embarking on character animation (That's why you got A:M) here's an opportunity to develop your eye. A Heavy Lift that doesn't look very heavy: Lifting things is something everyone should be able to do convincingly with their characters. But some basics have been forgotten. What do you see going wrong here? You can rip this one because it's not by anyone here, and it's always easier to see the log that is in someone else's animation, which makes it even more useful.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
Render Times
by danf- 12 replies
- 1.2k views
What are the factors that influence render times?
Last reply by danf, -
- 8 replies
- 612 views
ok workign on my stuff i have come to realize that most of my current terrains look like a flat plane with parts pushed up , bt then i heard about the terrain tool , unfortunatly i know nothing about how to use it , any help
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 replies
- 475 views
If I'm feeling feisty and want to work on my next shot while rendering this one, can I open A:M a second time? Anyone know how I'd do this on a mac?
Last reply by danf,