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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.
4,161 topics in this forum
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- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 718 views
Hi all, I'm quite new to A:M, so I guess this is the right forum for me! I've been working on my very first project and I'm getting some odd shading patterns. I'm sure it's a simple mistake in the way I applied peaked splines in one direction and smoothed splines in the other (peaked in spanwise direction along wing, smoothed in chordwise direction along ribs). Is there an easy way to get around this? Or does it even matter when it comes time to texture it? Thanks in advance, Luke
Last reply by jakerupert, -
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- 608 views
For the life of me I've not come up with how to make a spring that compresses between the sole and the heal. Has anyone been confronted with this idea?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 752 views
I swear I remember there was a way to duplicate bones for the other hand....
Last reply by Nerdcore Steve, -
- 5 replies
- 773 views
Whenever I try to apply an action no matter what model It always shows an error message say something like invalid action and then the file name. I don't want to have to animate a walk cycle every time i need one. SO how can I fix this.
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
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- 831 views
Hey all. Having a real nightmare with this. I'm under the gun to get a banner done for a convention next week and I need to get the finished file off to the printer but A:M isn't cooperating. I've attached an image of the error I'm getting as well as the project file (I embedded all) I am working with and I'll attach the images I'm using as decals as well. There are two .tga files for one of the models and since this forum doesn't allow for the upload of .tga files I uploaded them at my forum. Here are the links since, there's not point in rendering the file for me if it doesn't look right. http://forum.remedialcomics.com/index.php?...98.0;attach=323 h…
Last reply by rasikrodri, -
- 5 replies
- 685 views
im having some trouble with my lipsync i was making this animation, and revised many of my mouth poses when i checked the animation, half of my mouth poses were missing the mouth poses in the actions, the dopesheets seem ok, i can view the character talking in there, and the lipsync looks fine in a new choreography it just doesnt seem to want to work in the old choreography where the rest of my animation is tried refreshing with space bar no avail im wondering if some of the keys in the animation are somehow conflicting with some of the dopesheet keys or something not sure what to do and im hoping that i wont have to rebuild all of my dope…
Last reply by Meowx, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 740 views
I'm making a robot and wondered what I need to do to make him metallic like the Tin Woodman. What changes do I need to make on for the surface?
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 851 views
Is there a way to change the direction of the source light when using Ambiance Occlusion. I've set up a scene that has no lights in it, I just want to use Ambiance Occlusion for light, however, it seems like the source of light is directly above the object. I need it to come in from the side, but I'm not sure there is a way to do this. My other option is to use lights and turn on Radiosity?
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 997 views
Hello everyone! I have a question, does anyone why whenever I use a translate and a orient constraint object on another object in a choreography file, but once you import that choregraphy file onto another, you have to constrain the object again? Another question I have is that I just added a translate and orient contraints from an object to a hand of a character and now the objects aren't attached to the hand. is there a way I can fix them without re-constraining them? thanks, J.w.
Last reply by Gerry, -
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- 650 views
I recently installed a AM 15.0c via the CD. Everything seems to be fine, I can view and access the CD library. I downloaded the CD box version (windows) of 15.0j+. After installation, the program started okay, but now my CD library is filled with question marks instead of the images which represent the content. Is there some special way of applying these updates that won't break the CD link or some way to fix it? (I emailed support, but haven't gotten a response yet). Bill
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 727 views
I love the look that AO can give... but getting there is killin me! Friday I set up a AO render and let it fly all weekend... it was taking an hour per frame... not bad- I have some time to render this sequence. TODAY I am trying to do the same thing and NOT getting the same results (See image) Let me tell you how I go about getting AO and please check me if I am missing something: -Open up project and turn OFF or delete any existing lights. -Set the CHOR to GLOBAL AMBIANCE TYPE- COLOR -Adjust the color to an off-white, set the ambiance intensity to 70-90 ish -set the ambiance occlusion to 20-40 ish (higher equals longer renders...) -In the RENDER cue...…
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 5 replies
- 641 views
Is there a way to know the direction of a spline? And to change it? Because it seems there is an impact on the decal : What is the logic about the choice of the spline where that cut the cylindrical decal? The direction of a spline has an effect on the render?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 719 views
Trying to get a sprite particle system set up, and can't help but think I'm missing something basic here. I can't get the opacity to change over time. It's just constant. I adjust the opacity over time on the timeline, but it does nothing. And is it possible to use an animated format for a sprite? .gif or .mov? Had no luck with .mov, nothing renders. Thanks!
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 660 views
now i was just interested in what the Extra DVD has, does it have video tutorial on it that shows how to model human characters and mecha robots? i already did the F-150 fighter jet tutorial on how to rotoscope to model an image but that is how it went and it didnt show you how to create eyes, mouth, how to color it, and so forth. also it seems that in order to rotoscope, you must have different pictures of the same object from different views. i was wondering if there were any plugins that would help in modeling human characters and robots.
Last reply by Darkwing, -
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- 672 views
Hi, I don't know if there is a faster way to get help - other than calling Hash. Hopefully I'll get it here pretty quickly. I must have pressed a button, but i don't know what it was. My intent was to just press / to select all connected CPs, but somehow, several (not all) groups of CPs got selected and I can't seem to get them deselected. Any suggestions would be appreciated. (restarting software now). Thanks, Tommy
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 625 views
so i'm on 15j+ and 32bit OS. and i'm in love with those "AO only" renderings people post on jenpy's fast AO thread. they gave me a new script idea. something similar should be possible with just light, shadow, in a colorless environment? it's the oomph in the beautiful blurry shape-moulding gradients that's the issue. actual question: what to study? a specific light category, exr, post? tips on how to make it swift? this project is aeons into the future, just need to nail a few images down, get the atmosphere recorded now that it's so alive in my mind's eye. (any chance one can learn to pose cloth -heavy, flowing cape- in, say, 3 days? needed for the sh…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 714 views
how do i change a characters preview to something even simpler than a wireframe? hiding is not an option. they all have the AO options set, beginning to suspect this somehow affects work even when in wireframe, is this possible? i've 11 characters in a scene and haven't even started on the sprites..
Last reply by dblhelix, -
- 5 replies
- 691 views
Composite confoooses moi. I have 2 images - the depth buffer.png, and a color image.png I then want to combine these 2 images in A:M using the post effect fakeao, without always having to rerender, in order to try out the fakeao properties/settings. Is it possible to do this in ver16beta5 pc? using composite? some other way? Does composite only work on exr? I have read Holmes tutorial on Compositing Light Buffers - I believe I almost actually did the tut at some point in my life. I believe I got it to work. Somewhat. I could be lying. Or I was probably confused at that time as well. Here's what I have - how do I get the images into a compos…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 5 replies
- 786 views
Please help refresh my memory - since I am just learning A:M - is it possible to draw a bounding box around (with the Right Mouse Button) in the Choreography window same as in the Model window?
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 5 replies
- 622 views
In the customize window, all the selections (tool bars, etc) remain until changed except for the scheme. If I want to change it to something else (I quite like the Bordeaux) I have to do it every time I open a project. Is this the way it is designed?
Last reply by bubba, -
- 5 replies
- 702 views
I bought Hash Animation Master in 2003 and it is very outdated now. Is the $300 something I spent on it just gone? How do I update it? Do I have to buy it all over again to get the current version?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 964 views
Hi im just join Today and getting started on animation. im like seriously animation illiterate atm ,but i consider my self as a fast learner. If u can help a fellow member out feel free to post or add me thanks...
Last reply by TheSpleen, -
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- 748 views
I am following through the tutorial and I have just finished the first one which results in a short video .avi file. If I select "Play Animation File" in the A:M top toolbar, I can see the video file. It has a small lock in the lower left hand corner which I imagine means it's read only. Anyway, if I select the file, I get an error in the media player. I first tried WMP 12. Then I installed VLC media player and still get an error. The strange thing is if I use windows explorer to navigate to the directory which contains the video file, I don't see the video file listed in the directory. I am getting discouraged since I can't even get past the first tutorial!?!? …
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 5 replies
- 633 views
My BattleMech model has three two-jointed "toes". When the foot pedestal rises, the "toes" should flex downward. And when the foot is planted they should return. Each joint has a bone. I am looking for someway to "flex" just one "toe" and have the others follow. Which constraint would accomplish this? Is there some other "easy" way? Thanks.
Last reply by bubba, -
- 5 replies
- 718 views
A strange problem is occuring when I try to render a QT to preview some animation. Working in 15J on an Imac under OSX 10.56 If I render the view using the Q ( quick render ) option, the image appears. If I try to render the same view to a QT file, I get a black blank. No image. This problem has not happened before. I get the same problem if I try to render a choreography from the camera view. ??? The shadows only option is turned off in the buffers. The other settings are standard. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be going wrong ? Also, I don't know if this is related or not but, In my project I h…
Last reply by jimd, -
- 5 replies
- 626 views
I'm a bit stuck on my personal project right now, and waiting for a new license key, so I'm back in v13 at the moment and thought I would go through the tutorials. My thinking is it is better to be doing something than nothing. I sort of glossed over the earlier tutorials in favor of the modelling tutorials, as that is what I was having problems with at the time. I loaded the Keykat model and noticed there is something a bit off about him - his eyes look like they are too far back in his sockets and one of his fingers has a CP jumping way off it. Is this normal? I loaded him directly from the CD. I can fix the eyes simply enough, by moving them forward, not sure…
Last reply by markw, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 1.1k views
Hey everyone... I remember something like this happening awhile ago. I've searched, but the "solutions" I've found didn't work. I recently purchased the 1year subscription (vers 15.0 J ). I downloaded the complete "data" folder also, and per the email instructions, placed it in the program files / hash inc / ver 15 folder. I have other models I've used in other version of A:M. I copied the one model folder (toon shark) to the same destination directory, but placed the "Toon Shark" folder inside the Data - Models - Aquatic folder. When I boot up A:M, I don't see that model or the others I placed in that default DATA folder. What am I missing? Tha…
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 5 replies
- 789 views
Hi everyone, I was wondering if it was possible to render a spline as a line. The image below is where I would like AM to draw the line, but I'm not sure if I can get it to: Can I get AM to draw a line on a spline? Thanx everyone.
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 834 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, -
- 5 replies
- 486 views
Has anyone else ever noticed that occasionally, AM will not display a model when opening a project or choreography back up? For instance, lets say you have a project with only one model in it, and you open it back up, all AM will show is a gray screen. Then if you close and reopen it, the model will display. I'm not sure if its a problem with the graphics driver software or maybe I need to click on the model once in the Project Workspace in order for it to appear. Sometimes when i do that, I can see the model, sometimes I can't.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 753 views
How do you model perfect angles/shapes. I know I can create a pentagon or octagon with the lathe tool very easy. Pentagon 5 cp's or octagon 8cp's lathe and then peak those points. Free hand guess work I don't consider to be accurate. So how do I measure/set a perfect angle manually?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 676 views
this is so weird i'm almost excited. 15j+ (no that's not the weird part); Tools>Customize>Toolbars> clicking the box for "Grooming" brings a tool set in view immediately. clicking OK makes it disappear. going back clicking the box brings it back, but only till i click OK. seriously! anybody? makes me want to write a camp fire song. second, slightly less exciting incident; hairing up an ostrich feather all's well, tweakin'&learnin'. wanted to test "cull hairs" what it does and turned it to 100%, hairs disappeared. changed it back to 50%, they did not return. rebooted a:m, hair's gone. hmm? any thoughts?
Last reply by dblhelix, -
- 5 replies
- 877 views
After a long period of illness I am back trying to finish my project. Working on an IMac 3.3 under OSX Snow Leopard, using V15J. Trying to output a test of the current revisions. It will render as a sequence of TGA files but, it won't render as QT file ? The render crashes and the program closes. I get the following message, "Format error, try adjusting the settings in Output/options/settings" I have looked under Tools/options and tried to find the required bit using properties, but to no avail. I think the problem might arise because I was using Final Cut Pro the other day and outputting using using a different codec ??? Could anyone kind…
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 5 replies
- 737 views
Is it possible to use AM v13, for cutting and joining animated clips done in AM. I m not sure i have heard of this done in AM before. thanks.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 787 views
I'm animating a character. I rotate a bone using the "red" / X axis. But in the graph editor, it shows that I'm rotating the "Green" / Y axis. Anyone experienced this camelion/ rogue switch.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 829 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, -
- 5 replies
- 931 views
this is something that has bothered me for a while. is there an easy way to just remove patches from a group without making a new group minus the undeisered patches?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 920 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, -
- 5 replies
- 1.2k views
I just downloaded A:M v16 on my iMac. I'm running mac OSX v. 10.6.8. When I put in my activation code I get an error: "Error writing license file / Application / Animation Master 16.0 / master0.lic" When I cancel it pops up "Bad parameter passed to RLM function (-123)" I have never installed A:M on this machine before. There is no master0.lic in Animation Master 16.0 at this time. What do I do now?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 5 replies
- 663 views
So I have run into my 1st, of many, animation question: I started the 'It's a pitch' tutorial and did the 1st pose at time 00:00:00. Then I had to save the project and get something else done in the house. When I reopened the project, I got the 2nd pose finished only to realize I had not moved the timeline up to 00:00:10. So I did a 'save as' and moved the keyframes of the new pose over to 00:00:10. So now I want to copy the keyframes from my 1st project of the beginning pose. But when I paste those keyframes into the new project at 00:00:00, it seems to combine the 2 poses instead of replace the 'bad pose'. I then deleted all the keyframes from 00:00:00 an…
Last reply by thumperness, -
- 5 replies
- 626 views
I have a little animation in my head which involves prolly Kee-Kat walking around on a stage, with a book in his hand, giving a short speech. As he moves around, I'd like the soft back book to flop around as a secondary motion. What tools will I be working with to make the book move? Newtons Physics? Weighted CPs? Just wanted to know what to start reading up on.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
SSS
by thumperness- 5 replies
- 809 views
I see a lot of references, in the forums, to SSS... What does SSS stand for?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 5 replies
- 727 views
I had always been a fan of the written tutorials because I could go at my own pace and not have to worry about pausing the player and/or rewinding to catch something I had missed. But having been stuck on the flower modeling tut. I went ahead and watched most of the video tutorial. I am now hooked. There are so many hints and tips you can catch on a good video tutorial that never come across in the written tutorials. (BTW, who is doing the video tuts. for the TAoAM videos?) It's almost as if a picture is worth like 999 words. (Hmmm. That could almost be a proverb, I'll have to work on that.) I am aganin even more excited now about the prospect of the…
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 5 replies
- 603 views
Ok, so I successfully made my smartskin, but now I have a strange kink in the spline running down the middle of the neck, and also the middle spline is bulging out on the righthand side (if looking at the penguin, lefthand from the penguin's point of view). Not sure what I did that this happened, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. May need to delete the smartskin and redo it.
Last reply by Roger, -
- 5 replies
- 886 views
Hello, Have a spline ring selected and some of the points on that ring are not as even as I would like them to be. Tried selecting the whole ring and then setting Y and Z values to 0 in the Properties for the Y and Z translate values, but that doesn't seem to have done anything. Did I do something wrong? I guess it is not critical that they be perfect, I can eyeball them and get something acceptable but it seems like there should be a better way to do this.
Last reply by Roger, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 978 views
Fluid Is it me or is there no mention of the settings in the tech ref?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 1.1k views
You know how we flatten models in a pose so that we can evenly distribute the decal. Well I cant remember how you actually apply the decal after you flatten the model in the pose.
Last reply by Vertexspline, -
- 5 replies
- 891 views
v.13 Mac So I did a nice job on the Boneless Thom Lesson. How do I extract him (My Boneless Thom) and save him as a new .mdl so I can use him in other projects? How do you place him in "My Library" or is that not what I want to do? Where do you keep your collection of models after you create them?
Last reply by Schloss, -
- 5 replies
- 999 views
I've experienced a system crash, and AM needs my serial number to re-activate, which I can't seem to find. Help. John Bailey
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 1k views
I'm trying to create a Choreography, that is better suited to make reflective metallic surfaces more realistic. The default Choreography with ground and background makes a reflective objects look a bit unrealistic and dead. Adding more objects helps, but also increase render time. I've created a 360° skydome, what does a good job making it more live like and realistic looking, but it's missing a visible light source, the sun. SO I'm trying to make a light source to actually show up in the reflection instead of just emitting light with out being able to be seen. Problem is, I'm doing something wrong and I don't know what, any one able to give me nudge in…
Last reply by wildcard,