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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.
4,161 topics in this forum
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The links to Fontwiz seem to be dead. Is there a new link or a newer utility for importing text and Illy files as 3D objects? Carl
Last reply by carlf, -
- 3 replies
- 625 views
hello all. hope everyone is doing well. i was wondering while im learning how to model, does someone who knows how to model, also have to also be good at animating? or vice-versa? like, say if youre the type of person who is "so-so" at modeling, but if someone gave you a pre-built rigged model, you know you could animate the heck out of it? or if you know you suck at or dont have the patience to animate, but would love to be down with a project just to build and model a character? is this acceptible that although a person is assigned a job doing either/or, knowing the other is not a requirement, i.e., and artist that gets paid to model doesnt need to know how to anim…
Last reply by LurkerAbove, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 625 views
Hello again, I'm making progress with A:M but of course now I get to the hard part adding a voice. I have a choreography where at the end I want to have a character, Eddie for the time being, say a sentence. I've watched the "Can you say that" tutorials and I think I'm doing things correctly. I've created a new action in my choreography for Eddie, imported my WAV file, created the dope sheet and moved the words so that it synchs up. I've saved the action and then put it into the choreography where it is supposed to go on the timeline. However, Eddie's lips don't move. The audio file plays but no lip movement. Earlier in the choreography I did make Eddie smile …
Last reply by greg, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 625 views
Ok.. i'm attempting to add a light to my lamp so I can have it turn off/on, etc. However, I can only move the light left or right or back or forward. I can't move it up or down?? I press the "N" key but the only option is left or right. What is going on? Anyone?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 625 views
Howdy all. I just purchased the web subscription to get back into using A:M (started using it back in the early 90s when it was Playmation)..but am having some trouble. I'm running on an MacBook Pro with 3GB of RAM and 10.5.1, but am crashing constantly. It's a clean install of 10.5.1 so there are no old preference files from my older version of A:M that I previously purchased. What I'm wondering is: 1. Is A:M 15.0a the only version that I can run under the web subscription? I was expecting to be running a final release, not alpha. 2. Is there a specific version of the OS that works better than others for the most current release of A:M? Thanks! I'm dying…
Last reply by higginsdj, -
- 4 replies
- 625 views
I am doing some final renderings in A:M v15, and after reading these boards I decided the best way to go was to do them in layers and then composite said layers together. That way I can use post effects to blus my background and foreground objects. Except when I render a model that has particle streaks, A:M is putting their transparencies into the Alpha channel even if there is a visible object behind them. (so if I have streaks in front of a wall, and both the streak emitter and wall are to be rendered, the wall should be sorta visible though the transparent streaks. Instead, it is just transparent all the way through. Shouldn't A:M only be applying transparencie…
Last reply by Ganthofer, -
- 8 replies
- 625 views
in the new laptop i just bought, my libaries pannel is empty. please could someone give me the link so that i can download the missing items. thz
Last reply by jakerupert, -
- 3 replies
- 625 views
I got AM a couple years ago at comic-con but I haven't had much time to mess with it, but I'm pretty used to making the models and rigging them. I was recently asked to help make a little game and stuff, so I need to send them the files, but they're useing blender, and I think the files I need to export are either blend, dae and fbx I looked around but I'm kind of at a loss. I need a plugin to export them like that right? I can only really do the basics with this program. I need to be able to send him the model with it all rigged.
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 reply
- 624 views
Hello. I am having problems playing my sound files. I Opened in Sounds "My Library" which contains some empty folders like Cartoons and Animals. I don’t know where A:M has written those folders to, because I can’t find them nowhere on my hard disc. Anyhow, I clicked and dragged a wav sound file from my hard drive folder into this "My Library" window and I double clicked the icon that it created within this My Library window. The message says “Invalid sound file….Unsupported file type”. Now the sound file is a wav file I have edited in Adobe Audition. When I right click on the sound icon in My Library and pick play, the sound file plays and can not be stopped unless I…
Last reply by Robert-Jank, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 624 views
I'm useing A:M 2006 and cannot find the compliment all option in EDIT as it is placed in A:M 2003. Can someone tell me where it is?
Last reply by ssappington, -
- 4 replies
- 624 views
How do you add blood and gore? like if one character takes off other charaters head with sword how do I do a "fountain of blood" affect? particles and sprites?
Last reply by Mr. C, -
Video Codecs
by greg- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 624 views
Hi there, I've been trying to get a video clip converted from WMV to AVI so that I can bring it into A:M. I've tried Movie Maker, which I understand from another thread here that it probably won't work, Ulead Video Studio and Virtual Dub. Working with the A:M support people they suggested I might try a more standard codec than the ones used, Virtual Dub uses Microsoft DIB and the Ulead codec was not obtained by AVICODEC. Does anyone know of a rendering package which will create an AVI movie which A:M can bring in? Or, can someone tell me how to change the CODEC on the packages I am using? I can't seem to find a place to change the COODEC to one of the ones sugge…
Last reply by greg, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 624 views
Hello all, I need to use the horse from the 2006 CD, but I need a walk cycle. There is a run cycle, and other items. Anyone have any links, resources for creating a walk cycle for a horse? I have the CD, and the model. I need to figureout the walk. Thanks
Last reply by bighop, -
Hi guys, I was reading the manual and it says on page 128 "click the right-mouse button while the left mouse button is still down" to create a hook, now when I do that I get this error.......can someone in form me what am doing wrong....... thanks.
Last reply by DarkLimit, -
- 6 replies
- 624 views
I've seen in tons of video games, movies, and other things that use streaks. Usually there is a glow applied to them. Is it not possible to do that in A.M. because I have tried adding glow to the sprite streaks and nothing happens. Just wondering if there is a way
Last reply by captainrex, -
- 4 replies
- 624 views
A long time ago, I used A:M for titling and some minor add-ons to video projects. I have a multi-media idea and think I can use the cricut for making a mold. I am talking 5-10mm in size. With the text to object feature, I can do personalized things. It is a challenge. I want cricut instead of a 3d printer because I can use a soluble mold. I do gemstone composites and have an idea. Sorry, no like to an example as FB url or non-https are not allowed.
Last reply by g3ellis, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 623 views
hey sorry to bother u guys but, where can i find out how to make, motion blur? i looked in "am resource matrics" but most of the tutorial web pages dont work :s thx guys
Last reply by LIGHTBEING, -
- 7 replies
- 623 views
Newbie here. THe knight pitch chapter was hard I hope it gets easier! Definitely is fast to do though and provides outstanding results. This program was worth the money.
Last reply by grymmjack, -
- 9 replies
- 623 views
I'm a newbie so go gentle with me. Finally got around to installing version 10.5, the CD has a brown gorilla on it with purple face & hands (the contact at the website asked me this question along with what operating system / computer I'm using. Mac OS X both 10.5 Tiger and 10.6 Snow Leopard). The program wouldn't open, so I went to the website and downloaded both updates, one at a time (web & other one). When I go to open the program after trying the web update, I was instructed to type in the "Activation Code". Tried the serial number from the registration card and manual, that didn't work so I deleted that update. The other update I installed and tried to open …
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 622 views
What is the best way to add beveled edges to a model after it has been created? Thanks Steve
Last reply by mcpSteveS, -
- 3 replies
- 622 views
Exercise #6 is going to be a large learning curve for me because not every step is spelled out (which is good) and I'm taking some liberties by adding my own touches to it. The oportunities for learning started when I couldn't figure out how to save the project w/ the model with out A:M squawking that it could not save the model back to the CD. Got that question answered and banged head 1st into the next issue. I knew there had to be a way to add a keyframe for a single bone with out keyframing everything on that frame. Every time I have tried to learn this software I always get jammed up about those buttons at the bottom left of the screen. (Forgive me when I use th…
Last reply by TeresaNord, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 622 views
While trying to rotate a model in the action window the model shrinks then comes back to normal size between the key frames. Why?? How can I stop this?
Last reply by lkwebb21, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 622 views
ok if you have played the game homeworld you will know what im talking about , all small craft leave a line or sorts behind them that slowly disapears , i know this will proble be done with a partical engin but since i have yet to get one activly working properly i though id ask
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 3 replies
- 622 views
When i try to put it in shaded mode, a black box appeares around the prison.
Last reply by machineork, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 622 views
I started building my house in AM so I could see what a wood floor would be like throughout my little place. A friend of mine saw the attached picture and asked if the cold air return was real or a decal. I told him I really modeled it. He suggested that a decal would be better because when rendering, the light will have to be calculated for each fin (There are 68 fins, and a decal or map would be better. (This is based on a 3D program he uses) Does that apply to AM? Am I really going to tank my render times for adding too much detail?
Last reply by bighop, -
- 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, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 621 views
So... I am making a fencing mask. I need for it to be transparent in the places where the mesh has holes in it. I am making a bird's egg model and then putting a cookie cut decal over it. Is that the way to go?
Last reply by c-wheeler, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 621 views
Hi folks, I'm trying to install A:M 15.0c on my Intel MacBook running Mac OS X 10.5.3. I have the yearly subscription version. After install, when I try to open one of the tutorial projects, say, the flag tutorial, I get a message about 'Missing image IO plugin for 'BetsyRoss.bmp'. I checked the Image IO plugins folder preference and it looks okay, with the exception that the capitalization of the path was off. The path that was set ended in 'ImageIOs'. The path on install was 'ImageIOS'. So I corrected the path and restarted A:M and then I was getting 'Cannot load 'TGA.iio' or something like that. This is very odd behavior. This is a fresh install of Mac OS …
Last reply by bighop, -
- 5 replies
- 620 views
I am trying to make an animated electrocardiogram with a darkish green background with the 'blip' animating a normal sinus rhythm. I want the blip to glow and leave a trail that fades as the blip travels along the "path" just like you see in the movies. I have tried sprites constrained to a path placed in a tube shaped like a normal sinus rhythm, but even with collision detection on I cannot keep them in the tube. I was thinking of applying a material that would travel along the length of the tube, but am at a loss as to what or how. I remember John had something of this effect when he rendered a box as lines with something tracing the box lines and glowing. Could …
Last reply by grandma, -
OK this is kind of hard to explain with out an aimated example but when i animate i dont know how to make something to start move from a certain frame. For example. say im animating a guy jumping. when i get to frame 5:00 or so i start to make him go up into the air but when i do this he starts going up into te air slowly from frame 0 instead of a few frames befor 5:00. i dont know how to make it so i doesnt do this?? is there a certain button or mode to make the movement start from a certain frame instead of from the beginning. Also what is the button force key frame can any of you give me what it does and how to use it etc??
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 9 replies
- 620 views
Hi - I have a dentist client that wants an animation of the process of Veneers being put on. I need to illustrate a dental drill shaving down the tooth a bit. I am guessing a "blobbies" particle material or something? I would love any suggestions or samples of something someone might have done similiar to the effect I am trying to achieve. I have delt w/ smoke and fire before, but not w/ blobbies. Thanks for any help, Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 3 replies
- 619 views
I followed the online tutorial for it's a pitch. I tried it with the skeleton as well as the knight and I have the same response (twice with both character's). When I set the frame 18 pose and use the slider to see the animation, both feet end up in the air between frame one and thirteen. It looks like the charter is hurdling. Its appears that it didn't regester the foot placement in frame ten. I can go back an replace the foot but I have to do it on a number of frames establish foot contaqct on the ground. I am using v12q. I don't have the inverted knee problem others have discussed. I did set the balance and balance riged to 0 per the tutorial. Any ideas??
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 4 replies
- 619 views
Alright then, can anyone out there tell me how to render an animation out with more than one camera? You know, switching cameras and such...
Last reply by Smuschee Faces, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 619 views
Ok, everyone, I have tried the help files and searching the online forum, but can't locate this one. I have used the Preston set quite successfully, but now want to try the higher set. I set up the aa and the ar, but when typing in a dope sheet, "How are you", the "are" is translated using the Preston set instead. Can someone help me with this?
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 619 views
Does anyone have a tutorial or any other kind of help for rendering (to file)? Granted, I have only been using A:M for 1 day but I can't seem to get any of my rendering to work. It seems pretty straight-forward but for some reason if I render a tga file, it just comes out completely white with nothing on it. If I render a movie (i.e. Quicktime), it is just pure black. There must be something I'm not doing right. Thanks.
Last reply by Kurrykid, -
- 4 replies
- 619 views
Hello all, I'm fairly new to AM and am trying to work through the examples from Animation Master A Complete Guide (2006 edition). In chapter six starting around page 250/251 it starts taking about character rigging and goes through an example referencing the Captain character. Looking on the CD I have found several model files which could be of the captain, but none of them seem to load, I get an error that reads: [/i]Invalid Model File D:/pathToModel/Captain_v19.mdl So I am obviously having trouble with the example since I can't put bones in a model I can't load. Hs anyone else had this problem? Was using AM v 12.0n+ on Windows XP. Tia, -- kammer
Last reply by T-Dogg, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 619 views
I posted a few days ago thati have been part of the forum for about 3 years know and that i never have seen where you vote for the image contest, only the results of the voting, in my post someone said check the new postes, for the voting, i still have not seen it, know i was just reading that the voting is almost over, where is it I dont want to vote because i have entered a image but i would like to check on the compitision, befor its decided by whoever decides
Last reply by Caroline, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 619 views
Oi !!! I just purchased AM and am having problems when I try to run it. It comes up with the following error message: This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Press 'Switch to' to activate the busy program and correct the problem. When I select 'Switch to', it opens the windows menu in the bottom corner, which does not help. I installed AM on 3 other computers that belongsto friends and only one of these computers had the same problem. My computer has the following specs: GeForce 8800GT 512mb, 4gig RAM, 500gig HDD, AM2 Dual Core 4.2Ghz. Help!!! I need to get it running for exams.
Last reply by Darker Cucumber, -
- 6 replies
- 619 views
But I can't member how. here's the scene: 1.I want to have a cannon fire off screen. 2. reaction to firing causes cannon to roll across screen from right to left. 3. pause 4. cannon fires again. 5. reaction causes cannon to roll (funny path spiral) away from camera 6. pauses 7. cannon fires again. 8+. cannon rolls away from camera further, stops, fires at camera. using ver 14 c I have the action of the cannon's wheels rolling. I have created a chor where steps 1 and 2 occur. ending at 3. How do i add steps 4 thru 8? While you try to explain this to me, I'm looking up resources on the extra cd and dvd. I have the walk and wave tu…
Last reply by oakchas, -
- 2 followers
- 3 replies
- 619 views
The title says it all. I know it is a total noob question but how do you do it? Do you need special software? Help much appreciated ! -Photoman
Last reply by bighop, -
- 8 replies
- 619 views
i m using v13, sometime ago i change my codec settings in my AM, please could some body help me out by telling me the right or default codec used in AM thz
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 3 replies
- 619 views
I had a spot of bother recently with the defaults resetting . That seems to have cleared up thanks to the help I received here, however, I have noticed an anomoly and wondered if it was a common one or a fault of mine ? I am rendering a 30 seconds sequence as a series of still files.. It cut out on frame 234 which @25fps works out to 9 seconds 9 frames ( ?) I restarted at that point (00:09:09 ) but instead of resuming on frame 234 it started at 273... Has my maths gone wonky ( not unlikely ) or has the frame rate stayed at 30 in the choreo even though set to 25 in the options menu ? Puzzled simon
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 5 replies
- 618 views
I just completed the "Giraffe" chapter of the book, accidentally got rid of the project (Model) window -- and now I can't find it! Yes, this project was saved -- I've restarted -- I even went back to 'reset controls', but to no luck. I can open up any other project and I get its corresponding window (in this case, the "Model" window), but just not the one I spend the last five hours working on. Another interesting thing...when I choose to open another project A:M asks if I want to save my job, "Giraffe" -- so I know it's there, just no window. So what stupid, silly thing am I not doing? I swear I've pushed every button more than once now trying to get …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 618 views
I’m having some issues with an “Ork” flag banner I’m creating. The banner is hanging from a “T” shaped pole similar to the following image. On top of the banner I will be modeling a skull with hair tied in a very long ponytail sticking out on top slightly backwards. But for now, it`s a sphere with one patch with a very dense amount of hair. The banner (or Cloth) I’ve under control, the pole is setup as deflector and the cloth will not pass through it. The hair on the other hand I don’t seem to be able to control From time to time, it will pass through the sphere or pole but most of the time it`s looking ok. But it’s piercing through the banner like it isn’…
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 4 replies
- 618 views
When using the rotate tool, it rotates in steps of 5°, is the a key that can override this rotate snap angle? For I'm quite happy with the rotate snap and all, but there are situation I don't want it and I find it a bit to much trouble going in to the settings tab to turn it off.
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 617 views
Hi I'm trying to add any text to a simple choreography. Is there an easy way to do this in animation master? I have not found it at all...I would like a simple opening text saying the movie title.
Last reply by Jeffnewc, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 617 views
I often use Bird's Eye view when modeling, rotating parts to make sure they look ok, etc. However, since some parts are far away from wherever the pivot happens to be, its often difficult to use Bird's Eye to rotate around a single part. Does everyone else move the pivot to do this, or would I be better off using the rotate manipulator?
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 1 reply
- 616 views
I am looking for a tutorial on ice, but I was not able to find anything. Would it be the same thing as glass? If so, would you point toward some good resources: tutorials and available materials. Also, on a different topic. How do you constrain a bone so that it rotates in only one direction? Such as the knee bone on the Hash model "Eddie". Thanks.
Last reply by fybs, -
- 2 replies
- 616 views
I am having a problem now where whenever I try to open a project while in the program it just causes the program to shut down completely. Is there some feature or button that I can check to keep this from happening. It is quite fustrating when I am working and just want to check other files as I save multiple files when working on stuff. I was taught to always save in increments. Thanks, Leo
Last reply by Leo73, -
- 2 replies
- 616 views
Hello Sorry if this has been covered, Ive searched the forum but been unable to find a solution. Im simply trying to mirror smartskins, but after I perform the `mirror all smartskins` operation, all I get is a new -but empty- smartskin folder. On the original side I can find a folder containing all of the modified splines, but on the mirrored side, the smartskin folder is just empty. Ive also tried deleting smartskins on other models, on one side only, then using `mirror all smartskins` to get them back, but I get the same problem. I dont know what Im doing wrong, as its worked for me in the past (some how). Any ideas? Thanks
Last reply by Christian,
