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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.
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-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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- 2 followers
- 9 replies
- 3.6k views
I am rigging the fingers of a hand and I know of 3 different ways to make the CPs move in a controlled fashion: Smart skin Fan bones CP weights I have found tutorials for each of them but I have not found the overall explanation how to think when choosing between them. In my case of the fingers, I started weighing the CPs and planned to do some smartskinning in the next step to tweak it more precisely.... But in the middle of the work I asked myself; Is this a good approach? I am worried that if I combine smartskin and CP weighing it will be confusing, for me, if I afterwards need to correct some unwanted behaviors of the fingers. What is the best pract…
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 6 replies
- 520 views
Hi - I did the Smart Skinning for a character I am working on for the Thigh, Calves, Pelvis and Back bones - that all came out great. So I bring the T Bear character into an action w/ the IK Leg Setup Turned "on" and I move the Hip Target down and it result in what you see on the pic - as if I didn't Smart Skin anything. Can you Smart skin a Target? What am I not getting here? Thanks - Eric
Last reply by Mechadelphia, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 852 views
was there some smart solution to rendering cloth in stills? once again i know i've read something about this on a couple of occasions and now can't find anything in searches. something about preroll, how not to render animation and use the last tga, but a different solution? i'm just dreaming?
Last reply by dblhelix, -
- 2 replies
- 423 views
I have a character with a skirt and I have applied smartskin to it. However, somehow I put in a couple extra keys in where they shouldn't be. How to I remove them?
Last reply by MasterFunk, -
- 2 replies
- 563 views
So I am working on smartskin to adjust the area where my penguins flippers connect to her body. I am selecting the torso bone and doing New > smartskin. Problem is when it jumps to the 90 degree rotation. I understand this is normal, however, I can't see the bone to move it back and it seems to *really* distort the model. Should I keep my model in shaded wireframe mode while doing this, or would just wireframe make seeing the bone easier?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 596 views
I think I am going to have to set up smartskin for my penguin, because for some of the more extreme positions of the joints, the model starts to look like absolute trash the way the skin pinches. Anyone have any tips for working with smart skin?
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 5 replies
- 422 views
so my problem now is I'm applying a smartskin in a model window, but when I open up a new action or choreography, my smartskins don't seem to be working. any ideas? thanks!
Last reply by breakthelocke, -
- 1 follower
- 24 replies
- 2.2k views
i'm working on a nice little rigg(i'll show it off later). but for some reason when i try to smart skin a bone of a model i don't get the right results. i translate the bone, go into muscle mode and get the splines how i want them. then i test it out and the splines i moved don't go back to the way they were when i translate it back...is there some thing i'm missing?
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
smo
by Master chief- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 775 views
i have managed to extrach a model file in the form of a smo any on eno how to add this to AM
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 7 replies
- 853 views
I am having problem with the sprite system. I am unable to create a depth map when using a smoke emitter and fog. I looks like the emitter ignores the fog, and stays bright white no matter what. Using the depth Buffer doesn't work either, the Depth Buffer doesnt render the smoke at all. Can anyone take a look at this problem before I report it? I might have missed something elementary. I could fake it by giving the smoke a grey tint, but it would not be the best solution, since the camera is going to be moving smoke.zip
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 507 views
i was playing a very old game by the name of "Total Annihilation" and i tough i would try to recreate the way things build in the game. in which a energy grid is sprayed with a nanite cloud and it forms a full structure. and so i came down with 2 problems. 1 i could not find very much info on making smoke though it seamed it had to be using sprites 2 what i could find has an object moving leaving smoke, i need the smoke to move from an object preferable in a controled maner towards another model
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 3 replies
- 654 views
Hello - basic question, I think - I remember doing something like this a way back - but not sure how I did it. I have a "smoke" emitter in a chor. I turn it "on" at 3 seconds into the chor - and turn it "off" two seconds later - when I watch it in the timeline it works perfect - smoke comes in then fades out and disappears, but when I render it out, smoke comes in then abruptly stops when it hits the frame where I turned it "off". Am I doing something wrong, or is there a way to make it slowy turn "off" with a pose slider or something? Thanks for any help. ;-)
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 3 replies
- 860 views
the title says it all where can i find a smoke tutorial? thx
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 0 replies
- 406 views
Working on the Smoke, wind and fire tutorial....I'm on page 181 of the handbook, and my timeline does not look like the example in the text. Nor can I see a color representation of the shift in color from brown to yellow. Does version 15 have a weird thing going at this point?
Last reply by banditsgirl, -
- 8 replies
- 2.2k views
Hello I need some help for my smurf. I started modeling with A:M. I t works very fine and is very simple. Only smoothing some splines is difficult for me. Is it the way I'm choosing to draw the splines, by sample clockwise or unclockwise or something else? I did foind a command to smooth the points. I tried to control the normals, but got no result. After I shall copy and flip the half head and set the symetry button. I tried it, but the edges on the X axis are not joined. How can I "weld" the points? I'm joining the mdl file and a screen capture. Thanks Remy Smurf_head.mdl
Last reply by urbssenator, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 393 views
Hello - The character I am creating for a client is a fan (burning fan) that is going to fly around with a jet pack on it's base. and I am having trouble w/ the Smooth Skinning. I want him to be able to bend left, right, back, forward, side to side, etc and have the shaft of the fan look the exact same throughout the movement. As you can see from the 15 second test animation of all the movement I did at the link below the smooth skinning attempt I did was pretty bad. http://www.flashanimationwebsitedesign.com...burningFan.html When you click on a bone and choose new SmartSkin it bends the bone at a 90 degree angle are you supposed to then fix the mesh at that…
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 6 replies
- 424 views
Hi - I am smart skinning my model and everything in the upper body looks great, but it is a girl with a skirt on and I need to have her walk without her leg coming out of her skirt - what bone do I smart skin to fix the skirt when she is walking? When I click on one of her thigh bones and right click New Smartskin it bring me to the screen to do the smart skinning and her thigh bone has dissapeared. I don't know what I am doing.. help ;-) -Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 2 followers
- 9 replies
- 904 views
I've been looking at some of the models on the AM disc and I noticed that they have very smooth surfaces. I was wondering what the best technics to smooth out models were especially when it comes to character modeling or Is there a plugin available? I'd like my models to have that sculptured look to them.
Last reply by grumpei_troll, -
- 1 reply
- 295 views
OK the model I'm working on is a little complex and in getting the surfaces to work correctly i need to find out how i can have one side of a line be smooth as in the "O" key and the other sharp as in the "P" k
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 13 replies
- 1.3k views
As some of you know, I had a few problems in December with files going awry. Fortunately I haven't had a recurrence of those problems yet but I have noticed a curious factor with the current iteration of AM. If I work in the current project, save, close the project and shut down AM. When I reopen, there is a little asterisk on the actions folder indicating there has been a change which needs saving ? When I open the folder it varies as to which action has the change indicator showing. Has anyone else noticed this and, has it given any problems ? Pt two Working on an action file I noticed that there is an option to 'Smooth' the interpolatio…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 651 views
so I am brand new to using hash patches, and am getting the hang of it except, in modeling my faces in the shaded view I'm seeing alot of small bumps, and some undesireable creating. Does everyone have problems with this when they start and is it just practice ? I've been using 3 point patches sparingly and trying to smooth things out... Any tips?
Last reply by Caroline, -
- 34 replies
- 3.8k views
Is there an established technique for smoothing the surface of a model without each tweak of a CP affecting all the others that are linked through splines? I've made a helmet which could do with being perfectly smooth, but has ridges as a result of modelling the nosepiece and eye-holes.
Last reply by Gorf, -
Smurf
by urbssenator- 1 follower
- 48 replies
- 4.5k views
Hello Here is the smurf completely A:M made. Comments? Remy
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 4 replies
- 497 views
OK i have been trying to add some roundness to my creations with circles and ovals and such . and to that point i have been using the lathe tool to create wheels that are well ...... round. but i have encountered a problem. it seams that the lathe tool works on a 8 point system while the grid is only 4 . when i try to use the snap to grid option the points at 0 90 180 270 snap into correct position but the points at 45 135 225 315 snap to what ever point is closest. is there a way i can collect the cps as a full group and select only one of them to snap into the grid to aline the circle???
Last reply by DJBREIT, -
- 2 replies
- 582 views
Is there a way to assure that all cps are in one plane without making them snap to grid in all axes? In other words, if I have a rounded rectangle that I want all cps to be on the same plane without moving the corner points to a different location on the xz plane but I wanted them all to rest on the plane (because one or more cps is slightly offset in the y axis). Is it possible to bring that/those points to the same xz plane as the others without it moving in x or z axis, only the y axis. Man, this is hard to describe... the xz plane is a flat plane... like the ground (but ABOVE AND parallel to it). All the cps are where I want them in each axis EXCEPT y... …
Last reply by oakchas, -
- 1 reply
- 371 views
ok working on a project that has a lot going on and a lot of item i need lined up , only problem is that said items are not lining up well in the choreograph , is there any way to snap to grid in the choreo window?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 455 views
i have a complexe model thats set to a grid of 5X5 and have a circle with 8 points , the whole lathe thing , but i need it to be connected to a specifing point as to not and seams , is there a way to select say the bottom point and snap it to point A with the others folowing but the circle not being destorted
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 39 replies
- 2.8k views
Here's a Noob question for you guys that I missed on somewhere down the road. Is it possible to snap a bone to a CP's position? If so, how might that be accomplished? William
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 replies
- 410 views
This feature is nice when modeling, as a guide, but it is the absolute most annoying "feature" of the program when trying to manipulate a model. Not only can I not detach these points from the center, causing everything to get distorted when the model is moved, but I can't even delete them once I have manually separated them from the rest of the mesh. Is there a way to disable this? Remove the setting from a single point? Cutting and pasting either leaves behind these points or leaves them attached to the center, as well. Thanks.
Last reply by djr33, -
can anybody point me to a nice snow material i haven't been able to find one
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 900 views
Hi, I'm needing to make a snowball being thrown at the camera. I'm using the "It's a pitch" tute for the character action (using my own character). When the snowball hits the lens/screen, it needs to splat out (like snowballs do!). Any thoughts on how I can make this happen effectively? Thanks. PAUL
Last reply by Sollywood, -
- 10 replies
- 1.1k views
Hi all! I'm working with Jeff Paries' Blobby Snowfall: ftp://www.hash.com/pub/Projects/V6.1/Snowfall.prj and the particles are coming out like little ping pong balls. I know I have to change the surface attributes of the blobbies but I can't seem to find settings that look even remotely like snow (although the movement looks great). Any ideas? Thanks, Mike
Last reply by mschoenhals, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 626 views
Ok, I have the clip almost done! I have the character walking through the scene. He then walks in again carrying a book. He then sets it down, and walks out. It worked, and then I got picky! I went to adjust some of the movements and now the thing does work right at all. As he was setting the book down there needed to be some adjustment. I did that in the Choreography Window. After I did, his arm went out of wack during the next walk cycle. How do you get an arm,,,,leg...etc...to go back into an action after you adjusted it?
Last reply by bighop, -
- 0 replies
- 268 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, -
Good luck, dude! I would hope your school would recognize how pervasive 3D art and animation will be in the future. As media shifts away from paper and printing to online media and future technologies like electronic paper, motion graphics are going to be hugely important. 3D will be everywhere. I'm sure they'll see the educational value of giving the students the tools to explore that. How's that for an endorsement? :-)
Last reply by arkaos, -
I'm gonna have a meeting with the bigwigs of my school monday. Very excitied. I think i've got AM sold, alot of the kids are very excitied also (they saw Noah's BC animation) The one concern they have is how to keep kids from modeling inapropriat stuff. I guess the teachers will just have to pay attention. anyways, i'm syked. I can't wait, cause AM looks so awsome. Hell, I think they may go for 15 copies instead of 10. And the great part is so i can lead the course in the summer they gonna give me the boxed copy! Huzza!
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 4 replies
- 674 views
hey anybody got a soccer ball model with a nice decal on it that they could give me?
Last reply by Alex55, -
- 2 replies
- 511 views
In the spirit of the new Tron movie coming out, I had some fun making this. Beginning stages as I have a looooooong way to go with tweaks and such. Let me know what you all think so far. Harsh and nice comments are all appreciated. cheers! soccertron.mov
Last reply by new guy, -
- 7 replies
- 757 views
Hi everyone, I've noticed some of the renderings people are use are soft and almost gradient like. The rendering setting that I always use is just final, which looks sort of like plastic. Does anyone know how to get a softer rendering? Masna
Last reply by Masna, -
- 18 replies
- 1.4k views
]It seems to be the season to ask questions about shadows ( !)... I am trying to be more systematic in my approach and, after losing a lot of time due to operator error. I finally got a lighting set up in a choreography that I liked. The shadows were an interesting shape and lead the eye into the picture. As part od the new approach I re read the section on lighting in the old V8 manual and in the new Technical reference book and thought I'd try it with more than one way cast for the shadows. The results were a big disappointment and I don't know if its me or a problem ? The two included files show what I mean. Example 1 is using one ray cast p…
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 1k views
My software is leaving many after images and I do not know how to fix it, I have changed no settings only updates for computer. Can someone please help and advise a course of action, I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the software still no change I'm getting multi layered after images.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 50 replies
- 5.9k views
Folks my eyes are getting crossed. For some strange reason which escapes me I have now lost my wizards. If i right click in window the menu that comes up has lost EXPORT and WIZARDS. Where did they go? How do I get them back? Sure could use some help here 'ole wise ones'
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 743 views
Hey all, its been a tough few months but I'm really doing all I can to learn this beautiful app. Just need some help on a few things on modeling if y'all can be so helpful to clarify how it's done. When I select CPs to hide or lock, it will do the operation on the unselected CPs instead. Is there a way to reverse this feature? Can't seem to find it in the settings. Also I use to monkey about in NURBS back in the day when foolin around with Rhino and was wondering if there's any way to do a Rail Sweep or a loft? Seems like I'm just stuck with lath and extrude. I'll keep this thread active with my modeling progress and hope to really excel in this wonderful…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 909 views
Hi, Im doing the face tutorial. I have a problem som of my "polygons" sometimes get a strange from, sometimes only on one of the points. Ive tried to fix it with the bezier handles but it dont work. Is there some relax tool i can use? And while modeling, ive seen that i canuse 5 pointed polys but should i stay away from 3 sided? It seam like them give me alot of trouble. What do i do wrong when this happens?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 5 replies
- 633 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, -
- 2 replies
- 473 views
One of the things I've seen around here is that apparently people can make games out of Animation: Master. Am I correct on this? If so, how does that work? What are the requirements? This is a totally new concept to me, making games from a personal 3d animation program. Sounds like something fun. Another thing is making money. Just out of curiosity, how exactly do average A:M users go about selling their own animation? If that actually happens, often? I've heard there might be certain websites to do it. This is also a relatively new discovery. I'd love for some clarification on these things.
Last reply by mfortunato, -
- 1 reply
- 411 views
Well, hello, I am interested in buying animation master 2006. But there are a few things I wanted to know about it before I get it if anyone can help me... Well, the things are... 1: Can AM 2006 import 3d files? Such as: .mdl, .3ds, .psd, .an8, .3cn, .3th, .bsp, or .spr files? Just wondering. 2: What kind of sound files can you import? .wav, .mp3, or .midi files? 3: Would it run fine on my computer? 4: Can you adjust the frames per second and if you can('t), what is it (What settings are there)? 5: And finally, are there any good websites for finding random models and props and such for your movies? Thanks for your help, that first one is the…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 662 views
I'm trying to get a character to do a somersault and or a back flip. When I turn IK off everything seems to move for the somersault, but having the character return to IK on for walking does not seem to work. (legs fold) I'm using the shaggy character, and it does the same thing as my character that I rigged with the 2001 rig. Would the set up machine help with this? or Version 15? I'm on 13 now.
Last reply by bighop, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 962 views
i am trying to render a movie with one of my alien models, and it's about 2 minutes.... and the estimated render time is 200 hours O_O is it supposed to do this? if so, then..... well, i don't know what i'll do.
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 1 reply
- 567 views
Hello All, I am sorry is this was covered in another post, I just couldn't find it if there is one. I am going through David Rogers book A:M a Complete Guide. So far it's going well but I run into an issue and can't quite figure it out. I have attached a capture of the model that I am working on. This is a tutorial from the book. basicailly it's two cylinders one was lathed around the Y axes. The other needs to be lathed around the x axes. It's an exercise on changing the pivot point. I an unable to get it to pivot around the x axes. I have toyed with the properties in rotate mode but not sure which things to change. I'm sure it's something quite easy…
Last reply by Rodney,
