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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.
4,141 topics in this forum
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- 1 follower
- 17 replies
- 1.4k views
I am trying to use the Surface constraint to make pupils move on an irregular eye. I have got everything working exept for one detail: I can´t make the pupils align in the direction of the surface normals. As I understand it, the Property Translate only is the one controlling this. I have set it to ON but it still does´t behave as I want. I have tried to change all of the properties I could find, both for the constraints and for the bones I use. I also made sure that the normals were pointing outwards. I have run out of ideas... what am I missing here? This is the current alignment of the bone that controls the pupil mesh. Note that it is pointing in the…
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 1 follower
- 23 replies
- 3.1k views
I am having problems getting the Surface constraint working. I think I have done it by the book, but the bone that is supposed to move in line with the aiming bone does not move at all. I have set the aiming bone to aim at a target but when moving the target, the aiming bone follows allright but the bone is not following. (If I test by changing the enforcement on the Surface constraint it moves. But when moving the target it does not). If I make the bone a Child of the aiming bone it moves but it "hops around" sometimes and does not follow the surface smoothly all the time. (But the bone should not have to be a Child to follow the aiming bone, should it?) I…
Last reply by Visping, -
- 4 replies
- 594 views
Can't give too many specifics since I'm at work right now but I thought I'd get this out there... I was working on a scene last night (v16.0b 64 bit) and had a model with only one group, with the glow surface property set to on. If I do a screen render in the model window the model glows quite nicely. If I drop that model into a chor and render to an avi file, there is sadly no glowing. Anyone know of a quick workaround? What I'm working on doesn't need fancy dancy solutions,is a quick down and dirty bit for the tech conference I'm attending so I'm perfectly willing to lit it slide, but glowing things look nicer than non-glowing so if I could get it to work, I'd…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 2 replies
- 354 views
I Could use some help. I am trying to change the group surface properties over time (Ambiance percentage and Glow). I've got the latest David Rogers A:M book which states, surface changes can be made over time. The section on surface property relationships is a bit confusing. I've tried it in a relationship using both percentage and On/Off sliders, but I get no results. I'm sure it is some simple but important item that I'm missing. If someone could point me in the right direction I would be most grateful. Thanks Camillo
Last reply by Camillo, -
- 1 follower
- 17 replies
- 657 views
Is there an auto-save option in A:M?
Last reply by bubba, -
- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 1.3k views
I thought I read somewhere that this was possible, but now I can't find it. I want to swap the selection... unselect the current selection, but select the current unselected CPs. An alternative would be a way to add the current selected CPs to the hidden CPs (as opposed to adding the unselected CPs with Shift-H). I can select the "other" CPs and do a Shift-H, but it's a lot more work, and I'll be doing this a lot as I attach decals to surfaces of a somewhat crude NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race car. (It'll be whizzing around a race track, so it doesn't need to be perfect.) Here, I've hidden most everything other than the right side of the truck, and I've cli…
Last reply by nemyax, -
- 4 replies
- 243 views
Hi - I created an animation in a chor of a bottle showing it's different functions and I need to swap it with a different bottle, because the second bottle has the exact same motions - is this possible to do? or do I have to redue the animation w/ the new bottle? Thanks for any help.
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 346 views
I used to use A:M way back when, I think it was around 98 or so. In fact, in Dallas, I started a user group that met at my house from time to time. (Any of you guys still around? Larry? Ken? Jerry?) Since then, I've gotten out of experimenting and mucking around with 3D, but have lately been re-interested in it. Currently I'm waiting for my new A:M 2006 to arrive, and while waiting, I've been looking through the tutorials, reading the forums like crazy, all the while my anticipation building and building. I was curious about something, and I hope this doesn't come across as too stupid a question. But say I have a model, I've rigged it, created some actions/po…
Last reply by Wizaerd, -
- 17 replies
- 597 views
Ok for kicks and giggles i decided to try and make a model of some anchient guardian of sort i really dont know what to call it so ill just call it bob. like all anchient guardians i wanted to have it have the glowing lines thing and while i managed to get it to look good i did want it to "start up" with the lines flowing from the center. im sure there is a easy way to do this but so far anything iv tryed looks to square for lack of a better term
Last reply by johnl3d, -
Hi there party peoples! I have been having a problem with Sweeper - actually, plugins in general. I have tried to download sweeper from Moscafilms.com, into my AM V12 software. I believe I followed all of the instructions: I unzipped the file, looked under the Tools>Options>Folders tab, and typed in the correct path to the Sweeper.hxt file. I rebooted the software, applied two groups (profile and path), selected the path, and... no plugins. None! I can't even open the plugins built into the software like grid. yet when I take out the "Sweeper" part of the file path under the folders tab, the preset plugins become available. Have I downloaded the wrong file for my so…
Last reply by J Man, -
- 3 replies
- 351 views
I'd like to use the sweeper plug-in, and I can't seem to find it. From what I've read, it should be in version 13. I'm using 13s. When I right click - Plug-Ins - Wizards - all I have is "Terrain, Grid, Font, AI and Extruder". So, if anyone can help me find the plug-in, that would be super. EDIT: I've discovered that sweeper.hxt is in my hxt folder - so I HAVE it - I just can't get it to show up from within A:M.
Last reply by PeterS, -
- 4 replies
- 528 views
Hi, I have been away for too long, just upgraded AM2007 and found that am2Flash undesirable, is there a bug fix? This thread not working: Animation:Master HTML Help Files Hey Rodney, I suppose you know best. Thanks. Philip
Last reply by filipmun, -
- 2 followers
- 12 replies
- 603 views
I'm looking to create an effect with sprites (sparks) that will swirl around an object in a vortex like shape. The effect I have in mind is along the lines of when the Beast turns back to a man in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". Anyone have some ideas on I can do this??
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 6 replies
- 663 views
Hello. I'm an indipendent cg filmaker-artist, recently graduated. To produce my (3d) shorts I used till now 3ds max (character studio let even a single person be able to produce a nice animation, taking much less time to configure rigging, and animation itself of several characters at the same time). Since my budget isn't big,and i'm not a student anymore, I was considering switching to something like a:m..... the animation I've seen are really cool, comunity seems very friendly and responsive... but... well... It is there out any tool like character studio that will make my life easier? even a script, or something like that with a footsteep editor, some levels etc?…
Last reply by luckbat, -
- 5 replies
- 452 views
I've had good success using a Klieg light with a rotoscope on it to fake being an overhead projector. However, I need to switch to another image during the choreography. I've put multiple rotoscopes on the light, but only the first one turns up. I've changed the order of the rotoscopes. Again, just the first. I've changed the transparencies of the rotoscopes. Still nothing. I've tried changing the "on top" setting. Again, no change. Stranger still, in the choreography, I get a group of blank oddities. They are attached. How do I make this work right? Is there another way to do this. I don't need to go as fancy as faking sliding an overhead sheet off the su…
Last reply by ArgleBargle, -
- 8 replies
- 1k views
I am not sure where the best place to post this so I am posting here since I am still learning AM. I have AM v16.0b 64 bit. I'm running it on Windows 7 64bit. I have a Dell XPS 1702X with a 4Core i7-2760QM CPU and a dual graphics cards. The built in Intel Card and an NVIDIA Geforce GT 555M graphics card w 1GB RAM. I have set the NVIDIA control panel to use the Graphics card when loading AM 64 bit. Other than that I have only the default NVIDIA settings. While working on a model, it has happened 2 - 3 times now - the numpad keys wont work for switching views. Everything else seems to be working - other keys in AM seem to be working. The mouse ( I have a lo…
Last reply by Greenhorn, -
- 2 replies
- 248 views
I am looking for someone to beable to assit me in learning how to use the SynthEyes software
Last reply by blooddrain, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 709 views
Hey wats up everyone my name is Alejandro.I've been looking around the Animation Master forms,SynthEyes forms,and can't find the right form on how to use Syntheyes with Animation Master.If Anyone knows the right form that will explain everything clearly on how to work with Sytheyes,motion tracking then getting it to work with AM that would be great! I've got a big favor.If anyone Can!I'm not saying U have to!It would be great if someone FINALLY MADE A video tutorial,explaining how you,motion track in SynthEyes,with Animation Master.WHAT ARE ALL THE STEPS,the right video files.This would mean alot to me! I will be checking everyday for Anyone's response!
Last reply by Bendytoons, -
- 11 replies
- 1.2k views
so my motherboard went bad. they sent me another. i installed and all seemed to work well. i just installed the new AM update and got the error above. i saw some threads on this and did a search and there must be at 200 files with different dates. am i screwed here. do i have to re-format? mike
Last reply by Jason Simonds, -
- 2 replies
- 400 views
What are the system requirements for running the latest version of A:M on Mac OSX? Am I just dense, or is this information very difficult to find at the Hash Store or here at the forums. I'm already running one subscription on a Mac running Tiger, but am wondering when Tiger is no longer supported.
Last reply by Meowx, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 420 views
Downloaded v15 to replace my old v8.5 and found I can't use it because it is slow on my machine. For example, if I click and drag the bounding box of a character in choreography mode the move happens a few seconds after I released the mouse button. So, just as a check and before inflicting unfair injury upon my computer's innocence gland, I reloaded v8.5 and did the following; I set up a scene involving a character standing in front of a photograph and did a quick render with both versions. Time to render with v8.5 is 31.44 and v15 is 51.0, or near twenty seconds longer all things been equal. It would appear then that v15 is near twice as resource greedy as v8.5. A search…
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 725 views
Hey Folks, Two questions. 1st, how do I get the panels to be tabbed panels. 2nd, how do I go about updating v12, I know where to get the updates just can't figure out how to install them. Thanks for your responses, I know they will be quick and helpful. Bob K
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 379 views
Hello: I am a newbie to AM. I have v12. I am following the "Take a Walk" exercise and have created the 4 poses for the rabbit (frames 0 - 15). The tut says to copy frame 0 and paste mirrored to frame 20 and so on. When I do this, I don't see any change in Frame 20. I tried doing all the other copy/pastes as indicated in the tut. When I play the frames, nothing happens. Only my 4 changes show up. Is there some setting I need to do to make paste mirrored work? Whats the best way to troubleshoot? Thx
Last reply by Greenhorn, -
- 8 replies
- 348 views
say, i finish the "take a walk" exercise and it completed great but when i make the model move with the action walk i created, the rabbit walks sooooooo fast. and in the video he walks slowly. now animation did crash but not before saving the project and action walk. i dont know if that has something to do with it or is it the Hast Stride Length.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 422 views
I've tried this tutorial twice. Both times when I get to where I've "copied keyframe" say, from frame 0, I advance to frame 20, go to paste mirrored, but it doesn't take. The contents of frame 15 remain. What have I been doing wrong? Carl
Last reply by carlf, -
- 6 replies
- 457 views
Building my own walk... I was able to do the excercise for TAO A:M with KK... even made him moon walk... But now, trying the excercise on a modified Thom.... I get this.. and I don't understand why. I refreshing myself with the TAO A:M excercise, and using it to reference the "how to" and getting this. Frames 0, 5, 10 and 15 are all okay... copy frame 0, paste mirrored in frame 20... Mod thom almost floating in mid air... and not mirrored from frame 0. Is it because I am past the Y axis "home"?
Last reply by oakchas, -
- 1 reply
- 277 views
I had a .mdl I was working on and while I had a section highlighted, accidentally pressed delete instead of Page Down. whoops! AM locked up (froze) on me like it had hung, so I closed it and restarted the program. However, now it takes it almost an hour to open that one particular model. I am using v.12 Can anyone offer me any insight on how to fix this problem?? Thanks!!
Last reply by KenH, -
- 6 replies
- 418 views
I've made a small model and made 4 second movie with it. I need to shorten it by about a second or so, (actually speed up the action) but the place where I need to make the adjustments is in the first half of the movie. It's short enough to just redo, but I figured that this may be an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of some of the "mechanics" of A:M Thank You in advance for any insight. Myron
Last reply by MJL, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 276 views
Help Please... With the Kat model you can start new model and add a action then apply a wav file to the model and then new dope sheet and view time line and move the word to match the sound and the kats mouth will move with the word "Hello" If I try this with a model from the zip file at the hash web site with the george model or bill model ect it does not work and I have to move the mouth with pose sliders and key frame ect why is this and can I set it up to sink eith the bill model the way it does with the Kat model. Thanks
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 6 replies
- 1.8k views
Hi, is there a good tutorial on rigging tank treds? One that isn't material driven. I initially thought about assigning each tred to a circular path constraint, but when i tried to offset each tred to a desired position the motion path went crazy. Is there a better way?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 345 views
Hello Newbies I just finished the Tank tutorial that can be found here http://www.patchwork3d.de/html/deutsch/wha...eating_tank.htm Although I am not new to AM I have much to learn and I feel this tank tutorial covers Some very important features like UV mapping decals.
Last reply by TNT, -
- 0 replies
- 263 views
hey, what did i did wrong with this one? rabbit seems like hes on a hurry! walk.mov
Last reply by adrian_ruvalcaba, -
- 6 replies
- 1.2k views
I was gone for awhile taking classes in another software and I find myself wanting to dive back into Animation master and I see a sub-forum with this my curiosity is peeked. Question so there was a certification in this at one time or is this in the planning? I could not look in the forum as it was marked private. Thanks. TaoA:M (The Art of Animation:Master) Online
Last reply by Dpendleton77, -
- 12 replies
- 698 views
As I'm putting certificates together for those that completed The Art of Animation:Master in 2005 I'm reminded of a few of the obstacles that animators have run up against while working through the manual here in the New Users Forum. I can see a few things to help streamline the process of administration/certification on my end too. Everyone's ideas are solicited in an effort to keep TAoA:M fun and educational. If you've completed the exercises online in the forum I'd especially like to hear from you. Some of the things I'm hoping to implement this year include: Collect all the exercises into one user friendly interface on a webpage to launch off from. …
Last reply by Robert-Jank, -
- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 617 views
I saw this in the contest...what does it mean to be "The Art of A:M" Alum? Edit: Wow, i must have selective sight...i was looking at the stickies but somehow i missed the one that completely explains this. very sorry.
Last reply by forevernameless, -
- 1 reply
- 294 views
Rod, Would you rather we each had our own thread that we placed all out exercises in (Like in the ABC), or (Like I've been doing) putting exercise # 5 in the Exercise # 5 thread with everyone elses #5? I've read people saying to do it both ways. Which would you prefer?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 replies
- 250 views
hi all what are the diferences, advantages and disadvantages of rendering as targa and open EXR.
Last reply by petokosun, -
- 12 replies
- 597 views
Hello - I got this question all the way to the last part, and having trouble there. I am trying to play a 10 second video clip on a object (television) I created. I imported the video clip as a sequence of targa images, and set it as a decal on the (television). That worked great and when I scrolled across the timeline it played the video. The problem is when I pull the TV into a Chor it doesn't show the video when I render it. Not sure what I am doing wrong - is there a setting in the options that I am missing or something? Thank you - Eric
Last reply by MMZ_TimeLord, -
- 1 reply
- 308 views
sorry to annoy you guys yet again, but i have another question... how do you do teardrops on a face and such?
Last reply by Dhar, -
- 2 replies
- 398 views
Hello All, I am just trying how to figure out basic light placement and adjustments. I tried downloading the tech ref manual but I can't seem to download it from its current location. Is there another place where I can download the tech ref manual from? Also, does anyone know of any basic lighting tutorials? Mark.
Last reply by Mark3D, -
- 7 replies
- 1k views
Hi there, i continue with my questions: If i understand it right, in V17 i can load .OBJ, and remodell them with the snap to surface function, right? How complex can the .OBJs be? Next question: Even in polygonland, a quad is now the best thing to have. I learned to model with quads only, and where you use a 5 pointer in AM, you have five quads coming together. My question: Is there another way to make such a region appear smooth other than using the porcelain material? Best regards, Heiner
Last reply by Heiner, -
- 1 follower
- 14 replies
- 858 views
Hi Everyone, Someday I hope to make my own commercial, and perhaps even a short clip. I know I am WAY ahead of myself, but I am curious.... When creating a clip, do you create 4 or 5 choreography projects and then paste them together? If so, can it be done in A:M or is something else required? What techniques does someone use and has anyone ever made a tutorial or training vid for this. Also, I would someday like to add text in the clip such as subtitles and a tag at the end. Can it be done in A:M or is something else required? What techniques does someone use and has anyone ever made a tutorial or training vid for this. Thanks again, Bob
Last reply by Jentham2000, -
- 1 reply
- 362 views
Where do I find all the techtalk-movies?
Last reply by Fishman, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 781 views
I am considering purchasing this program to use for a middle school class on animation. Would the users of this program respond as to the ease of use for true beginners in the art of animation. I too will be learning with my students. Should we start smaller. I worry that the task may be daunting for teen animators.
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 2 replies
- 290 views
I am making t he liquid terminator thing from T2 and I was wondering what would be the best material for that.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 2 replies
- 321 views
OK here my problem i have created a image to be used with AM's terrain maker and it will successfully load in and build the terrain but when i try and view surfaces AM crashes. i have uploaded the picture listed below my ultimate goal is to have a map that a army or two of robots Can fly , drive.... what ever , so it has to be pretty big but i was sure that my computer should be able to handle that since the cp count shouldn't have been that big land.bmp
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 8 replies
- 842 views
I've had problems with the terrain plugin before, but now whenever I use it at all my computer comletely crashes! Is it something wrong with my computer or just the program? Can anyone help me?
Last reply by Masna, -
- 3 replies
- 304 views
OK heres the deal i have constructed a terrain in the form of a grid. there is a part that i want to flatten that contains around 25 cps . is there a easy way to make them rise/fall to the same selected level other than attaching a bone to each cp and modifying manually
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 reply
- 319 views
Hey guys. I am making a sort of hilly / desert terrain. I want to use a displacement map for it. Can someone coach and refresh my memory about this. Thanks, Justin
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 8 replies
- 351 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,