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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.
4,166 topics in this forum
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Video Codecs
by greg- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 649 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, -
- 0 replies
- 370 views
Hi, another question....being a noob and all, is there any way to loop a video decal, you see, im doing this 10 secs animation and on the background i aplied a video decal, wich is only 2 secs, is there any way to loop it to 10 secs?
Last reply by chuchi_disturbed, -
- 2 replies
- 685 views
I have a small issue with video decals. I have three separate quicktine decals that load and play no problem. Two of them sit off screen for a bit (inactive) for a delayed entry. I don't want the decal to "play" until I activate it. Right now, the third video is finished playing before it even gets on screen. Can someone tell me how to set the playback start for a video decal? Thanks!
Last reply by albee01, -
- 7 replies
- 881 views
I am having trouble rendering a video with horizontal lines (siding) on a building. The horizontal lines appear to swim across the building as the camera moves towards it. I’m not sure what you would call it, Aliasing? Video Noise? Once the camera gets within about 5 to 8 feet of the building, it suddenly stops – (actually it drops to a reasonable level). I have tried changing the focal point & depth of field – see below. I’m planning to do a virtual walk thru of several buildings. The camera is constrained to a path for its movement relative to the buildings. The building is a simple rectangle with decals applied to it. The decals are bitmap images …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 388 views
How do I actually get a video for rotoscoping purposes to play inside AM? Yes I have converted to .mov file. Thanks for any help.
Last reply by Stronghorn, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 464 views
Hello all, I'm trying to put an AM character into a video. I'm trying to import a video file (quicktime) but nothing works. I have quicktime pro so I can export the video into different formats. However none of them seem to work.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 340 views
hi i was watching a dvd called "learning 3d animatipn with jeff lew". he showed that a video could be put into animation master, example: seeing a person move and have ur model move like him, but he didnt say how he was able to put a video in the hash program :s can any one tell me how? thx
Last reply by Eric2575, -
- 2 replies
- 704 views
I have AM 11.1b and each time i render a video the video finnishes but when i try to go to the folder and view the file the computer says windows has experienced an error and needs to close. is there any type of patch or solution to this problem?
Last reply by gsellis, -
- 3 replies
- 645 views
hello all you talented animators!!!, You probably herd this 1000 times but can I use a video as a rotoscope? like Live reference and animate it by frame by frame? if so.....HOW? because i think itll be easer to record myself and others and overlap it and animate it.... Can one do this?? THANKS a BUNCH
Last reply by TRN, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 1.1k views
Any tips on importing a video rotoscope into the action window? Only the first frame appears and I can't seem to find any explanations on how to set the properties - length, crop, range - in the technical manual.
Last reply by PaulX, -
- 2 replies
- 408 views
Hello, I have been having a little problem getting AM to let me import Quicktime Movies into the Action part of the program. I want to be able to sync animation with the Quicktime movie, but I get a message that says either that it is not supported, or it does not like 16 bit Quicktime. I saw the other thread about saving it as a TGA, is there another way as well? Is there a way to use Quicktime files from other programs like Final Cut? I have been able to use Quicktime movies that I have created in AM, but not successful with movies I saved from Final Cut into a Quicktime movie. If someone could shed some light on this that would be great. Thank you very muc…
Last reply by braintree, -
- 3 replies
- 544 views
sorry 2 bother u guys but, is it just me, or should i say my pc? or is the video tutorials at http://www.hash.com/VM/ not working.? let me know thx:)
Last reply by LIGHTBEING, -
- 5 replies
- 766 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, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 815 views
dose anyone know if theres a site were i can upload video's have have them "on" my site. useing html. and yes i did try you tube but for some reson i can ever get my e-mail confermation e-mail.
Last reply by Stuart Rogers, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 315 views
I have a video "Happy Birthday" Card save as a PNG sequence. I would like to add various names as the occasion calls for. I can make animated names. How do I add them to the generic birthday video? Thanks
Last reply by MJL, -
- 1 reply
- 253 views
Hi - I am playing around w/ one of the characters "Eddie" to see how the skeletal structure is set up and I am not seeing the bones for his eyes, I am guessing they are turned off - where is the setting to see all the bones of a character? Thanks - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 3 replies
- 1.2k views
Hi! i'm new to this forum and Animation Master, so maybe will discribe my problem with wrong terms, but basically what i want is the view to rotate around all visible CPs when nothing is selected. Right now as far as i can tell it turns around scene center or global model center. or maybe at least there is an option to keep rotation center from previous selection?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 4 replies
- 550 views
Alright, real simple. How do you view decals in real-time (in shaded or shaded/wirefreame)? I swear there was an option/key for this but for the life of me I can't find it. Or am I just imagining things.
Last reply by Meowx, -
- 5 replies
- 670 views
Hello How can I set a vewport image in the background of a view, only to draw splines ont it. Remy
Last reply by urbssenator, -
- 13 replies
- 1k views
i was wondering how to make it so that something can be completely invisible, yet you can see reflections and/or specularity on it clearly.... and i have no clue how to do it, can anyone help?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 489 views
So when I import something into a choreography or model they look like this. It just cuts off the screen. Any help would be nice.
Last reply by animation man hi, -
- 9 replies
- 1.1k views
can the last version of AM run normally with windows vista!!????? REGARDS!!! DANIEL.
Last reply by Zzzippo, -
- 2 followers
- 2 replies
- 539 views
I dont know how to make put something on a model as if it were....i guess you could could say the paint job of it. What im trying to do it put lines of color on my model and at any view it looks like its part of the paint job, and i've tried making a material for it but that hasnt worked for me. If anyone can help me that'd be great!
Last reply by rusty, -
I have my doggle on one vlan and my computers on another. Thus does not work unless someone can give me a work around. I can't put them all on the same vlan for they are at different campuses. Help. Thanks Andy
Last reply by Andyjoh, -
- 1 follower
- 5 replies
- 744 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, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 653 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
- 20 replies
- 1.9k views
Hi again, I seeem to be having a problem grasping combining actions to render a movie of a few minutes. I understand the concept of the shift-keyframe to go from say the resolute walk and have the character perform other actions in a new choreography action. I also added a dialog action with a new choreography action and that works fine. That all takes about 9 seconds. Here is the character flow I have so far. - Character walks across the screen (resolute walk) - Character sits in a chair and turns head to face front - Character speaks and the mouth is animated That all works fine and I couldn't be happier. Now, I need the character to turn his hea…
Last reply by greg, -
- 0 replies
- 379 views
Hey Hashers, I added Volumetric Dust for Exercise 6 but it's rendering with very noticable banding. The Help file says to increase the Quality setting for the Volumetric effect to get rid of the banding, but unless my eyes fail me, I can't seem to see it. Can anyone verify this? I'm not sure if this is a bug or I'm just looking in the wrong place. Here's a picture of what I see for my Volumetric Dust properties. I'm running V13 f. thanks! -Jim
Last reply by jpappas, -
- 5 replies
- 681 views
im trying to make some of the lights more solid and visible without showing light on everything else... i tried playing around with some of the settings but i can't figure out what im doing wrong.
Last reply by ortanu, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 978 views
I have some live-action footage I am using in an animation. The footage used a green screen and in After Effects I eliminated the green to leave only the actors and an alpha channel. I imported the footage into AM as a TGA sequence. So far, so good. I want the footage to be lit by a klieg light that has volumetric turned on. The problem is that the volumetric effect is lighting up the transparent part of the footage somewhat brighter than background objects, so the actors appear to be in a rectangle that is unnaturally brighter than the surrounding scene. I don't understand what is causing the klieg light to (apparently) reflect off the transparent part of the…
Last reply by RoyBU, -
- 3 replies
- 547 views
i can't make the a volumetric light shine through an object...it just passes right though it... i've never really worked with volumetrics...
Last reply by the_black_mage, -
- 14 replies
- 1.3k views
I just want to know which one is better for using AM, a wacom tablet or optical mouse in a long run?
Last reply by UNGLAUBLICHUSA, -
i m abit lost i made a walk cycle, constrained both my character and walk action to a path. but my character seems to move too fast along the path please how can i adjust the speed with which it moves along the path.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
walk cycle
by bighop- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 625 views
I made a very simple model, and created a walk cycle for it. Now when I put the model on a path, and try to increase the time is walks the path, the model completes one walk cycle and freezes, but glides through the path. Any ideas anyone?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 4 replies
- 471 views
Hi - I am creating a walk cycle for a character and I have the first pose at 00:00:00 - I am trying to "copy frame" and "paste mirrored" into frame 00:20:00. For some reason it isn't pasting the "hips" and "pelvis" movement. Has anyone run into this problem - where it didn't copy the whole keyframe - that can let me know what I am doing wrong? Thanks - Eric
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 482 views
Hello - I am making a walk cycle for a new character I created and I am trying to "copy" and "paste mirrored" frames, but for some reason it isn't copying and pasting part of it - from the "hip bone" up - so Hips, head, back, and back 2. Any ideas on why? Thanks - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 2 replies
- 606 views
After modeling and rigging a character, I decided to test it on the walk cycle from TaoA:M. Having spent so much time in the Project Workspace, I got use to double clicking on an item when I needed to start something new... I did this for a new Choreography Action as well, thinking I could do the walk cycle that way. However, near the end of the process I discovered that I did not have access to the "Has Stride Length" setting. Can this be turned on somehow inside a Choreography Action? I decided to render what I had, even though it isn't constrained to a path: SarahWalkTest2a.mov Also, I need to enable the Neck and Finger bones for the 2008 rig, but I'm no…
Last reply by Bendytoons, -
- 8 replies
- 714 views
I set up a walk cycle for the figure I've beenn animating ( WIP section ). When I test it in the action window it looks OK but, when I come to use it in the choreography window I get smal amounts of foot slide, which is very annoying. Is this a function of the step distance or is it the way I may have set up the cycle itself ? I did the tutorial in TAO book but slightly fuzzy about the area that I place the markers in for the step distance ? Any help greatly appreciated. cheers simon
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 5 replies
- 807 views
Ive put a walk cycle onto a path, but I wanted to adjust the speed. I tried increasing the 'chor length' and 'cycle length'. I think thats what they are called. Anyway, that was great for slowing it down, but when I tried to speed it up again, this time by reducing those parameters I lost part of the cycle. ie, part was truncated.. then my character slides the remainder of the path, where once, he walked.. Do I really have to be so linear in my work-flow? Im sure theres a way to change the speed without this problem.
Last reply by Christian, -
- 2 replies
- 454 views
When applying my walk to character and playing animation... the character speed walks the path. Is my problem in the keyframing or could it be the stride length..again any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks.
Last reply by Stronghorn, -
- 2 replies
- 372 views
Got a general question about walk cycles. I have fought these things from the beginning so I want to make friends with them. Say I'm making a short with a very charismatic preacher on stage pacing back and forth. Each of his walk paths are of varying lengths and sometimes it's a stroll; sometimes he's walking a little faster. Can I use the same walk cycle for each of these? If I set the starting and ending frame for each time he walks, will it adjust his walk speed and keep his feet from slipping? The last time I tried to do this he would take one step and then slide along the walk path. I hope am able to figure out why that was too.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 440 views
before i try this, is it possible to have two actions run together? i want to use a talk action with a walk action layered together. i tried using blending but it did not seem to work...
Last reply by sir fen the usa, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 446 views
i made a couple of animation in the chro, at a time i want the character to walk along the path i made . when i do this as in constrain the character to the path, it does not walk well along the path, as in it starts from the middle of the path, what can i do to corrct this.thanks
Last reply by robcat2075, -
ok i'v noticed when i make a walking seen the model alway look like its powerwalking (very fast) How do I get it to walk slower?
Last reply by bts0, -
- 5 replies
- 789 views
I have an elaborate choreography with several different characters walking and talking, one is even flying. As one character walks near another, I want him to wave hello to the other. But, when I try to apply the keyframes for the hand, that hand removes itself from the walk cycle and no longer swings by his side, from that frame on. Is there a way to throw in this quick series of keyframes and then return that hand to the walk cycle?
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 reply
- 453 views
I'm making a walking animation, using the action window, I completed the action, however it only seems to play the first 10 frames, why is this. =/
Last reply by phatso, -
- 11 replies
- 1.1k views
I made a walking action for the rabbit. when i try to put it in a new choreography it starts walking backwards
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 2 followers
- 10 replies
- 958 views
Hello All, I made a simple character consisting of pieces of chalk and a chalkboard eraser. I'm a teacher and I'm using this as a "Bug" intro to a video my class will be doing later this year. Anyway... I created a simple walk cycle 24 frames. I made a path and constrained the eraser to it Assigned the action. Extended the Cycle length to 15 seconds The character walks ok, but it will glide for about two frames at the end of the cycle, and return to his walk cycle and glide at the end again. I did set the stride length, but I must be missing something. It's bugging me because when the character walks, you can see there is just something not rig…
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 5 replies
- 609 views
Hi - another walking question. I referenced exercise 5 "Take a walk" - and created the 4 poses at 00:00:00, 00:00:05, 00:00:10 & 00:00:15 then I copied the frame and mirror pasted. The walk cycle looks good. When I bring the character into a chor and apply the walk action and have it repeat lets say 10 times. Each time it repeats there is a 'jerk" motion when it starts over, so there isn't a smooth transition between the last frame 00:00:15 - going back to 00:00:00. Is there something I am doing wrong... some setting I didn't set or something? Thanks again - Eric
Last reply by flashawd, -
- 3 replies
- 454 views
OK short and simple i have a scene where a bot triggers a emp device , id like to have a explosion based on an expanding sphere comprised of lightning or something that resembles the such , I'm not expecting much but any idea are welcome
Last reply by johnl3d,