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This is an open forum for discussing Animation:Master and discussions should relate to A:M in some capacity.
Ask questions. Share experiences. Outline goals and aspirations.
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939 topics in this forum
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- 1 follower
- 6 replies
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I'm always on the lookout for useful software and this one has caught my attention. For those with the time and interest I'm going to put OBS on my recommendation list... specifically the multiplatform release although the regular release works well also. Background While not everyone is into broadcasting live events I'd say everyone has a need for video capture and this software does that too. It actually might be overkill in that category in many ways. Although the windows version of the multiplatform release is not considered stable I find it works just fine and in many ways better than the standard release. For those interested in just the screen reco…
Last reply by Rodney, -
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Bottom line up front: Everyone needs some type of video capture software. There are a lot of screen capture programs and utilities out there and each one has it'd pros and cons. There are so many in fact that I've debated running something of a comparison in order to highlight some of the options. But... since such a comparison will take considerable time and a lot of information is already available via a quick google... for now I'll just point to yet another of the options. Atomi Active Presenter is a program that I don't recall highlighting and it is one of the more powerful ones out there because in addition to screen/video capture it also has some basic vi…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 18 replies
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Several years ago, I bought the blu-ray of "How The West Was Won," one of the few movies shot in true Cinerama, using a camera with three lenses and magazines, able to record a 146° viewing area. These three strips of film were then projected by three projectors onto an enormous curved screen. The results were supposed to be spectacular. I've never seen Cinerama in person, but to simulate the effect, they mapped the movie onto a 3D curved screen and presented it on the blu-ray in what they called "Smilebox." The effect is pretty spectacular. Got me to wondering if a Cinerama Camera and screen could be simulated in A:M, so that you could end up with a Smilebox movi…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 0 replies
- 606 views
If you aren't following the Animated Spirit blog... you might want to add it to your list of resources. There have been quite a few useful and interesting posts there since James Chiang first launched the blog back in June. James is a 17 year veteran of animation. In the latest post James analyses a shot from Pixar's 'Ratatouille' where he delves into how the audience is directed right to the place you want them as well as what that means relative to characters /elements in the shot. There's too much to summarize here so go see for yourself. Amongst other topics James emphasizes that "Forces begin internally" and that "Understanding forces is the key to belie…
Last reply by Rodney, -
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- 414 views
You are now free to sing "Happy Birthday" and use it in your movies without paying royalties. The rigorously enforced copyright, which all the facts indicated was invalid, has been declared invalid by a Federal Court. This one has actually been all they way to the Supreme Court before with a win for the copyright claimants, but now that is over... for now. ‘Happy Birthday to You’ copyright thrown outand ‘Happy Birthday’ Copyright Invalidated by Judgealso... Old Colbert Report on "Happy Birthday"
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 13 replies
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I want to make transparent windows with sign letters across them. For example, there might be individual letters saying "Bill's Barbershop" that we could see from the outside or from the inside. I don't want a rectangular sign that I decal on the window. I want only the individual letters or perhaps a logo to show. Is there a way to do this in A:M? How?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 6 replies
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How does one get a character rigging job? I've been giving this some thought for awhile and wondered what may actually be involved in finding a character rigging job. I am not nessesarily talking about getting a job with one of the more well known studios; I just want to know in general terms what kinds of things are involved in the process. What are some of the aspects involved in making oneself an attractive prospect to potential employers? What kind of things do you need on a resume? I imagine that we all need to start small and then work our way up along the way. I find plenty of information on various websites on information about finding character …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 6 replies
- 832 views
I've been meaning to post a few examples from a book I picked up years ago at a Library book sale. The book, part of a series of lessons on learning how to lip read... with accompanying video... which was missing when I purchased BTW... echos what most animators have been taught about lipsync but adds a few descriptions to assist with categorization. Those categories include: Blowing Wide Smiling Sealers Pinchers Forwards Lip Biters Peekers Pushers Teethy Lifters In theory, all dialogue can be shoe-horned into one of these categories. This is perhaps something to consider when rigging a face to achieve articulation for dialogue... although they very l…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 followers
- 27 replies
- 3.3k views
Hello, Years ago I played with using bvh MoCap files with AM and various rigs. I also purchased the entire Truebones collection and started indexing the files. I'm looking into bvh MoCap w/AM again and wondered if there were any tuts or other information on the subject. I remember stumbling onto a way to scale each part of a bvh mocap rig to the model rig and also got whole mocap thing working pretty well (though I didn't document any of this...DUMB!). So I want to research it all and try it again. If I get it all working again and find that none of the current AM/BVH MoCap tuts cover any of my own methods/discoveries I'll add a tut to demonstrate these. S…
Last reply by rusty, -
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I have been trying to make a chianti bottle. For whatever reason the 4 point patches are not filling in. I have tried rendering, but the patches don't fill in there either. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Any ideas? A picture of the bottle as it exists now follows:
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
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I am currently running A:M V18.0M (avx) on Windows 10, and everything seems GREAT except I notice my render time indicator is being 'cut-off' by the program... happens in A:M render and A:M NetRender as well. I have 2 montitors... one is a 4K and the other is a 1920 X1080 Dell... it happens on both. I have tried adjusting the little sliders that would make the column bigger, but with no luck. It's a very-very small issue- and if I hover over a frame or the current render frame it will show the time elapsed or total frame render time..., anyone else have this? If more people see it this way- I will submit as a bug.
Last reply by Tore, -
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- 548 views
I don't recall seeing John Lasseter's Cal Arts video before. It's a fun little... at 5:25 minutes actually a rather lengthy... piece. xhttps://vimeo.com/86365423 There are many things that could be said of the short film but one is that... like everyone else who gets the itch to dive into animation... you've got to start somewhere. The prevalent thing on display in the short from my perspective is John's ability to imbue inanimate objects with character followed with a knack for putting those characters into a story with multiple emotional payoffs. Yet another is his extensive use of repetition. In this short... repetition is a major element handled ma…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
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Things I've just noticed in the Quicktime TOS. Even if you have the "Pro" version you can't be "pro" with it. Professional use of the important codecs isn't allowed without an additional license from the patent holders. It is even a violation if you watch some commercial content made by someone who doesn't have the additional license to do it.
Last reply by largento, -
I've decided the best way to make progress is to try small projects, not necessarily related to my main film, to at least keep my skills up. The kind of thing that could be completed in a night or weekend. Hence, a fishbowl. I was curious: how would the rest of you go about handling water inside the bowl? Model it as a separate object, or try and use the fluid feature? Or some combo? I'm going to post my fishbowl model by midnight CST, if anyone is interested. At least the glass part.
Last reply by Roger, -
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- 461 views
http://www.cgtextures.com/
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 2 replies
- 563 views
I purchased the latest update for A:M and ran the installer program. Hash sent me the access code after they processed the payment. The installer appeared to do something because the settings got set to the default conditions. I expected that the program would ask for the access code and do some process to renew the license, but that has not happened and now the system says that the license expired. What am I missing? It is probably something pretty basic because I have updated the system in prior years without any problem. Does anyone have have an idea of what I should do?
Last reply by RS3D, -
- 3 replies
- 1.1k views
Hi! I tried an action with my overly complex character models last night and the action worked differently in the chor. The Torso control bone key frame gets dropped. There are no key frames on this bone in the chor. Can you think of anything I'm missing or anything I can check? Thanks, Rusty PS: Note the head is attached in the chor.
Last reply by rusty, -
- 1 reply
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http://www.digitalproducer.com/pages/explosions_in__animationmaster_.htm
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 16 replies
- 1.6k views
My daughter is interested in going to college. She wants to learn character design and level design for games. I am just a novist designer for cg animation. I would like advice from people in the biz. (I'm going to teach her what I can. She's already getting better than me. I feel like Yoda in "Return of the Jedi".)
Last reply by DZ4, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 994 views
Hi, I have a head model (the way I do things, this is the character), a hair cap model (what hair-do I want to use) and a body model (what 'wardrobe' is needed). Currently I constrain the hair cap to the head model in an action (the hair cap being the action item) so I can just drop the action on the head in the chor and then I constrain the head to the body in the chor (involves 6 constraints). I'd like to use an action to do this however, if I do, either the body model or the head model would be an action item and of course I need to be able to select the head and body models in the chor to animate them (and perhaps I can somehow select an action item in the chor to…
Last reply by rusty, -
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I took the plunge and decided to install the Windows 10 preview. Just prior to installation I tweaked a few settings, cleaned up a few things and moved important things to an external drive. As I was installing an uneasy feeling crept over me... what if this doesn't work out so well? My primary concern in updating Windows being how well A:M will run (of course!). While installation moved along it seemed to stall at about 2/3rds through so I browsed and continued to organize files on my other monitor (which I'd thought to turn back on and make sure was working prior to install. Still stalled at the same location for entirely too long I bit my tongue and initiat…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 replies
- 937 views
Pixar has teamed up with Khan Academy to offer a free course on how animated movies are produced. Introduction: https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar/start/introduction Course page: https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar The folks at Pixar can now point aspiring creators to the Khan Academy when they ask those inevitable questions about CG animation. The basic breakdown of course material: Environment modeling Explore how blades of grass in Brave were created using parabolic arcs. Modeling grass with parabolas Calculating parabolas Character modeling Explore how clay models are transformed into digital characters using weighted averages. …
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 4 replies
- 1k views
I have decaled quite a bit with good results, but today I encountered a new problem. I used a 32 bit TGA as the decal on a character that I made using the decal as a rotoscope. (In other words, the figure fits fairly well with the decal.) When I apply, I see actual holes in the model. It looks as if the picture has worn through with ragged edges. I'm using Version 18j (64 bit). There are no holes in the model before the decal is applied. I have attached a picture of the model below. I'm interested in how to avoid the problem and how to fix it. Thanks.
Last reply by Pitcher, -
- 4 replies
- 566 views
I've noticed ever since we switched to the new forum, it seems laggy as all get-out. I'm on a Core Duo system with 2gb RAM and while I realize that that level system is getting a bit long in the tooth, it isn't hopelessly obsolete. Just wondering what accounts for the slowness. Does the new forum software use a bunch of Flash?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 2 replies
- 563 views
My major complaint about Youtube for animation is that you couldn't step thru something frame-by-frame to study the motion. But now you can, at this site (and Vimeos too) http://anilyzer.com/ I'm not sure it's frame accurate but it seems to get most of them
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 3 replies
- 562 views
The oldest versions of AM I have are the hold MH:3D version 3 and AM version 5. Version 5 is probably the oldest version I would consider the modern version we all know and love. I'm trying to remember if v3 was a win 3.1 release or if it was the first to require 95. I know v5 was 95/98/NT. Anyone out there know?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 437 views
My subscription ran out, I'm low on cash and can't afford to update right now. Are there any problems with AM 2006 on Windows 7 with the latest update?
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 6 replies
- 692 views
This is pretty neat technology that will have many applications. In a way it's not unlike a very different technology 'seam stitching' but from a very different approach with different applications. Article: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/05/429720274/obstructions-vanish-from-images-treated-with-new-software-from-mit-google Video: xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoyNiatRIh4 Of specific interest (and a bit scary... although sure to be useful to reveal who took a picture/video) is the ability to pull the obstruction out of the image as a separate Alpha Matte. For those that recall the movie's look at technology.... shades of Bladerunne…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 2.9k views
We live in a wonderful time where we have access to great information about the process of animation. I'm not trying to sell you anything but.. if you've got a spare $50 laying around... do yourself a favor and buy this. At regular price of $129 this'd still be a good deal but at $49... the only reason not to buy is if you've got a dial-up internet phone connection. Aaron Blaise is someone I've posted links to before (see his 'Aaron's Art Tips) and he's recently released a 'complete course' in animation. He takes his experience as a Disney animator and outlines the principles of animation and walks through the process step by step. I've just now purchased…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 3 replies
- 705 views
Lately I was working with a simple model, where I tried to add the 2001 skeleton rig. In the manual is said to make a new bone subdirectory in the new model and drag the root boon of the rig model into it. After done so, I can attach the bones to the model and use it as the 2001 skeleton rig. The advantage of this is that I have all properties of the rig model. After doing this for some time I experienced a strange loss of these advantages. Sometimes the hip model movements loose the attachement of the feet's gravity. I seem to have a model that moves the same way I would move the root bone. I tried to understand what makes these null pointers keep the feet …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 899 views
In the process of upgrading on same machine to 64 bit ..had installed 7 32bit originally but machine is 64bit so replaced windows to 7 64 bit and will upgrade to 10 soon I will then download latest AM 64 bit but wonder if new license will be necessary since same machine but ....
Last reply by johnl3d, -
- 0 replies
- 737 views
For any of you Android phone users. from NPR... Major Flaw In Android Phones Would Let Hackers In With Just A Text
Last reply by robcat2075, -
Hello everyone, I haven't been on this animation:master software as membership for last couple years ago. The last time i used this Hash3D, version 16.0. Now, I'm back. I was trying to make a movie that do magic way of this tablecloth itself flowing toward this old fashion round table. While I was working on Simcloth. I noticed there are two ways of doing simcloth? Not same way as it was in version 16.0. I noticed that every times i clicked on "cloth wizard" on group box and the yellow box disappeared and appeared at different location ( mostly on ground). After I tried to make adjustment to make this cloth to become smoothy flow but somehow it just went cr…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 1.1k views
Hiya! I've recently purchased MODO Indi (to give it a serious look see to see if I want to save up to buy a full-on version of MODO), and so far I'm rather impressed. It hasn't crashed once on me, and it's work flow and my brain flow seem to be more or less on the same page. Anyway... ...I was fartin' around on their site looking for any of the extra stuff for MODO that I don't get with MODO Indi (mainly the scripting and plugins stuff), and came across something called "ACS 2 Kit" ("Automatic Character Setup 2 Kit"). One thing that instantly popped out at me was just how similar it seemed to be to a lot of the built-in stuff we have here in A:M. One thing in …
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 0 replies
- 469 views
On another forum someone asked how to "study" a shot Here was my response... At AnimationMentor they told us it's better to study live action shots than to study animated shots. You don't want to be re-creating other animators' mannerisms if you can help it. None-the-less there are some things you can ask yourself about any shot, live or animated... -What is the goal of the character? What are you seeing getting done that advances the story? -How does the character visibly change to show thought or action? -What are the main poses and changes of appearance the character goes through to show you what he is thinking or doing? When a character comes to a hol…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 5 replies
- 1.6k views
From the folks behind Animation Mentor (Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Beana) comes a new online collaboration platform; Artella. There's not a lot of info at present but the Artella FAQs suggest the goal is to make it something of a GITHUB for creative projects. One of the primary motivations appears to be that many folks want to get involved in creative projects but not everyone can do that for a living (i.e. there are only so many paying jobs to go around). What do you do with all that knowledge and experience? How do you keep from losing motivation? What exactly do you do with your talent? Additional info: - Creators maintain all rights to their project…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 1 reply
- 1.1k views
I am a little confused about how to use images in the forum. When I start a new thread, then there is the uploader and I can add a attachment. When I reply to a topic, even in a thread I started myself, I can not add atachments any more. How can I add images in this case? Regards Heiner
Last reply by Heiner, -
- 2 followers
- 70 replies
- 8k views
Just imagine... ...A:M would have polygons and OpenSubDiv.... ...and alembic support.... ...and support of integrated 3rd-party renderers in the API / SDK... with that, A:M could be a serious competitor to all the major 3d-applications out there... A:M has the best data management, animation and rigging features that i ever seen in all the other major 3d-applications. but the lack of not having polygons makes it really, really hard to interact with the other 3d products...
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 2 replies
- 628 views
Hello- Simple question (but it has me stumped)... When you drag a decal into the model window, the decal can be scaled...but can it be rotated? In the past I have always just rotated the image before I import it into AM..but it would be nice if the decal could be rotated in the model window.. Is this possible? Thanks for any info.. Tom
Last reply by Tom, -
- 15 replies
- 1.7k views
Microsoft explains what you’ll lose by upgrading to Windows 10 Apparently you can't play "Hearts" anymore. I will admit I never understood that game anyway. Also... no floppies, no DVD player included.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 9 replies
- 1.5k views
Hi Last week I lost the ability to open v17 and v18 in mac Mavrik and mac Yosomite the problem started after taking a break and relaunching (up until then no problems) I can use v16 but v16 will not render any files even though it says render complete (to clarify the render issue v16 goes through the render process says complete but I cannot locate the files anywere I suspect the the master0.lic thats my only guess and I'm not do to expire until 2-2016 I did the usual disk management on my drives and tried moving the master0.lik to v17 v18 but they fail and crash on load I did send an email to tech support but as of yet no and, so I'm here Thank…
Last reply by jimd, -
- 1 reply
- 1.1k views
As about the lifetime license. An annual subscription not a favorable investment for the personal purposes. I would like to have possibility of 1 times to pay and use software.
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 17 replies
- 1.4k views
It's been a year but my M3D micro 3D printer arrived yesterday and I finally got a chance to get it a try. The two initial runs didn't work so great, so recalibrated... created much simpler test models... and am seeing better success now. I just put in a print of Thom to test the yellow 3Dink but (at 9% complete) it looks like his neck broke off in the process and the printer head melded it into his hip... Abort! Abort! Abort! It looks like most of my models will need to be set to print with higher quality... i.e. more solid. I'll post something if and when I get something worth posting.
Last reply by jakerupert, -
- 0 replies
- 675 views
I invite our numerous graphic art talented forum members to submit design concepts for a medal that would be awarded to the winner of image contests. Don't post any proposals here, contact me privately for the particular design considerations.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 587 views
Hey all, is there any resource out there concerning texture creation including how the "pattern" on the graphic is translated to the model (for instance, if I'm creating a human skin texture and I put a single age spot in the dead center, how will that be displayed on the model?) Is a texture just a glorified decal that's repeated over and over? Thanks, Rich
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 6 replies
- 1.6k views
This is news to me... Reportedly... The 3MF file format is being developed to avoid pitfalls of previous formats used in 3D printing. Microsoft is pushing the format for use with Windows 10 because all other formats fell short.. Code/specs are freely available on github. Etc. http://3mf.io http://3mf.io/what-is-3mf/ https://github.com/3mfconsortium http://3mf.io/what-is-3mf/3mf-specification/ They certainly aren't escaping 'triangles' with this implementation (more akin to embracing them) but it just might provide some useful information regarding conduit to/through a new 'universal' format.
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 3 replies
- 962 views
Hey Guys, got back into AM because I needed to visualise this game pad case I have been developing to communicate with the mechanical / electronic engineers and AM was the tool I tuned to, why ? Because I love it and did not want to learn another app because AM is so good. I was reading about the polygon thread and some of that applied here, but from experience and from this example, I would like to point out that AM is very powerful and with the bonus of now outputting STL files it fills in a huge requirement I had back in the days. From working on this I found somethings which I would love to have implemented - mainly being able to control patches / splines much…
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 4 replies
- 580 views
Adobe has been steadily moving toward 3D content for some time now and continues to do so. Announcement: https://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/unlocking-the-power-of-3d-for-the-creative-community/ Site: https://www.mixamo.com/
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 6 replies
- 754 views
hmmm . .. when I add a diffuse colour to a selection it shows up on only some patches when I toggle the decal it shows it properly but then the decals disappear - when I render it shows it as above on only some of the patches is this a bug report or am I not doing something Im supposed to ??
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
- 492 views
Hey Guys just wanted to know if Boolean cutting is now working with geometry or we still doing it the old way with bones and showing only when its rendering ? What I mean by geometry is that can objects be subtracted with boolean cutter and the patches get cut by AM - so its a solid cut and not faux via render only - would be really good for STL and 3D printing . . .
Last reply by a.quaihoi,
