Open Forum
Don't know where to ask your question? Post it here and it'll find a proper home
Open Forum Rules
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.
Discuss what you hope to accomplish with A:M and projects you are working on.
There is one rule: Be kind.
Posts that violate this rule are subject to removal.
961 topics in this forum
-
- 1 follower
- 14 replies
- 2.2k views
---
Last reply by nemyax, -
- 0 replies
- 2.2k views
*Some corrections updates have been applied to this topic since first posting* This is kind of a 'yikes' for me... I've reported on the project management solution known as 'Tactic' by Southpaw Technologies and even explored it a little as I thought it was well worth looking into. In recent times Southpaw had been pushing a tailor made VFX setup of Tactic designed with filmmaking in mind. The 'yikes' of this post is that I just saw the news that Toonboom Animation Inc. has purchased Southpaw** and is rolling out their own version of Project Management named Toon Boom Manager. https://www.toonboom.com/products/manager news release: https://www.toonboo…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 10 replies
- 2.2k views
This just came acrosst my radars: https://www.adobe.com/products/dimension/features.html?mv=product&mv2=accc#! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML0i68H-Xos https://www.adobe.com/products/dimension/features.html Adobe's foray into 3D rendering, still in beta- but highly functional with a great orientation interactive to get you up-and-running very swiftly- the beauty being that it is quite a simple program with no animation features... main use is for photorealistic still renders. It should be, however- compatible with A:M as a 3rd party still-renderer for anyone that wants to see what rendering with Vray looks and feels like...(via obj file format) …
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
I seem to have lost the lic file and cant find the backup anywhere.I dld the latest version update and now it tells me the host is wrong any help would be good thanks
Last reply by steve392, -
- 6 replies
- 2.2k views
Okay, I stand corrected. Robert had mentioned changing a texure from .png to .tga and my response was that I thought those were hard coded into the .OBJ file. We *can* change the texture format of an .OBJ and we can do a whole lot more too. The secret sauce is in the .MTL file which can be edited in a text editor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefront_.obj_file Look down until you get to the Material template library section. To go out on a limb and possibly be wrong yet again I'll say that perhaps it is that material that is assigned to the .OBJ that is interferring with the rendering of the image/texture? Attached is an image I got out of A:M's rende…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 12 replies
- 2.2k views
I don't know enough to suggest how useful this may be to those who are interested in the gaming aspect of 3D but it's newsworthy so... In short, Amazon has recently released their Lumberyard gaming engine for free. It's based on Cryengine (and will diverge further as times goes on But let's let others more knowledgeable delve into the details: https://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/lumberyard-free-is-the-new-black/ I saw that the FBX plugin is expected to be updated in short order and that may provide a path for A:M Users to move assets toward Lumberyard, moreso than what is currently available. If you are into game development it should be of interest if for no other re…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 21 replies
- 2.2k views
I seem to have run into son banding when mixing the Screen Based Ambient Occlusion and Depth Of Field. Is this a biproduct of the two being used or is there a setting in the SBAO that will decrease the dark "halo" like banding on things. Thanks for any suggestions, Kevin
Last reply by NancyGormezano, -
- 1 follower
- 10 replies
- 2.2k views
Time was (in previous versions of A:M) when you were working with a BVH file in an action and you had it all setup with all your constraints, you could change-out the underlying BVH animation with an alternate BVH and not have to re-constrain everything. When I try to do that now in V19 and V18... the 'Capture Sequence' option is unavailable (greyed out) but I seem to remember being able to do this in older versions. To be clear- Capture Sequence DOES work initially when you bring in your BVH file... that is all fine. It is just when you want to alternate to another BVH file that the option goes away. This makes it so that every time you want to use a BVH action, you …
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 2.2k views
I saw Zootopia on Thursday night. I went in with mixed feelings, but really enjoyed the movie. I was amazed at the number of characters and what it would take to rig them. From a technical aspect I think Disney did a great job. Steve By the way I go to all the 3d animated films, well I did not go see Norm of the North
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 3 replies
- 2.2k views
Just returned from watching Disney's Moana and... Disney is still at the top of their game. I started to model Maui when I got home... but failed miserably. I don't think I can fault the visuals in any way. As for the story itself... They rather oddly left a few dangling plot/character points but I'm willing to bet they've got plans for those in the future (ala spin off property or sequel). What makes it especially odd is that those elements are perhaps the high points for character merchandising with regard to the tale. I can only assume they thought they risked detracting from the main storyline and the focus on Moana by echoing those elements back into t…
Last reply by largento, -
- 5 replies
- 2.1k views
I thought some might find this interesting http://www.karmatoons.com/drawing/drawing.htm scroll to bottem
Last reply by steve392, -
- 11 replies
- 2.1k views
Let me preface this by saying that I have not used A:M for quite a while. I do keep tabs on it though because it does hold a special place in my heart, I've still got a few buds around here, and I'm still seeing kick-arse art made with the program. Let's begin... ----------------------------- CPU+GPU rendering was a way to increase render speed for the Cycles render engine inside Blender. Now that EEVEE is coming on the scene and is basically a game render engine, Cycles will probably be used only for specific tasks that EEVEE can't handle (yet), such as caustics, etc. I don't know what went down when trying to get A:M to render on a GPU, or why there wasn't m…
Last reply by nemyax, -
- 3 replies
- 2.1k views
Came across this extraordinary live action test. The mathematical perfection is astounding. Would be difficult to animate,,,but still amazing for the mathematicians out there.. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1b97-DsPHJ/?igsh=ZGMyZG82dXpwbHc2
Last reply by Tom, -
- 5 replies
- 2.1k views
Just the last week I found this site and I think is a good option for show your models, 100 mb for free, and the navigation to the models is with the mouse, as closer as you want in any degree, you can see the wires and turn 360 degrees as well, all you need is to export the model in OBJ with the normal outside and ready...I uploaded some without textures... here the link... http://p3d.in/8BYBB
Last reply by nino banano, -
- 11 replies
- 2.1k views
I don't have any references to site or links to post but I'm hearing rumors that Apple Adobe is planning to release Pro Res resources to counter the issue arising from abandoning older Quicktime support on Windows. Of note: Several of the ProRes codecs support alpha channes although other do not. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202410 If anyone has info related to this please feel free to post and point us to more official info. Edit: Some of my info was incorrect. It is Adobe that is planning to bring Apple's Pro Res formats forward for use in Windows to address the issues caused by Apple no longer supporting Quicktime. I've edited this topic's titl…
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 17 replies
- 2.1k views
Autodesk has gobbled up yet another company. This time the makers of the Arnold renderer, Solid Angle. Here's an interview delving into the decision to sell to Autodesk (the owner and originator of the Arnold renderer) courtesy of MIke Seymour at FXguide: https://www.fxguide.com/featured/autodesk-buys-arnold-2/ Two primary takeaways: - This will be the first time Autodesk has an in house high end renderer (other renderers have been licensed. Ex: Mental Ray/NVidia) - According to the article "Rendering is certainly one of the hottest areas in 3D right now". This no doubt ties in with Autodesk's longer term plans for render in the cloud. Recent deals l…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 18 replies
- 2.1k views
Hello esteemed Spliners! I am working on getting 'game-ready' assets out of A:M- hoping to get them into Snapchat, and have made good use of Gerald's(Fuchur) 'A:M to Unity' video tutorial where models and actions are exported from A:M to Ultimate Unwrap via the .X file format... and as always I figure that Sketchfab is a great place to view, test and share your UU exported FBX file. However- I am finding that when I employ my 'Bake Surface' option in A:M- it looks good there but in Sketchfab I see overspill or some anomoly that I would like to lose or lessen. Take a look here at my Sketchfab model with animations: https://skfb.ly/6JSDM Latest rev: https://skf…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 2.1k views
hey folks, i'm trying to recover some ancient models with am13, and can't get the bugger to run on windows 10 it installs fine, demands admin rights when i first try to run it, then further run attempts do nothing. no error, no flicker, nada. anyone have any luck running a:m 2006 on a modern machine? the scarecrow and tin man await your response! -jon
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 8 replies
- 2.1k views
the language in the patent is pretty dense, I'm not sure what it is they are patenting that is new... http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8358311.html
Last reply by largento, -
- 1 follower
- 19 replies
- 2k views
More often than not creative types find themselves locked in a self contained cycle of non-creativity at one point or another. One of the most significant of locks they place on the imagination is that of the eternal self fulfilling prophesy of 'I can't draw.' Let's cut to the chase. To draw is to pull something up or toward you (although if something or someone else is drawing in an opposing direction it might also be said to be drawn away or down) One need not place lines on a piece of paper with graphite, pen or other instrument capable of producing a visible line but some form of line must be placed in order to reveal the structure of a visual idea. One…
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 9 replies
- 2k views
How long should your next animated story be? You can tell more than a few stories in 10 seconds or less... So before you invest in your next story as a 90 minute epic animated feature film perhaps you may want to tell one a bit shorter... more economically... ...perhaps even in 10 seconds or less.
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 7 replies
- 2k views
Every time I restart AM on mac, or after crash it throws all my pallets, project / properties etc all over the place, like a poltergeist and is driving me nuts, doesn't seem to do this on windows, I'm using a dual screen setup, anyone got any pointers ? Do I need to delete system prefs for AM to reset it again ?
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 23 replies
- 2k views
I'd like to open a discussion on budgeting for projects. The primary bias I have going into such a subject is that I equate the outlay of a budget with the establishment of the project's priorities. As an example of this, lets say that you are allotted 10 bazoozas in which to apply to a production. These bazoozas are all that you have at the moment to pay forward toward the final product. You have considered approaching the producer but he's already complained that you are on a tight budget and you think you might actually be able to pull off preproduction on a 10 bazooza budget. The only guy signed up on your team as of this moment suggests the following …
Last reply by zandoriastudios, -
- 6 replies
- 2k views
Hi yall. I want to show gas molecules bouncing around in a bottle. I've got Collisions turned on to contain the molecules, and for the most part it works, but about 5% of them zip right through the glass. Judging from the angles, many of these are escaping on 2nd or 3rd bounce. (Drag set to 0.) Still using V13 (blush). Any ideas?
Last reply by phatso, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 2k views
--
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 reply
- 2k views
Computational Thermoforming is an old technology (paints applied via immersion in water) modernized an applied to 3D printing with impressive results: xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkVxurKeAs More closely aligned to the older methodology, hyrodgraphy is highly useful as well. Both approaches are familar to those who texture models in Animation:Master and other programs. The trick being to do the texturing as precisely as possible with minimal passes to achieve the desired results. That (wet method) can be seen in a more modern form here: xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlUhPrAqiY0 There are quite a few youtube videos that demonstrate the h…
Last reply by EmilyBrown, -
- 15 replies
- 2k 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, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 2k views
Hi all, do I need to get another serial number for AM Net Subscription if I want to install it on Mac through bootcamp - Win7 ? Have had it up to here " " with it crashing on Mac and not rendering rotoscopes and throwing my pallets everywhere cant use it for production - so windows it is, have sent a email to orders@hash.com but didn't know if the original serial would work ??
Last reply by a.quaihoi, -
- 11 replies
- 2k views
I've run into a slight problem. I've added several Klieg lights in a model (as opposed to in the Choreography). However, I'm having trouble rendering them. Sometimes one will render, sometimes three will render and sometimes a different one will render. I can't get them all to render at the same time! Does anyone have any advice on what might be going wrong? Thanks, Dale
Last reply by Dalemation, -
- 1 follower
- 20 replies
- 2k views
Hi, I know how to create the sphere, lol, but how do I make it spin evenly? A formula? Thanks for any help, Rusty PS: I use to know how to do this stuff, use it of lose it.
Last reply by rusty, -
- 4 replies
- 2k views
Hey all, Still working on the landscape and looking for a good "how to do a tree" tutorial. I've got one, but having a hard time making it look full. Thanks for any pointers, Rich
-
- 6 replies
- 2k views
I'm having issues with a rig i put on a character.... specifically (believe i mirrored bone plugin after using the 2001 rig as a base) my right forearm can rotate in all three axies... however my left forearm can only rotate in the y-axis (or the green circle). I can not figure out how to fix this and really don't want to have to start from scratch. Can anyone give me a hint or clue??? Thanks for your time
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 19 replies
- 2k views
Has any one been running A:M Netrender on the newer Intel CPUs that have "hyperthreading" virtual cores? What is the difference in thru-put with 4 real cores vs. 8 threads?
Last reply by thejobe, -
- 9 replies
- 2k views
Is there a way to use DarkTree materials on a Mac yet?
Last reply by largento, -
- 1 follower
- 19 replies
- 2k views
I just like to thank everyone here for there help. I will not be getting A.M software again nothing wrong with it but I Am so AT lose right now.just crushed me this is the second time windows 10 has done this. blue screen of death i lost all my new work Again. My year is almost done so no point in bothering someone to get it A.M back. Guess I will Wait till Windows comes out with some new crap and try again then. I DO NOT LIKE WINDOWS 10 it is Garbage A.M is the Best Animation Software love it But can not handle The lose of work got it all working again did repair since i lost all i might as well do a fresh installe of windows 10 crap so it can crash fresh again …
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 2k views
There are are few Games out that brag about 3D Scanned models exact within in 1 mm Like iRacing they brag how exact the Car and tracks are right down to cracks in pavement iRacing is a True Race Simulator very high tech Simulator is this the kind of stuff they would have used. I was just woundering How many models in games are created like this now. https://www.goscan3d.com/en?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxPbHBRCdxJLF3qen3dYBEiQAMRyxS_Gt6x9Yn0nLOZ4ml1SycZFWFETW1CAwhXzCUzt_h_AaAoxQ8P8HAQ
Last reply by KingVidiot, -
- 18 replies
- 2k views
Recently, I was trying to animate bubbles coming from my scuba divers' regulators. I constructed about 50 bubbles and put them inside my diver in an action file. I then tried to move different sized bubbles from inside the diver to just outside the regulator in groups of 12 or so bubbles that I would arrange in some sort of random formation. I then would try to move the group (mixing them up and changing the arrangement) every 10 frames further away from the diver. When I got them about two steps away, they started trying to come back to the diver. I would advance 1 frame and about 1/3 of the bubbles started shooting great distances back toward the diver. I had to chase t…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 8 replies
- 2k views
I almost hesitate to share this because I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't go into any major expenditure unprepared... so this only applies to you if you are already prepared. Animation Mentor is currently offering a 'one time only' discount on their Animation Basics course. Some caveats (in my opinion): *If* you already versed in Maya at least to the point where you can find your way around easily, or... *If* you've already taken a course in Maya (preferrably the intro to Maya course at Animation Mentor), and... *If* you have a lot of free time in your schedule, and... *If* you've currenty got the spare cash on hand, or... *If* you were planning…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 9 replies
- 2k views
I started using the 64 bit version of A:M and loved the way it operated. Then I tried to render. Then I looked online for a solution as to why it would not render. I discovered an answer that indicated we were to look for a license file and transfer that to a 32 bit version when we wanted to render because we were licensed for both versions. I went back to the 32 bit version of Version 15i which I had before because I did not want to change versions every time I wanted to render. My question is whether the 64 bit version of version 18 will render soon (it's been a while since I tried it the first time and maybe the current build already renders. I don't know.)? If it …
Last reply by Pitcher, -
- 4 replies
- 2k views
The book on animation by Preston Blair came up in anther topic. I thought it might be interesting to see some of the original art as it was put together to be published. (I'll try to organize these a bit more later) And here's the place where most folks go to find the books original scans: http://animationresources.org/instruction-preston-blairs-advanced-animation/
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 19 replies
- 1.9k views
Hello, I ask myself some questions about the history and evolution of the polygonal subdivision in Hash patches after reading this link from pixar, which reminds me a lot with AM patches : http://www.opensubdiv.com/?page_id=84 - When was the last consolidation made on patches? - When was made the triangle patches? - When was made the quad patches? - When was made the five sides patches? - Is that the subdivision of polygons in the interior of patches has evolved since the beginning? - Martin Hash did he actually abandoned his baby, or does he think back on it later? - Stephen Gross, does it have the right to change the code of the constitution of t…
Last reply by Malo, -
- 3 replies
- 1.9k views
Hi folks, I bet there is a completely obvious solution to this but I can't seem to figure it out. I wanted to swing the camera around a model character and in a process of manipulating the camera at several second intervals, I start getting a 'brick wall' in the camera flow. What did I do to start getting this issue that ultimately causes the camera to jerk and interrupts it's smooth flow? thanks ! -Adam
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 9 replies
- 1.9k views
Hi, I can't seem to remember a good way to rotate a sphere at a constant speed. I seem to recall that there are several ways...can anyone help? Rusty
Last reply by Elm, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 1.9k views
Hi All, in the process of upgrading my computer with a new video card and processors, ram etc. Mac Pro 2009 - Flashed with 5,1 firmware so this will let me make it a pretty beasty machine - as always AM is on my mind when it comes to 3D work, and the question I have is should I get one of those Nvidia Titan 12gb cards ? or something like a GTX 680 - my current card is an ancient Quadro 1.8gb FX 4500 - the last time I tried to use AM on the Mac side it had so many issues that I had to load up boot camp and install win 7 and use it on that, it was OK - but I defiantly felt the video card was not being used fully, there was a lot of slowdown even on the windows side with…
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 16 replies
- 1.9k 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
- 9 replies
- 1.9k views
Best wishes, Will! May all your Zandorias be fully tarred!
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 9 replies
- 1.9k views
So my darling daughter has made a whole bevy of make human characters for s story she is writing. She asked if I could bring them into am and see if they could be rigged and animated. I tried one character (below) and while it imported, some weirdness ensued. The big issue is that while I can see the imported model in wireframe mode in the modeling window, it disappears in shaded mode. The mesh appears ok (though way way too dense). Has anyone had experience bringing in these obj files before? Ryan-20170104T200945Z.zip
Last reply by detbear, -
Mr Homeslice
by Xtaz- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 1.9k views
I'm missing Mr. Holmes Bryant. Does anyone know where he is? He doesn't appear here since 2012
Last reply by thefreshestever, -
Big Hero 6
by Rodney- 2 followers
- 14 replies
- 1.9k views
My kind of fun... from Disney: vco0SpSz17g This certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea but there are some themes that are core to capturing the imagination of a youthful spirit. Such themes of creativity and invention... righteous empowerment even.. and the other naive curiosities that inspire us when young are often set aside as we enter adulthood. Returning to such timeless fascinations is why we watch movies in the first place.
Last reply by Shelton, -
- 6 replies
- 1.9k 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,
