Rodney

Attached is the same .OBJ file rendered with the following change to the MTL file:

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 renderer by adjusting the dissolve (transparency) parameter in the MTL file and here is the text of (my) current MTL file: Initially I thought the ka was for Alpha... but that is ambiance. the d (by itself) is dissolve which is akin to transparency. You may note in the text that a URL with the name assimp is listed. That program was recently updated/replaced (as of June) and is yet one more of many converters making the rounds.

I agree. Not that most people noticed but there were ten or so different skins being used in the old forum, you just couldn't select them from the drop down menu. Most were just slightly different than the primary theme but a few were highly experimental (actually... all were). The most likely place we should see more customization would be in the special topics but it's hard to predict what might catch on in the future. It makes sense that some customization would help us learn better as we press forward into new content. As a for instance, what might a training track look like for a bunch of 13 year old students learning A:M? I'm willing to guess it might not look like what most of us want. It remains to be seen what the extent of personalization each forum user has when selecting a skin/theme. If they choose a particular theme will that cause them to miss out on targeted (presumably higher quality) content? This is what Robert was talking about above when he suggested that all forums should retain the filmstrip banner. I'm a fan of the filmstrip banner... the author of it... but I don't want to miss out on something better if it shows up. That's one reason I like the idea of customizing the special topics as they are cyclical, renewable, on/off. When someone comes up with a great idea we can say, "Show us what you've got!" Edit: The more I look at 'executive' the more I like it. It'd make for a really nice (at least partially read only) Help Desk/FAQ.

Hi Gary, Wow... wish you would have picked a different release to go out on! v14 is right at the edge of transition from old world to new. I believe you are looking for the last 2007 release of v14 (which I assume you already have): If I recall correctly v15 was released in the latter part of the year. I ran across several forum topics that seem to confirm this. Here is the FTP location for that: ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/updates/windows/Am2007 This is where Rusty was pointed to way back when he asked about v14c. If you got in on the very last CDs of 2007 you might be able to run v15.

Interesting. There is something I like about 'executive' not quite sure what it is. It says, "Time to get to work!" which is something we need. Silver Night is a step up *in the right direction* from Black Chrome... much more readable. If Nexus was personalized enough... adding a nice image banner etc... it might be worth exploring. Of the three I personally like executive but I don't think I'd use it for all of the forum... just where the serious work needs to get done (i.e. Community Projects). It'd be like saying to everyone else, "When you are done playing, let us know when you want to get some real work done." Or if all of the official 'Learning' forums were branded in such a way it'd be a subtle yet easy to figure where you were at in the forums. I'm trying to picture some A:M related branding in Silver Night but not coming up with anything. Once branded,it would make a nice theme for someone's Special Topics forum. Given the above I'd say executive is the most universal. All three are fairly easy on the eyes (executive and nexus... almost relaxingly so at times) They are all free which is certainly the right price. I note that you didn't say which of the three YOU most liked! Edit: I note that there is a free mobile skin that comes with executive. I don't see that with the others.

Not quite fully formed but... Working in IE, Firefox and Chrome. Will have to check Safari... Can't quite find the sweet spot for all browsers. As soon as it's perfect on one it's broke in another. As of this moment all appear to be working although not optimally.

I reverted everything back to default in the legacy banner theme and IE and Firefox still had issues with scrolling. I'm not sure what is going on there but that sure does explain why I use Chrome. No matter what I tweaked Chrome kept everything in line and (best of all) kept working. NIce image!

Fixed on my end for IE.... have to check Firefox. Update: The fix for IE *appears* to have worked for firefox. I do need to double check to make sure vertical scrolling isn't impacted.

I think I fixed an overflow problem with the old banner 'Legacy Banner' theme (right and left of screen). I'd be interested to know if anyone is still getting that overflow on a PC or Mac. I don't recommend using the Legacy Banner theme for mobile.

That'd be great Jason. Suggestion: As much as it pains me to say it, until another format presents itself allow for .gif animation. Although... CSS animation ain't looking too bad. Wouldn't it be a hoot it the full solution heavily relied on JSON.

I'm hoping to get an A:M splash screen up for first time visitors (others could visit/revisit the splash page as they so choose)... targeted content to viewer interests being a high level goal. In other words if you say somewhere in your profile that you are interested in rigging... you'd see more information about rigging. This is the kind of thing we can do now with the new forum/server that we couldn't before. One of the problems of the past was that some folks didn't feel challenged enough while others felt overwhelmed. By getting to know each other better (i.e. what our current focus is with A:M) we can remedy that.

The tech behind the 'current' banner is pretty old and the images are hacked into the banner and it's kinda important that if I were to keel over tomorrow the next guy/gal be able to update it. That is the number one reason not to use the banner from the old forum. I pity whoever has to manually cut and paste code to keep it updated. A programmatic approach would be ideal (example: grab images from a list that is automatically generated from A:M Stills etc. or from the first image of a particular forum (but note that we don't have that capability... it'd have to be programmed). In a perfect world I'd hack er... grab a list... of all of the images posted to the forum and then prioritize those. The real issue though isn't just the images... it's the link that goes with the image... that takes you to the subject matter that the image hints at at the top of the forum. What's going on in the A:M Forum? I dunno... what's at the top of the forum? The reason the banner works now is because I'm too stubborn to not let it work. I remembered the images that showed up there way back when when it didn't work so well and thought I'd give it a whirl. But it can be so much more. What I envision would be more like the previews you see when you go to the movie theater (without that green screen that tells you what audience it is approved for). HTML5 or even pure CSS animated content (with menus) would be optimal. Something like this (but disclaimer!: this only begins to approach the goal): http://thecodeplayer.com/walkthrough/css3-image-slider-with-stylized-thumbnails I'm less interested in the scrolling aspects of the banner and more interested in publishing cool (but easily loadable) animated content. (If you want to watch the guy code the image slider click the "Play Walkthrough" button) All of this is a bit off topic but... I wouldn't mind exploring animated content via Adobe Edge Animate because it allows touch/swipe gesturing on modern displays but it does also rely on javascript (as does the old banner). As long as mobile platforms work well with the setup pure HTML5 and/or CSS would likely be the ideal way to go.

Yes, that is what we will do. I did a quick test to see if the old banner would work in the new forum. A quick copy/paste produced: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=59 Note that this banner test is only displaying for the Archive folder* and... I'm not sure... if you're personal selection of themes will override viewing it. A good time to check to see if that is what happens I suppose... At any rate... I'm hoping we can plus up the graphics even more as the old filmstrip was more of a hack because I'm not a programmer (as Jason well knows!). *Added it to the themes as 'Legacy Banner' for those who get all nostalgic and want to 'visit' the old forum.

As long as we have several options to choose from we should be doing fine. More reason to check out that link Jason posted and get your favorite skin out and into the limelight. I did note that they had one that looked almost exactly like the old forum and.... I was sorely tempted... but resisted... adding that into the theme options last night. Maybe we can add that (one version is a freebie) to soften the blow to those that can't deal with the change. Call it 'classic' or sumthin'. Here's the link to the classic (read: old style theme) I think I was looking at: http://community.invisionpower.com/files/file/6828-if34-ipboard-classic-blue-346/

Robert, I wouldn't sweat that. It's a fairly trivial matter to add some additional text but it's more important that we move toward selecting primary skins before adding little details like that. Make the issue known... get it on the radar... it'll get smoothed out. What could be done in the current case is change the timestamp to read, "Last post: Date/Time" and of course right above it would be the name of the one that posted it. That would make it easier to spot and click on. Don't discount having better access to profiles *which were seldom used in the old forum) because the new forum has better profile technology than the old forum. As such it'll be a good thing if folks keep their profiles current.

I think it's just with the new forum layout it's easy to click on something you don't want to. For instance, in trying to click through to this (Nancy's) last post in this topic I almost inadvertently clicked on her name which would take me to her profile.... I've done that so many times since the new forum activated I know not to! Just below her name though is the right timestamp/link that allows that 'go to last post in the topic' option. A bit hard to spot... therefore not optimal... but at least it's there. If a better solution doesn't present itself that one can be CANX off the TODO list. I just have to learn where to click to get what I want. That's what I was doing in the interim but it's one too many clicks. Keep in mind that there is also a Scrooooooooll down to get to that arrow/option... so all the more painful. What can I say, I prefer the one click option (ref: Robert's link to last post of the topic). Edit: Just in case its not clear clicking the timestamp below the name of the last poster is the one click option that will take us to the last post of the topic. Just don't accidentally click on the poster's name or you'' be sent to their profile.

Try this: Click on 'View New Content' (Upper right corner of forum) Click on the topic "We are on the new server!" (or for that matter any other topic) Note that this will take you to the first post of said topic which is not optimal. What the viewer then has to do is go down to the bottom and search for that little arrow that can take them to the end of the topic (where the fresh stuffs are). Added: Or look for the link Robert suggests. Maybe the old forum did that too and I've just forgot how painful it was. Edit: I went back to the old forum and you are correct Jason. Perhaps I was always selecting the 'Last post by ' as Robert suggested.

Similar to your effort with webGL my focus is primarily on what we can currently do. Since everyone kind of wrote off HAMR I thought it might be worth pointing out that it can still be used. To my knowledge HAMR as a web technology is not going anywhere soon so I'm not suggesting THAT be developed. There is also the issue of MFC classes that should be updated (which if updated might just help Steffen in that he wouldn't have to take on that task). The viewer on the other hand demonstrates working technology and anything that can display A:M models in action is worth considering even if it's just as a way to learn how to speak A:M in programming. I believe I've gone on record as suggesting that A:M itself could become an A:M content viewer once it's subscription activation runs out. There is after all no better program to view A:M files than A:M itself. I realize that such a thing would be a very tall order so I'm not expecting anything like that to happen. But... HAMR is working. And I'm thankful for that.

Here's another TODO to do: Clicking on a link to a post in the main index/main page should take the viewer to the last(latest) post in the topic instead of the first. This isn't an issue if there are only a few posts but not so great when there are hundreds.

What Chris said but also... at the bottom of any post you create or open there should be a button that says 'Use Full Editor'. If you select that you'll be given morer fullerer editing powers. I believe we could make that the default... I think it was the default in the old forum... as often as I use links and such I use the full editor a lot. Quick response is just for um... er... quick responses.

Thanks for getting us here Jason. I dunno. I like dark but the black chrome leaves a bit to be desired...

Here's the problem from a different angle (as mentioned above). Here I've set two of the three tree leaves images to Cookie Cut but note that the renderer has the transparency cut through the branches (obj file itself). The one in the middle I left alone. (In case it's not obvious, all three trees are Action Objects rendered from an Action Window) Added: The problem with changing to TGA, etc. is that unless you can do that in the originating application Prop textures and such are hardcoded into the Prop as far as A:M is concerned so unless I am mistaken, changing the image format isn't an option. The second image provides a better view of the cookie cutter issue (we need to leverage that to cut things out of scenes!):

Okay... what I suggested before works but... it is also cutting through the background/ground plane. More investigation required. Come to think of it though... if controllable, this might yield a very cool feature.

There are a couple of approaches... Perhaps the easiest would be to change the Type from Color to Cookie Cut *in the Chor*. Note that the setting will be there to change in the Chor but not under the Prop properties themselves. It's strange also that keycolor is not an option under the image itself but I assume that is because the png has an alpha transparency. At any rate, try that in a Chor.

I want to note this as well... There are some features of the new board that you can't access unless you use the full editor when posting. An example of this (I believe) is tags which you cannot add to a post unless you are in the full editor. With tagging that should dramatically improve looking up similar topics and resources.