Rodney

I understand the desire to add sound to animation. It's a good idea to animate to some kind of beat or phrasing. Perhaps it doesn't have to be dialogue or anything that requires strict sync? Heck if you just had a continuous Sheppard's tone all of the entries would be able to be stitched together. DunDun DunDun DunDun DunDun DunDun DunDun etc. (continually escalating or deescalating). A couple versions with different tempos could be released to allow for suspenseful... humorous... lively... etc. Seriously though... a boring metronome beat would be better than silence. The beat could then be disgarded if not needed. Attached: Sheppards Tone kinda-sorta (Example only): shepherdswav.wav

Who can argue with that logic. Perhaps I should resubscribe. Or... maybe I should subscribe more than once? Hmmm.... now I'm debating... one for the laptop and one for the desktop? Purchase six months apart from each other so the subs will overlap for maximum coverage?

Hopefully... that will that be in the next 12 days?

If Hash Inc is on board then they can probably use their voting mechanisms. Jason would have to weigh in on that. You would have to consider Jason's schedule and there would be some lead time to consider on that methodology. Of course we can test out some other options. For instance, I believe the Polling system of the forum itself could be used to get a single vote from everyone who logs in and votes in the forum. We could set up voting to be one per person, multivotes... or even both (i.e. over all popularity via vote as often as you want and/or one vote only). Google now as a pretty sweet Survey system going and perhaps it could be set up for voting. I'll be glad to investigate the forum and Google options. The benefit to Hash Inc's system is that it is a weighted vote (i.e. a voter can choose three favorites and then the system keeps track of the over all tally of the votes) I suspect that to a degree the forum's polling system can also do that.

Is this where we ask the question, 'How long are the entries for the 11 second club'?

If you see any of the old archives that are locked/read only let me know and I'll adjust them. If the important topics can be bumped back up (or commented on) that'll save me a lot of time finding them.

I'm really liking that!

It is a stretch, I'll grant you that. Waitasec.... Did v17.0f just come out??!?? Nice. I've got 12 days to check this stuff out... Steffen sure knows how to entice a guy.

Doh!

This is to let everyone know that I hope to organize some of the forum posts that have drifted deep into the dark recesses of the forum where few people ever find them. Archiving Rather than archive old topics directly to the standard archives this year the plan is to consider more carefully whether or the subject matter fits better in another topic. For instance, an old topic about Hair that still has valid information, links and project files would fit in very nicely in the Material Lab within the forum dedicated to Hair. Topics focusing on the ins and outs of Barry Zundle's video tutorials would fit better in Barry's User Group. Users Groups Now here's the deal with the Users Groups... At the bottom of the main forum you should see an Animation:Master Users Group category. Wherever and whenever possible it is the forum's goal to promote full access to all information in the forum. There may be times when a specific forum moderator or Hash Inc desires some level of privacy beyond granting full access to everyone. For instance, you may want to perfect some collaborative project before releasing it to the general public. If you wish to start your own A:M Users Group... let us know and we'll get you set up! Access Again, the goal is to promote full access to information that will help you create your projects with A:M. If for any reason you feel you should have access to any area of the forum (and you don't) please contact the moderator of the forum you wish to access or me... and we'll see that you get the proper access. Each Users Group should have a public area were everyone can post so you can post there and request access as well. In cases where information is being worked on behind the scenes for eventual release a password may be all that is required to gain access. 2013 is going to be a great year and we don't want anyone to feel left out! Thanks! Rodney

You know... you are starting to sway me...

One option would be the Hash Certificates. Those can be purchased in any denomination. I've used them before and they work quite well. Back when we ran the Newbies raffle... I just purchased A:M directly for the winners. Note: If this is related to your 'Woke Up Dead' project it may be best to place it there.

My subscription is about to expire and I've begun to think of all of the reasons I should resubscribe. While plunking down $79 for another year of A:M is really a no-brainer (of course I should)... maybe... just maybe... I should consider the reasons I have to resubscribe. So... help me out here guys/gals. Give me a reason (or ten) to resubscribe.

I'm not sure if Gerry can confirm but... When using transparency in images for decals and such it's generally best to steer clear of the PNG format. For some reason it's just not as good as TGA, EXR and such when it comes to Alpha Channels/transparency. Think of it this way: The PNG format was designed for display on a webpage (as a still image with or without transparency) ...not primarily for use with sequential images. TGA and EXR were specifically designed with sequential images (with transparency) in mind. My experience: Whenever I want to use Alpha Channels or transparency I try to remember to use TGA or EXR *unless* my goal is to put the image directly online (such as posting to the forum). Even then I might use TGA/EXR first and then covert the final image to PNG.

Nice use a Libraries.

That's looking really nice. I agree that the size of the waves make the ship look like a toy/model. Adjusting that will get it right. Looking good!

Nicely done John!

There has been some interesting movement on the Lightworks video editor front. Namely, both the 32bit and 64bit (free) releases have added priliminary support for the H.264 (Quicktime) format but... without requiring Quicktime. Why should this be of any interest? Well, for one thing this means there is a way to get Quicktime H.264 movies going on the 64bit platform. Lightworks itself still is a bit rough around the edges but I still find myself hoping the eventual open sourcing of the program will have its path converging with A:M for a lot of folks. The biggest problems at this point include: - Installation is difficult due to the way security for the program works (the requirement for the hasp for the Pro version has users jumping through a few hoops in order to get the free version of the program going) - The interface itself is not highly intuitive (i.e. to begin to edit video there is a pretty steep learning curve) At this time there are a few bugs related to H.264 usage to be squashed that will keep folks from preferring that format; having the audio sync correctly to the movie for example. At any rate, Lightworks is still very much on my radar and with each release it seems to get closer to moving into my workflow. There is still quite a ways to go but the addition of H.264 video on the 64bit side is noteworthy... Linkage

Yes, some toon styles don't even require the toon renderer settings. One way to approach the stylistic options is to find the desired look and then work backward to get the right effect. In other words... it helps to have a target to aim for.

Impressive work Bruce! Well done!

I see what you mean Marcos. I see the functionality in v15j+ but not in v17. Launch a report to A:M Reports. It may just be an oversight that dropped that menu item out of the dropdown menu when the newer options were added to it. For what it's worth I always had some difficulty in getting my head wrapped around how 'Remove from Groups' worked. It seemed like it sometimes removed things incorrectly. Perhaps that is related to why it disappeared from that area of the menu? Not sure here. Dan, He's trying to use an option that didn't require using the PWS at all. It'd been so long since I used it that I didn't realize it had gone missing from that location.

If you Right Click on a Named Group in the Project Workspace tree (in the Modeling window) you should see 'Remove from Groups' as an option. I just tested in v17e and the option is there on my end. It is there in an Action and Choreography as well.

Nice and wobbly. He looks like the kind of alien that would lull you into complacency and then GARRGGGGH! Destroy you. Ah, look at him. Isn't he cute. ZAPPPPAAARGGGHHHHZOOOM. Off to some strange planet you go. Be careful with those critters John.

That'd be a 'yes'. Please note the last option "Apply displacement maps to geometry". I believe this gets us back to A:M's earlier function where we could model with displacement maps. I know the primary interest at the high end is for use with other programs but for those that just want to use A:M the AV2 format is great for that. Create all the displacements... export out... import back into A:M and (optionally) get rid of the displacement maps or swap them with even more detailed maps. Usage was spotty back in the v11 timeframe but a recent test suggests that displacing geometry via the exporter is rock steady. This is slightly off topic so we may need to start a new thread on mesh displacement.

I've always thought that A:M secretly used those formats internally for some things but I'd be hard pressed to prove that. Example: A:M models are converted to polygons for realtime display (as most graphics cards are optimized for polys instead of splines. My theory is that the PLY format is (or was) used for that conversion internally. Similarly, the .AV2 format can be used for quickly manipulating splines. A:M would just have to account for five point patches in the process. I use the AV2 format to combine sequences of animated models into a new master model (I posted on this process recently). Something that might take hours then becomes doable in a few minutes. (As mentioned before... I just have to watch out for 5 point patches because they tend to get lost in the conversion). So in the end they are basic equivalents for their technology (AV2 for splines and PLY for polys). Note: I am not suggesting that A:M requires these two plugins, only that the capability has been exposed via the plugins so that we can use that functionality as well.