Rodney

Eric, In the next few years I will be upgrading as will many others who frequent the forum. So information you discover will be appreciated.

Bump. This is a really old topic but I'm liking the economy of splines. :)

If you separate the parts of the train individually in your other program and then import those as Props you'll be able to texture and manipulate them separately. I would separate the parts even if trying to convert them into A:M Models.

Good catch. In my haste I messed that one up. I'll correct it in my post above. The numbers are important in benchmarks. Thanks! Wait a second!!! You know what? hehe. Twenty seconds isn't right either! Although it would be right at 30 frames per second. What isn't given here is that the frames rendered can result in various times. It just depends on how those frames are spaced. But that isn't what I want to talk about here I just want to get into the math of it. 601 frames divided by 24 frames a second gives 25 seconds (and change because of that extra frame). I should have rendered frames versus SMPTE or perhaps cels I would realized that I was rendering an extra frame. What I should have rendered was 600 frames which would have yielded exactly 25 seconds at 24 frames per second. For 600 frames to be displayed in two seconds... that that'd be 300 frames per second. Now that would be some serious frames zooming by...

As he was always fond of saying... He wrote the book an Animation:Master. Happy Birthday David!

May Soulcage rock forever. Happy Birthday!

You've got to specify the file type to output to. As of some earlier version of A:M you can get the file type going just by typing in the extension (A:M therefore knows that you want that type so you don't have to set it in the options). The compression type (if any) you would have to set there however. Make sure you use a filename of this type (assuming you want to 'save as animation' to a .mov file): mymovie.mov Make sure you know where it is going to save the file also. Troubleshooting tip: If A:M appears not to 'Save As Animation' for an entire sequence, the majority of the time users have accidentally imported only a single frame of the animation into the PWS. Make sure when importing you use the option to import the whole sequence. You can easily (visually) tell if you've imported a sequence by looking at the channel view next to the PWS. There you should see what looks like a movie strip.

Awesome. Divide and conquer! Looking forward to more awesomeness. Did you end up testing any negative lights?

That is amazing Matt. Very nice all around. When you do unplug from this please post it to either A:M Films or the Show me! forum so others can stand in awe. As far as the flame casting shadows you should be able to turn that off via Cast Shadows=Off... hmm.... but that is just per model. I suppose for a quick fix you could have two copies of the same model in place and hide everything except the flame in one and only the flame in the other. Then set the flame to not cast shadows. Perhaps you could make the main flame just more transparent? or mess with the falloff and ambiance blend in the surface properties? (That last one wouldn't do much for the shadow but would blend the flame in a little more at the source.

Woo hoo! Congrats on you move to Mountain Lion and v17.0a! Just so I'm not misunderstanding, are you saying that the finder issue of old is gone with the combo of v17 and Mountain Lion? (That'd be great news for Mac Users)

I've been toying with the idea of giving him a slight burned look or scar protruding out from his mask but I'm trying to resist the urge to do that. There is a reason he hides his face and to put any kind of blemish on his face will work against the contrast of the big reveal at the end of the story. To all appearances, he's (suppose to look like) just a cute cartoony outlaw riding the mystic trails. I just slapped a skin-like color on this model to indicate what the eventual color may be. No lighting or texturing that would approach the final look is intended. As far as color goes this is all coloring-book stage. I'm debating working in grayscale alone at these early stages but I've got to admit that I enjoy seeing some color. Regarding your neighbor... look out buddy! I've done similar fire starting many times but a series of events make this one cross the threshold of safety. I'd gladly go into that sequence of events but I'd want to make sure I took the time to note all safety precautions as well so that others don't follow my lead. It's interesting to note that there are some parallels to my burning within 'The Mystr'y Rider' but none of them were consciously created. There is a reason that he's wearing that mask (besides just being an outlaw) and for now on that subject, that's all I've got to say.

At this point I don't think I've got any characters that are animation-ready. I am still very much at the earliest stages of research and development. I may make myself a subject for the purpose of testing The Gauntlet, but I'd actually have to start producing stuff to get there. This guy... The Mystr'y Rider... would be really fun to animate. I'm looking forward to animating a classic western shoot out with serious yet cartoony charters. Added: One of the pluses of his design is that I wouldn't have to worry a lot about lipsync!

Looking very good Willi!

Here's a character I came up while recovering from my burns (I had a lot of time to sit and draw). As I doodled more and more characters formed and slowly a story came together about an outlaw cowboy who awakens in the middle of a misty desert with no memory of how he arrived save one, that he must track down a man and kill him; the unsuspecting Sheriff of a peaceful town. On the trail to his prey the Mystr'y Rider discovers a companion; a horse that when the mists decend upon the high desert planes into the valleys can speak into the rider's mind. As he follows the trail even stranger things begin to happen as skeletons arise from their graves to follow after him (some secretly plotting to end his life). Two skeletons break away from their posse and befriend the rider; an unhappy preacher and a orphaned child (you'd be unhappy too if you were suppose to be in heaven and got stuck taking care of a skeleton child. The tale chronicles how these unlikely companions finally track down the Sheriff and learn the real secret of the Mystr'y Rider. Below is one of the initial drawings of the Mystr'y Rider (drawn in Coreldraw). After my last post I thought I'd try to recreate the rider in 3D tonight and this is what came out. Hopefully I'm heading in the right direction.

The jury is still out on whether the broken leg was more painful than the burns. Both flukes... both could have/should have been avoided. What's funny (in a tragic kind of way) is that in both instances I had gone out of my way to help someone and shouldn't have been there to have the accident in the first place. Now THAT is irony. A good friend of mine might call it a 'moronic sense of responsibility'. As far as the explanation on igniting myself on fire. I had spent the better part of three months cutting down trees and burning brush at the place I lived at before entering the USAF and just before I made the move to go back to Japan to retrieve my family I agreed to help with some last minute cleanup. In the process I made a series of errors (shortcuts!) that in my haste caused a bottle's worth of gasoline to get exploded back into my chest and face. For a moment it got kidda hot. I did the ol' panick, drop and roll and (apparently) managed to get the fire out before it did extensive damage. The burns were bad enough that I got a trip to the Iowa Burn Center where they did more painful things to me than either the broken leg or the burn. By my estimation, my saving grace (besides God himself) was that while the fuel itself was burning...I wasn't directly burning and I (mostly) managed to get the flames out before the fire ran out of fuel and started using me as it's fuel. The heat damage was then what I spent the majority of the last three months recovering from. People I meet that don't know the tale are surprised because they say they would have never guessed that I'd ever been burned. I've got a pretty graphic photo that was taken by my sister about an hour after the accident if'n you ever want to see the full effects. I looked like a poorly splined model with bad displacement maps fer sure. If I hadn't been so miserable I might have taken daily pics so that I could put together an animation of the healing process. Hint: It is really really slow process and just when you think your 'healed', new wounds appear out of nowhere and the healing process seems to start over. The doctor knew her stuff though. She said I would fully recover and shouldn't have any scars to show for the adventure. I have a few as of this moment and my chest looks seriously sunburned but I can easily live with that. I have a lot to be thankful for. Thanks Gene! I'm working on it. I'm hoping to get that style translating into the computer one of these days and almost feel like I am on approach to getting that going. I've long said that 2020 was going to be my year and way back then I thought that'd give me a good cushion of time to ramp up to it. 2020 is going to be here soon so I need to get movin'! I should say though that while I do have a style I try to morph my style to fit the particular project I'm working on.

More unrelated stuff but I did move forward in a couple areas. This image is a very loose attempt to bring the principles of squash and stretch and straights vs curves a little closer into how I animate in Animation:Master. The real trick for me is in how to maintain the sense that I am 'drawing' while animating computer characters. It's not an easy thing to do but little by little I'm getting closer. Sorry for the lame graphics. This is largely just a note to myself so I don't forget the gains of today... tomorrow.

Thanks Jost! I've only just barely looked into Unity but everything I see look really great. There are some folks who know the ins and outs of Unity and you all can further educate the rest of us some day. I recently visited a Unity site (I don't think it was the main one) and really liked what I saw. I'm a long way away from creating games or game assets but I know Unity will be of use to me someday. I do regret that our effort to create a TWO game didn't get off the ground. I was really looking forward to that. It would have been fun.

All of what I've written above is not really what I wanted to say. That's just a piddly observation. I am super impressed by how well you animated to the beats and music in this video. I think fast beat music is your forte! Very impressive.

Nancy beat me to the commentary on adding a little blue to the flame. That would be nice. Now you've got me wondering if negative lights (a white light or two or three with negative intensity) set around the candle would intensify the effect of the SSS.

Says you. He eventually will... and if not her someone else. Humor-wise the video begs to have some kind of reveal at the end that shows everyone who was really in charge of that game. She could pull out a huge gun and smile at at end and she could motion with the camera to 'walk this way'. The audience may understand 'he never catches her' but: 1) It's not explicitly stated. 2) There is always going to be the question out there about 'what's it gonna be like when he catches her' and the some in the audience will imagine that whether you give that to them or not. As it is now you've basically left the audience to consider that question which (to me) lacks something needed to sell 'he never catches her'. In other words, something to reveal that she was never in any jeopardy to begin with. At least there wasn't blood all over the place to indicate that he's caught someone else before. There is that. Maybe you can revisit this guy/gal in a sequel to show that she is still alive. (She might even develop an extended following besides this guy) There is a limited range of visuals one can get when we hear the words 'chop you up' and it's not related to motorcycles. My mind races to think that perhaps both guy and gal could have chased each other back and forth with progressively enlarging instruments of death. If wanting to just resolve this one after the music is over (as you've ended it now) you could have the girl turn and smile and then ride off on a motorcycle. A more complex extension would be to have her riding off casually and him running exaggeratedly after her. The reason I like this as a solution is because it wouldn't effect your current music video at all. Just saw that you added this. Hmmm... okay, you are stretching now but at least now I'm following you. That brings to mind other options. For one, it makes me think you could adjust the color (desaturate?) and/or put an overlay over the top of the whole thing that would give it a Halloween feel. You could rescue the whole thing if you color correct and set the mood with an eye for Halloween. That darker coloring contrasted with the lively beat should help sell the humor in the video. Do you have time to do a whole video edition of this video? Having the girl hiding in a coffin (maybe she goes in and then when he opens it she's not there) and other Halloween props all around would really plus this up. The colors and the beat as they are now lean more to the idea that it's fun to chop people up. What can I say other than I don't quite identify with that. Making the connection with Halloween explicit to where no one can miss it... now that would be a very good idea. All this is purely my initial thoughts that arrived upon seeing the video and your revelation that it is set for a Halloween release. It's great animation and a lively beat so there is a lot going for it regardless. Taking one half a month more to bring the Halloween theme into it would make it superb IMO. Adding a taste of Halloween would at least flavor it. You wouldn't even have to rerender what you've got here. Just adjust it in post.

Unfortunate lyrics but impressive animation! The beat is really there and you've hit your mark time and time again throughout. Very impressive. You are making this animation thing look easy. And those flame effects are pretty sweet too! Regarding the lyrics... what can I say... as a policeman I've seen too much of real violence to even entertain that part as humorous. I'm trying to imagine what might make that work for me (and any others who might also be put off by the idea of a guy chasing a girl with sharp objects) but short of 'Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner' that's a tough one to visualize. We are living in a very strange 'Dexter-ized' society. Congrats Gene!

Making excellent progress!