Rodney

Using splines and drawing with splines is a very different thing. A lot of programs use splines. There is a limited amount of comparison we can do here when the forum rules prevent such comparisons of software in the forum but all one has to do is download the trials and compare for themselves. In my experience just a few moments with these other programs makes it all the more easy to return to A:M and appreciate its approach. I suspect you have actually used those programs you have listed so you know this. They have an edge because they at one time followed/complemented the A:M approach. Jpatch? Please. It's a wonderful effort... truly... but it is not even 5% to what we see in A:M. I am being overly generous here as anyone who has launched jpatch will know. The recent move away from core functionality established in A:M suggests that jpatch's author couldn't get Martin Hash's vision to work so he made some critical concessions that will move his trajectory further away from A:M rather than closer (IMO). The hope would be that he retains at least some compatibility after all is said and done. Who knows, maybe he'll break through and bridge the gap for us all. Workflow is key but it's the tech below the hood that allows such a streamlined workflow. Otherwise the competition would have overtaken A:M's workflow a long time ago.

David, I wrote up a lengthy response that focused on wikis but decided it was too self-defeating to post. I want wikis to work so why (short of reality) should I speak against them? I wanted the TWO wiki to be a lot more than it turned out to be too. (I should have begged for support from the forum and perhaps it would be) Historically, at least three A:M wikis were launched and heading in the right direction when the primary supporter of the wiki backed away... and eventually left completely. Eh? I want to support the wiki and the best way I know to do that is to keep the forum organized so that information here can eventually be transferred to the wiki. The barrier that I see to most of these repeating problems is primarily one of access... the rest is maintenance (never a fun thing to deal with). One or two people, as wonderful as they may be, will always form a bottleneck in an otherwise open system if they are the sole gatekeepers. As long as access is limited, so will be the resulting documentation. So we get high hopes.... dashed... and the cycle repeats itself again. This has been a problem with the wikis This is a problem with A:M Films This will be a problem with A:M Answers This is NOT a problem with the A:M Forum. Wha? Why is that? I submit to you that it is because there are, to the greatest extent possible, no gatekeepers and Hash Inc picks up the tab for all fees. Hmm... That is why I place the majority of (but certainly not all of) my effort here in the forum. Did I mention I also really want an A:M wiki? In case I didn't, for the record: I'd really love to work with someone on creating the ultimate wiki. But I don't think the best approach is to type in thousands of wiki entries manually. No, there are better ways. Chris, I haven't forgotten your post! I'll try to turn to it shortly. Aside: Is this what we call the 'Brainstorming' stage?

...and... You say that like it's a bad thing. The advancement of the competition and furtherance of technology is a good thing. Advancement helps everyone. Competition keeps prices low so that customers can access technology that is prohibitively expensive. Only time will tell the tale but it's obvious to me that A:M is here to stay. How many other spline drawing options are out there waiting in the wings? None. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. In this regard, A:M has no competition. A:M is that unique. And herein lies the beauty of the thing. As competition gets closer, A:M's life doesn't get harder... it gets easier.

To anyone who hasn't been through a few of these it probably looks pretty crazy. But bottom line, it's a topic of great interest to everyone. I do keep thinking... hoping... that during one of these iterations we'll see it solved. I wish it was as easy as belling a cat because we'd have already solved it. There is one sure way to optimize documentation. Record and share everything. Or, alternatively, allow someone to spy on you and record everything you do. That's what Google does. (Well, minus some of the sharing part) Easy peasy nice and cheesy. Cats and mice all working together. Aha! Problem solved.

A:M: Answers is a great example of using information that is there already waiting to be read. It is interesting to note that the majority of what we see in A:M Answers properties has been there since circa v9 to v11. It is also no coincidence that it is almost exactly same information found in the Tech Ref. (to understand why read on) Jason Hampton has even more lofty ideas for A:M Answers, but since he's not been here championing A:M Answers regularly we've lost his vision. The genius of Steffen, adding to Jason's initial idea was to access A:M internal information; information that has always been there. But where did that information come from? It certainly didn't write itself. The Hash Inc programmers wrote in the properties as they put together the properties themselves so they themselves could better locate and remember them. But that accounts for the properties themselves. It doesn't account for all the properties variables and the mixing of different properties together. In order to document them, the programmers would have to test out all of those out. In a similar vein we could ask ourselves how someone like David Rogers could write a whole book on A:M and so meticulously document its features. Answer: He went through and pushed every button and tested every option to see what that feature/property did. He then added it to the documentation he had collected and moved on to the next feature. He collected every tip he could find and smashed together thousands of emails sent via the Animaster mailing list. No doubt he then shared his draft book with a bunch of A:M Users who set about validating his documentation and where highly appreciative of having access to his compilation. They should be they gained a great deal of expertise in the making of it. This is how we would have approach a comprehensive manual... click on every button and test out every option... and that'll take time. We've got it pretty easy comparatively though because we've already got a lot written up on all the major features already.

Very nice Malo. Excellent presentation. I"m not sure what all it means but you've come close to enlightening me. VERY INTERESTING!

I'm smiling a lot as I read this topic because I was here back in 2003 wanting the exact same things. I wanted this stuff so much that I got angry. Why wasn't more information available? Why wasn't there a better manual? Why wasn't anybody listening to me? Didn't I just pay for this software? Didn't I deserve a new manual? Shortly thereafter I got an email response to one of my posts from Martin Hash himself. (I swear...my heart departed clean out o' my chest) Here was the grand pooba himself going to ban me to oblivion forever and then...only then... utterly crush my head. Instead Martin just thanked me for my help with new users and asked if I would be interested in moderating a new users forum focused on their manual, "The Art of Animation:Master"... which he referred to as 'ToaA:M' and to which he confidently claimed was 'The Way of A:M'). It wasn't until people started asking their questions in that new forum that I realized I had never actually read through any of Hash Inc's manuals.

I think we can find people to do it with little problem. Getting people to pay for a manual is a problem of a different color. I would like to propose a $100 Ultimate A:M Manual. Who is ready to plunk down their money? I would also like to propose a $1000 manual for people really serious about getting everything into one concise manual. (subsequent updates to be available at a substantial discount) Who is ready to plunk down their money for that? Barring all of that, who is ready to plunk down $10 for a new manual (in advance)? Come on people. We don't need a kickstarter for this. Cut out that middle man! Hire some A:M Pros to create you a manual.

Yes. And yes it is.

Well, I asked Simon but your thoughts are just as valid. They would be even more valid in a topic of their own. If we are going to be organized we might as well start here first, so that people can more easily find the information they are looking for.

I was a bit lost... I thought you were playing in the Toon Render Dialogue settings (See image below). Can you share some more information about what type of material you are using? Is it Toon Nation? Just a standard material you've created? If you can upload that material file to the forum that will help. BTW - I really like that Sine render!

Glad to hear things are going smoothy. This is a classic example of hardware related issues. Classic fix: Update Graphic Cards Drivers In the options panel you can also set limits related to the realtime playback (mostly for older systems/cards). Newer versions of A:M take advantage of the capabilities of current graphics cards.

The Software Development Kit (SDK) forum is a bit buried at the moment, mostly because folks have to contact Steffen directly to get access to the most current SDK. The SDK forum will be back again but for now various development efforts are mostly collected in the User Led / 3rd Party Development Forum. Development topics posted elsewhere in the forum eventually get moved there.

Okay, now you've got me confused Matt. At 9 passes the candle was melted just a little. At 256 passes the candle is brand new and right out of the box. Multipass is good... but... Is this one frame from a (melting) sequence?

Yes, if the Project file is saved on the network along with the .PAR and .PAI Netrender should see them.

There are a couple of different ways but the primary would be to set the Toon setting to Render Toon Lines Only in either the Camera settings or in the Render Panel. This will make the shading option disappear. Underneath the Lines option you can then set the color.

A little melting at the top and I'd call that perfect. Edit: I see you've already beat me to that!

Interesting. I hadn't considered patents. Pixar has a ton of them.

I'm curious about what you find awkward with regard to the Tech Ref. Rather than take this thread further off topic can you start another topic to describe what you find awkward about the Tech Ref's usage? Thanks!

Very nice Matt! I'll add this also from the Soulcage Department (although its a little off topic): Faking SSS

I mentioned it above but one thing I recall some of the more successful User Groups doing was setting a focus (an agenda) for each meeting. This is a bit different from the forum where every topic is 'always on'. User Groups can better serve A:M Users in this regard. For instance, a User Group might set up an adgenda for the next meeting to explore the ins and outs of Netrender. Back in the glory days of User Groups this would be less likely to happened because everyone didn't have access to Netrender. Now that's not the case at all. User Groups are especially good at things like this... letting people know might be missed in the flood of information on the forum, picking out what is the most important to their groups membership (because they know them better) and informing them of what is going on. In an ideal setting User Groups would get a heads up in advance of official releases and schedule events around them.

Here is a comment by the initial programmer of SSS, Yves Poissant (Steffen added additional functionality and extended it into Materials): The take away that I get is that SSS needs real lights. This would be is why Global Ambiance Color will not effect SSS (assuming it doesn't). An immediate workaround would be compositing.

A Sub Surface Scattering expert will be along shortly (Help... Nancy!!!) I'm not sure enough about Global Ambiance Color enough to comment on that. In the meantime, here is a post with project files for adding SSS to an eye. That is somewhat waxy. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36034 If time is of the essense, here is the prime spots for discussions on SSS. (Sorry, I'm still trying to clean it up and organize) Link: SSS Sub Surface Scattering (A search for all forum topics with the three letters SSS) This topic has some good commentary on SSS and AO and some effective workthroughs/workarounds: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=41730 And perhaps most importantly, the Sub Scattering Forum is: HERE!

That is just too cool John. Lock that one down. Seal it in a box. Then mass produce it and distribute it far and wide.

You hit a lot of nice points there but I'll just comment on one and let others weigh in: I can't help but think this is a good idea. I would think they should be laser focused on getting the job done exactly as specified.