Rodney

Thanks Stian! Perhaps someone has already asked or the information is on your site but... If wanting to use any of your textures for commercial projects what is the best way to go about that... contact you via your website?

Here's a quick down and dirty attempt using a section of the original image posted here as a decal (3 decal types: color, ambiance and displacement) glow gets added in the Chor:

Sorry to hear about your accident Phil. That would explain why you haven't been around!!! I'm heading out the door so haven't had time to spend with your latest update. The primary action looked good but I was distracted by the secondary action in his arms (it's not clear why they would not continue down and strike the ground). So... here's the challenge. You've just experienced something similar to this animation personally (Some folks are a little too extreme in their research!!!) Apply what you know of that experience to this fall. Where should this guy be feeling the effects? What should happen to those arms? Glad to see you are doing better both in recovery and in your animation.

More people will see your image if you post it as a JPG or PNG image. BMP and the internet are not the best of friends. Did you download and check out John's project file?

That's pretty freaky. It reminds me of a scene in the first issue of the now much sought after issue of Bone#1 (by Jeff Smith) where snow falls for the first time that season in the Big Valley. It falls down as one big mass. I was looking at that scene and wondering how it could be approached in a computer and frankly, doing a lot of head scratching. While your effect here is quite different is demonstrates that it could be done. Very interesting John.

That's about as basic a tutorial as you are likely to get. At the risk of getting hurt I'll suggest... The Technical Reference. Please turn to page 88. If you follow along you'll see there are several things you need: A Surface (A surface mesh/model) - Open up a Model window - Create a surface either by Extruding, Lathing or Right Clicking and Selecting 'Grid' Two Bones (for that Surface) - One Bone that that has all Control Points you wish to assign as the Surface (Note: In a Choreography you can select a whole model instead) - One Bone to act as an Aimer. Name this something useful like "Aimer" (Note: When you animate this Bone it will move your Object across the Surface of this Models mesh) Drop this Model into a Choreography Another Model (to Constrain to the Surface) Drag and Drop this second Model into your Choreopgraphy (I volunteer Thom... he's used in the skiing example in the Tech Ref) (Note: This is the Model that you will Contrain to the Surface) In the Choreography window select Thom (or whatever other model you want to move across the Surface) - Right Click and select New > Constraint > Surface Select your Surface Model (Note: If you don't want the whole Model's Surface but rather the Surface you've specified by the Bone open up the drop down and Select Bone 1 from your Surface Model. This will Constrain your Object to the Surface) From the Properties of your Constraint you'll then want to identify your Aimer. Use the Drop Down menu to select the Bone you've named 'Aimer'. Now back in the Choreography adjust or animate the Aimer Bone and watch as Thom (or other Object) moves across the surface of the mesh. Note: The need for the Aimer Bone and that it needed to be animated was the part that I didn't understand about Surface Constraints until I read the Tech Ref! It's pretty important. Troubleshooting This is the first time I remember ever using a Surface Constraint and it took reading the Tech Reference to understand the requirements. Everything worked as specified. Give the above (and what is in the Tech Ref) a try and post your results. Then everyone can share this as a tutorial and plus up what they've learned here. We'll adjust as necessary and all learn more about Surface Constraints.

Wow. Thanks for bumping this up Chris. I just returned from looking at the other renders... Incredible detail. I don't know how you have the patience Rodger.

I'm late to the party but want to echo what has already been said. Looking very good Myron! I particularly like the character you've put into him. He looks like a bee that is not to be trifled with. Serious Business. He's got just the right amount of detail and realism yet just enough caricature to pull me in and want to see and learn more about him. The photo background really adds to the sense that he's a 'real' character which makes that last one a fun rendering. Looking forward to your next update.

Looking great Jeff. If that doesn't make you want to see that model animated I don't know what would. There is something odd about the front webbing going down the front of his face. Perhaps what you have is modeled after a new design that I'm not aware of but I'll offer this in case it matters... Spider-man's mask usually has one line coming over the head and down the center line until it reaches the 'circle' in between his eyes. From that point downward past his chin and neck two weblines branch out toward his jaw and there is no webline at the centerline. I think in the comic books they just did this to break up the face a little and hint at the lines going around his nose from the front perspective. My apologies if this has been suggested or already dealt with and I'm just behind the times. I'm not looking at reference now but I'm pretty sure that webline runs all the way down the back of his head from that origin at his eye line. I found myself really staring at the area on his arms where the blue meets the red and seems to form muscle. That's a very cool effect you've got going there. It makes it seem like the costume has some thickness to it. I like!

I just recieved a note from Sherm Cohen that he'll be removing his Storyboard Q&A video to make room for his next online class. So go see it now or you may miss it. http://storyboardclass.com/q-and-a/ Note: I haven't purchased his DVD set (yet) but it's a great deal. Highly recommended.

Very nice Mark. I like it!

.AVI isn't an accepted attachment type in the forum but .MOV is.

Okay... this is all 'as far as I know'... The Extra DVD is (unfortunately) not set up for use with Libraries. (The previous A:M Extra CD was) Each asset on the DVD (Project files, Models, Materials, Actions etc.) was added to the DVD more or less as it was found or arrived. Each asset's Library Icon is contained within the asset file itself (the icon image code is embedded as part of the same text file). If the creator of the asset didn't apply an icon to the asset then no icon will appear in the Library. If the asset is missing in action (it's not where it's Library shortcut is pointing to) A:M cannot find the specified file and therefore cannot display the file's embedded icon. A:M places a question mark icon there to let you know the status of that asset effectively saying... "This asset is not where you are telling me it is. So, where is your file?" If A:M can find the file but there is no assigned icon A:M will display the asset's default (no frills) icon. So the simple solution to removing a Question mark icon in a Library is to place the asset in the location where the Library shortcut suggest it resides. In cases of large Libary collections it may be easier to delete/remove your current Library and substitute a new Library that correcty captures the location of where your assets reside. In case it's important, each Library is at it's core (prior to any asset shortcuts being added) an empty text file with the extension '.lbr'. Additional information you never asked for: There are several things you can do here (and there are several things as a community we can do better in the future). - Note that you can use the assets on the DVD without the Library (championing the use of A:M Libraries when people tend not to use them is a tough battle to fight) - Apply your own Icons (For instance you can open the asset in a Modeling Window, Right Click and select Create Icon) Note: You'll want to do this only after copying your DVD assets to your harddrive as you cannot change the files on the DVD! So... apply the changes to copies on your harddrive and file your DVD away as a back up copy) - Use A:M Libraries - Encourage others to use A:M Libraries Note: I find that I am currently Library agnostic but fully support those who like those really cool icons in A:M Libraries. A:M Library extra tidbit: Add your rendered images into A:M Libraries under the Images tab for easy dragging and dropping as Rotoscopes and Layers. They work best when Alpha Channel transparencies are applied!

Yes. Sorry. I should have said 32bit. (I should have been sleeping rather than typing )

Amazing! I don't know how you come up with this stuff but I sure am glad that you do. I'll need to watch this one a few times for everything to sink in thoroughly. Thanks David.

You may experience some problems with rendering out to AVI/MOV in the 64 bit version. For the time being I recommend using the 24 bit version for rendering to movie formats (You can't render to MOV currently in the 64bit release as there are issues with Apple's .MOV porting to 64bit). Both 24bit and 64bit can be installed at the same time on your computer of course. It is generally recommended that you render out to a image sequence first (TGA, JPG, PNG etc) first for a variety of reasons (for instance, if the power goes out while rendering you won't lose all your rendered images and can just pick up where you left off. Recompile them as a movie once you have all the images as you want them. With v16 you can also launch Netrender to do the work.

Very reasonable price... very much appreciated Mark. Ordered!

Long shot here... Make sure you aren't dragging and dropping the Action to somewhere later in the Choreography. You might not be seeing it because it's been appended to the end of another Action. The same holds true for dropping the new Action onto Sam. If not careful the Action may be present but not viewable because it's being overwritten. If Sam already has an Action applied to him you might need to change the Action's location or its setting to Blend or Add instead of Replace.

For me its mostly been a matter of convenience. I can be anywhere in the house or even the road with the same computer. It's much harder (i.e. impossible!) to do the same thing with a desktop. In many ways I do favor a desktop... more sturdy and reliable (and as you say...cheaper!) and I know I'd get more work done on a desktop as I tend to relax and get distracted (usually browsing the internet) entirely too much on the laptop. I still have a few of my old desktops sitting idle and hope to resurrect them for basic usage one of these days. Right now it'd be hard to live without my laptop. (We like them so much my family has three) One specific reason I favor my laptop... it has A:M v16 installed on it.

Don't even get me started on computers. At the rate I wear them out I think I need to find a way to budget for a new computer every year. My current laptop/battery doesn't like to hold a charge for more than a few minutes when disconnected from the power cable... and that cable/port/connector is broken on the back of the laptop... (I'd blame my daughter for that for tripping on the power cord and breaking off the center of the power plug on the computer but... I'm sure I could have been a little more careful in my choice of where to sit and browse the internet on my computer. I suppose a second Rule of Computers might be... don't blame family members for the current state of your computer...) At any rate, I'm glad you got your issue sorted. Added: There is an interesting lesson for me to learn here as well. Sometimes I am a bit too ready to assume people will blame A:M for their misfortunes when that may not be the case. I assure you, the irony of that fact given my previous post is not lost on me.

Jeff, This is the part I'd be most concerned with as it suggests a deeper frustration. Not trying to pry... just trying to understand... as anyone that uses complex software will (without fail) face frustrating challenges. I've found a golden rule in software to be "Never blame the software." While there are exceptions to every rule I've found this to be a very reliable one to remember. I've also seen it validated time after time when users response to a particular frustration after it has been resolved by saying, "Whoops, my bad!". In your case, my thoughts turn to what would have happened had you not realized the source of your problem was a fog setting. Would you really have called it quits with A:M? Thankfully, because you resolved the problem, we won't need to know the answer. Why even bring this up? Because sooner or later everyone will get frustrated and want to blame the software when the source of the frustration will be an overlooked setting or simply user error. Thanks for sharing your experience Jeff. That's why this forum is here.

Happy Birthday Rodger!

I seem to be relearning a lot today. When considering Ambiance it's best to avoid black *and* white as a base color as these colors override the ambiance effect. When adding color, a mid gray generally works best as a base color. As for streak and sprite glow I don't see any way to control that within the system/emitter as there is no place to set Ambiance or Ambiance Intensity. My memory says the Additive Color combined with Transparency should generate the closest 'in particle system' glow effect but I'm still looking into that. I still maintain that adding the glow effect in post will give you maximum control of the effect. I had a successful rendering but hardly worth sharing. Let's see what else I can come up with.

Hmm... not sure you can but I'll check. I was thinking more in terms of animating objects/patches instead of particles. I'll investigate. It should be noted here that it's good to have a target to shoot for when trying to recreate an effect. I'm not sure what that target looks like yet. There are a lot of glowing effects in games these days. The last time someone asked for a similar effect it took awhile but eventually we discovered it was sword slashing circular effect. Added: If you cannot get the glow effect applied to a particle stream then you can surely add the glow in post. - Render out the particles/streaks normally first (use a white color for your test). - Apply the rendered image sequence to a single patch image and place that model in your Choreography (place the corners of the model at the corners of the Camera cut off) - Animate the Ambiance setting and color of the Image or Patch. - Adjust the Chor's glow as necessary. etc. Rerender to see the full glowing effect I don't think I still have the project file for it but the following is an example of one such effect where a small object (I think it was a single 5 point patch) is applied to a path: zapz.mov

Very impressive Stian. I hope to improve my understanding of HDRI images and your site is sure to help me with that. Thanks!