Rodney

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!

Glow in A:M is primarily controlled by Ambiance Color and Intensity. Glow can be turned on in any Surface property. The global intensity of the glow can be further controlled within the Choreography environmental settings. So any object (not just streaks) can be set to glow. I'm sure the image here doesn't represent the effect you are going for but it's an example of glow being used in several ways. As I recall, there are no lights in the image as all surfaces are glowing to some extent. To ensure your surface will glow make sure the color you use is not set to black. Of course, if you wish to dampen the effect of the glow on some select surfaces while others are effected you may want to set the Ambiance color of those areas to black.

Impressive work. It's amazing the difference the change in camera angle makes.

I want to make a suggestion outside of my last post because I believe it'll benefit others here in the forum the most. I am reminded of the story of Grim Natwick who after retiring had moved to a small town in Missouri. Those around him little idea he was a legend... and the creator of Betty Boop... and the industry at that time had little interest in such the old animator. But found by others who wanted to learn the old ways from him and he went on to inspire a who new generation of animators before he celebrated his 100th birthday. The world of animation is better for it. Seek out those in your community with experience in animation. Find those familiarity with the classical hand drawn approach before they are gone and you can only read about their stories. Some wonderful artisans of animation (young and old) may being living in a community near you.

There is a third element that is driving animation education that makes this period of time something of a major crossroads; traditional hand drawn animators out of work and/or retiring. At a glance this would seem to fit your second bullet but in this case the need for money isn't the motivator. This 'retiring' aspect creates something of a two edged sword when it comes to animation education. One the one hand we are seeing a whole of folks teaching animation. On the other there is less incentive for the most gifted animators to teach because of the number of courses available. The one thing that does seem to be holding for now is the cost of attending these courses (although one could argue the price is falling). The internet is filtering a good deal of this education out as more and more students learn animation... I would say inversely proportional to the number of jobs available. Here is where a second blade appears to spring forth. For now the need for high quality animation is holding but the number of people vying for the same job is continually rising. This will lead more and more artists to break away from the Pro shops and strike out on their own. Some teaching, some producing some animating in little corners of the world far far away from California. Education rising to meet and mingle with Quality as it falls. My sense is that like water, this flow is going to seek equilibrium across the board and the underlying art of animation is going to bring a lot of this 'expertise' into homes around the world. But what to do though with commercial products when personal expression becomes the new outsourcing norm? One thought would be to simply work for yourself, assuming you can afford it. It's the old 'If you can join them... beat them at their own game' axiom. This is where we come full circle back to the learning centers such as 'Animation Collaborative'. There is and will be a growing interest in learning animation because the dimensions it encompasses are so broad. How to apply the principles of animation to one's own stories remains at the heart of it all. Interestingly, I've considered moving to California with the prime reason not to get a good job but to take advantage of these learning opportunities. But... that's rather silly. In animation, no matter where we are, we are always learning.

There's been more branching out of animators and instructors... this one directly across the street from PIXAR studios in California. The plan is to open with an 8 week summer session starting this month (July). Beginning Instructors include: Andrew Gordon, Michal Makarewicz, Rob Thompson and Aaron Hartline. Most are affiliated with Splinedoctors where you can find a FAQ: http://splinedoctors.com/anim-c/ Also from the Splinedoctors blog is a breakdown of the course/price: I mention this primarily to keep the cost of the going rate for an education in CG animation in perspective. Their site doesn't appear to be fully live yet: http://www.animationcollaborative.com/ At this time, it appears this'll mostly be an option for those who live in the immediate area but I'm willing to bet there will be some online resources offered. Rather than speculate further (which is always fun) I'll let everyone read for themselves and formulate their opinions. If I had to sum up my general thoughts I'd say that ultimately, I am just happy to see more information and instruction on animation getting out into the wild. Being that close to PIXAR with many of the instructors already working inside I'd guess a few other animators, TDs and lecturers might drop by.

Jeff, At a quick glance I'd say you've got the forehead/top of head too high in comparison to the face. If the standard head places the nose roughly half way between the top and the bottom you've got this one at about 1/3 of the way up from there. Somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of what you have should work well for you. If that top of the head will fill hair space... then disregard. At a guess that might be why it looks just a little off however. My immediate thought on the situation.