Rodney

Hehe. Cute! If you could adust the sides of his face by pulling back the splines just a little his eyes would be more expressive from the side and angled views.

I believe you are looking for the Ensharpen codec but that's not usually for .AVI. As I understand it all of the exercises (and the codec) are for quicktime. The Windows version of the ensharpen codec is the last link here: http://www.techsmith.com/download/codecs.asp Rather than mess with the (possibly corrupted) AVI I'll suggest downloading the exercise from here: http://www.hash.com/2007web/vm.htm (Right Click on the exercise's link on the page and choose Save As) Note: You can download all four parts of the exercise in one 94MB zipfile here.

Nice one Vern!

Looking good!

I'd say its common enough that there should be some information on it on the game forums. You keep moving the target but I think we are seeing your end goal a little clearer now. Keep in mind that the solution won't always be the same for every encounter. I do think an animated image applied to a grid could account for these variations to some extent. Still imagery doesn't show the effect animated so that piece of the puzzle still hasn't been filled in. While these are similar effects I don't think they all use the same methodologies (short of a distortable path grid of some sort). As you are looking for a one-size-fits-all solution that may take some considerable R&D to reach the goal. Is your project a swishing sword, spaceship or object advancing through the frosty morn? Is it a still image or animation? Is it for real time or youtube? The desired end-state is important. Out of those thousand moves how many use the same 'trick'? Are there one hundred different setups? Is there only one. This is important. Why? Because this most likely how many setups you'll have to recreate to match the effect. (I think Holmes was suggesting the half circle only as a test. Keeping the tests simple helps you achieve the basic effect. Then you can move to the next level of complexity.)

For a variety of reasons we must save our Project before we can cosolidate. In short, saving ensures the Project knows where to find every resource associated. So, save first. Then the option to Consolidate should be available to you. (Don't try to use the same name as your saved Project for your consolidation though as that won't work. This may seem silly but it keeps us from overwriting files when we don't want to)

Attached is a failed attempt at the sword effect. I learned a lot by trying though. It would be useful to know how the game creators designed the effect. I suspect what they have have done is create a circular animation which was applied to a single image. If you can imagine the sword being like the large hand of a clock the movement of the sword would advance the images in the animation leaving a trail effect as it rotates. The image follows the sword wherever it goes regardless of whether its transparent, animated or whatnot. For ease of implementation I'd guess the animation is grayscale (black and white) with the ambience color and intensity adjusted as necessary. In my test I modeled a sickle-like object and rotated it in the Chor. Transparency is by decal and surface properties. The gaff at the end reveals my attempt to use cloth to get a little free flow movement too. Ah well... back to the drawing board. swordflashzz0.mov

Nice detail Gene!

Not to preempt John but this is ideal FX for splines. Draw your path... extrude... and adjust to taste. Add glow and ambience. Adjust settings in the model and chor as necessary. I've added two instances of the model over the top of your image as a camera rotoscope showing the effect. In the second model (the red trails on the right) I've changed the blue surface properties of the model to red. The model surface has 90% transparency to let the underlying image show through. For an animated effect, particles may be the easier approach.

Nice one Mark! Sorry to hear you've been under the weather. Take notes of how miserable you feel so you can apply that to a character later. Seriously, take time to take care of yourself! Now that you are sick is a good time to think of how important that is. Regardinging your cover: I imagine you'll need to add the title of Volume 2 somewhere in there. My first thought would be to shrink down the Logo a bit but I really like the layout as is. BTW - That water looks pretty real! Edit: As I took another look I saw the black spot on Flemm's chest and was trying to figure out what it was... I didn't realise it was his eye patch! Perhaps it could be flipping up and around instead of down? (Not sure)

It's great to see your site live again Will! Pixelplucker, Don't miss the link Will posted. His tutorials are there: http://zandoria.wordpress.com/tutorials/uv-tutorial/

Something to add to the trash can besides the fire (sprite emitter) would be a light or two used to indicate the intensity/color of the fire. I don't think the particules are going to be able to do the job alone. Depending on the scene (which I assume is at night) this will greatly aid in creating the right atmosphere and project flicker effect shadows.

There are a lot of ways to reduce render times. Which do you want to choose? Note the lack of options there to choose from? This is very similar to your question too. There isn't enough information from which to pick and choose. Its easy to reduce but not if we don't have an idea of your goals. The easy answer to 'how can I reduce' is 'cut stuff out'. In loading your project one thing was very obvious as I clicked through the missing files (and there were many): You've got a lot of materials in this project. The first thing I'd do is limit the number of materials you use. Now I hear you already say, "But I need those materials!" Therein lies your answer to rendering improvement. One technique to render materials faster is to convert them to images. You can do this by creating a single patch, applying that material to the patch and rendering out an image. Now the question becomes, 'Do you want to spend your time converting the material or waiting for the material to render?' There is an option there and the answer will vary on how you'll need to use the image. If you plan to use that image extensively consider converting the material. If you need the infinite resoluation of the material (i.e. the camera will be zooming out/in) consider using the original material. Which materials do you need versus which will work better as images? Can you more effectively decal an object rather than apply a complex material? This represents one way out of many that you can reduce the time it takes to render. Another way would be to convert your JPG images (you have several) to another format. Knowing more about the images/compression/quality of the formats will help make that decision. In the end there is a lot to consider but scheduling your renders is an important consideration as it may eliminate your need to reduce the render times at all (thereby saving you time in the setup and concern with it all). Consider setting up your renders for when you go to bed. Work at your scene during the day... at night render. As you wake up in the morning you'll be able to assess and adapt your projects to futher optimize and improve your images.

Finally getting around to viewing some of these 'Pass the Ball' animations. Here's my verdict on this one: WONDERFUL!!!

Here's something you can do with a process that is giving you problems: Make your change Save your Model/Project Make another change If something is interfering in the process the act of saving the file locks all the changes up to that point down. Then its easy for a program to make additional changes as one change doesn't have to compete with another. If you've gone a long time without saving anything you may have stored up a lot of unsaved changes. In other words; Save Often.

Jeba, Here's where you get to put those exercises together and really make them work for you! Remember that Exercise where you put the Rabbit on the path? (Exercise 5: Take a Walk) If you put the Particle Emitter (that you created in Exercise 16: Smoke, Wind and Fire) on that path it will emit those particle sprites along the path. To have the particles launch a rocket the same basic ideas are used. You can make part of the rocket an emitter and then drop the rocket on a path. Or... you could have both the rocket and the particle sprite emitter travel down (or up in this case) the path. You have the tutorials (from the manual) and you have the knowledge. Now you've just got to put them together. Ask you questions and post your tests here. Note also that in the last topic you posted to there is an example of a rocket with sprite particles attached. I believe there was even a project file for it. P.S. Are you the Jeba? If you are you've got some pretty impressive skills.

Kellie, I'm sorry. I don't fully understand the question. If taken literally I'd say the answer to your question is 'render the fire sprite action out and use the resulting image in your material'. What is it you are trying to do? Can you clarify? The classic fire sprite tutorial is in the manual: Exercise 16, "Smoke, Wind and Fire".

Somewhat related... Don't forget that when importing basic 2D Cad images the DXF importer works really well. Similarly, 2D outlines saved in .AI format (Adobe Illustrator) can be imported via the AI Wizard.

Wah??!? I blinked and missed the debut of 'Ain't No Way'? NO WAY!!! Thats a fun video. Congrats Myron and Gene for getting 'er done. Here are the ever present (for what its worth) suggestions from me: The video could benefit from a pass through a Post Effect filter. I must admit though that I'm not really sure which one would be ideal. My initial feel is that using a slight blur with an old film, gray or sepia filter (maybe with a little Blooming) would really bring the highlights out. If the general color was still desired that could be accomplished via layering the color and colorless sequences together with desired transparency. All this is very easy to type of course. I guess my thoughts are that the video could use a little more atmospherics to desaturate and unify the imagery and get it away from the standard 'computer rendered' look it presents. (other than that... um... do I have an earthlly idea what I'm talking about here?) I'm still more than a little amazed at how quickly and efficiently you've put this music video together! Edit: Attached is a stab at some Post Effect changes. I'm not sure I really found any setting worth keeping. P.S. Ammy Award... I like that.

Oooo... Ooooo... Here's another tip to complements Robert's. Once you've got your night scene set up and tinted right add just a hint of color. A popular technique right now is to add a red color as backlight or front highlight (but not both at the same time). More than blue and red can be used but its usually blue and one other color. It stands to reason the red was utilized to intensify the rage from Tia Lung, the snow tiger. If you are familiar with the escape sequence from Kung Fu Panda that is about the best example I can think of: Kung Fu Panda Prison Escape

Quite often filmmakers will cheat the effect of night by adding a colored filter to darken/tint the scene. A dark blue is the color that I believe is often used. One way to get this effect with the ligthing is to change your Fill Light to blue. In A:M you could cheat this effect by placing a partially transparent blue rotoscope over the top of your scene or using the tint Post Effect. Within the scene itself using fog might help to convey the falloff of darkness too.

Ah! Yes. I think you're right.

Fuchur has the approach; stitch in the new spline. In the areas you want to add the spline select the perpendicular splines and hit the Y key. This will create a Control Point positioned exactly between the orginal two CPs. Then you can attach your new spline to those. Of course you don't have to create the middle CP like that but sometimes that precision may be required. Stitching a new spline into an area while in Shaded view is a great way to do it too. You get instant feedback while quickly adding in new splines.

Welcome to the A:M Forum Nick! I can't speak for others but I've found A:M itself to be a work of art. You'll find yourself warming up to splines in no time.