Rodney

Good points all Robert. We'll have to look into providing an approach to the Project Workspace where people use the Project Workspace often before they even know it. Or... perhaps better yet now that I think of it... as they work through TaoA:M they'll learn about it rather quickly. Perhaps we can set up a few simple lessons that take advantage of the basic but important aspects of A:M's interface that don't distract but set up those who'll work through TaoA:M for even greater success. I had completely forgot that the Import list contains the unsaved models. Thanks for the reminder on that! Every day I discover/rediscover something new and useful. I've grown so use to dragging in dropping in the PWS I need to be reminded of other options out there. Thanks for keeping it simple. I need that. We are a little biased around here but A:M definitely is the most bang for the buck and more intuitive as well. All 3D programs have similar features but A:M's interface makes it the leader in its field. Its easily the most accessible 3D character animation program there is. Few are the twelve to seventy year olds that I've seen master other programs as quickly. For its ease of use and accessibility A:M is better suited for the aspiring animator than even the freeware programs available out there. Don't believe me... try them. We'll look forward to your return here. For those that want the reverse of complexity, simplicity with all the features... A:M is the best there is.

If you mean to have a shadow on the foot you'll have to have the geometry there for the shadow to be cast upon. You could use a simple model (like Thom's leg). For the floor and cabinets a few simple planes should do. The lighting in your shot may be a little hard to match as you've got shadows on the floor and on the cabinet. I suppose you could match one light at a time and composite the shadows from each separately.

I think he means a model that hasn't yet been saved. I would suggest saving your model first (and often) as its a good habit to get into. Then you could follow Roberts import instructions. The most straightforward way to get a model into a Choreography is to drag and drop it in. You can do this by either dragging and droping into the Chor window or dragging and dropping onto the Choreography's shortcut in the Project Workspace (PWS). To open your Project Workspace go to View | Project Workspace via your menu (the shortcut key to activate/deactive the PWS is 'Alt 1') Welcome to the forum!

Nice. Very nice. More than a few artists have found the learning curve to be very easy with A:M. You've definitely got it going. This is definitely true. Keep it simple. Don't get too distracted. Chasing after everything thats cool is too easy to do. Its interesting... I struggled a little in my last post because 'he' didn't seem the right gender to post. Should have went with my instinct no? Thanks for validating and clarifying with your imagery. Nice frog too!

Yes indeed. Very nice. Is he modeled after a real person (maybe you)?

A good rule of thumb is to assume there is always someone out there that doesn't know your tip, trick or suggestion. And if you repeat something someone already posted... thats fine! We can always use the refresher. With that in mind I offer the following: (Its not a Shift key shortcut... its a Control Key tip) For Modeling When adjusting the Bias Magnitude of a spline and you want to be very careful not to adjust too much (or prefer to keep things symmetrical) hold the |Ctrl| key down while adjusting the Bias. This will adjust the Bias Magnitude along the current spline path equally down both sides of the selected spline. This can be particularly useful when smoothing meshes in Shaded Wireframe View. To see the difference in behavior, adjust the Bias first without holding the Control key down. They try it with Control key pressed. Control key down Control key up Use both as required. Do not fear the Magnitude Bias.

I use to Embed All rather religiously. But that was when I was mostly doing very simple projects. The idea was to keep everything together in one place (except images of course... as those don't get embedded in the Project file). More recently I've taken to Consolidating, chosing the Option to Save the Project and the Zip file. Not that I've got anything important enough to backup at the moment but if I ever do that'll be well worth the effort. And it's easy to share entire projects that way too without worrying if you left parts of the project out. Another handy thing A:M does with Consolidate is that A:M won't let you Save over a current Project when using the Consolidate option. It'll make you rename your Project something else. So, there is no danger of overwriting your Project files. So, I'm a fan of consolidation. I really should consolidate more often. Live smart. Save a tree. Consolidate often. Added: Most people will find the Consolidate option a little to over the top. But it makes sure, without a doubt, that you have saved your project. Consider for instance that you cannot even Consolidate until you've first Saved your Project. After you've saved you'll see Consolidate as an Option (its grayed out before that). Once activated you then cannot save a Consolidated Project with the same name as the Project you just saved. So, it pays to Save incrmentally, as Mark Skodecek suggested earlier in this topic. Then there are other options for you to pick with Consolidate as well. With Consolidate, the chances of you losing a project turn to the odds of your harddrive failing. Periodically copy your Consolidated projects to CD/DVD or another harddrive and you'll be set to recover just about any project.

I definitely appreciate the time you are taking to post these Rusty. There is still so much to learn. I must confess I am not very far beyond the stage of 'Smartskin? What's that?' But I am learning! One day at a time. I should feel guilty for robbing you of your sleep. Can you forgive me if I don't? Tips like these are so straightforward, so simple. You'd think they'd be easy to remember. Thanks for helping us remember! (Note the Topic Title change)

Too much fun. ...and a great way to experiment with A:M and Newton Dynamics. Its hard to resist rolling a few marbles of our own. I've enjoyed all your renders thus far. Really looking forward to the final render!

The 2008 Rig has its very own forum: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=135

Very nice Mark. Make it great! I'd buy one of those.

Very nice progress Katt. There is one thing here that might work much better as the sequences are all put together. I mention it here as it stood out and confused me. Most likely its already known to you or you've got it dealt with already. At the second appearance of the Banshee its not clear who is talking. It seems it should still be Witch Lena... its got to be... but there is enough of a voice shift and image shift that it loses me. The cut to the cat doesn't help as then I'm wondering if its still Witch Lena or the cat talking. Perhaps this is all okay considering the growing tension but I thought I'd mention it. I'm trying to think of a way to suggest how to arrive at a little more clarity... and failing miserably. My apologies. Perhaps if there was some overlapping of characters or they were seen together? With the character that is talking being the only one that is moving/gesturing. (well of course the other characters can always move a little!). I'll watch a few more times and see if I still get the same impression. I'm intrigued with the storyline. Now that I understand a little more about the characters I'm interested in what is being said.

I most wholeheartedly agree. Robert, If I can be of any assistance helping to put the spotlight on any of your tuts inside the Tutorials Forum please let me know! They sure are. All the better to link them into the Tutorials Forum.

Coming from you David (extreme innovator that you are!) that means a lot. I should be very clear here though that morphing images in A:M has pretty much been there all along. I hope no one thinks I'm trying to take credit for this. For this Morphing thing I'm am not really expecting any great response. Most of you have surely been scratching your heads and saying, "um... Rodney... hasn't that's been there since version 1?" But... I would like to see us play with more of this stuff behind the scenes here in the Fellows before we launch things off.

Sure is. (I'm a little tired so hopefully the following makes a little sense) I believe its a good idea to discuss some of the more esoteric features of A:M here in the Fellows Forum where we can compare notes and refine things before we release them for general consumption. More than a few of A:M's undocumented features are not particularly good for release to the general public. They may not provide an optimum approach or they may not work equally well on both Mac and PC. They may not be cool or 3D enough. Some may confuse or distract or create interest in things better off not discussed. Morphing images is a tip of the hat in one of those directions. (At this point I'm not sure which one) One thing seems clear to me though, it represents an idea that hasn't been tested thoroughly enough. I've long wished the Fellows could do more of this type of thing; test stuff and help define A:M's future. Not by creating wishlists but by innovating with what we've got.

What Bones, if any, have you placed in your ball?

I like it. Although there is some room for improvement. We can't really move through the individual frames so I'm mostly going by memory here. When the ball squashes down before the jump he appears to lose some of his volume. If he squashes down his sides should stretch out farther to indicate where that volume has moved. Also, the trajectory of the ball's launch seems to take him pretty high. Off the top of the screen as I recall. When you cut to him landing on top of the wall he appears to be still coming up which is impossible if we consider the earlier shot.* The preceding launch would appear to have him coming down to land on the wall? You've sold the general story though so I see that as success. I do like your addition of the cut to the behind-the-shoulder look up at the top of the wall. That is a nice anticipatory projection of the ball's target/goal. If this scene were longer I'd suggest having the ball make some shorter hops. This would demonstrate the difficulty this ball is having in jumping to the top. *In looking again the ball appears to be landing from a lower angle. This still wouldn't be possible considering the angle of the launch. A little of this can be attributed to the camera angle but most likely the falling angle is little off. P.S. My daughter likes your animation.

What... she doesn't have internet connectivity in her home yet? How else are we gonna fix the problem before the kids return on Tuesday. Think Think. Think Think. Nope. I got nothin'. Ahem. "Ma'am, do disconnect Libraries take holidays?"

Be careful in moving Libary files around manually. This will automatically break the Shortcuts to the files in the Libraries. Of course a fix in this case might be to move those assets to where the new location points to. The more proper fix would be to fix the shortcuts. (this can be done in most text editors via 'search and replace') To understand better how Libraries work open up a Library file in a text editor. As Library files are text files you'll see where each entry points to. If the resources are where the shortcuts point to and A:M see that Library. A:M will show the resources.

You can't adjust the volume as far as I know. But... if you've got max/min that gives you some options. You could set each sequence of sound in its own layer and layer them. I believe it'll be easier to adjust the sound volume via a program like audacity.

(First rule of seeking help: Do not abandon your own post) I'm hearing crickets. How are you doing Ma'am? Are your Libraries connected and students happily animating new cool stuff? I hope so. If you haven't connected by now and you've downloaded the little data file. The next thing to do would be to connect A:M to it. You can find that information here or via the links Robert posted: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34365

There use to be and may be again... but few visited those areas in the past. This area isn't dead. Last tip posted (by you) indicates its only 5 days old. Don't hold out on us. Post 'em if you've got 'em. You are now officially stickied... so make 'em good! To add another very useful shortcut key and tip to the mix: Control S = Save 'Control S', Save As or consolidate your files often and be happier for it.

This will connect A:M to the Library folder you've selected. Any Library file inside that folder will now be active in A:M. Click the |OK| button to save your new setting. Note: You must restart A:M before you'll see the change take effect.

Having clicked on the |...| icon you now Browse to your Library folder.

In the 'Show Folders for' dropdown menu select 'Libraries' and note the locations that show in the main window. Here you can add and delete Library folders. To add a library click on the Folder icon Browse to the folder that has your Libraries (via the |...| icon) To Delete a Library click on the Red X. While you can do it, you should avoid typing in the location manually. If you misspell anything or miss anything your Library won't connect. Better to Browse for it.