Rodney

I've never seen a shortcut key for that. I don't think any of the icons in the timeline windows are exposed to keyshorting. The closest functionality to that is probably having both views open at the same time. To increase productivity I suppose one could open several windows to animate in with optimum views and Alt Tab between them. This doesn't toggle back and forth between spline and keyframe views though.

Of course there are some Shortcut Keys that aren't listed. These undocumented shortcuts can be great timesavers too. Take the Shift Key for example. Draw a spline. Hit the Comma key to select it. Now before you hit the Lathe Icon hold down the Shift key. Note that the Tools menu for Modeling pops up. Here you can easily enter the number of Cross Sections you need. Try the Shift key with the Lock Icon as well. Model something. Select it all. Press the Lock key. Note that because everything was selected... nothing gets locked. Thats not what we want so lets try that again with the Shift key. Model Select Shift + Lock (Note that you get the same results at this point) Click the Lock Icon again Everything is locked The Shift key is also the only way you can access some functions. Older hair methodologies for instance.

(Updating old links) Here is a PDF file generated from the HTML Shortcut key list. If you are up to the task, learn a few of these in your area of immediate interest. It'll add speed to your workflow. KeyboardShortcutListing.pdf

Another excellent video tutorial Robert. The insight into rigging, both from a general standpoint as well as TSM2 specific, is appreciated. Thanks!

Chris, Welcome to the forum! I'm trying to figure out a good way to say 'thanks for having that problem'. The solution you've arrived at is something I wish could be added to the original tutorial video. It covers the basic setup of the two actions but doesn't attempt to go beyond that or get into troubleshooting. (Its great we've got the forum for that!) Great use of Jing to capture your screen. In the image intensive world of computer animation we really need to leverage that technology. One thing I've learned from visiting the forum today is that we need to make more mistakes! Then at least we'll know what we are learning. Nicely resolved Mr Bill!

Another discussion referenced this topic and I see an opportunity to close a loop and continue the discussion on transitioning from one action to another. The video mentioned here is what I want to link: The "Path Ease (walk, then wave)" video can be found at the very bottom of Hash Inc's Video Manual page. There are three additional videos at the bottom of that page. Don't miss them! The Video Manual (TaoA:M) page: http://www.hash.com/2007web/vm.htm Direct link to the zip file containing the Walk then Wave tutorial accessible at the bottom of that page: http://www.hash.com/ftp/VM/pathease/pathease.zip Get up to date on this discussion and learn more by reading through Chris's question on Actions in a Choreography. Note how the use of screencaptured images in his discussion refine the issues in question and help others see what you are seeing. Note to self here animation:masters; use a little screencapture in your workflow every day. Record yourself at work. There is a lot of good information, links and videos to be found in these discussion so... don't miss it!

Glad to see you've got it going again Matt. As Gerry suggests, any insight you can give into steps you took or installations you made will be of benefit to others as well. If we have a number one goal here in the newbies forum surely that must be it. Namely, to get everyone up and running with A:M quickly.

No. No. No. No. You don't have to purchase the websubscription. You've already got a good thing going with the CD. We just have to get the program installed because your system has gotten finicky. Download that installer I linked to and you won't have to be concerned with the installer on the CD. Most likely the one on the CD is several releases earlier v15a or v15b... or something earlier than v15e. You'd want to install the v15e update even if you had A:M up and running. There is a very good chance that updating to v15e will solve your problems. I give it a solid 85-90 percent chance. ...and the update is free!

This book is more expensive than the other best known book on A:M (by Jeff Paries) but its definitely worth every penny. Is it better than Jeff Paries book? I'd have to say yes, but for the price of Jeff's these days its easy to buy both books. Jeff's in my opinion is a bit more accessible to the layman. David's book: Very practical. Very technical. Very thoroughly covers most features up to about v13. If I had to do it all over... I'd buy it again. (and hopefully read through it more thoroughly!)

Matt, Its been awhile since I used A:M with a CD. I've grown accustomed to the websubscription. There are several things this could be but (guessing here) if your PC has more than one CD/DVD drive is it possible that you installed while having the A:M CD in the other drive? My guess is that the installer on the CD isn't the latest and greatest so I'd install that before you wander too much farther. The latest version is v15e: http://www.hash.com/ftp/pub/updates/windows/AMCD.exe For those a bit shy of directly downloading exe files or in need of other installers go to the Latest Info forum area: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33836

This what you are looking for? Feature Focus Forum

Congrats on making that a reality. I understand that element has stumped more than a few people. Gerry is going to want to get your insights into that. So... now we'll have volume control while watching Subject 99? Too cool!

Have you considered actually filming the water effect you want? I mention this option because thats what the Hollywood-types often do to get realistic water effects. They then composite the video footage with the 3D elements to finish the shot. Filming water flowing from a hose might be pretty straightforward against a green screen. Its hard to get more realistic than real. To get the water to interact with your 3D elements you'll have proxy realworld objects (also green'd) standing in. For best filming you might have to dye the water. Assuming you don't want to get real-ly wet... can you post an example of the effect you are after? At any rate, to get realistic fluid effects you'll want to consider layering your effects whether they include real world elements or not.

Zee classical tutorial on za spider's web is courtesy of Jeff Paries (pairee?) It was good for A:M '99 and the basic idea should still work well in current versions. He uses 'Render as Lines' but you could also extrude the drawn splines a little to gain the effect. http://www.digitalproducer.com/pages/creat...in_animatio.htm Edit: Added a PDF version of the Tutorial. Note that the references to 'Add Lock Mode' are no longer necessary. A:M's standard stitching capability makes splining a web even easier. SpidersWeb.pdf

Very nicely done Kyle! I like the sound of that word... 'finished'. Thats the sound of progress being made.

Sure. - Open Project Workspace via |View|Project Workspace on the Menu Bar - Find Material in the Materials Folder or in the Model - Remove Material by using your keyboard's Delete button - Save the Project under a different name such as: "CanCan with no materials.prj" (Can you identify the two places you can remove the materials in the image below?)

A short term work around might be to switch back and forth between OpenGL and Direct3D but why do this when you could just fix the problem? Most display issues relate to graphic cards. You -could- update your graphics card but that'd cost money. I don't recommend it. Updating your graphics card -driver- is free. If its not your graphics card driver at least you'll know after the install. If you don't feel comfortable downloading and installing drivers from the manufacturer enlist the aid of someone locally to assist you in the process. This was before you changed your driver settings right?

I believe that is your graphics card related problem that never got fully addressed. I recall you had some success switching from OpenGL to Direct3D (I think it was you anyway). Thats not a fix though... thats a workaround. The fix is updating your display driver. My graphics card is an Intel Integrated Graphics card. The most recent driver is from earlier this year. If you can figure out what card your system has I'm sure the manufacturer has a newer driver for that as well.

As others are sure to be interested in rotoscoping here's a link to the wikipedia writeup on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping

Technically you wouldn't copy. Instead you would import the image as a Rotoscope twice. Once for the Left side and once for the Right. In the Properties panel for each Rotoscope you'll find the place to set the location. (See image of dropdown menu)

Others will chime in here with more accurate definitions and explanations but I like the way Rotoscopes are described in the A:M Technical Reference (page 72): In very simplistic terms, rotoscoping is tracing. Of course there are good reasons for even accomplished artists and animators to use Rotoscopes. If you want accuracy using a reference image (ala rotoscoping) is a really good way to work. Rotoscoping has generally become know as a style whereby artists trace over images to obtain a more realistic effect. In modeling the use of rotoscopes is essential to keep a model on design. Most people can't just 'wing it' and expect all the splines and patches to show up in the right place. In animation the most effective rotoscoping tends to use the images as a starting place, presenting general guidelines from which to explore further. Slavishly locking yourself into the original images too closely in animation will tend to produce robotic and artificial movement that cancels the benefits of using rotoscopes in the first place. Similarly in modeling, not all images are optimized for use as rotoscopes. 2D images don't always translate precisely into 3D space. So, always be prepared to deviate as necessary when rotoscoping/tracing.

Nice example Caroline.

Most likely you tried to upload an AVI file? AVI files aren't 'internet/forum compatible'. For this reason most movies are rendered to .MOV format or... once rendered to .AVI or sequential images are converted to .MOV format. You can convert to .MOV easily with A:M. Steps to convert images in A:M: Right Click on the imported image sequence at the top of the Project Workspace and select [save As Animation]. From there you'll be given the option to save to MOV or AVI. You can also use this method to convert a MOV or AVI to TGA sequential images. Regarding the removal of the curtain material: There are two ways to remove the material. Both require you to delete the material in the Project Workspace. 1 - Delete/Remove the Material from the Stage model. or 2 - Delete the Material from the Materials area of the Project Workspace. I don't have the same project you have available so cannot post a screenshot. But if you look in the Project File via the Project Workspace I'm pretty sure you'll find the material.

The solution will most likely require 4 - 5 Point patches for each horn. Most people just flair the bottoms of the horns and position them so they look like they attach. You are welcome to design them into the main mesh but honestly I think if you are at that point the main lessons of this exercise have sunk in. If you think about real horns though... they don't exactly attach to a giraffes skin. That might help you decide how to proceed. The ears... if you want to be more accurate you'll have to attach. Messing up the head doesn't need to be all that messy if you have a plan going in. By all means if you want to work to that level of detail... we are here for you.

That is a very ambitious first project!