Rodney

RAM can help to free up processing of -real time previews- and such but it has been said (and I believe it) that nothing speeds up rendering like a faster CPU. I'm sure there is a point where better and faster CPUs generate negligible benefit in comparison to something 'almost as good'. I'll yield to the experts there. Unless something has changed... final rendering is all about CPU processing speed. Your most dramatic speed increases of course will be those that take into account your production goals. Developing effective organization, workflow and such will (I think) be more valuable than any piece of equipment you can purchase. I've used both and like both but I've found a good mouse to be better equiped for use with A:M (a lot easier to surf the net with a mouse too IMO. Now if you are drawing a lot more than modeling and animating... totally different story. For drawing and painting I prefer the tablet by a very wide margin. (Probably gonna upgrade mine soon as my Wacom pen is broke)

I think it looks real. (as in 'perfection')

Justin, That surely must be art because I did not understand a bit of it. (You can't get quotes like that from Rolling Stone magazine so... leverage it!)

Apologies for messing with your dragon but I thought he'd look nice in color. I was going to render out a flickering flame-like lens flaring thingy... but apparently I've surpassed the the level of my competency here. The lens flare doesn't show in final render and not enough time to investigate before work. Of course to get a similar lighting effect on our objects we could just light a 4 CP patch and then use that to decal the objects in the scene.

...and we can leverage A:M's considerable power to relight and recolor existing images. Special Effects included!

Nice dragon! You demonstrate nicely why there is no reason many of our decals (even animated decals) can't be made in A:M. Lighting can be used to nice effect on flat geometry too. The only real 'trick' to the art seems to be starting from a mid gray tone or darker rather than white. Starting from a white object is hardly ever a good idea as its hard to get brighter than white. The attached is a 5 point patch animated over 30 frames (6 frames represented at 5 frame intervals). The only things animated is the one white light (with a negative value) moving over the top of the thing and changing of the patches Bias Magnitude values. Four other lights placed near the patches CPs provide the other color shifts. Edit: Should have said... the brightness of all the lights were animated throughout as well.

I was reading these last few posts... thinking... "what are they talking about. He didn't donate the model. What are they talking about???" Then I read through all the posts again. (Looks like I missed a very important post!) I had been thinking that everyone should study your splineage and now they really can. What a wonderful contribution. Thanks!

While I personally prefer the first (darker) one for its mood, I'd say that within context this last one looks better. From the perspective of being underwater in a tropical place and the lightheartedness of the piece it does at least. ..and BTW... I saw your contest image rotate through the forum images! I was going to link that pic in here but it escaped. A quick search in A:M Stills didn't turn it up but I know its there! That last image you posted... sweet.

Now that is an outstanding character. Wonderful rendering as well. Very nicely done. (Render to PNG with transparency! Hint. Hint.)

Looking great. (and watching it come together piece by piece has especially been a treat) That you've got this 'holiday special' coming together from initial conception to release with such high quality in one month... now... that's impressive. Go get that deadline!

There are literally hundreds of metals out there so I will assume you mean a 'Chrome' effect. If not the variables will change but the basic requirements should stay the same. For chrome effects there must be something in a scene/set for the reflective metal to reflect. Anything will do (images, 3D objects whatever). The optimum effect is usually generated with sky colors (blue or light colors) at the top and ground colors (browns, blacks or dark color) on the bottom. If you get into HDRI imagery then that becomes the trick. The HDRI imagery is wrapped around the camera and reflective objects in the scene reflect that imagery. So there are two primary requirements for -chrome- metal: Reflective surface and Something to Reflect. My 2 cents. A:M's materials in the Library cover all the major material effects.

There is a lot of ground to cover here. I hope this fits into Jared interests. I've thought about adding a short tutorial on the AM2SWF plug but really didn't have enough to offer the discussion. I have had some success with it. Its interesting that the issues with AM2SWF are very closely related to the Capping that is being discussed. Simple shapes... no problem... but as the geometry gets more complex the 'what ifs' do too. Rather than drone on about such things I'll offer some insight into something that may be of use. Five point patches work really well for a variety of shapes and... once you've collected enough shapes you don't have to remodel the basic shapes again. You just have to arrange them. Try this: - Lathe a cylinder from a 2 point spline with 5 cross sections - Delete the bottom circle (this will leave the top 5 CP circle) - Select the 5 CP circle - Note that the 5 point patch icon comes on - Make the circle a 5 point patch - Rotate to face the screen/camera head on Now you can adjust the magnitude of the spline to form a variety of shapes (circle, stars, pentagon, flowers and other odds and ends) that weren't possible with a standard 4 point patch. Any valid patch (3, 4, 5 or as stitched together) will help produce the shapes you need. In cases where the Bias throws the splines off a little, adjusting the Ambiance color and intensity in the Group/Models Surface Properties assures you'll get one solid color. Watch that Gamma setting too. I've found it works best on zero for 2D imagery. Note: Apply decals last or you'll get disconfiguring in the decal images. Hide geometry you don't want to have continuous applied to. Its not the moon but it is another method to create 2D shapes and images with A:M

Interesting. Odd too. (Not you... the corruption!!!) I've used some pretty big images so I don't think its that. Try another test! If Dumb Monkeys have the right... I plead the 5th Amendment.

In what way is the model corrupted? I ask as I've never seen a problem with Library Icons before. Is it possible you are mistaking the additional image information added to the model as corruption? I must assume by corrupted you mean to say it won't open. I've never seen that before. The Preview Image (Library Icon) data is stored in the resource in all cases but one that I know of (Tut files reference an external image). Projects, Models, Chors, Actions, Materials... all of those... maintain their data between the .../ tags. This can be found near the end of the file. As the Preview Image is added to the file the file will change. It will grow in size by the size of the Preview Image assigned. To answer your question then... this is where one could access the image data in Base 64 or whatever. Vern and I investigated using this data years ago with the Extra CD but... we weren't smart enough to make it work. I should have read A.'s response a little more carefully or at least linked to another Library Icon topic. One of the reasons to use the File Info properties Icon assignment is that the Right Clicking 'Create Icon method isn't always available for every resource. If its there however the Right Clicking method works much quicker and you usually get better image quality.

Congrats Robert! Alice should be proud.

Thanks A. If even one A:M Users reads your explanation on Library Icons it could change the course of history. Revolutions may start small but once they gain momentum...

I'm pretty sure the plugin your refer to was Circus Media's Cap plugin. I'll have to check but the version I see is for v10.5/v11. It does not play well with current versions. It should be noted that it had limited usage for complex shapes. For complex patterns its better to just use the Font or AI wizards with only the Face setting or stitch splines into place. If the code is/was available perhaps it could be updated for use with v15. I like your 2D/3D Jared! Attached is the CMcap plugin for reference: CM_Cap.zip

While no one has mentioned it specifically here, I've been getting a vibe for some time (years?) that some additional focus on Modeling techniques and tools used in A:M would be a topic of interest. Like 'Sets'... 'Modeling' is a huge theme. Surely no one thinks they know everything there is to know about Modeling and yet its a subject of interest to everyone who has ever launched A:M. Perhaps best of all... everyone can contribute to that theme. Everyone has or is developing their own favorite modeling techniques. As Modeling falls into the subset of 'Sets' (placing objects into our scenes) it might set the stage for success in our effort? I'm leaning toward 'Modeling Techniques' as the inaugural theme.

Thats two (you and Myron) in favor of launching a 'Set' theme. As I told Myron I'll investigate what resources are available. If there are adequate resources available we'll put that on our schedule. So, 'Sets' or something related. (That is a very broad category BTW... Skydomes are but one subset out of entirely too many in that thing) But... that is a starting place. That'd get us through the first month. Anything else? Perhaps 'Sets' would run as the general theme for many months and Skydomes would have the spotlight one month?

Hey! If you figured out how to do it... then you've got to pass the secret on to me! How else am I suppose to learn!?! Glad you figured it out.

With a name like rigomortis its got to be animatable. Welcome to the A:M Forum! Make yourself right at home.

Thanks for understanding Glider. Good luck with all of your projects wherever and whatever they may be. Some file types won't attach to forum posts. When in doubt a Zip file containing the other files will usually work. The suggested movie format for uploading is .MOV. I'm not sure if any other movie formats will stick. Forum members who haven't posted much may find their filesize or the number of attachments they can post restricted until they have more history in the forum. I'm not sure of the specific restrictions set.

Moderator duties don't allow creation of new subforums. That's Admin stuff. In the Tutorials forum I can: Edit titles to help sort and organize posts. Edit posts to clarify or update links. Close or Remove topics that are obsolete. Performing these tasks and keeping info current can help topics show up when launching a forum search. Of course anyone can edit their own posts to keep their info/links current. This effort would link into other subforums that already have a special focus (Feature Focus, Radiosity etc. etc). Topics that bump up are generally the most current.

Mark, Here is my impression after watching your animatic three times All this... for what its worth. First, a recommendation as you suggest you may not have enough time. Perhaps you can consider accellerating some parts of activities in the sequence so you don't have to animate them. Determine what is absolutely essential business to convey the core activities and concetrate there. Then if you find yourself ahead of schedule you can add the other elements in. Specifically, I would drop the dart throwing and just stick a dart in the picture. Instead you could have her writing/rewriting that same paper and tossing rejected paper in the trash can. This introduces and keeps our subconscious on what she is writing and raises our anticipation and interest of reading what is on that paper. I know the dart sequence seems important but I think its secondary. Having it stuck in the picture already would create a past for these characters. Maybe supplement with other props as time allows (calendar with lots of Xs leading up to this specific date, lots of trash aroudn the trashcan etc.) I know this messes with your direction... so... toss in the trashheap as necessary. Now on to your request for specific information: 1. Concept The situation isn't clear (by design) until the final reveal. I like it! Having 'the boss' be in the next cubicle allows for some nice business with him looking over the top and manuevering around it. The concept works very well. The final reveal works very well. 2. Readability The biggest drop in readibility is when one of the words gets lost audibly. I still don't know what that word is three views later. If that word is garbled perhaps the animation can clarify better? 3. Pacing There is a lot going on and so it seems a little rushed. Removing the dart throwing would give you all the time you need and allow you to slow down the pace as necessary. Get some good pauses in there where we can see the characters faces. We'll read their inner conflicts/personalities there. 4. Staging You could probably turn the angle of the scene a little more clockwise but it works as is. Turning it might allow for essential action by 'the boss' to be seen more clearly. Guessing what angle would be optimum... about a 60/40 share favoring the lady's cubicle? ...for your consideration.

Hmmm... I think I understand what you are saying but I'm trying to imagine how this would work. The goal isn't to create new things as much as collect information that already exists. Once a theme kicks in people can then discuss, fill in any gaps and plus things up. I'll have to look and see how many resources we can gather on buidling sets. I do recall a few. Tutorials don't have to fit any theme to be posted of course. For those looking in I recommend using Wink* to record your screen while you work. Its pretty easy to create interactive tutorials with that. *Wink is for recording only on a PC. I'm not sure what to recommend for the Mac. Sorry.