Rodney

Thats the whole UV part. The CPs I'm talking about aren't part of the mesh. They are representatives of the mesh in Animation:Master's UV Editor. It's easy to see what I'm talking about if you right click on a decal/decal stamp and select Edit. The Points you move only adjust the layout of the mesh on the decal. The original mesh remains the same. If you just want some basic velvet type fur you may want to investigate the fur material on Keekat. Probably not what you want but perhaps a starting place. Note: Fuchur's tutorial has information on basic decaling but doesn't go into using the UV Editor.

Paul, You are the man. I've tweaked Thom's splines before but never THAT far! Yet another added benefit of modifying existing models is that once you find a nice economy of splines for one you don't have to mess with more excessive meshes in other models. Keep it simple. Thom is about as simple a mesh as you'll find in biped characters.

If you use existing characters as a starting point it is easier to have characters fit the same style as well. You want all of your characters to look like they live in the same world. There may be times when building from scratch makes sense but why put more effort into it than necessary? If you already have the car built why reinvent the wheels every time you need one? Modify. Modify. Modify. You'll be able to tell more stories in your lifetime.

Looks like I sit corrected. Good pic! Admit it... you put him up to that pose. I'll weasel out of this one by suggesting its rare that both back legs and front legs overlap at the same time beyond maybe a hoof. One side... okay. Both... not sure. (While not a scientifically valuable-exploration I'll look for images that break or prove the rule) Of interest to me is the motion. Which legs are moving forward... while others are getting ready by recoiling in anticipation of the next push forward. The process... how deer are so light on their feet yet propel their weight forward. Facinating stuff really.

Kelly, Sometimes there is a little confusion in terminology to contend with regarding texturing. I see a tutorial on decaling on Fuchur's site that mostly deals with Decaling. Its 250MB so I don't suggest downloading it just to see if it might contain something on UV Editing. If Fuchur doesn't comment I'll investigate as I've got the file downloaded and can check it out. Perhaps you mean something more along the lines of Editing Decals by moving assigned points around? The classic tutorial on A:M's UV editor (Will Sutton's Balrog) isn't online any more but it's straightforward enough to explore: Locate either a Decal or a Stamp Image, Right Click and select Edit. From there you can move the UV specific CPs around, rotate them, scale them... arrange them as you see fit. What's the easiest way to explore? (Its not a tutorial) I'd suggest finding a model with a decent decal already applied, open it and edit in A:M. Start with a simple model and then move to more complex decals. Apply a decal to simple shapes and keep your early tests simple. Post your results here and others will join in. Now if you are looking for a Decaling tutorial... there are quite a few discussions on that around here.

That is off the hook Stian. You make the difficult look so easy. By this I mean to say there is no way I could model like you but you still make me think I could if I put my mind to it. Your modeling is so simple in its complexity. Thanks for this inspirational walkthrough of the making of your war walker.

Seeing your deer in action really makes a difference. Nice! I'm not sure what you are using as reference. Hopefully you've been finding everything you want. One of my favorites (drawing/animation related) is from Ken Hultgren. Some of his book on drawing animals is online. The Art of Animal Drawing by Ken Hultgren Why look at drawings as opposed to videos? (Don't... look at them both!) A benefit to the drawings though, especially by the likes of Ken Hultgren, is what can be learned through their study. There is something a bit odd about the legs in your last post. I'm trying to vector in on what that is... Edit: I haven't searched a lot but I'm not finding any images where the rear legs move forward and overlap the front legs that much. Perhaps if sitting? More online reference: Deer Hunting Book Slow motion video of cheetah chasing and catching wild deer (WARNING. Graphics of nature in progress. Gulp. Poor guy didn't have a chance.) More images of deer than you can shoot a bow and arrow at: http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/whitetail-deer.html

You are as inventive as you are talented. Great logo! I like the line work too. It'd be a bear to animate though wouldn't it. You have a way of making me want to enter your world and stay for awhile. I could easily see myself eating at Cutthroat Jaques and playing a round of mini golf. Good food. Great fun. Somebody license this stuff! I'm sick as well with a nasty cold so I can sympathize. Get better quick. Coff! Coff! Nasty stuff goin' 'round.

Kyle, First, let me say, you've picked a great action to work on. There is a lot going on in even the simplest jump. I was going to comment on your jump but then thought it better to give it a try myself first. Should be easy enough right? The better part of an hour later I'm still jumping... refining... jumping. Too much fun! (See my lame effort attached) Going back to your jump here is my feedback. Take it for what its worth. I like your jump. It conveys the action perfectly. I don't thing anyone would misunderstand the message if used in a sequence or story. To improve on it consider what the others have said here. I'll add my 2 cents too. Give yourself a little more time. The jump happens very quickly. In contrast mine will appear to be in slow motion. Where you can best utilize the added time is at the beginning, middle and end. (No that doesn't mean everywhere) Beginning You've started the Knight in an anticipation pose (good on ya!). To convey that anticipation more fully however the anticipation itself needs to have a pose to draw its strength from. Your jump reads as if its been isolated from a sequence but we don't know what that is. The reason I mention this is that this previous pose is what is going to drive the motion seen in the jump. For instance, consider the difference if he was running versus if he was standing still (a standing jump). Where the Knight's weight and mass is moving from... and to... is under consideration here. Middle Adding time in the middle would help the action read better. The jump happens so fast that you don't get to see much contrast. It's only when proceeding frame by frame that I realized his legs were moving up at a different rate. A nice touch on your part but without the time to see it that won't register to the viewer. End A little more recovery time would be nice and provide some nice follow through and settling/shifting of weight. You've done good. Really good. As you explore more consider weight and timing. Step away from the computer and act it out yourself. Keep up the great work. KnightJump01.mov

You've got a facinating look going on here. It reminds me very much of Rankin and Bass's style used for 'The Hobbit', a favorite of mine stylistically.

About 18 hours, good weather and a decent video camera. I've seen several methods to make sunrises and sunsets. For the simplest means you could animate the color of the Camera's background over time. For a more realistic look you might use several images fading in/to create the effect. You could use several patch images/layers to get this effect as well. Consider that in any scene the sun will rise in the East and set in the West so the movement of shadows should also be considered. Not quite. There are a lot of variables here. Is this an indoor scene?

Bruce, I like it a lot. It reads very well even without knowing the background about being under the bridge. Better for me not to speculate too much about the hair as I'll have you exploring and searching for years. Its been too long since I played with hair. It does seem to me that the ones with the artifacts aren't facing the camera. Perhaps the 'Face Camera' setting is turned off? The hair experts should be able to steer you in the right direction. Best wishes to your girlfriend in Iraq. From one armed forces member to another tell her 'keep safe!'.

No, not weird. To keep the installer small the additional models often found in the Library aren't included. Not to worry though, a selection of models, projects etc. are available via download. (It location should be listed via your email/order form... gotta read that stuff to know!) The files are available via Hash Inc's FTP site. There is a small file called Littledata.zip (about 7MB) and a large file called Data.zip (166MB). Extract these files into your Data folder for v15. This folder is usually found at: C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\v15\Data As you probably have v14 still installed you can point A:M to the data file there and the files should show the next time you start A:M. This for those who don't want to download such large files again.

Wow. It'd been so long since anyone asked how to delete a pose slider that I had to check myself. Way... way... way back in the forum: How to Delete a Pose Slider This method should still work.

Gerry, This just for completeness sake as some may think ONLY Illustrator 8 versions will work. This is not the case from my experience. I've alway used Illustrator 7 format (as exported from Coreldraw). I think it was after version 8 that Adobe changed the AI format to be PDF compatible. Edit: A quick test of 6 format works too. The version of CorelDraw I'm using on this computer (v12) doesn't appear to support later formats.

To follow up on Glenn's response about Text in Animation:Master, Holme's Bryant has several tutorials sure to answer your need and demonstrate the possibilities: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31432 Up in the far right corner of the forum there is a Search function. Typing 'Font Wizard' or 'AI Wizard' into a search will net you some useful information as well. If you find something of use please share as other new users will benefit too.

Right clicking is your friend. When applying an image as a Decal its not enough to place the image on top of the object. You must Right Click and select "Apply". This assuming that you are attempting to apply a Decal of course. In the 'Demo video' Greg Rostami uses Patch Images which operates a little differently with no Right Clicking necessary. The 'trick' here is to make sure you don't deselect the group in the process of dragging and dropping the image onto the Group. Try this on a simple model like a vase or a simple group of patches until you get a feel for the process. In a Modeling window... Select part of the Model... Drag an image onto the Group... See the image apply. Again, Right Clicking is your friend so Right Click and Make sure View/Render Mode/Shaded or Shaded Wired is selected. If not you won't see your image. Looks like Glenn's got a nice Step by Step here for you to follow. Thanks Glenn!

I thought that was what you were after. Thats a common question here in the Newbies forum. Make sure you investigate the "Path Ease: Walk, then Wave" video tutorial at the very bottom of the page at: http://www.hash.com/2007web/vm.htm To really get lost in exploration of the subject: Here is the search results with more information on the subject than you can shake a stick at

Hi Pete! Welcome to the forum. We'll certainly try! Yes, some functions will be different but not so different as to be too confusing. For the most part the dialogue/menus will tell you whats going on. When you say you've done all the tutorials on the website do you mean to say you've watched all the videos too? Hopefully you've seen both the manual (in at least PDF forma) as well as the video tutorials. I hope this is the case. Your easiest method is to select the Rotoscope option when it asks you. Then consider turning two options on in the Rotoscopes properties panel. The first thing is to make the Rotoscope unpickable so that you won't accidentally move or animate it in your scene. The second option would be to turn on the option to have the Roto display in the Alpha Channel (More on that aspect another day?). Seek out some of the tutorials Robert Holmen (Robcat here in the forum has posted). They will steer you right. There isn't enough information in your description to determine what you are doing wrong and it's easier to demonstrate how to do it right. The short answer is... the computer is doing what you are telling it to do. You'll need to investigate the options you have to choose from. Robert's tutorials explain this.

Very impressive and well done animation. When I first saw that drill bit... Woooeee! I feel much better now...thanks. Your client should show these video to people before they come to visit. They might be more convinced to take better care of their teeth!

Gerry, Seeing your Bugbots moving is such a thrill! My suggestion... investigate Image Based Lighting (IBL). Its great stuff for quick lighting of a scene and I think it'll serve you well. The refinement in walking and removal of slippage will come in time. Its more important to animate... animate... ANIMATE! When in doubt remove (inactivate) the floor altogether and render just the character. More Bugbots please!

Mike, If I didn't know better I'd say you are up to something... first the fish... now the deer... I smell a project going on. It looks like you are going for a high sense of realism. Even so, I think the model could benefit from some additional exaggeration. Save the model and experiment on a copy of it. I'm not suggesting you turn this guy into Bambi but push just a little in that direction until you capture the right level of appeal. If that is what the design and style you are seeking calls for... the appeal factor should soar. Some of what I'm suggesting is sure to be resolved in the rigging and posing. Right now its hard to say as he's in such a static pose. Looking good. Keep pushing!

You came so close to getting this guy into the contest!!! You obviously made the supreme effort and your mastery of splines is growing by leaps and bounds. Its only a matter of time before you take a spot at the top of an image contest. Many thanks for the model!

Very nice splines Stian!

Personally I think subscribing to A:M would be a good move regardless of whether you find your CD or not. The $49 websubcription is available to all regardless of whether they have purchased before or not. Gone is the whole idea of versions when you keep your subscription current. The primary reason I think people should save up their pennies for the CD ($299) is where they are running a small studio where they need to lock down the version as an edge against new features. While most A:M users love to see new features come along as often and as frequent as possible, having a new feature appear in the middle of a production cycle can cause problems. A fix, adjustment, enhancement... whatever... might deliver something you don't need or want. 'Feature creep', as this is called, is generally something to avoid while in production. Don't you know it! The plus to moving of course is that you tend to get rid of a lot of junk. In that sense I probably should move a lot more often. A few more things I want to add to the discussion: One reason Hash Inc won't replace old CDs is that they don't keep them in stock. When a new version is released the old inventory is depleted... expended... replaced... the old stuff... gone. Hash Inc has gone out of the way to provide quality 3D animation software cheaply. The price could have easily stayed at $99 each year or even gone up. As it is, the average A:M user saves $50 each year when they opt for the websubscription(plus postage which on average is about $15!). Its the same program that would have cost a newbie $299 a year ago but now they save 250 bucks!!! One of the ways we add even more value to A:M is through sharing ideas, knowledge and resources with each other right here. You get your $49 back the first day you visit the forum. Its not only profitable though, being a part of A:M community is educational, inspiring and a whole lot of fun.