Rodney

Thats pretty eye catching Rich. Its hard work to make Skulls fly I'll bet. The primary change I would suggest (and I read that you probably won't change anything) would be to extend the wings out to fully formed 'Y' shape at some point (about 2/3 of the way through by my guesstimation). This would give the sense that the wings are helping the skull decend to its final position. As such you wouldn't need to worry as much about it flying. The final resting position makes me think 'spider' a bit more than winged skull. This might not be a bad thing of course but you might consider that interpretation for when you use the image in stills. To counter that effect you could add a little light or coloring to the wings. Regardless... your logo definitely says "Dark Skull Productions" to me! More please!

Congratulations! You've taken a bold new step toward defining a 'studio' personality. What I would suggest is that you work to develop a theme. It doesn't have to be anything too crazy. I doesn't necessarily need to be permanent (although consider that aspect). When someone sees your logo what do you want them to immediately think. In this aspect the theme is more important than the animation. While it might seem obvious to you by its name alone... what is the theme of 'Emerald Storm'? Find that and your logo will be successful in both still and animated form.

Thanks for the wireframe Robert! It does look a little spline heavy in places but we haven't seen everything close up. As Ken suggests you may be able to cut down on splines considerably in some places. I'm not entirely sure which areas he means by 'circular features' but any cylinders and such can often be created with 4 cross sections. Its your model though and its looking mighty sweet as is.

Very cool. I like! I look forward to your tutorial too! Added: I should probably add the standard request as that would be nice to see. Can we see a wireframe render?

Vern, Yes indeed you can drag and drop lights onto/into a model. They have to exist first of course. If you just have a model (no lights/no choreography) you can either create a light, create a Choreography (which will automagically create 3 lights) or Right Click/New/Light. Also, once you create a Model with a light you can add those via drag and drop those into Choreographies too. You can nest these lights to an extent by importing models into models as Action Objects. With so many ways of doing things its hard to keep up the documentation. Thats why you should Right Click often. You never know when you might find something new. We've hit some of the most apparent ways you can add lights but there are other ways too. Learning to program for instance...

Right Clicking is your friend. Right Click and bring up the options panel for whatever area you are working in. Then explore your world. You can add lights to a model via Right Click/New/Light in the Modeling window. As Vern said go into Bones mode to move the lights around to where you need them.

What type of a light is it? I think you will want to change it to a Klieg. Look for the setting in the Light's properties.

Heck no... Rodney is seriously grateful for the expertise! A lot of folks are still trying to figure out how to post a link. Caroline... is Zooomin'!

Now that was trippy. You've been busy!

Martin is right of course. Its important that you know the basics first. Make every attempt to work through TaoA:M and you'll find it well worth the effort. Next thing you know you'll be answering other people's questions as well as your own.

I've used AI version 7 pretty exclusively since the AI Wizard came out. As its worked well for me I've never really attempted to use AI version 8. So... Don't forget...

Too small! Boo! I want to see more. Even John Lasseter had to start somewhere. Might as well be here with a Lion at the Door for you. I'm not sure it applies to you here but don't forget to turn off the Balance/Balance rigid constraints. We have some Exercise 6 gurus these days and if you post in the Exercise 6 topic they'll help you get through those rough spots.

It's great to see you in action again.

You did much better than me the first time I accidentally responded to a really old post. I think mine was a response to a question like: "Why doesn't this work?" My response was something like: "DUDE! That's been fixed for years! Where have you been?" ...and it had indeed been fixed for years.

Nice Rusty! I'm so use to seeing you with your sunglasses (from your avatar) that I almost didn't recognize you. Whats your daughter think of being recreated in 3D?

Own the CD.. read that part 'o the post... but thanks for the info anyway. Added: I highly recommend any and all of Anzovin's training CDs.

...and here I thought you were entering the 'Lost Worlds' Challenge. Looks good from here. I think you should enter the challenge and keep plussing your valley up! I can only imagine the adventures that might take place in that valley. You'd have to tell the tales.

Bill, I'm just now taking the time to look at your self portrait and I've gotta say that I'm impressed. I keep looking at your splineage... and getting lost in it. It's a bit like I'm saying to myself... "Self... now why didn't you think of that"? In particular I'm liking the subtle placement of hooks and curvature that hints at forms under the skin. The brow for instance... all of it really... and of course that ear. Looking forward to the eventual decaling stage!

Hey Phatso! (We've just got to get you another name Sir) Your project does indeed sound exciting and the educational side of it is definitely good stuff. I still remember my visit as a kid to the Electric Company. They had rooms set up where we could connect our own lights and switches. Boy was I relieved when my light switched on. Some poor kids probably still have scars from that defeat. Seriously though... I remember the folks that were there seemed genuinely interested in seeing us succeed at turning that light on. Its guys and gals like that that give teaching a very good name. I haven't visited your site yet... a bit busy at the moment... but I will when I can. Start up a WIP in the forum and you are bound to get some great feedback. ...and by all means complete TaoA:M too. You're never too old for TaoA:M. Note to the kids: Yes we had 'lecticity back when I was a kid.

Chris, I think you stumbled upon on old topic... but thanks for keeping the working Knight in circulation. Links to the working Knight and Keekat should be in the TaoA:M topics too. I haven't heard the problem reported for v14. Much appreciated.

Wow Marcos... your work just keeps on getting better. Nothing to critique here. I'm looking forward to seeing it in a live scene. Beautiful.

If you go to the models that I linked above you'll be able to download the files and open them with Animation:Master by clicking on the name of the model. See the attached image for the location. I've added the Kid.zip file to this post so you can just click and download it from here. Since you already have the DVD perhaps an easier way would be to copy the files from the CD or DVD to a folder on your computer. Once on your computer, open the zipped/compressed files in a folder (they'll have names like Coolmodel.zip, Othermodel.zip) Then use Animation:Master to open the Project files that were open by using the menu (File Open). You'll find models, projects, materials, actions and more to play with. Kid.zip

People do indeed share models here. What kind of model are you looking for? Assuming you've recently purchased A:M there are more than a few out there. There are many on your Extra DVD too. Here's a fine example that scratches the surface: ftp://www.hash.com/amtutes/X_Vol001/Menu/index.htm

Less to animate I'd say and a very economical decision. Looking great either way!

Once you create it in the Chor you can export as a Model. Sweeper works similarly in the modeling window. Just select a spline on your surface as the path.