Rodney

Ramon, One of the reasons you'll see me default to available solutions is... well... thats what we have to work with. Everything else is wishful thinking and workaround. At least the current Filter feature works -and- a few workarounds are available to extend functionality. The textfile nature and SDK suggest other ways of extending the Filter's functionality too. By all means launch a new feature request in A:M Reports. What you are describing would be useful to others. As long as you understand the difficulties involved. There is no such thing as a 'simple addition' when you are working in the core A:M code. For your idea to work Filters would have to be rewritten. To maintain permanency Filters would have to be stored in DLLs or files in the A:M directory... no longer in the files themselves. But to keep from angering long time users the old method would have to be maintained too right? So now we have two methods of Filtering? One permanent? One tied to the Project? This isn't getting more simple.... its getting more complex. Understand also (and I know you do) that Hash Inc works through priorities then finds the time to add these new features into new releases. Add in the other features everyone thinks would be 'cool' and we start to see how long the wait could be. Its good also to realise that implementing this feature (any feature for that matter) will bump something else from the list. Is this the most important thing to you at the moment? If it is... life sure is good. Permanent filters, which is a good idea, takes a few moments to workaround via the current implementation, and can work as you envision when reusing the same project file. Balance that against against other feature requests for things not currently available and we begin to see where our feature requests fall in the list of priorities. Again... submit these to A:M Reports. It's not likely to be implemented otherwise. This looks like an excellent opportunity for 3rd Party intervention. Through the SDK and file format searching (these files are XML compatible doncha know) other solutions can be explored. Then users would have the core functionality still in place and the extension power of permanent filters available too. Those discussing this thread before you were trying to understand how Filtering works. Extending current functionality is fodder for new features. The nature of feature requests in the forum are such that they soon can get out of hand. Which is why they run afowl of the forum guidelines. Post those puppies to A:M Reports! Rodney

Filters can be saved with Projects. If you save a default project with the filters already in it you can reuse those over and over again. There is a checkbox to save the filter in the current project. I see you mentioned that. Definitely check it or filters won't be saved at all. The assumption being that you only needed it for that specific search. I'd imagine a filter utility could be created to add and remove filters on demand. Hash Inc doesn't encourage brute force methods of working with the file format but I'd guess the SDK has hooks for filtering too. In the Project File a simple Filter filtering for models would look like this: <FILTER> Name=Models <FILTERLIST> Model </FILTERLIST> </FILTER> a filter looking for models named 'dragon': <FILTER> Name=Models SearchString=dragon <FILTERLIST> Model </FILTERLIST></FILTER> Filters can be created easily and are seldom used in dissimilar projects. Do you really want to save all your filters in every project?

Its been awhile since playing with flocking but if you are only getting 2 blades of grass perhaps your falloff distance is too little? Experiment with your Fall Off and Minimum Distance settings. Edit: Ooo... Ooo! And don't forget Preroll. That is essential. Also: Ken is spot on about suggesting hair instead of flocking for grass.

I believe I've sent my intial greetings to Roger elsewhere so Lloyd... this one goes out to you. Welcome to the A:M Forum. If you are still struggling in any way please know that there are others just like you struggling too. Its usually not because the information isn't available trust me. Ask those questions... get those answers. In the process it'll help a whole new generation of newbies. Everyone of us was a newbie at one time or another. Some of us still are. The difference between the old and new is that newbies these days have no good reason to lurk in the background of the forum. The resources available in TaoA:M, ABC, Tin Woodman of Oz and more... just discussing solutions here in the forum will get you through the rough spots. You've discovered A:M now show us what you can do with it. More power to the newbies!

Simon, Thats one of those "Why didn't I think of that" models. Simply wonderful. Great stuff. More! More!

Good grief! I blinked and missed the Beta release? Interesting effect John.... I could almost feel waves of heat.

Welcome to the A:M Forum! I'm Rodney, your host as moderator of the Newbies Forum. I'm a user of A:M too! The priorities I've set for myself in the forum are as follows: - Help New Users transition into Animation:Master as smoothly as possible. - Assist A:M Users as they work through The Art of Animation:Master (TaoA:M) - Encourage everyone to learn while doing through participation in a full length feature film! (For an example see Hash Inc Film projects such as 'Tin Woodman of Oz') For over 20 years Hash Inc has been producing the best in software, service and assistance to computer artists. They know the heart of the animator and have provided us with very powerful software solutions in Animation:Master. Now we just have to use it! Start with simple, realistic and attainable goals. Add more goals as you make progress. Pace yourself and you will find your goals achievable. For the absolute best chance of success with A:M start off by working through the manual; TaoA:M! Understand that questions do sometimes take a little time to answer here in the forum. Be patient. Someone will be there for you. We are in this learning process together. Your input is important too. If there is a question you'd like to ask or some insights into your progress you'd like to share we'd love to hear from you. Again, Welcome to the A:M Forum. It's great to have you here.

Roger, I did see your other post but hadn't yet taken the time to respond. For that I offer my apology. I wanted to reply at length rather than just say... "Hello". Once I put something down though its hard to say when I'll get back to it. I wanted to say first how much I am impressed that your friend took the time to point you to A:M. He's obviously someone that knows his software. That a professional in the industry... an Oscar award winner even... would recommend Animation:Master is really saying something. But to be honest I'm not at all surprised anyone would recommend A:M. After 20 years its still the best deal going. ...and now the fun begins! Welcome to the Animation:Master Forum Roger!

...and... Have you tried opening your movie directly into the Project Workspace first, then add it to the Rotoscope? Some larger files don't make it through directly. Test first with some 'fake' movies rendered out from A:M. If they come into A:M in the format you think you are using that might help you narrow the problem down. If there are strange compressions or sound files attached that could cause problems as well.

Lex and Lambrina should be on earlier A:M CDs too. Upgrade for the latest and greatest in A:M or else you will surely be disappointed. I certainly wouldn't upgrade for the Extra DVD! There is a reason the 'Extra' DVD is thusly named. But you are guaranteed to get more than what you pay for.

They are indeed on the 2007 Extra DVD: (sorry to quibble but that's over 3 Gigabytes of difference) \ExtrasData\Models\Actors\Realistic\Lambrina \ExtrasData\Models\Actors\Realistic\Dex I present proof!

Glad we can help. I haven't used Illustrator in ages. I'm going to guess that you need to save your AI files in an earlier format. I -always- use version 7 -but- I believe most people use version 8. I don't know what form of raster to vector conversion you may have with Illustrator. CorelDraw has a program called CorelTrace... AMAZING! You can download the entire CorelDraw suite with a 15 day fully functioning trial. For those of you that don't have it... plan... plan... plan your projects first. Download. Test. CorelDraw isn't cheap but its well worth the investment. (and it works great with A:M in many ways!) Whoops. Didn't answer your question. Yes. I used the AI Wizard to import the outlined shapes of the letters. It should be noted that ungrouping everything helped tremendously. You can have say... the holes cut out of the letters but the AI Wizard interprets the shapes better just by being in the right place. (That last part won't make a bit of sense to most people. Sorry. I could put a mini-tute together.)

Sure could! The biggest requirement there is in needing a program that saves out to AI format. If you already have Illustrator you'd be set though. I use and prefer Coreldraw. Attached is an example I just ran to see how well the example text from the Adobe website coverted to AI format. Not bad... but a Font would get through better. There are obvious errors some of which could have easily been fixed. The model was created using default settings. There are also programs (some really great shareware ones) that will convert images to fonts.

I believe the problem here is that the Font Wizard does not open OpenType fonts. For that you'll need to use TrueType.

Average price for the Minion Pro font seems to be $24 but i see $30+ as well. If you have illustrator you can recreate the fonts... but don't sell them! If using them in commercial work I'd suggest purchasing, then adding the charge to your client's bill.* There are probably a lot of similar fonts out there but if Adobe owns the font... Not sure if this'll be anything new (found on the web): Minion Pro - This font is a wonderful professional font that used to cost $100 but is now available free with Acrobat Reader version 7. To get the font, install Acrobat Reader version 7 then look in the resource folder where acrobat reader was installed. I will probably be at this address on your computer: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Resource\Font. You will see the Minon files. You still must install the fonts so your system will recognize them. For windows users, open control panel, switch to classic view, scroll down to fonts, and then copy the minion fonts into your fonts folder. *Get it approved first of course!

Oh oh... could this mean I'm going to be rigging my own characters? Must resist temptation... I've got TWO animating to do! Thanks Mark! I don't fully understand the action install part of this yet but I look forward to finding out.

Thanks for understanding and taking my response in the right way. Trust me when I say that no one meant to put broken tutorials on your Extra DVD. Well... if you don't count one or two little gremlins. The Extra DVD was dangerously close to never happening. Collecting resources like these (and testing them!) is just too much work. If smarter minds had prevailed I don't think it would have been produced. That we have an Extra DVD is a testiment to the hard work and contributions of Steve Sappington, all the talented contributors and those working behind the scenes. Thanks guys and gals! Now... If you find a resource that is broken don't give up! That resource is probably still available online. The Extra DVD is mostly a means of collection, preservation and distribution. Ask about the resource here in the forum and someone will probably know right where to find it.

Definitely spline heavy but impressive anyway. Jolly good!

With a name like Rod you've got to be welcomed. There were at least 4 Rodney's in my school as I grew up. I think they all preferred to go by Rod. So I tried my best to stay with Rodney. Great to have you with us Rod. 'Bout time you stopped Lurking!

One of the easiest ways to explore EXR is to just render out to it and experiment. I recommend rendering out a simple (but lighted!) animation to a sequential set of EXRs. Bring those back into A:M via Right Clicking on Images container in the Project Workspace. Once in A:M Right Click again and select Build Composit. This still won't be quite enough to see many results. For that you'll want to add a Post Effect or two... three... four. Go under a subcontainer that is identified with Mix for instance. Right Click and add a Exposure Post Effect Then change the Exposure over time. You should get a simple example of the that effect. I would review the tutorial and information at the previous Feature Focus link before diving in too deep. It'll help tremendously. Please share what you find out with us!

Here is a pretty good intro via the Light Buffers Feature Focus. Hats off to Noel for all his hard work in bringing Composting via EXR to A:M. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26740 Direct link to project file and information: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19458

I can agree with that. If you like we can start now! There was no test phase for the DVD as no one stepped up to the job. Last minute changes broke a lot so what you see on the DVD is a lot different than what you almost had. What a difference a few months makes. Seriously, I'm not complaining back at you, but the Extra DVD is what you and I make it. Hash Inc mostly just distributes what we give them.

I'm the only one still wanting to explore? Let's not forget the A:M CD shall we. There are a lot of resources there too. Most easily accessible via your Library window. Stian's McLaren is still there. Don't know about you but I think its cool. Stian also has other projects on the CD and Extra DVD. Alligators, Cars and more... in a word... gofindthem!

Starting from scratch isn't always a bad idea. Sometimes its the best idea. That way you get to start fresh. I'd suggest a look at some of the female models on the Extra CD (2006), Extra DVD (2007) and the A:M CD (any year). You could correct what you have by laying in new/additional splines too but first you need to study -where- to put them. You are getting close. Just need some more refinement. Keep at it!

Take good notes and sell us a 'Behind the Scenes' DVD. You are living the dream Dusan... living the dream. It would be quite cool to be a fly on your studio's wall. I should mention... I posted your image in the Renderosity forum gallery. Not a lot of traffic over there but so far a very supportive (and unanimous) response from non-A:M Users. They want to know when 'Chicory and Coffee' is released so I'll keep them advised. Your work speaks for itself!