Rodney

I don't know Yardie, that animation makes me think you understand it pretty well. I know I haven't been able to get Newton Dynamics to do that. What are you trying to simulate beyond that? Also, I don't follow you on the thought of cutting render time. I can see where animation time might be saved though. I guess I'm not really sure where the benefit of Newton Dynamics can be gained in your example. What is (or would be) simulated in the example?

What's that saying... "Teach a man to fish?"

I'm not all that familiar with 'the Thom sample'. Here would be my suggestion. Start a new topic here in the tutorials section. Label it appropriately like, "Exploring Newton Dynamics". Subtitle it with the focus of your exploration. Post your exploration/progress. What successes have you had? Post related projects. Demonstrate how they work. Post your questions. Anticipate the answers to help others help you. Hope someone is interested in the answers to those questions just like you. I'm interested. Rodney

Yardie, You are in no danger of doing Hash Inc's work for them. I'm sure they appreciate everything you can do to help explore A:M Features. This'll sound like criticism but it's not. We are all A:M Users together. Consider the following though: Steffen Gross builds plugins for A:M for free in his own time. He's created a lot of plugins. Hash Inc didn't ask Steffen to do it. He enjoys doing it. Newton Dynamics is released (for free) to the A:M Community. Who then is responsible for documentation? The answer is simple; we ALL are. There are alternatives of course. We can choose not to use these resources. We can pay someone to do the exploring for us. We can thank those who have taken their time to help us. We can ask questions and in turn supply answers, projects, tutorials and more to extend our understanding. We can even complain... but that'll get us nowhere fast and is the most certain way to have a contributor wonder why they even bothered in the first place. If a contributor's effort isn't appreciated it's just a matter of time before we won't have to worry about that any more. They'll move on to more productive endeavors. You'd do the same would you not?

I look forward to your book Yardie!

Ethan, Truly impressive. To think that you put that all together by yourself just amazes me. A great mix of design/layout, story, character and animation. You've got some really outstanding mood shots in there too. I can easily see the point in Martin's thoughts on the models. If polished or cute like the fish in "Finding Nemo" you'd have a ready made audience. On the other hand, that they are a little rough in an endearing part of the story. Sure wish I could have been a fly on your wall as you put this together. Color me impressed!

A belated welcome to you all posting here! I'm excited for you as you move into the world of computer animation. Ask questions, answer others that you know, work through TaoA:M and make yourselves at home! Rodney

What type of plugin does A:M tell you is missing?

Looks like great fun Chrury. Congrats on completing the course!

Michelle, Some strange forum feature has allowed me to see your post for the past few days but I haven't been able to post a reply to it. Sorry for the delayed response. To a certain degree you can. The more complex and different the model the harder to maintain compatibility. As smartskin is often model specific that may be the aspect you'll want to consider carefully to prevent loss of flexibility. Muscle movements will likewise be retained unless you add new CPs and splines. As you already surmise you can add those back into your model with a little work. Its always best if the models are designed from the beginning with this replacement feature in mind but even if not it can be done. For instance, a character with exchangeable clothes, heads, hair... whatever. Design it with the idea in mind to 'frankenstein' and you are set for success. Others are more able to answer this. My experience with Smartskin is limited. There are tools that let you mirror smartskin. Now to your last comment. You may not have to replace or reorganize any bones. If you have characters/models that incorporate the same rig (2001 or Squetch Rig for instance) you'll find many actions will work well with them too. Some with little or no adjustment. There is a scratch of the surface. It sounds like you already understand a lot about the process so I think you'll excell in your endeavor. Good luck! Rodney

Yes indeed. Libaries can (and generally should) be run from the harddrive. If you install an update the option will be there to copy your files to the harddrive I recommend checking that. If you don't you won't be able to add/subtract from your library as it will reside on a 'read only CD. As the Library files are text files there are other ways to work with Libraries on your harddrive but for existing Libraries I recommend using the built in installer. Yes there is a noticeable difference as A:M doesn't have to access the CDRom drive.

You may be thinking of Animation Pitstop. Its been gone for a couple years though. Alain Descrochers has several wrapped presents and a Santa Lion on the Extra CD. I don't see the Santa Lion in the menu but it should be avialable via the CD (the download Luuk linked). http://www.hash.com/amtutes/X_Vol001/Menu/...eOfPresents.htm

Looking forward to seeing it too!

Bruce, Did I miss an update and you've finished this film?

Thanks for the long answer. I like long answers. There are indeed so many elements involved its easy to see why people specialize as they often tend to do. My own interests are pretty diverse and my efforts all over the map. In the long run I think this is a good thing but in the short term its not so good. If I could focus on one thing until I achieve at least partial mastery of it before moving on to the next interest that'd be beneficial. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on perpective) thats just the way my interests compel me. You never did answer my question though about the Mouse image/exercise. Or did you? Was there a specific goal in mind for that one? Rodney

Cute. I like the way you think. There are a lot of good practices being shared here in the forum. Your "little stuff" and "Dhar's Ideas" are great (yet simple) examples of that. When you do these little exercises is there generally a goal (like focusing on lighting or a specific theme) or do you just start throwing things together? Inquiring minds wanna know! Looking forward to your next project but interesting in this simple mouse too.

My apologies. I didn't mean to imply the tutorial was in the 2002 manual. It's in the current Tech Ref but I believe goes into a bit more detail in the old manual. I thought it was located in the 2002 folder on the FTP. The current Technical Reference is a compilation of the old manual in web based searchable form. The old manual is still available on the Hash Inc ftp. Looks like it is here: ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/updates/windows/Am98/ or more directly here: ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/updates/windows/Am98/am98manual.pdf For the completist out there the Tech Ref write up can be found here: http://www.hash.com/htmlHelp/v12.0/Generat...ConstraintA.htm

I noticed David Roger's "Animation:Master A Complete Guide" was in the December issue of 3D World. It was a short review (I almost missed it) but nice placement. The book is available online at most bookstores. Sadly I haven't seen it on any 'physical' store shelves. http://www.amazon.com/Animation-Master-Com...s/dp/1584504757 Congrats to David!

You've got some nice touches in this last one. I've added some comments to the attached. Step through frame by frame to read them. You've got some nice Arcs and Squash and Stretch in there. Now we've just got to get you to exagerate. You can always tame things down but its harder to add more. The one thing I had planned to go into more but didn't get into the comments was a suggested path for Mr. Sack to fall on. As your trajectory isn't bad for a flour sack I'll leave it as is. There is something a bit cartoony about the sudden drop though so you might consider a fuller arc on his fall. I'll track down the links to Paul and Frank's tutorials/exercises. Now that I think about it David Higgins might have been involved too. Here's the exercise by Frank Silas, David Higgins and Chris Wheeler: http://www.franksilas.com/Lesson2.htm sackandthecrate_analysis.mov

Hey Niels. That was pretty good. I like! Great (yet simple!) demonstration of the effect.

Hey, I like that one! Add some aniticipation at the very beginning and you've got a winner. There is an old saying in animation "Go one way before you go the other." You could do this in the form of Squash and Stretch where you squash him down and then as he expands/leaps he stretches out. Then plop on the ground where he squashes again. Four sack exercises are such a great things. The sense of weight alone can really contribute a lot to an animation. As far as what other things you can do... wow... the possibilities are endless. In general, if a character can do it... a flour sack can too. Once you've got a basic idea (hitting head on door for instance) think about anticipation, think about distributing the character's weight, think about squash and stretch. BE THE FLOUR SACK! Paul Daley and Frank Silas have put together some fun and educational flour sack projects. The ones I remember the best are Paul's CG/Photo compositing and Frank's basic lessons. Perhaps you've seen these already? We can track them down if you are interested or if you can wait a little while they'll be on the Extra DVD (I think). Keep it up!

Well, what I mean is that it just seems like I saw you posting here in the forum. Egad! Where have I been. My apologies for not seeking you out and dragging you back. Now... get back to flour sack animating! P.S. Now that you are back, if you don't get involved in TWO...

Definitely. If you want to work on TWO you'll need to upgrade. TWO requires v13 formatted files. The good news is that upgrading is just $99 from any version of A:M you own. I can't speak to Maya and the other programs but you have my commitment as an A:M User already. That'd be true whether you upgrade or not. There is a big difference between v10 and v14! Wow. Where to start??? At its most basic level (the interface, ease of use etc.) A:M is still very much the same however. 2007 is set to be a great year in a lot of ways. It sounds like with what you already know you are set for success yourself. Challenge Hash Inc to put your $99 to the absolute best use they can and do yourself a big favor... upgrade! The money you save can then 'wasted' on other more expensive purchases. I'm sure others have opinions but you are bound to get more pro A:M responses than not around here. It is after all the Hash Inc A:M Forum. We're not biased! We're convinced.

Eh??? Get outta here! It can't have been that long. Glad to see you back.

Nice! I want one of those robots (and your talent!)