Rodney

Nice update. Major cool points from me.

Your experience will definitely serve you well in your endeavors with A:M. One of the things I'm striving hard to do (and failing) is remembering all the things I've learned. These are certainly perishable skills. I've got the basics of the 'down and dirty' tutorial put together but now need to make sure it makes sense and hits the areas of relevant interest. Anything in particular that interests you regarding Alpha Channel? (I'll re-read your posts) Since I'm just kind of wandering into the tutorial its hitting about everything that springs to mind. There are a lot of interconnected disciplines, gotchas and inspirational moments in the art of animation. Its fun too but we've got to focus on the goal; in this case, Alpha Channels.

As your topic title is 'Using the Alpha Channel' I think we can explore it pretty well here. I'm all for it! When it comes to Alpha Channels and separating objects in a scene there is A LOT to cover so that's why I want to hit the easy stuff first. You mention Shadows for instance. Its easy to forget about that. Where using Alpha Channels takes more time is in the planning and design stage. Where the 'extreme' benefits come to play is in post production as you can then manipulate all the elements of the scene independently or in groups. There is also A:M's extremely powerful EXR format to consider. The upside is a years worth of discoveries while the downside is that EXR formats vary and other programs most likely won't be able to read them in their raw format. Then of course there are layers. Gotta love them! Rotoscopes! Oh yeah. Understanding the needs of your project is important. Keep it simple but experiment a little along the way as time and budget constraints allow. And perhaps most important, ask questions and share what you learn from the answers with others. We are all A:M Users and thats the reason this forum is here. I'll try to post a quick down and dirty "Just Do It!" type of tutorial here for the dscussion but here to get the discussion started are too oft used references.The first one is the classic tutorial by Jeff (Tin Can) Cantin: http://www.am-guide.com/TinCan/AM_&_Alpha.htm Note: When using A:M Models you'll always... always... ALWAYS... get a better Alpha Channel than if trying to do it in another program in post production. When possible render your characters and objects (animated or otherwise) with an Alpha Channel for compositing later. A bit more technical and of certain interest to those that will be importing images from other applications: http://www.ypoart.com/tutorials/Alpha-about.htm

That is really cool. Color me impressed. I've been working with some flash type menus of late but they certainly don't have any A:M interactivity. I'd like to target A:M v14's SWF export for some experimentation but... never enough time. Love your examples. Your third link was truncated. Lets see if this one will work: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/vandeweghe/web/particles.htm Edit: Yup. Looks like it does.

For completeness sake I'll add a few links here. Hopefully John will add the link to his video tutorial as I can't seem to find it just now. Sequential Image Numbering Discussion Sequential Image Numbering Options These don't have anything to do with Alpha Channels but its more important to understand sequential TGAs first. There is another way to compile your images using a camera rotoscope. It's a bit more flexible (as it allows for adding to and altering your imagery) but its not as quick as Right Click/Save As Animation.

Phil, You are definitely on the right track but obviously some pain has put you there. An important lesson hopefully learned. NEVER render out large scenes to AVI, MOV formats. Render out to TGA format and then collect them again into AVI or MOV formats. For what you are trying to do you don't really need to use the Alpha Channel at all. If you are wanting to separate the elements of your scene (which is a good idea!) you'll want to use Alpha Channels. There is a decision you need to make here but the initial answer is this: Render your scene to sequential TGA images. Once you've got those rendered you can open them in A:M and save them out to MOV/AVI etc. Steps to compile your sequential images: In the Project Workspace - Right Click on the Image folder - Open your image as a sequence of images (make sure you check the box for sequential images or you'll just get the first frame). - Once imported Right Click on the Image and Select "Save As Animation" - Select the format and codec - Name the file Done. JohnL3D has a tutorial that takes you step by step through this process in the Tutorials section. ...Now using the power of Alpha Channels. Lets explore that once you decide that is really the way you want to go.

Great to see you again Mike! I haven't seen the brochure for v14 (2007) yet but you can get additional information via the following links. Keep in mind that v14 has features from past versions as well so there is a lot to read (some video to watch too). http://www.hash.com/am2006/ http://www.hash.com/am2005/ http://www.hash.com/am2004/ http://www.hash.com/am2003/ http://www.hash.com/am2002/index.htm Edited to add links to some previous versions. Bruces link has some great info too!

I don't get any lines here. Could it have something to do with your image (BMP) or material? Those weren't available in the model file. Is there a reason you don't just remove the splines from that part of the model? Just curious. Perhaps you are exporting for use with a game?

I'd be lying if I said I did so I'll default to those who know better. If you do a search here in the forum using your video card as the text I think you'll find some good information on the subject. Video cards seem to be cyclic in that some manufacturers take shortcuts to keep costs down for themselves and consumers. Cards that don't meet the higher standards might be sold as SE, LE or other cheaper versions. A:M needs a good video card and a lot of the Limited Editions simply won't play well with graphics intensive programs such as A:M. Experts? P.S. Here's one set of posts on the subject of NVidia: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23521 It looks like an older driver was the workaround for some: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22267

The black dots are indicative of a video card problem. In some cases a trip to your card manufacturer's website will provide the update you need. In other cases you may find switching back and forth from Direct3D to Open GL (or vice versa) may help. Others may be able to confirm your troubles here once you let us know what video card you are using.

I'm sure there must be a way to isolate the simulation but I know not. Sorry. A workaround might be to create a copy of the Chor and strip it down to only what you need for that particular simulation. Perhaps those with more experience in Rigid Bodies can give you their take. 8000 frames!!!

Graham, I'm not sure if someone replied to you in another place but I do hope you are feeling at home. Regarding the upgrade I'd say if you have the money to spend you definitely should. For $99 you'll get v13 and v14 (free updates for the year!) and all the bells and whistles that come with them. I generally wait for the new year but there really is no reason to as the CD currently being shipped is already in line for v14. Here's hoping you find lots of time to spend with A:M in 2007!

Very nice Stian. Congratulations!

I think I've discovered the origin of your frustration Yardie.

Nice find Andy! I had completely forgot about that tutorial. It was the precursor to the current videos on stride length and wheel cycles on the TaoA:M video page. http://www.hash.com/vm/ If you haven't seen those definitely check out the ones at the bottom of the page. In particular: Simple walk and wheel cycling actions and Path Ease (walk, then wave)

Right! And there are some interesting blogs on the subject of timing and music in animation too. For instance: Understanding Timing in Animation There are three other parts to that discussion: Part I Part II Part III Part IV There's even better stuff out there. I especially like the ones from early animation. There are a lot of old Bar Sheets becoming available. They provide some great insight into the creation process of animation with regard to music. Media Musical Timing Rediscovered and other animator/enthusiasts have taken note: Bar sheets from the Rudy Ising directed short “Shuffle Off To Buffalo.” or how about: Mr. Duck Steps Out *Note the calculator on the right side of that last blog. You can convert frames to feet, field sizes (Disney and Acme) and Beat to Metronome. Interesting. And here is a nice Ken Harris interview by Richard Williams on Timing for Animation: http://www.packthecat.com/PersistenceOfVis...sInterview.html

Thanks for the info Yardie. As I said it looks like you've already got a pretty good handle on this. It may just be a matter of using different words in some cases. For instance, you said: "Helper and Solver Tools" is a term that sounds intriguing. It's a bit too vague though to narrow in on anything specific. If you find the time perhaps you could share your thoughts on that. Explore that aspect, especially with relation to what you are trying to accomplish here with Newton Dynamics, and I think everyone will benefit. Rodney

Nice! Looks like you've been busy. You've definitely made it look lived in. The keyboard looks a bit big to me. The black keys seem rather large. Nice little details.

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!