Rodney

Impressive Andy. Watching you put a movie together like this, piece by piece, is really a treat. You call it a WIP... sure looks like Showcase material to me. Hope you are keeping lots of notes for the 'making of'.

Eeek. Forgot about that. My apologies. Once you launch into TaoA:M I'll supply any models you need. (Should you tire of using Thom that is.) All part o' the friendly TaoA:M service. Glad to see you are working through the exercises.

I just checked that last zip file. Those last two links are to the most recent additions to the TaoA:M exercises. Sorry for any confusion. Any assistance collecting TaoA:M resources will be gladly accepted. Thanks Daniel.

I'd guess 99% of A:M Users have them readily accessible via their CD. I thought you still got the CD with the upgraded Dongle? Is that not the case? At any rate. All of the models for A:M 2005 are on the FTP. You can find them linked in Useful Links. There is also the Extra CD. Don't forget that! You can download files from HERE. If you just want to download the entire CD in one zip file go HERE. Any of the Actors rigged with the 2001 Rig can be used/substituted in the exercises. Rodney I do believe that the 2005 files you are looking for can be found here: ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/updates/windows/Am2005/ or more directly here: ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/updates/windows/Am...wManualData.zip

There certainly is a Library for v12. However it won't work for v9 (as I believe has been mentioned). As I recall the 2001 Rig didn't get released until v9. Working A:M 2001 exercises with A:M 99 is going to be a rough trip. You can probably simulate the exercises to an extent but I don't envy you. Thats seven (almost 8!) years ago. Most exercises just won't work in A:M 99 as they will in A:M 2000 and thereafter. If there are particular models you need that can't be found on the FTP or via Useful Links (See link in my signature below and look a few pages into that topic for links to models) then let me know and I can copy them from my CD for you. Most of those models are on the FTP however. Pretty sure they all are. There are some models from 2001 that may work for you but I'm doubting it. They can be found in the projects linked via the Animation Contests: LINK! As the exercises didn't come along until 2001 I don't suggest working through them in earlier versions. If you still have the 'tomb' (the old manual) those exercises are more appropriate for those versions. If you can locate your CD... thats probably your best bet. Sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear. Rodney

Pretty cool little demonstration of the gun. I like. You've got some nice detail going into this project.

You could also cheat the look of reflectively in some shots (especially stills) and use an image/layer with transparency. You'll generally want to reverse the image though so keep that in mind.

Dick, That's pretty cool. You've obviously put some time into your lip sync (and modeling!) effort. Keep that up and you'll be wowing everyone in no time. There is some interest in lipsync currently in the New Users Forum (Exercise 7 and especially 13). While I'm not sure how much time I have to devote to it I'd love to see more explored on the subject here in the forum. If others post their Q&A in those TaoA:M areas I'll try to do my part too. At any rate... keep on keepin' on!

John's (er... Matt's that is) example is one way to do it but there is an easier way now. If you've got your animation in A:M as a squential image/movie just Right Click and Save As Animation. Make sure you locate and change the settings as desired. Sorensen 3 for instance will be an option as long as that codec is installed on your system. The Camera Rotoscoping method is still useful. Especially if you want to create an edited version of your movie pans across the image you already have.

You are wrong there my friend! Just getting a glimpse at how you put models togther is quite a learning experience. Great stuff! Thanks for posting that.

I think I may just link here as this is a nice collection of related informatoin on the subject. Keep adding to it as you see fit. Thanks Jim and Bruce! Rodney Edit: Link added to Useful Links. I put it under the Modeling category... not sure where it belongs.

Hey Yann! Welcome to the Animation:Master Community. This is about as good a place as any. Whats on your mind? Rodney

The model you are looking for is named 'Eugene'. He should be on your A:M CD but also on the FTP. The skeleton file you were looking at was just the bones from the 2001 rig which when looked at in a modeling window will be invisible but in bones mode will display the rig.

Ethan, First, let me say congratulations on your purchase of A:M. I'm a user of A:M (like you will be now!) and I get excited every time someone new discovers A:M. It really is that great a program. You said it! There is absolutely no way I can create all the things I'd like to create. Right now I'm still trying to determine what it is I wanna do when I grow up. There has always been a core group of people with the talent, time and inclination to work for others. Lately I've seen a growing number of old and new A:M Users offering their services. I think its great! If I launch out on any big projects of my own that is certainly a way to get high quality product quickly into production/workflow. Providing jobs for fellow A:M users pays off two fold as those you hire often bring what they've learned from such offerings back into the A:M Community in the form of information, tutorials and other collaborative opportunities. Its a win - win situation. One of the best things you can do to see maximum return on your investment in A:M is to stake out a place here in the forum. Get comfortable. Make yourself at home. Get involved. Make some friends. Welcome to the A:M Community!

You mean in the sense of animation? Modeling? If animation you'll want your foot bone to be a child of the leg bones and your leg bones to be a child of the body. Exercise 13: Show some backbone runs through this heirarchical rigging process pretty well. Rodney

Ethan, Sorry, missed your posting earlier. There isn't a listing of A:M CD content as it tends to change every year. In the past few years there have been quite a few additions to the A:M CD as well as on the Extra CD which you get free with A:M. Need more incentive to purchase? This year Hash Inc is publishing an Extra DVD in the place of the Extra CD. That means where there was 650MB of resources there will now be upward to 4.5GB... that's Gigabytes for the uninitiated. Yes there is furniture. Buildings we got too. Lamps, forks and spoons, vehicles and a whole lot more. Then of course there are the characters. Gotta love those! It won't stop there either. The Extra CD was popular and with the Extra DVD I've no reason to doubt we'll see a lot more of the same. You may even want to create a few models of your own of course and contribute those too! Here's a look at some of the fine contributions of the past: AM Extra CD Volume I Shhh... don't tell anyone but you can download them from there. With WebHAMR or HAMRViewer you can even see them in full 3D.

A very astute observation Yves. Mr. White is obviously is one of those 'thinking animators'. His 'Animators Workbook' falls into this category as well with lots of text explaining things far beyond the pictures. Great information but for those of us that are use to just looking at the pictures... a tough read. If we take the time to actually read it there's some very useful information there in just the text alone. Richard Williams's 'Animator's Survival Kit' is similar in that capactiy. You really have to read it to get to the good stuff. As Tony White once worked as a personal assistant to Mr. Williams that may be where he picked up his 'thinking animator' style. I've spent the evening reading (and watching) the PDF file on the CDRom. The content consists of a PDF file interlaced with extracts from the 'Endangered Species' short with commentary on why particular story elements were focused and the specific techinques used to complete the sequence. Great stuff. You'll find a lot here you won't find in other books on animation. Interestingly, there is an extended section (in several parts) on physical and mental health and exercising for the animator. This is a subject I've thought might be covered in more depth here in the A:M Forum as we have had several fitness trainers frequent. At any rate, its an interesting addition and animators shouldn't easily disregard. I've barely scratched the surface in this book. Quite enjoyable!

Its very much unlike 'The Animator's Workbook in so many ways. If I could pinpoint a primary difference it would be that the workbook was exactly that, a step by step procedural look at the timing of character animation. While Animation From Pencils to Pixels does have some nice bits on timing its more like an encyclopedia of animation resources from classical techniques to digital filmmaking. There is an emphasis on general rules and processes used in the making of one of Tony's recent short films; 'Endangered Species'. Its a movie that chronicles the history of animation from black and white hand drawn animation to the digital process within a paperless studio. 'Endangered Species' was, according to the book, created so that this book could be put together. Quite a lot of ground has been packed this book from throughout animation's long and varied history. I want to see this film as Tony has found a way to include characters from Steamboat Willie to Beavis and ButtHead and a whole lot more in a very ingenius way. Its not every day you get to see Fritz the Cat and Mickey (from the Sorcerer's Apprentice) share time on the screen. No wonder Tony is considered such a talent in the industry. Update: 'Endangered Species' is on the CD in hybrid PDF format! Not necessarily better or worse that 'The Animator's Workbook'... different. If you have the old book even better as they'll complement each other nicely.

Keith, To you and your family know that you are all in my prayers. Take care! Rodney

I knew I'd be buying this book. Many years ago I found Tony White's 'The Animator's Workbook' in the bargain bin of a book store for the hefty price of $1.99. This was a very nice discount from the cover price of $27.50. My only regret? I should have bought every copy they had that day! 'Animation: From Pencils to Pixels' is not an update to The Animator's Workbook but is rather a whole new book w/CDRom filled with information, tips, observations and lessons learned in pursuit of animation. At a cover price of $49.95 it made me cringe for a moment (hey... I'm cheap!) but I knew I'd be putting back the other books I thought I might buy that day. I took this book along with another on lighting by Jeremy Brin to a comfortable chair to start skimming through. As I sat down my attention was diverted. I got lucky, Borders books had two copies of 'Animation, From Pencils to Pixels' on a rack right next to my chair. That little corner sticker on the book with 30% off really made my day! 'Animation, From Pencils to Pixels' covers about every aspect of animation. Working from Development through Character Design to Project Financing on through Filmmaking, Sound, Storyboards and Animatics Tony moves into the digital world. He writes about Production, Teamwork and Workflow, Project Management and more. The Principles of Animation aren't neglected and much of the 200+ pages of this 500 page book deal with those principles as applied in 2D and 3D animation. Lots and lots of real world animation experience collected together in one place. Of special interest to users of Animation:Master is a inserted commentary in Chapter 15 (pages 420 and 421) entitled 'A Word About Software'. In it Tony explains how the majority of computer generated illustrations were created in Softimage XSI, which he has used in production. His commentary is telling especially in his words that 'Software is just another tool that the true animator has at their disposal'. He goes on however to spotlight a program he didn't use in creating his book; a program by the name of Animation:Master. Of it he says: He goes on to say: Ladies and gents, Tony White knows the soul of the animator and this fills me with pride to know that I can be a part in providing such tools to aspiring young (and old!) animators everywhere via this forum. That Animation:Master recieves such praise from Mr. White says something to me about the animation tools I've chosen to use. Tony does get one thing wrong though. On page 453 when writing about Character Motivation he includes a quote, "I think, therefore I animate". As Tony isn't a user of Animation:Master he can be excused for not knowing it is, "I think, therefore I A:M". I haven't yet read 'Animation, From Pencils to Pixels' from cover to cover. I haven't yet taken the time to look on the included CDRom. However, just in the initial read through I've found it worthy of a prominent place on my bookshelf. Congratulations to Tony White for publishing this valuable resource. It will be indispensable to a whole new generation of aspiring animators. For more information on Tony White I suggest you visit his website which is a nice resource all on its own; http://www.tonywhite.net/ Note: The website doesn't have any information on the new book. References there point to a different book that is currently in haitus or of which parts were incorporated into the current book. For more information on his new book or purchasing online visit: Amazon's writeup on Animation, From Pencils to Pixels

That was fun, entertaining and informative. Even if the religious undertones weren't considered it'd be a pretty accurate portrayal of the effects of advertisement and product branding/placement in the classic 'bait and switch' tradition. As I watched the bar near the bottom of the menu get closer and closer to the end I was wondering how you were going to tie in the red garment. Nice work. What perhaps more impressive than anything is the multiple levels your short film works upon within the central theme. While I'd guess this was mostly unintentional on your part I'd like to think it wasn't entirely an unplanned coincidence. What I allude to here is that your use of cute characters for the good guys and a single ugly alien looking bad guy fits right into the same mold the 'tragedy' alludes to; the subtle manipulation of minds and habits over time. This is an eternal element of any storytelling to a degree but it fits into your film in ways other stories wouldn't. Your theme itself provides this element. On one hand you illustrate the danger of subtle change while on the other you provide an enjoyable chronicle of events of these characters as they unfold. Perhaps too preachy an undercurrent for some? Probably. Just seeing your take on the old 'bait and switch' makes this an enjoyable view. On the deeper level its provides a nice introduction to far more serious things. Nice job! Rodney

Great work Jim! I could tell you had put some time into your entry. As the model was pretty small it left me wanting to see more (so... that's good I guess). There are a few things I thought would be nice to add to showcase your model even more. With little more effort you might have added the toy box Voltron came in for instance. That would have allowed you to show the model in a dynamic pose or two, from different angles, highlighting the separate components, etc. Even a wireframe image on the box as a blueprint-tyoe image would have looked really cool. Other objects like that would also contribute to the sense of scale... you know... how big is this toy anyway? Added: The table is a good start but there really isn't anything that clues the eye into how big the table is. If its a kitchen table... thats a really big model. If its a lamp stand perhaps not as big. Throwing in a comic book, crayons or other objects to create a sense of scale can really pay off dividends. Regardless of my piddly opinion... you done good! I'd love to see more detail of the individual components. Congratulations!

Beautiful work. (as usual) Good thing the Extra DVD is out of my hands now because if it wasn't I'd be beggin' you for that ant. I'm curious to see what plans you've had for it. Don't leave us in suspense! ...and Hash City... wow. Glad to hear you are still working on that. You've just made my day.

Very nice. Your game looks like it'll be a lot of fun.

He (meaning you!) shoots. He scores! Very very nice. Thats something to be really proud of. The placement too!