Rodney

Wow... I wonder who in the world would be skilled enough to rig those fine models. (Hint Hint to the master riggers in the forum) Outstanding work Dusan. Beautiful. This is going to be a great film.

Not only is that a nice rake... its a beautiful render. I can only assume you rendered that first one with Ambiant Occlusion. Very nice.

What to say about your work here that hasn't already been said? You've got Hollywood production level animation and rendering going on there. Simply outstanding. If you haven't put this up on A:M Films... please do! Rodney

Welcome to the A:M Community Tai!

How shall I say this... Thom is not well.

That one would get deleted rather quickly. It'd be fun while it lasted though. For those that haven't checked it out Steffen Gross modified his Multiple Modles on a Path (MMoP) plugin to include an option to use poses. An additional option allows you to randomize that pose. Amazing. As with many things in A:M there is more than one way to get a job done. John demonstrates one way... Steffen programmed another. Sometimes a particular solution might include a little of both and who knows what ingenious solutions have yet to be found. Thanks to everyone for answering my 'random question'.

Steve, If you and I could ever get to the point where we could rip into a model like these guys... we'd be dangerous. Your skills are impressive Mark. Very impressive.

By George I think you've got it. Thanks John! I'll check it out.

Thanks! More of a gradient material but that's great too.* I've added it to the Extra DVD Collection. Maybe I need to demo the Toon Gradient output method? *The prop was missing so I'll just extract the material.

Any gradient you'd like to contribute will be greatfully accepted.

That would be great Mark. I'll upload the cybergirl model asap (tonight). I should dress her up though at least a little though. Maybe just a TShirt and shorts? Suggestions?

The more the merrier! Who else would like to learn how to rig a model with the Squetch Rig?

(What are you trying to do scare me with that avatar!) Why that would be the plugin that places multiple objects on a path. Seriously, I just discovered it myself but I assume it's a Steffen Gross plugin. I'll Wink you up a tutorial demonstration of it. You could probably do something similar with the Sweeper plugin from Emilio.

Very cool Dhar. Such simple yet effective use of animation. Outstanding work... I want to see the real thing in action too!

I'll try to post (or at least move toward the Extra DVD) some various examples of Camera settings to show some of the options available to us. For instance; I have a multicamera model that uses 24 cameras in a Matrix-like setup. Not really finished... so not of much use. But the idea is there... and building multicamera rigs is really easy now with the 'Multiple Objects on a Path' plugin. I have a camera showing how to step through frames, reverse sequences etc. This is stuff you could do without a camera but still nice to know you can do it in A:M if you'd need to. Gradients from the Toon Renderer are also on my list but they are a separate collection. I have the bare bones beginning of an Excel Spreadsheet that controls camera settings... Lots of projects started... few finished. If they had a purpose to exist that might make them much more likely to finished and documented. The Extra DVD might provide a place to put them so others could build from the basic ideas. Rodney

Exactly! A mini-demo reel-type thingy that would incorporate the various elements of modeling, decaling, animating in a single image or short sequence of images. Gotta keep the file size small though as I want to keep the DVD space for othe resources. This should fit into what Jody is working on for Render Statistics for the DVD as well.

I'd like to collect a few Cameras to add to the Extra DVD as it seems like it might be a great resource to explore. In particular I'm interested in collecting a variety of render styles with settings for people to examine on the DVD. If you have an old project laying around gathering dust you can import it into v13 and see what settings are there. If its a keeper save the camera as an external .CAM file and share it here. If you'd prefer your particular settings to be revealed when the DVD is released that is fine too. You can send the files to me via email if you prefer. Attached is the plain ol' default v13 camera. All settings are (of course) default! Note: The forum will not let you upload files with the extension .CAM so you will either have to rename the extension or zip the camera up for posting. As .CAM files tend to be pretty small... we can fit a wholelotahooploada .CAMeras on the DVD. Most likely the same model/animation will be rendered with each camera so everyone can properly determine what particular look, sequence, file format etc. they'd like to use with their own projects. If people want to discuss their settings at length we may ask for this topic to be moved a more appropriate area of the forum. Anyone interested in a little exploration? Defaultv13Camera.zip

Beautiful stuff! Tell me you've secretly been using some of Hash Inc's v14 features. More please! Added: I don't suppose you've ever worked with Sergi Camara have you? Love his book on animation. That's quite an impressive list of credits you have; Duck Tales the Movie, Talespin, Goomer, Batman, Asterix... All Dogs Go to Heaven II, Nightmare before Christmas... nice! ...and Pokoyo! That one seems to be a favorite of a lot of animators these days. I think Victor Navone has a link on his site. Bravo!

Now that would be a whole lot of projects! I'll send you an email.

Did you buy your copy (first copy) of A:M used? A:M Reports isn't the place to send that request. Attack Will Pickering directly with an email at: w i l l p @ h a s h . c o m* or email: support@hash.com *Without all the lovely spaces... I don't wanna be responsible for him getting more spam. I've learned to live with it on my end though.

Great topic! Drawing helps to simplify the idea. Sometimes translating the concept to a sketch provides just enough information to let the modeler know what is required and what can be disgarded. In some cases the sketch may reveal weakness in the design that would have only been found after many hours of laborious work. If discovered too late in the process that means a lot of re-modeling and wasted effort. Rotoscopes (and drawings in general) are an excellent tool to promote effective design to ensure the model is setup for successful animation. *Looks like much of what I've posted has already been said here.

There is a plan in the works to re-collect John's projects into one easy to browse location. I've been procrastinatin' of late but I haven't forgotten the project. Anyone that would like to assist in collecting John's projects please let John (or me) know. John's projects are a treasure trove of great FX, experimentation... and entertainment!

Go Dude! At the rate you are going you'll be making full length feature films by next week. Keep up the momentum. For some reason your model reminds me of the Animation Mentor characters. Different... but similar. Maybe its just the character you've been animating into him. Very nice work.

Hey... I remember visiting that one long long ago. Thanks for the link John.

Is it just me or did Rodger Reynolds reorganize his tutorials? Maybe not... but great stuff either way. Rodger covers: - Using Rotoscopes - Modeling Mechanical Surfaces - Automotive Modeling - Adding Bones to a Vehicle - Modeling Bump Decals - Adding Rivets: CP's or Decals? - Modeling Edges and Corners - Modeling Trees - Modeling a Concrete Block Wall - Examples of Hardware Modeling - Miscellaneous models in progress Check it out! Mechanical Modeling in Animation:Master by Rodger Reynolds