Rodney

(I'm going to read into this too much here but bear with me) While I think there is a morale to the story here there really doesn't have to be per se. Its enough just to know that these 'creatures' live in different worlds and react differently to the same event. This story says a great deal about Trolls... and quite a bit about faeries too. The simplicity of a common fishing trip joined with the complexity of MURDER really sells the shock experienced by the remaining faerie. There is an emotional rollercoaster going on here... and a lot of it is shown off screen in the audiences imagination. The story poses some pretty serious questions without giving the answers. It lets the audience formulate both the questions and the answers. Thats pretty great stuff storytelling-wise. This story has a very 'Heavy Metal' or 'Epic' feel to it (as in the comic book magazines). Definitely a mature story on its own merits with or without the nudity. The fact that you keep it simple without getting gratuitous says even more. Pretty simple... yet serious stuff. I'm impressed.

I like to do what Luckbat said with one critical difference... After selecting your model (or whatever part you want to C/F/A) hold the SHIFT key down and select a spline closest to the side you want to Flip on. Ken Heslip and I both did mini tutorials on C/F/A in the Tutorials forum. There may be others too. Copy / Flip / Attach Tutorials Note that this did not work in one of the latest Alpha versions I tried but I haven't tried in awhile.

Dennis, I downloaded but haven't had the chance to play yet. This is great stuff from many angles. Besides just being great fun its inspirational! Keep it up! Rodney

I like the story/storyboards Will. That's a keeper.

Congrats!

Just read through this... you guys crack me up. Live long and prosper MAAM!

I'm not sure what the shortcut key would be. Alt H should bring up the Help Menu with the reset option though. Perhaps you had your window selected and it overrode that option. I also don't know about the View/Toolbars side of things. I'd have to run home and check A:M for specifics. If you Right Click in the space the menu bar should be in there should be a Customize option. From there you should be able to Reset or check the menu. If I make it back here tonight after going home I'll post what I find...

Yup. That is why I suggest using Alt H to bring up the Help Menu Options Panel (not related to F1/Help). If you can reset you can probably get your menu back. Rodney

You nailed him Robert. Bet he'd be fun to animate.

If you can get to the Help menu (by using ALT H or the proper shortcut key) you should probably select 'Reset Settings' or whatever it is labeled. Restarting A:M after that might get you going again. I guess it is possible that you mearly undocked the menu and it is hiding off screen...

Thanks John! That'll be useful. Interestingly I just ran across a write up on lighting. It would appear 3 point lighting is pretty much hated these days. I was mostly guessing but appear to be right that the primary value in 3 point lighting concerns how easy it is to use and understand. While I haven't seen it stated yet I still suspect fast rendering is another plus. Now that A:M has ambient occlusion and all this other lighting stuff who knows what we might see as the 'default' chor in the future. Thanks for starting this collection MMC! Good stuff.

Change it to what though... that is the question. Perhaps someone could program a plugin that gives you options based on the look you are after. To the user the plugin would allow selection of the basic lighting and environment. Underneath the plugin would swap default Choreographies. Until such a plugin is created the user could just change the Choreographies the hard way; by copying them over the top of 'default.cho' in the A:M directory. One setup is never going to be ideal for everyone. One must however be the default. Creating several Choreographies from which to choose from might be useful. This idea was passed around a year or so ago and Jeff Lee's Skylight was talked about a little. The thought was to create a few different Choreographies designed to optimize lighting for different situations; morning, noon, evening, moonlight etc etc etc. I think the current default 3 point lighting in A:M is there primarily as a simple way to demonstrate how to set up basic lighting. I would suspect that it also allows renders to be completed fairly fast. The more Chors the better I suppose but options can also lead to confusion if not organized effectively. Quick rendering is one of the most important requirements for the default chor. I assume more complex chors would add to render time. (Something like that) Rodney

Sorta on topic... this may be of interest to those that need to convert their bitmap/pixel based images to vector/line drawings for import into Animation:Master via the AI Wizard. You can convert the image online or download the utility Deliniate for use. Note that the online utility does store your graphic online for some time so you should be willing for others to see what you convert. http://autotrace.sourceforge.net/ The utility does support AI output but that isn't apparent on the main page. Helpful hint: Keep the drawings simple for best results.

Hey look I'm officially closing my very first topic.* *Well, I can't remember closing any other one.

Great to have you with us Thomas. Welcome to the A:M Community!

You ain't a kiddin'! Very cool John. It has a paper/origami look to it.

Liquidspaceman in da TAoAM house! Go get 'em! Show us what you've got.

As sobering as it can be that is exactly what you need to hear. I was confident Christina would tell you it like it is. Even bad news isn't always negative. Resistance is vital in channeling our efforts. Bjorn Cole has a write up on his site that I think should be required reading for all artists. It covers the stages we go through on the road to creating successful projects. Pay special attention to the 'bitterness curve': Project Management Discussion Its also a sobering but necessary examination of what we face in the creative process. I'm confident the journey will be worth it but only if you really want to take it. If you'd rather be doing something else... do that instead. Gambate Kudasai!* Rodney *Japanese for "Please give (us) your very best!"

31 years! Thats older than a lot of folks around here. I think your experience will serve you well. It's great to have you with us T MAC!

Looking forward to what displacement will bring out in him. That and seeing him animated of course!

Watermarks can mean different things nowdays. If you mean watermark as in creating a safeguard by which you can use it to authenticate the image (for example when someone uses it without your permission from your webpage) then the answer is "No, you'll need another application to apply that watermark". If you mean watermark in the sense that you want to overlay an image over your animation or still image the answer is most definitely "Yes, A:M can do it." You can apply the watermark in several different ways; via rotoscope, decal, layer etc. Use of transparancy and/or Alpha Channels is probably going to be required. For example you can take any image and import it as a rotoscope. In the rotoscopes properties you can select 'On Top' to have it stay in front of all images. You can adjust the transparency to soften the effect on your imagery. Thats a start. Hope I'm not too far away from understanding your question. Rodney *Slipin' got his answer in long before me. Don't know how I missed it. Good info!

Very nice and I'd say precise! Did you rig any of it? ...and can you share a wireframe please?

The Font Wizard comes standard with A:M these days. From a modeling window Right Click and select Wizards You should see at least the Extrude, Duplicator, AI and Font Wizards there.

They are on the FTP in one of these places: (From Useful Links)