Rodney

Yeah. You wrote that up there. ^^ There is also a problem with Shaggy's left hand on the 2004 CD. I think that has been fixed on both the 2005 and 2006 CDs. Hash Inc did post a 'Shaggy - Fixed hand Clench' on the Free Models site. The free models site has changed but the link should still be in the exercise area. The roll handle problem with Keekat is a problem but one that can be fixed pretty easily. We'll add the info to the exercise but we won't beat everyone over the head with it as Roll handles aren't really important to the exercise. Looking at the images posted in the forum the turn of the foot almost looks intentional. Keekat just has to be different... Thanks!

If you are talking about the Knight and his knee problem mission accomplished! I did overlook the Can Can and 'Eat My Dust' exercises but added the comment to the very first post and "It's a Pitch". Thanks! Any other troubleshooting tips/erratas please advise and I'll get them included. Rodney

I'm just happy... no... ecstatic... that the 'Create Icon' works again. I think Noel is responsible for that but at any rate kudos to the Hash Inc programming team. 'Little' conveniences like that really make my day.

Thanks guys... keep the ideas flowing. I'm taking notes.

Eric, With v13 the 'Create Icon' works again. The icon (preview image) is stored in the resource. For instance if you right click and 'Create Icon' on a model in the PWS it'll place the preview image in the model file. If you right click and 'Create Icon' on the Project shortcut in the PWS it'll create the preview image there. Similarly with other resources such as Actions, Choreographies and Materials. To get them to show in a library you'll need to do one of the following: - Right click in a modeling window and select "Add Shortcut to Library" - Right click in the Library window and select "Create Shortcut" then go and find the model - Drag and drop the resource from Windows into the Library window. If the preview image/icon has been assigned and the resource saved the image will show up with the resource in your Library. Hope that makes sense. My Right Clicking menu terminology will be a little off and I can't verify right now. Rodney Edit: For those without v13 you'll have to either render or screen capture your image to your hard drive. Then from the Info Properties of the model file Right Click and assign the image to the resource by locating and selecting the image. Note that read only files (such as resources on a CD) will refuse to accept the preview image. Just about any size image can be used but remember that detail will be lost as it is converted.

Useful Links now has a new home in the Tutorials Forum. Please feel free to link to tutorials and information of interest to Animation:Master users here.

As I'm putting certificates together for those that completed The Art of Animation:Master in 2005 I'm reminded of a few of the obstacles that animators have run up against while working through the manual here in the New Users Forum. I can see a few things to help streamline the process of administration/certification on my end too. Everyone's ideas are solicited in an effort to keep TAoA:M fun and educational. If you've completed the exercises online in the forum I'd especially like to hear from you. Some of the things I'm hoping to implement this year include: Collect all the exercises into one user friendly interface on a webpage to launch off from. Publish information on common pitfalls/troubleshooting/tips (example: webspace storage, codecs, file compression) Standardize naming conventions for exercise images/animations submitted . (example: Ex1 MyName OtherInformation.jpg) Standardize/recommend file formats for each exercise. (Generally JPG, MOV and AVI are preferred) Integrate Exercises 11.5 and 20 fully into the online course. Provide supplemental links supporting lessons learned with each exercise. What say you all. How can we make completing TAoA:M online even better? Thanks! Rodney

Welcome to the New Users forum! The idea behind this forum is to provide help and support for users who are new to Animation:Master and are going through the Art of Animation:Master tutorials. We encourage you to post your Works-In-Progress (WIP) from these tutorials to this forum. You will learn a lot from the feedback you get. As moderator of the New Users forum I'm here for you. You could say I come with the box. I'll be here to answer basic A:M questions but the entire community of A:M users is here for you too. They'll guide and encourage you as you explore the world of animation as only they can. New users are welcome to post to any of the forums, but this is the place to ask basic questions and work through The Art of Animation:Master. Everyone here started out as a beginner, so don't be shy. You will soon see how amazing the A:M community is. There are a lot of great things ahead in 2006. For instance, did you know: You can get a certificate after completing the exercises in The Art of Animation:Master. You can demonstrate the principles of animation in the A:M forum's Animation Bootcamp. You can study and explore all the tools Animation:Master provides to help you create the worlds of your imagination. ...and now you can even learn to model and animate while collaborating with others like you in a full movie production; Tin Woodsman of Oz! Being an aspiring animator has never looked so good. For those that have graduated the title of 'New User' you too are most welcome here. Your encouragement, experience and insight into Animation:Master are an essential ingredient. My thanks to you for your continuing support. Introduce yourself to the A:M Community and find out why purchasing Animation:Master was such a really great idea. Rodney

Yikes. You really blazed through 'em. I thought I just saw you post Exercise 4! One certificate coming up.

That will indeed be perfect for the Extra CD.

Great to hear from you again Mike. Hope you get better soon. Don't be a stranger you hear! Rodney

Stian, Your composite has something I can't recall ever seeing in a CG/Still Photo composite; the car going behind an object (the other car) and viewed through its windows. Now THAT is a nice touch. Please explain the process you went through to seel that part of the shot to us! Now if only you could find a way to composite YOU driving the Il Tempo Gigante ... Great work in every respect. If you are looking for suggestions I'd say try a little blur on the final movie but thats just what I like to do to dilute my images that are too clean. I'm talking about the composite movie not the stills here. Bravo!

Thanks guys. Its not necessary but much appreciated. Now go on back to animating cool stuff.

Oh my goodness... The Library file format has changed. This would appear to be a most exellent thing. Hash Inc got even more 'splainin to do! ...and yes everyone's v12 libraries will work just fine in v13. Meawhile... To answer your question though if you have an empty text file in your library folder with the .lbr extension A:M will automatically 'see' it when you next start A:M. Just make sure you have the library selected in the active Library drop down or All Libraries selected. Once its there you can drag and drop your files into it. The preferred location for library files is generally: C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\v13\data\Libraries I think. I've adjusted my location for no apparent reason and probably should move them back. Hope that makes sense. As far as the Library name goes... If you place a textfile name Sprinkler.lbr in the appropriate library folder it will show as Sprinkler in A:M. Rodney

Oh oh... looks like there's gonna be some competition! Are you talking about the monthly image contest, the mini-movie contest... or both? Looking forward to seeing more of your work on display here in the forum. That IS a beautiful render. Rodney

Bravo! Now that is the kind of critique and quick modeling changes that mean something. Looks like you are having a lot of fun too. Is this guy a mortal enemy of your Shark guy? More images... and animation( ! ) Rodney

Hey Shelly! Welcome aboard. Maybe you can even combine some stopmo with your A:M work. Great to have you with us. Rodney

I want one! Looks great Ed.

Cool! Another Playmation alumni! Your first name wouldn't happen to be Mike would it? Edit: Just checked your profile and see that it is. Whooa. It really is great to have you back! You are more than just alumni you are part of A:M history. Hope you find all the time you need to work in A:M and more. Rodney

Thanks Ken. My brain's unstuck now. I like your test MMZ. It is awfully easy to look at the wrong side of a single square patch with displacement. It'll be more obvious on a more complex model I'm sure. Rodney

So far so VERY good John! Would it be safe to say the ultimate trick might be to render your dragon model in its final form with displacement and then reimport those displaced renders as the final displacement maps for final tweaking. Or is that perhaps unnecessary or even overkill? Rodney

Eric, The colors in the greyscale image dictate the height. Color images obviously get converted to grey for the purpose. Black will decrease the height while white will increase. Someone remind me what the number is for zero/middle... my brain locked when trying to divide 255 in half. 127 doesn't sound right... gah... does not compute.... Rodney

Excluding programming solutions, I think this is probably where A:M Composite comes to the rescue. By rendering these elements out separately and compositing either in a choreography or via A:M Composite we can place them whereever needed. (can we adjust location/translate image objects in yet? I don't think so.). Shadows would still be problematic of course... Rodney

Hey... thats nice!

Dan! I'll check those out just as soon as I can get them downloaded. Slow/intermitten connection here w/ firewall blocking out the free world. Thanks for the MAC voice! Rodney