Rodney

Entirely too awesome vern. This is web graphics to a T. (Whatever that means) I've done some similar things tracing A:M objects in CorelTrace and then using them in powerpoint... but mine never look that great. I think your client will be very happy. Rodney P.S. Thanks for the tip on multipass. I'll definitely file that one for future use.

Wow vern... just now seeing this. A very cool project and I like the approach you are taking. ...you see... I'm...er.... lazy too. I wanna see more! Rodney

I'm not going to give it away but if that thing could be made to interface with Animation:Master Vern would indeed be one happy man. Interesting model. I can't imagine what the gag is going to be though... Rodney

David, It looks like you are off and running. Good for just having A:M for a month! I cannot help but think of Will Sutton's 'Kong' when I see your ape... you've definitely got the shape right. We'd have to see more angles to say much more. If you want to pick apart Will's Kong its available online now. Perhaps you've already seen it if you got the Extra CD with your purchase. Kong by Will Sutton There are a lot of models to download and study. Following Will's splines will definitely get you going on the right path. If only I had Animation:Master when I was 13. Looking forward to seeing your updates. Keep posting! Rodney

Jason Osipa's book "Stop Staring" is something of a bible to facial expressions. Since Jason is quite familiar with Animation:Master and several of the examples in the book are straight out of A:M I'd like to suggest that. Anzovins have several CDs worth of tutorials on modeling and rigging a face. Definitely worth the price of admission. Bill Young and Justin Barrett are the authors I believe. Free resources of good quality are harder to find but do exist. Since rigging is in your future you definitely should grab David (Itsjustme) Simmon's Rigging a Face tutorials from the Software Tutorials Forum. There are other rigging tutorials but they don't focus on the face... still useful though so yell if you run out of resources. Grab Rich (Entity) Jackson's realist model from the extra CD content. That is a good study. While perhaps more stylistic DO NOT forget to study the work of Jim Talbot. If nothing else you'll want to study his use of decals. Lets see... where to next... Lipsync? Gary C. Martin (A:M Master of long ago) has some great tutorials on his website. We'll see what other resources we can come up with... there is a lot out there. Good luck on your research and your project! Rodney

jimmie, Is there any particular style that you are working toward. I assume you are probably going for cartoony but not sure. Since you are looking for subtle expressions I may be wrong here. Rodney

Jacob, Welcome to the A:M Community! Yes. Having the CD in the drive is normal... and required. It may seem a pain but the security helps keep the price down for legitimate users like you and me. Hope to see you often here in the forum. Rodney

Pengy, The most obvious difference (besides just being taller) would be that your sketch seems to make his legs an extended part of his chubby body versus appendages (if that makes sense). The legs would make him easier to animate but making the lower body flow into the legs would make for some great waddling. Rodney

Thanks Jason! I'm collectin' your models.

Heck yeah! If you are offering... I'm asking.

Run... don't walk to the following post: Bicycle Chain Project by Dan Hartman The link for downloading is still good. This project file was slated for inclusion on the Extra CD but I don't think it made it.

John, Thats a great little tutorial for getting people going with Newton Physics in A:M. As Seven said... the sound is very rough. Too bad because your voice otherwise works really well with the tutorial. Hope fixing it won't be too difficult. Rodney

Dimos, I really enjoyed seeing your work. The demo reels highlighting some of your work was especially a treat. That you've been involved with some great feature animations is really a thrill to see as I'm sure it was to be involved with. Keep on animating! Rodney

Can you say "inspiration for the Loons in Tin Woodsman of Oz"? I can. The scene might have to be turned upside down of course... or gravity reversed. Very nice John.

There is a George B on the Extra CD that is definitely worth checking out. He's rigged with the 2001 rig too. He's a bit more cartoony than your take. Keep modeling Seven... it looks like your skills are really improving. Rodney

Steve, I believe your perspective (that of a newcomer to animation) is a valuable one. I hope you'll continue to remind us of your updates here in your WIP. With your permission I'd like to link to your site from somewhere in the New Users Forum. (Haven't figured out where the best place might be yet) Rodney

Bob, You already know I'm a fan. Congratulations on your showing at the North American Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Festival. That is quite an accomplishment. Rodney

Steve, I haven't had time to go through all your blog but I read a few of your latest. I LIKE! Thanks for the plug too. I do indeed give give away advice for free (The free upgrade Hash Inc offered me last year I gave away in a drawing so I'm still 100% free! I come with the box. ). I volunteer my time because I remember what it is like to have a dream. On behalf of Mike Stamm and David Higgins I think I can say they appreciate your pat on the back as well. You raise some good points in your recent July blog. The ones I recall off the top of my head are: 1) Exercise 6: "The Door's Stuck" comes a little early in the animation learning process. You know... I think you are right. There are some things we can do to help people get animating without getting stuck with constraints that push the limits of patience. I don't think you'll see TAoA:M change too much in the order of exercises but I would like to enhance what is available online to complement the manual. There is a lot more we can do with path animation and walk cycles too. 2) The New Users Forum isn't as much of a community as the rest of the forum. Ouch. The truth hurts. I know this... and you made me realise that other people probably know it too. I'm not sure how to get the community 'feel' embedded further into the New Users Forum except to suggest that New and Old Users continue to help each other out and always remember that they too were once a 'new user'. One way to make the New Users Forum blend better with the rest of the forum might be for me to step away from the keyboard more often and let others respond. As time goes on I think you'll see the community flow equally through all of the forums. I'm not reading too much into it but I am recognizing the truth in what you said. You have a lot more great insight on your site but those two I thought I would comment on. I enjoyed your blog and encourage others to visit and read through it. Here's hoping you continue blogging for many years to come. Best, Rodney

It may have been mentioned but its worth repeating. The v12 Help Installer has been added to the Help Page. You can view the Help files online or... with the help of the installer from right inside Animation:Master The links and installers can be found here: http://www.hash.com/htmlHelp/

ACNJ, Currently there is no collection of Tutorials on CD from the A:M Community. As suggested the easiest way to get a CD of them right now is to download and burn (copy) them to CD. As we collect more tutorials the goal is to eventually make such capability (CDs/DVDs of Tutorials ) possible. I also hope to make downloading collections of themed tutorials easier. Example: If you were interested in 'decaling' you could download a collection of tutorials with a focus on decaling. Stay Tuned! Rodney

Dale, Just a note to say I enjoyed your tutorial. Thanks! Everyone can now view and download it via Hash Inc's A:M Tutorials area on their website. View online: Creating a Dirtmap by Dale Hemenway or Download Zipped Tutorial(6.4MB) I made one minor modification to the HTML by making it change size with the window. It shows at 90% of the active windows size. Thanks to Vern for reminding me how to do this with only the width information when we were working on the Extra CD. Thanks Vern! Rodney

While you might get current versions/releases of Animation:Master to run on WIN98 machines you can expect problems. Hash Inc says the minimum recommended for current versions is *at least* WIN2000. Here it is from the web site: If you've been an owner for awhile you can still use the older versions of course. Rodney

Thanks for posting this. I've missed these character's adventures being previewed here in the forum. Looking forward to seeing more of Far Star. (A Fan) Rodney

Charles, I was one of the fortunate to see your short "Art Appreciation" on the big screen at the SIGGRAPH party (I was trying to remember if it was at SIGGRAPH itself or the Party but must have been the party). Yours is an excellent animation. Simple in many ways (poses have been mentioned) but perfect for the subject matter. While viewing we get a chance to appreciate your art in motion. What a wonderful little story. The sounds/music really added a lot to support the graphics. Well done! Rodney

Charlie, I encourage everyone to welcome new users to the New Users Forum. I usually only jump in and say Hello when I see that no one has responded. Thanks! Rodney