Rodney

When we search from the main forum the search filter usually defaults to 'Forums' (i.e 'All Topics') *BUT* when we are inside a specific forum... such as the Open Forum that default changes to 'This Topic' or 'This Forum'. That more often than not results in few (if any) results. So, how to proceed? Make sure the filter (that button in the search panel) is set to anything other than 'This Forum'. Set it to 'Forums' or 'All Topics' or 'Member' (if looking for posts from certain members... before launching the search. Also, standard rules of search tend to apply so we will get fewer results if we specific too much information. Example: If I search for "All cool topics with the word 'Model'" I am not going to get any matches. If I search for "Models" I may get too many. So I need to refine my search. And... it can help to drop end characters off of word like "Models". Search for "Model" instead. The first will return fewer results while the second will return the results of the first *and* all the rest of the occurrences of the word 'Model'. I should say that I almost never use the full search editor... usually don't have to... but more specific criteria can be identified there. More often than not however we want MORE results rather than fewer so it's best not to limit our searches with too many filters. The number one reason for few/no results however is 'All Forums' vs 'This Forum'. I looked for a setting to try to get the default to set to 'All Forums' but couldn't find one so the user must specify that as an option.

I"ve been wondering what you've been up to. Glad to see you are still plugging away at this.

Awesome!

v19 is currently in Beta Testing (with Beta 2 very recently released). If you'd like to join... the call went out for testers here: https://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=47876

I'll say! Looks like success to me.

This is a placeholder for information relating to the feature Birdseye View Queue. As we move around in the Choreography to find the exact view we want it can be advantageous to move back to previous views that we've visiting before. Now in similar fashion to Undo we can not only move back in time to previous views but move forward again. When used in combination with the 'Set Camera to bird view' and keframes on the timeline this becomes quite a powerful tool for the director to use. For instance, we might run through a scene plotting out what we think are our optimal points of view then move back through the Birdseye View Queue and key those positions as we move forward and back in time via the timeline. Then with those shots set we can move to 'inbetween' those to roughly direct the cameras performance, creating new positions to test in the Birdseye Queue, toggling back and forth between them and finally selecting the view we want to use. Finally, we inspect our channel splines and finesse those to smooth out the cameras move, add camera shake, etc. New icons are added to the toolbar next to the standard Undo/Redo and I like using those. The shortcut keys associated with back/undo and forward/redo are: view undo Shift+Alt+Z view redo Shift+Alt+Y If A:M isn't freshly installed the icons must be manually installed or the 'Reset Default Toolbars' option on the Help menu can be used. This is a very handy feature.

We need to run some test to find out.

Make sure its to jason@hash.com!

Fuchur/Gerald, Can you still assist with this? Or is that just for the trial.

Not in person. Looks like great fun though.

No I won't be getting one but sure... I want one. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/line-us/line-us-the-little-robot-drawing-arm?ref=NewsDTFeb2317 More evidence of robots invading the home. What I like about this is how it combines several technologies together in ways that haven't been merged before. The magnetic base is an example of that. Edit: It appears there are no longer any units available in the first batch (of 1000 units). Not sure when the next will be available.

All known rigs gravitate toward the Featured Rigs forum: https://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=231 There are some (particularly one) notable exceptions such as the ubiquitous 2001 rig. We should probably have a subforum for that as it's still the default most will encounter as they work through TaoA:M. The 2001 rig comes standard with A:M and there is even a bare rig (without mesh) for use with the tutorial from TaoA:M installed with every copy of A:M. After all this time the 2001 rig is (still) the standard by which other rigs are measured. Just crack open your library, navigate to Models tab and look for the Skeletal Rigs folder. The 2001 rig is the only one there - perhaps another oversight but I suppose that it's useful to only have one rig there to choose from for beginners. See the Featured Rigs forum for more about the Lite rig.

Random island created with the Terrain Wizard.... (The secret sauce in the vegetation and water is surface roughness)

Random crowdtest... It might seem overly ambitious but I can't help but think we can achieve Zootopia level quality of crowd movement with pretty basic setup and straightforward workflow. This setup and execution only takes a few minutes. Swapping the proxies out for articulated characters with walk cycles would take considerably more time in order to suggest proper detail and personality. No particles used.

Probably take more than one session though as the setup, breakdown/analysis and solution would surely take longer than one hour. Perhaps where we know the subject matter in advance we can have an extended session.

It doesn't surprise me to hear that shoulders/arms are troublesome and it does make sense that flexibility at the top of the legs might be an issue. Those are areas that might require some additional smartskin to maintain proper shapes. Are you using any smartskinning?

These don't appear to be in your area of concern but I'll offer them for future consideration. Attached is an image that shows where internal prevail and it's primarily where things have been added to other shapes. After removing these internal patches your model almost looks the same (externally). Obviously some patches were removed that would need to be repaired. I have a feeling some folks will say 'yes'. Just keep in mind that with less complexity often comes less functionality. It's hard to say until you test out the possibilities. It certainly wouldn't hurt to test a few different rigs. It's sure to be worth it for the learning experience. That mostly depends on how much time you have to devote to testing. The simplest rigs are probably the 2001 and Lite Rigs. TSM Rig may not be an option for you. I would consider the Squetch Rig to be at least as complex as 2008 rig.

I'm probably not someone who can give advice on CP weighting so I won't be of much use to you there. I do note that several meshes that would otherwise appear to be separate are all part of the same mesh. This can cause problems. For instance, it appears that you've connected the head to the body and yet part of the neck continues down into the chest. At a guess I say you have two better choices: 1) Leave both the head and body meshes as separate 2) Connect them in unibody fashion where splines don't attach in inappropriate places. Over all I'd say you can get away with considerably less density of splines/patches. The connecting of splines/patches at random places creates a lot of internal patches which should be avoided. In addition to the head/neck I see similar connectivity at the hair/head. Added: I see a tendency to create the bottom side of meshes that will not be seen as well. The example here would be the hair where there appears to be a underside of the hair... although that may actually be the top of the head. That entire layer of splines can be removed because it will never be seen. Adjusting all of this will ease the burden of CP weightings and their interaction thereafter. Grandson Shirted 01.mdl

Some programs have an export setting to lower the number of exported control points. I had high hopes for OpenToonz exporting SVG for use in A:M and while it does have a 'low' setting that can be set for exports, there are other issues that keep OT from being the ideal creator of SVG shapes. The actual export to SVG process isn't exactly straightforward either. It's hard to go wrong with Inkscape. I use Coreldraw and it is perfect for the job. *The primary reason I was hoping OpenToonz would be a good source for SVG is that it has an excellent raster to vector converter and there aren't a lot of those available for free. Sadly that won't be the case.

The AI and SVG Importers are handy tools in the creation of Building Facades...

One nice thing about SVG import is how it assigns a group to each import. This makes quick work of identifying, isolating and altering specific parts of a Model. An example of this workflow might be to create a plan view (top view) of a room (or city) and then export parts of the plan out for import into A:M. Then hide the parts one by one while detail is added or parts of the model replaced. A benefit to this approach is that the same SVG file/name can be used for more rapid imports. A downside... there is always a downside... programs such as Inkscape don't have an option for exporting only the selected shapes. At least none that I can ascertain.

I'm also planning to test some action baking with this approach because then (at least technically) we could merge the models again and animate in the standard way with the golden pose set in place. It's mostly theory that likely won't work but finding out will still be quite educational.

That's looking really good Dan. Nice work!

I doubt I'll pursue this much more but I figure I'd best bring bg a little closer to the reference...

And here's the reason we should use reference kids... In the attached, I can see many areas that would improve my doodle, plus it and get it moving toward the goal of 'being Groot'. Those eyes for one. That would have been easy to change. I like the contrast of the character against the blue background too! P.S. My groot is known to say, "I am not Groot".