Rodney

Ah! I didn't catch that part. I was thinking you just made it up. As I was. As I was. That's funny (okay... and maybe a bit sad) about your husband collecting fortunes. I will guess that by now he (and you too) have racked up some serious good luck. And best news of alll... I can now honestly say I know someone that collects those things. hehe.

Well said. It seems each time I open A:M I find something that puts a spotlight on why I enjoy using it so much. And there are so many little things that are just out of reach of my understanding. So much more to explore and put into production. My primary deficiency is trying to chart my own way (recreate the wheel?) where others have already walked the path. I chalk some of that to my desire to learn and experience things for myself but much of it is just me being stubborn. There is a lot of great software out there but A:M is the best of the bunch.

Nice! I've toyed with overpaintings of 3D proxies but you've very obviously mastered it. And as always with these pieces you pull me in to where I want to discover more of the story. Added (because you know I cannot resist making at least one suggestion): The one change I might make would be in the wording of the fortune cookie phrase. Personally, I'd drop that last word 'do' so that it read, "The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot." An alternative would be to change 'great' to 'greatest' so it read, "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot." although I lean toward the former I'd have to ponder upon that. That reads more like a short phrase cracked open from a cookie. Aside: I always tell folks who are with me right before cracking open my fortune cookie that I always... always... get the same fortune... every time. Then I open it cautiously and wince painfully saying, "Not again!." Then I reveal that my fortune is... yet again... 'Whatever you do, don't look behind you." If following my own advice I might have to drop that second 'you'. The intent is several-fold in that it's a stale old joke with my family that I continuously try to refine but also a suggestion to look to the future and not the past. Of course folks are free to interpret the prediction as meaning that some dastardly villain is standing at that very moment right behind me.

This is a growing trend and one we are likely to see a lot more of in the future. Of interest are two primary things: Raw production material for inspiration and study (and as starting point for other production) Looking behind the screen into how a production is planned and produced, studying the assets used and gaining insight into approaches used. A means of increasing value and return of revenue* Many of the assets used in a production will never been seen again and (rather sadly) will often be lost forever (especially in a digital world). Sharing of these assets can be a means to keep the originals intact as well as to maintain interest (current and historical) as well as inspire derivative works. In the past, much of the production assets used in production were seen to be of little use. Even Disney threw massive amounts of production drawings, cels and production related documentation into the trash bins. Those deemed more valuable made their way into the Disney Reference Library and a few that didn't quite make the cut made their way into other hands as gifts or sold for a few dollars at Disney Land. The vast majority of preliminary work was either maintained by the original artist and/or discarded. Much of the focus of the Craft site is on 2D animation and that seems more than appropriate given that the big studios have largely pushed 2D to the side. But whether in 2D or 3D, assets used in production have value. While it currently is a very niche market, this market for creativity is increasing and one could well imagine an entire production being presented in full form both in production assets and in final (presentation) form. While the latter is of considerable entertainment value it is the former that represents the value put into production. It is also a value that continues to be tossed into the trash by those that don't see the inherent and continuing value of those resources. Here in the A:M Forum some effort has been made to host production assets shared by A:M Users. The A:M Exchange area of the forum contains models of considerable value. The vast majority of assets as well as production history from 'Tin Woodman of Oz' is also available for downloading. The forum itself is a great place to share insights and resources as we make daily progress in our productions. For those of you likely to complete short films, commercials and interstitials consider well the value of those digital assets and sites such as 'Craft' that might be willing to host them. These resources might not generate a lot of revenue but then again who knows what the future may hold. Here's the site in question: https://itsoncraft.com/ Access to the site and general sources is subscription based but production assets are also sold. Note that this site does plan to distribute and sell 3D models. As of now they have it tagged as 'coming soon'. For those that have productions that have made their way into distribution, now might be a good time to get in on the ground floor. With every direct purchase content creators get 50% of the cut. The terms of service listed mostly apply to subscribers of the site and creators (licensors) should query the site for specific terms. To protect the content distributed on the site the TOS specifically states: There is also this (from the site's area 'for content producers': Added: As an extra consideration, the itsoncraft site allows the short film or trailer of the production to be posted, so this can be a means of increasing exposure when combined with the release of a few raw assets from the production. One of the site's creators is Frederik Villumsen who (amongst other things) is behind Team Generous. *It is interesting to consider the word 'revenue' in this context because it literally implies putting the production... the actual production resources... back in front of an audience in order to extract more value.

Definitely. While I'd imagine a path of least resistance might follow that of merging with other aspects of Disney (mobile divisions etc.) I can't help but wonder what options the folks at Avalanche have with regard to just starting over from scratch. In many ways Avalanche set the standard that got Disney to where they are today and while field is vastly different from back in those days I'd like to think they could do it again. I know there are a lot of moving parts and the most important of those are the human element. Other companies should be chomping at the bit to snatch up some of these talented folks but... I hate to see the great team they formed broken up. Still, either as a unified team, as smaller groups or even as individuals, 300 people of this level of experience and skill is a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt that they can alter the landscape of computer graphics again. Return to your roots, rise to the challenge placed before you and change the world... again.

Wow. The underlying plot-line (for Disney) is that licensing is (still) where the money is.

I saw a mention of this JPEG standard and thought it of interest because it proposes to address some issues with the current standard. Specifically, the XT flavor seeks to address issues of higher bit compression, HDRI imaging and... the alpha channel. JPEG with Alpha... that's been needed for a very long time now... and using alpha channel with both lossy and lossless processing would be a welcome addition to the format. For more info: https://jpeg.org/jpegxt/ For some open source software that reads and writes the format: https://jpeg.org/jpegxt/software.html On the downside: The JPEG standard itself has some limitations of usage due to patents.

There is an unresolved issue with posting of (certain video) links in the forum. From what I can tell the code that formats video links parses the URL but doesn't format it correctly. The workaround is to proceed the link by another character such as the letter 'x'. So... just proceed your URL with the letter x. I often add this letter to a posted (invisible) URL but in your case you removed that link from your post so there is nothing there for me to repair.

Hi Gerry, it's great to see you! I'm not satisified with my test but I went with a rotating set of decalled cylinders... I'm leaning more toward a static plane of hills with animated deals rolling over them (ala shadows moving across hills from clouds). That seems to be more in line with your example movie. For that an animated project map might work wonders. Actually rolling the hills almost makes them not seems like hills. An underlying and important aspect of this is to consider the timeframe the calendar represents. For instance, what is the timeframe under consideration that is flying by. I say this because even if the year(s) are not seen, the calendar layout will likely reveal this information. In the attached I selectd 1996 and left that on the decal mainly as an aid to tracking. I assume the year would be removed in final rendering to grant a larger appeal. Figuring out what date is actually represented would be for the truly devoted to decipher. If I run another test I think it might be of a projection mapped grid with bumpy hills. The projected image would be animated to give an additional time-flies-by effect. timeflies.mov

I got a headache. lol Bring it on. More please.

True that! I suppose close on the heels of that is 'finishing' something... anything. I'm not a very good finisher yet although I've noted that some folks certainly have that knack. 'Finishing' being a relative term more like 'abandoning' at a specific stage of maturity.

All are welcome and encouraged to contribute their approaches, best practices... recipes for success... to this topic. May the best days of productivity be ahead of you. I recently moved a bunch of files from my main harddrive to an external drive and it has me thinking about why I had set up that directory in the first place. I want to share my thoughts related to this because I'm trying to learn (mostly from my mistakes) and to move forward to the next stage (whatever that may be). Some time ago I made a change in the way I organized files on my harddrive (as I tend to be a very disorganized person and need structure). A critical change for me was to create a directory on my Desktop named 'AMtv'. I often use another directory construct named 'Renderfolder' or 'RF' if I'm feeling lazy but more on that later. I wanted to structure the directory almost like a diary... dailies... a running collection of each days production related activities (related to A:M in some way... as almost everything is)... regardless of how frivolous or trivial they might be. I think this is the fourth time I've moved this directory off of my desktop and it feels nice to have a new empty directory to begin the process all over again. Out with the old. In with the new. Time marches on. Etc. *But I can go back and revisit those old 'classics' if necessary. And that's kind of the whole premise of AMtv (on my desktop) in that it is my equivalent of actually watching TV, and my primary source of entertainments but in a participatory way; I interact with things in/on AMtv. Into it goes the goings on of this forum... cool projects posted (great stuff!)... tips and tricks (hey I never knew that!)... and occasionally I even plop some of my own 'shows' (mostly banners and such rendered or otherwise) but also related tests inspired by other things on the screen; all the various things that help fulfill the creative urge in me I guess what I'm saying is that creating that AMtv directory dramatically increased my productivity and helps me work through a ton of useful distractions along the way. And every time I change the channel (by moving the contents of AMtv to another location), I feel I'm preparing to set the next stage. What approaches do you take to organizing and publishing your work? How has that approach impacted your enjoyment of the process, your creativity and productivity?

This seems to be more of an acknowledgement that their efforts to move into more mature markets hasn't worked so their focus is now on children's entertainment. This relates to why Dreamworks targeted the purchase Awesomeness TV and the young teenager and preteen market it represents. This places them more into the market than Disney as Disney slants toward a slightly more mature market these days (although trying to be all-ages). This is even more true with the recent addition of Marvel and Star Wars franchises. Dreamworks was struggling to compete in this arena. Most of Dreamworks efforts to hit that same all-ages market fell very short of being profitable (especially in terms of short term profits) and its those short term profits they seek to be able to build their empire. This is underscored by other players getting into the game and making that same mature field online difficult as well. I think we'll see the occasional foray into the more mature arena (ala Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and the Dragons franchises) but although enjoyed by the masses those are very franchises that are increasingly showing their age. As such even the Netflix reincarnations/continuations of those stories skews toward a slightly younger audience. This use of specifically targeted words might be included more in answer to and to please shareholders (or the suitors that were seeking to purchase Dreamworks) than to suggest actual content produced by Dreamworks but from the time of 'Home' onward decisions being made do appear to target young children and pre-teen audiences consistently. These decisions (such as choosing the age of a protagonist in a film) are made very intentionally so they are certainly targeting that younger age and the parents whose purchasing power pays their way.

Linking external images into the forum often (and almost inevitably) results in those image links breaking. Where possible I'd recommend uploading the images to the forum. The allotted upload quotas for forum members should be more than adequate for the attachments. And that way the linked imagery will be retained. I've taken to saving externally linked images any time I see them in the forum so that I have a copy to replace the originals when they eventually turn up missing. The problem with that approach is that I very likely won't be able to locate that image months or years later. That is an impressive composite Marcos!

Elm, You should be familiar with the concept of MUFOOF (although you can be forgiven for not recognizing that name ) because you used something similar to get the surface/skin of your characters in your recent short (the one about phoning in orders for food).

I recently saw the rumor but it apparently is a done deal... http://deadline.com/2016/04/jeffrey-katzenberg-reaction-dreamworks-animation-sale-comcast-1201746411/

Awesome. Now THAT would be truly awesome. A:M is ideally suited for quick turnarounds like these.

Nice! Love that MUFOOF style. (I'm needing to use that for some blurs and stretches on cartoony movement)

Jamie, It is so good to see you here and I'm thankful that you have made the effort to reach out and more importantly to continue the work of your mother. I think she'd be very pleased to know that her characters and stories are still moving forward. 'Just a Wooden Sword' may have life outside of the realm of 3D animation and that is evidenced by Kat's work with dolls... her books... recordings... there is a much larger world to which those characters and stories belong. Short of hiring an agent and having them pursue some form of licensing I'm not sure what to suggest with regard to Kat's characters and stories. If continuing to refine the work she was doing here in the forum is an avenue of interest to you it's an easy thing to assign Kat's special topic to you. There are several who helped model characters for Kat's tale that currently don't frequent the forum. I'd like to think they might find their way back and help you pick up the torch. I (personally) try to keep most of my efforts in the public arena and encourage others to do the same but understand that might not be the ideal way forward for you. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. Just know that, as I know your mother understood, you don't have to go it alone. P.S. At some point I'll likely move these posts to another location. Perhaps as a topic in the 'Just a Wooden Sword' forum. If it seems to have disappeared look for it there!

Ah, good news. v1.02 of OpenToonz has been released and it addresses several major issues facing potential users. The greatest of these was very likely the need to save files in multiple places which is now covered by the Save All command. The other major updates are mostly those captured in the various nightly builds that primarily restore the Toonz Harlequin features that were set aside to optimize workflow for Studio Ghibli. https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz/releases

The Tinkering Gnome clued us in to this site that frequently presents 100% discounts on software. (Thanks John!) On occasion some pretty useful software is shared. I've hesitated in the past to post some of these offerings for a number of reasons but I've found several of the software packages useful for myself so they might be for others as well. The way it (generally) works is that in exchange for your email address and occasionally a request to share the link to the site with others you get an activation code. Sometimes the code is one specifically used with that promotion. Other times its the same as you would receive straight from the software developer. Of course, there are also the other discounted software packages that aren't 100% off but I tend to stick to the freebies. One that showed today might be of interest to those wanting to setup a server. The software is syncplify.me server and I've ran through the basic installation quickly and without any hiccups. I set up the virtual server on an external hardrive. This software states its regular price as $399 for a regular license so may be well worth the look if you are considering server use already. As for me... I suppose I'm mostly investigating why I might need a server in the first place. I.... think I need one. The related offering is the same software with free updates and support for $119. Here's the link: http://sharewareonsale.com/s/syncplify-me-server-giveaway-coupon-sale The jury is still out for me on the Shareware for Sale site and their approach to software sales. I must say that thus far it seems that they have an interesting business model and if all legit may find themselves with considerable success. As I see other useful software mentioned from this site I'll post it in this topic and please feel free to do the same.

Another plug has been posted on the Axanar blog, after Alex Peters got a chance to see Mark's new short: http://www.axanarproductions.com/captains-log-april-22nd-2016/ And it got me to watch the short again.

I thought this was pretty cool.... puppetry imitating 3D animation... xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oN6SN_TnFY Zootopia... Wreck It Ralph... etc. etc.

Looking good.

Yes, I'm more than a little curious about how that subject matter came to be. Looking good thus far!