Rodney

I put that word in quotes because it was written in an article but Adobe Media Encoder does in fact contain or if you prefer 'provide an interface for' the bits and bytes of code that encode various media formats to include that of quicktime. At the link provided in can be seen that as recent as 2015 some of Apples Pro Res was also making an inroad into Media Encoder. So, yes, Adobe Media Encoder contains many media formats and codecs in the sense that it provides access to them. but no it is not itself a "container" in the form of the word generally associated with files and file formats, perhaps especially image formats. It's extension is .exe. which is generally recognized by operating systems and many humans as a file formatted to contain executable code.

In general I always have to convert your files to another format/codec or seek another video viewer (VLC is usually a good one) in order to view your videos. Your posts in this topic were no different. Some of this relates to WIndows Video Player in Win10 (that thing doesn't like to play anything!).

Adobe Media Encoder is Adobe's 'container' for such things as Quicktime. Apparently what is forthcoming is 'native' code that resides in their rendering/conversion engine (which is considerable) to include the standalone Adobe Media Encoder (which I see simply as a separate interface for that engine). It might not be quite accurate to classify it this way but I consider Media Encoder as a form of renderfarm. The various CC programs can or all use of Media Encoder but that program can also be used outside of those programs. As you mention all are part of Adobe Creative Cloud although from time to time some software is made available separately as further access and enhance productivity (Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing/annotating PDF documents by those who don't have access to the full Acrobat suite of tools being a prime example). Here's the landing page for basic info on Mediate Encoder: http://www.adobe.com/products/media-encoder.html Increasingly, software offerings are separating the rendering/conversion aspects of the flow in a more modular way so as to more easily update to new formats and codecs. More than a few people have proposed 'a codec to rule them all' but in general each company tends to create and maintain their own in order to address their own set of priorities. I think programs like Adobe Encoder are well suited for this purpose because they can help us make a little more sense of the many different options/flavors available.

Here is apparently the source of current news related to the matter: http://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/apple-quicktime-on-windows-update/

I don't have any references to site or links to post but I'm hearing rumors that Apple Adobe is planning to release Pro Res resources to counter the issue arising from abandoning older Quicktime support on Windows. Of note: Several of the ProRes codecs support alpha channes although other do not. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202410 If anyone has info related to this please feel free to post and point us to more official info. Edit: Some of my info was incorrect. It is Adobe that is planning to bring Apple's Pro Res formats forward for use in Windows to address the issues caused by Apple no longer supporting Quicktime. I've edited this topic's title accordingly. It is not clear what Apples roll here is but one might assume they are either granting Adobe a large discount on licensing or allowing them to distribute gratis. (NFI)

If you do allow Win10 to install you should not have any issues with A:M still running on your system. I can't say with 100% certainty that this is the case because there is always the (very) odd chance that some crazy hardware incompatibility on older systems might interfere and... make me a liar. But... I experienced no change in operation except better performance over all.

That is very considerate. I hope Jim feel feels appreciated and it never hurts to remind folks just how much we do appreciate them and how much we enjoy the fruits of their labor.

You can probably track him down as he's still a commercial artist but no, he hasn't frequented this forum for several years. As far as questions related to those models there may be others knowledgeable enough to answer questions related to them.

Does the running figure look male or female ? Also ambiguous. At first I thought male. Then I thought perhaps female. Then I thought male. I could walk down the reasons for each of these triggers but... not sure that matters. The softness of the character certainly suggests femaie. I lean toward thinking this is a young male or athletic female who isn't into girly appearances as there aren't too many specific things that suggest female. A simple one to suggest female would be to add a pony tail. Does it look like its wearing a shirt or vest ? Definely doesn't suggest vest to me. It looks to be a fairly tight shirt and very likely a specific runners brand (of which I know not what the brand might be) because of the distinctive imprint on the shoulders/arms. Does the run look OK or is it odd in places? I agree that some additional display of weight (or countering of the same) could enhance the run. It's quite a good run actually. The only thing I can suggest here is to think of the squash down upon each landing of a foot and the stretch as that leg lifts and releases. I'll add something that probably doesn't need to be said. At about frame 90 just after the character blinks it would be ideal to have the character smile as recognition of who is there waiting to be hugged settles in. Anticipation is such an important aspect that this is also where I'd consider playing with the weight of the run. In other words, if the runner was running at a steady pace now they might speed up... launching slightly higher... in an effort to get there just a little bit faster. Then you'd get a sense of steadily running in (as if this is a routine run), speeding up upon recognition of a loved one and slowing down in anticipation of the embrace (suggesting he/she doesn't want to injure their loved one by slamming into them with the full force they are capable of at their faster pace). The sense I get is that this is someone who runs regularly and just happens to be returning at this moment in time. There should be a sense of change... surprise... pleasure... recognition that happiness is just a few more steps away. Keep on keeping on Simon. I really like what I'm seeing here.

I was scratching my head a bit there too until I put on my racing cap. I think he means 'tires'. That's a great looking ride Maniac. Added: Ken! That thread decal works quite well with displacement. Very nice.

Continuing a trend in software where companies are trying to introduce their products to the lower teir... Also, if some reports are to be believed, an increasing shortage of experienced fx artists suggests when folks are hired they need to already know the basics of software used in production. There also continuing competition at all levels in fx as well as innovations that tend to make older software obsolete.at a faster pace. https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/non-commercial/mari-non-commercial/ Features: https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/mari/features/ Some data related to differences between commercial and noncommercial releases:: The commercial license of Mari starts at £1,233. I have not experimented with Mari and can only speculate at a workflow that would blend well with A:M. I would guess the most direct route would be to set up near-duplicates in A:M and Mari with an OBJ file in Mari as the base for texturing that would then be used in A:M. The most intriguing possibility would be that of using a UV-less workflow to paint the object in Mari (ala PTEX).

For those with an aptitude for writing import/export plugins I recently saw this source code related to creating FBX plugins via glTF: https://github.com/cyrillef/FBX-glTF A pertinent part: This is from Cyrille Fauvel who should know a thing or two about the FBX format because he's worked for Autodesk since 1993. He maintains the blog 'Around the Corner' and a blog post from just over a year ago goes into some detail about how he arrived at the source while researching a WebGL project. LINK The GL Transmission Format (glTF) is a runtime asset delivery format for GL APIs: WebGL, OpenGL ES, and OpenGL. glTF bridges the gap between 3D content creation tools and modern GL applications by providing an efficient, extensible, interoperable format for the transmission and loading of 3D content. For more about glTF see info on their github site: LINK

I saw this software mentioned recently and haven't investigated it very deeply but sense that it may be well worth considering... Edit: For a number of reasons, Shotcut is getting my recommendation. So, go get it! And yes, it can convert to .MOV format (as well as just about any other format including animated GIF) Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. Major features include support for a wide range of formats; no import required meaning native timeline editing; Blackmagic Design support for input and preview monitoring; and resolution support to 4k. Basic Features Support for the latest audio and video formats thanks to FFMPEG Supports popular image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF as well as image sequences No import required - native timeline editing Frame-accurate seeking for many formats Multi-format timeline: mix and match resolutions and frame rates within a project Screen capture including background capture to capture a Shotcut session Webcam capture Audio capture Support for 4K resolutions Network stream playback (HTTP, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, MMS, UDP) Frei0r video generator plugins (e.g. color bars and plasma) Audio Features Audio scopes: loudness, peak meter, waveform, spectrum analyzer Volume control Audio filters: Balance, Bass & Treble, Band Pass, Compressor, Copy Channel, Delay, Downmix, Expander, Gain, High Pass, Limiter, Low Pass, Normlize: One Pass, Normalize: Two Pass, Notch, Pan, Reverb, Swap Channels Audio mixing across all tracks Fade in and out audio and fade video from and to black with easy-to-use fader controls on timeline Cross-fade audio and video dissolve transitions easily by overlapping shots on the same track of the timeline JACK transport sync Cross Platform & Codec Independent Cross platform support: available on Windows, Linux and MacOS Codec independent so does not rely on system codecs Can run as a portable app from external drive UI translations: Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portugese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish Batch encoding with job control Encode/transcode to a variety of formats and codecs thanks to FFmpeg (or libav as-built) Stream (encode to IP) files and any capture source Video quality measurement (PSNR and SSIM) Display and Monitoring External monitoring via Blackmagic Decklink card on NTSC monitor External monitoring on an extra system display/monitor UI themes/skins: native-OS look and custom dark and light Control video zoom in the player: fit viewable area (default), 50%, original (100%), and 200% Flexible UI through dock-able panels Detailed media properties panel Recent files panel with search Thumbnail and waveform caching between sessions Hardware Support Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring Leap Motion for jog/shuttle control Webcam capture Audio capture to system audio card Capture (record) SDI, HDMI, webcam (V4L2), JACK audio, PulseAudio, IP stream, X11 screen, and Windows DirectShow devices Multi-core parallel image processing (when not using GPU and frame-dropping is disabled) DeckLink SDI keyer output OpenGL GPU-based image processing with 16-bit floating point linear per color component The Link: https://shotcut.org/ Disclaimer: Some of the interface is not intially intuitive. For example it took me a little while to figure out how to import an image sequence. This option can be found in the Properties panel. Also, Shotcut is yet another application (like A:M) where Right Clicking is your friend.

Definitely keep those elements of fine art flowing into your work. That's what makes your work so rich and deep. After typing the following (vvv down there vvv) I looked again at your work and marvel in the strengths of your approach. You not only illustrate the story point in question but hint at the depth of character and how they live in a larger world... one we want to explore. And you don't stop at one level of illustrating this narrative but layer in and echo the theme. And here is where I see some opportunity too... directly relating to clarity. What if that mouse had his/her own page directly proceeding this page? What if that pilot and plane had a page proceeding that one? We can only sample this single page from an imaginary book so we will never know beyond what we see on this page. There are many of aspects of your current work that are intriguing to me and it'd take a lot of words to explore those. I'm mainly concentrating on your words to frame my response so please forgive where that seems to state the obvious. You say: While awesome in its own way, I think the current 3rd Thursday approach that limits you to a single illustrated page can be more than a little deceptive. The interesting thing being that while your illustration does have to stand on it's own the page doesn't quite take into account what is to be revealed when the next page is turned nor what has come before. Many aspects of the current (isolated) illustration can gain additional clarity relative to those. In the 3rd Thursday entries that aspect still needs to be accounted for. Whether revealed or not (and I assume they never will be) there are no other pages of this story. Those pages exist only in an imaginary world where this page is taken from a real book. This is an important thing to consider because, in a way, you have to consider what will happen next and what has led the story to this point. It's that richness of missing detail that we can't see in the current narrative that is by its very nature interpretive, illusive, abstract and subjective. We simply don't know. That information doesn't exist. So we in the audience MUST create the rest of the story. We have no choice. This leads us to the element of clarity in what is placed before us. The artist, writer, illustrator, whoever only has so many lines to connect to tell their story. Children's books are fascinating to me because they, perhaps more than any other medium, marry words and imagery together where they are often more than just complementary, they are often indistinguishable. So in similar fashion to what we (attempt to) illustrate in words we layer in additional detail to point the audience to key points of our narrative and to further clarify our story. This is why I love animation so much. Keyframes. Golden poses. Breakdowns. Inbetweens. Silhouette. Staging. Ease in. Ease out. Primary and Secondary Actions. Clarity... and the ever elusive Solid Drawing*. Everything is important and works together to deliver the performance but all the while recognizing that not all things are held constantly in focus. The animator has an advantage in Illustration because what they know can strengthen the work, especially in a single page illustration where many disparate things must work together and (in story-time) share their narrative purpose. . *While Solid Drawing principally speaks to skill and draftsmanship and recreating real worlds in imaginary spaces it goes well beyond that. The concept of 'drawing' is not well understood in this or any other context until one considers well the word itself and it's pulling power of influence. Forms and shapes. Flows and forces. Thicknesses and thinness. The illumination (illustration) of things otherwise forever lost in the darkness...

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.