goodguy20k

*Sound of jaw hitting floor* Sweet! Keep going! You have quite the modelling talent!

What she says, man! I first saw your animation and my jaw dropped. Good work, keep going!

I lot of luck. Seriously, he's not a great bear model. And it's taken a good... month and a half to get here? I started with this cute teddy bear my family has. It helps to have something you can hold. Something you can turn and see from any angle. Besides that, he's very much built off of the Flower Power lesson. The stem is his body. The leaves are his arms and legs. (Yes, he's not seamless. That's a bugger I'm workin' out.) The head is just a ball, with a oval for a snout. The ears took many revisions. The trick is, what makes PB (that's the bear's name) look good is time. He looked not so great in the first place, but I stuck to it. I added more splines. I removed splines. I deleted whole models... And then I wished I had them back. Still, you like the bear, right? So that means my time was well spent. Try taking the Flower Power lesson, and don't model a stem. Make a pear-shaped object. Also, look at other peoples models. See how they made their stuff. (There are awesome video tutorials around. Just ask Rodney for the modeling links.) Practice, practice, practice!

Wow... Everyone's got an air history around here, huh?! (Poor guys in the simulator! :shock:) If you want a cool, active jet, that's sea born, you're going to want the FA-18. My favorite plane, also carrier born, was the F-14. It's no longer active, though, as it was retired last September.

Haha. We have some air geeks here. I was going to say, F-16's would never make it off an aircraft carrier's deck, not to mention, not on the "landing strip". (Now, you have full right to ignore this and do whatever you want. It's your movie, not ours.) Even with the F-16's on the catapult, we're talking major stress issues like Bruce mentioned. Look for a nice runway picture and launch off that.

Dude, don't expect to become an overnight modeller. I have been using A:M for years now. I still can't do the seamless modelling. Start simple, and pace yourself. If you expect to be able to do professional quality stuff in a week, you're going to burn out and give up. Patience and practice. I can't wait to see how your model comes out.

Hehe, you said what I've been thinking. My guess is they are a bit busy right now, because I've sent a email to support a week or so ago, and no response, and just sent one to Steve yesterday, also with no response, yet, of course. I realized, I don't need the whole CD. Just the DATA folder, and everything in it. (Which is a hefty chunk of data.) Anyways, I'm anxious to get through the exercises so I can join in on TWO. That, and brushing up my skills never hurt. Patience is key here, I'm guessing.

Ok this is getting... Impossible? Do you think it would be alright to ask someone with a V12 CD to copy me an ISO? (I really don't want to do anything illegal here, but there are all kinds of audio and other resources for V12 that I can't seem to find.) I have the dongle, so it's not like I'm trying to get a new license, or even a new version. I just didn't get the CD (or anything else) when I upgraded. Just the dongle. Guess I kinda bummed out on my last upgrade. I didn't get everything, and the license is messed up somewhat (Netrender won't work). If it hadn't come straight from Hash, I'd think I'd gotten a cheap import.

I wish I had seen that website before the deadline for the image competition.... Here's the snowflakes from my entry. Just randomness. Point being, you don't have to work too hard to get something believable.

Well, here's my trick. (And I have a semi-cutting-edge computer.) Model during the day, render over night. Even if your computer is really slow and outdated, give it 7 hours to render (and 7 hours for you to sleep), and you'll do well. There are several variables that will effect the render time. Think about what type of work you want to do, and how many of these would be used. The more, the longer, the more you might want to look for a comp upgrade: 1) Material detail. Complex, bumpy surfaces take longer then smooth, plain ones. 2) Reflections. Mirrors'll kill ya. Well, if you use a lot of them. 3) Transparencies. 4) Particles/Fur. 5) Fog. 6) Render size. 7) Render file format. (This I have a feeling is highly debatable, but I know it effects me. A TGA sequence renders faster then a MOV file.) 8) Radiosity. It'll kill you too. 9) Refraction. Short answer, you'll do great with AM while you're starting out. By the time you're doing big renders, you'll probably be ready to up your system as well. Welcome, and good luck!

I've spent a lot of time going over the Useful Links thread, and this was the nearest I found. (You said it. ) I guess I'll just use Thom for all the examples.

I'm sorry to confuse you, but I have AM2005. It's just that my CD is AM99. Is there anywhere in particular to look on the FTP to find these models? I'm strongly considering packaging these up as I go so you can have a download for the exercises.

Well, I thank you, Paul. I'm sure someone will know exactly what I'm looking for.

But, shouldn't there be a library around for V12? I mean, these exercises all are built off V12, so there's got to be some library out there that's got everything needed, right? I just don't want to go hunting for every little model for these examples.

Yep, got a A:M12(2005) licensed dongle. The CD's somewhere in the stacks... The trick is, I've been all over the Hash FTP site... I've visited every Data folder in there, but I don't see the Knight or Rabbit.

Right, if I could find my CD. Is that the only place to find them? And are they the most up to date?

Ok, so I'm trying to work through the exercises, but I've hit a wall... Where are the models? The latest CD I have is AM99, I think. (Whichever one the Dog is on.) For the most part, I go to the FTP to download and install everything. I've downloaded several Data folders off there, but 1) The libraries are different formats (one just goes through and lists a name and then a path. The ones I work with most often use block groups. [MODEL] FileName=../Models/Actors/Thom/Thom.mdl[ENDMODEL]) 2) I can't find the models I need. (The Rabbit, Knight, and KeyKat. I found KeyKat downloadable in the first example, but I'd rather not go searching for EVERY model I need.) So, which library do I need to download? (Yes, I mean file archive and not Hash Library, there's a difference. I need the actual data files, not the file filled with links, though I'd like that as well.) I'm looking right around it, I'm sure. Thanks.

I'm not exactly new to Animation Master, but I'm new around here. My brother got AM99 way back when under a student discount, and I loved playing with it. Then we got AM2003, or something like that. All the better. Now we have AM2005 (and I'm drooling over '06 and even more, '07!). I've got that animating bug, and have set off on a project... Then I realized half way through that it might be a good idea to brush up. So, here I am. 7 years of Hash under my belt, and hittin' the beginner trail. I'm just here for the certificate.