THS

Wow - works perfectly. Thanks!

You guys have saved me and made things much easier. Thanks!

Yes, I think that is what I mean. I swear I just did it - I was in the camera view, the camera symbol was visible (I guess the bones) and I could move it, rotate, etc. and see exactly what I was doing in the camera view. Now, that you ask, I tried it again and can not get it to work! I don't know how I did it!! That's why I did a repost and said DUH - it seemed so simple, why can't I do that again!? Please help me understand this - I'm feeling pretty dumb right now!

Thanks for everyone who has responded to my questions. I really do try to read the fourms and figure it out myself before I ask - I just don't always get very far. 1. Can you lock an object so that you don't accidentally move it? Seems like my students are always moving the stage by mistake. 2. When in the camera view, I want to move an object up and down ( I guess that's the Y axis) and not back and forth. Can you constrain movement to a certain axis? I know I can go to the side view and move it up and down from there, I was just wondering if I can do it from the camera view. 3. Any advice on further understanding the nulls? I've done AM exercise 3 a couple of times, but still confused!

I figured out how to move the camera in the camera view - duh- just move the camera.

A couple of questions. 1. If you get the camera really messed-up, can you reset it to a default position? 2. Can you move the camera while in the camera view - so that you can see the effects of the move as it happens? 3. Should beginning animators never move the camera . . .? And, I'm wondering if the program has a bug - or if I'm just crazy. I'm using V. 13.0 on an XP system. Sometimes when I try to move my camera, let's say from the left view, it disappears. I may just click and drag a little on the null, and poof, it's gone. It's not really gone, when I zoom way out, it's still there - just in outerspace, no where near where I wanted it. This happens when I am trying to move it very little. Also, sometimes I can't get the camera to move at all. Click and drag, select the null, but nothing moves. Get up, get a coke, come back and presto, it moves. Maybe I just need more Coke!

Great Advice! Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses.

I'm a high school teacher and my students are about to start The Art of Animaiton Master. This is my second attempt with a class - last year we got a little frustrated but we are giving it another try! After showing them the demo, they were really excited. Before we get started on the exercises, I'd like to let them create and animate the vase they saw in the demo. Are there any instructions for this? I've seen the demo done in person and it sold me on the simplicity of the software. However, after trying it myself - nothing works and suddenly it does not seem so simple! I understand the importance of doing the exercises in the book - this just seems like a good warm-up to get them hooked! Thanks!

Thanks! The video tutorial is great for me! I'm thankful for the validation that I am approaching this in the right manner! I'm taking a risk by teaching-as-I-learn, but we were so excited about having the software that I wanted to get them started ASAP. When we run into snags in the tutorials - is this forum the best place to ask for help? (I just answered my own question - the TaoAM forum. What a concept!) Should we use the online community? On with the stuck door . . .

Hello, I teach high school multimedia and my class and I are working through the tutorials in "The Art of Animation Master". I have not used 3D software for the past 5 years, however I did teach 3D Studio Max for 6 years. So far, we have finished exercises 1-5 and now we are starting on The Door is Stuck. The videos are very helpful and we are doing OK with the tutorials, but it seems we are getting into some very detailed concepts without a working knowledge of the basics. I think we need to go back over some basics before we continue. My question is this - What other training materials do you recommend that will cover the basics? I feel like these tutorials are a little too difficult. I have looked at the books Hash has for sale, but I wanted an opinion before I purchased something. When I've taught animation in the past, I have started with simple lessons to teach interface, keyframes, camera views, etc. The AM tutorials have been a challenge because if a student messes up a keyframe, I don't know how to use the timeline well enough to delete or modify that keyframe - so we start over! For example, on the "It's a Pitch" lesson, one student placed the keyframes too close together - so the movement was too fast. I did not know how to change the distance between the keyframes. Even saving files has been a challenge - I don't think I really understand the differences between saving the project under the file menu and the project menu. We have had several projects not load - I think because we did not embed properly. We really love the program - the students are excited and working hard! I just want to make sure I am taking the best approach. Thanks!