sb4

Yes, that's what I get with the original 10.5 CHM too -- and I'm OK with that. Just wanted to check if you also have trouble using the more recent CHM (downloaded) with your V11.1i. If so, then I know it's not my installation that is the problem. I don't know if there is a V11-specific CHM anyway. Thanks for looking into it -SB

I verified that the current CHM has the same behavior with A:M 2004 V10.5 (Orangutan CD), so it is not the 11.1i upgrade that is the problem. Maybe the version I downloaded is not the best one. Can anyone confirm the current Master.chm works as expected and what link they used to download? Regards, -SB

This is great stuff for us older version users (V11.1i). (It would be great if there were a way filter these threads for topics that still apply to older versions -- don't know how to do that easily (unless each post had a min version tag somehow connected to it).) -SB

Yes - the "wave the flag" example is in the booklet that came with V10.5. I'll work with that. Thanks, -SB

I think I saw that the simcloth feature was introduced with A:M V12. I have the 11.1i upgrade to AM:2004 (Orangutan). Since this seems to make it technically AM2005, I am wondering if there is a simcloth plugin that would be compatible with my version. Simcloth seems like it would be a very useful feature for my current goal of using my old A:M for concentrating on efficient 2-D animation, emphasizing storytelling rather than virtuoso animation technique. I'd also be interested in hearing ideas and experience from anyone focusing on 2-D animation with A:M. Regards, -SB

Thanks, that's what I'll do. I was hoping to have one that included any new features in 11.1i, whatever they might be. But I'm sure the10.5 sure will do the job for now. -SB

I don't think so. If you were to copy the one from your v10.5 to your v11 folder that would probably be the most relevant. But most of the changes in later versions would be the addition of features rather than changes to existing features. One significant feature change I can think of since v11 is that displacement mapping no longer requires a dense mesh to work. It works on any mesh now. I hit a snag with using the latest Help file. I downloaded that "current" master.chm referenced above and copied it to my Hash Inc/V11.1 folder. Now although my A:M Version 11 does load a Help screen, it is not anything like the V10.5 help system (see attached image comparing the V10.5 master.chm with the current master.chm). With the current master.chm file, there is no "User Interface and Environment" menu to drill down into -- instead, the menu items seem to be links basically to a "TAOAM.pdf" file, a "techref.pdf" file, and a link to the "ftp://ftp.hash.com/pub/docs/" site. Should the latest Master.chm file do that, only provide links to downloads? It doesn't seem to be working as expected. -SB

Thanks! I don't know how long it would have taken to discover that. Are there archived versions of the Help manual to best match it to our particular version of A:M? Regards, -SB

I have the Orangutan 10.5 disk which I installed, then applied the 2004 11.1i upgrade to. When I launch the 10.5 version, the help menu works fine. With the 11.i1 version (2005), everything seems to work fine except the Help menu -- it gives the error: "Failed to launch Help" I'm hoping it is some simple file missing from some place during the install. Does anyone familiar with old versions have an idea what could be amiss? My work around is to install and run both versions, just to access the help menu, which is awkward and space-busting. Is there some way to view the help without the program? That could be another workaround. Regards, -SB

Really excellent animation -- great timing and overall production. You have real flair IMO. I hope you talk some on what it's like to use AM and how it stacks up for doing serious productions. -SB

Would you post a link as a reference to the tutorial or describe where it is?

Very valuable discussion, thanks. Organizational concepts often hang me up. Next to tackle is the Project Work Space hierarchy... A couple of remaining questions on this topic are: 1. Why when I create a new folder in a particular Library does it appear in all Libraries? Is this expected behavior, or something messed up on my system? 2. Why do I get two "My Library" choices after putting some models in "My Library" -- one "My Library" is empty, the other has the models. If I put models in the empty "My Library", it replaces the other one and creates a new empty "My Library". Expected behavior, or something messed up on my system? Thanks.

That's it! Thanks Glenn. I've heard of "embedding" the model -- where can we find a description of how to do that?

Thanks I'm starting to get the picture, especially learning that: - library files are text files with links to data files rather than holding actual data (and different libraries can have links to the same data file, so an A:M object can have a shortcut in many libraries), - that the name of the library file is added to the Library drop-list (and duplicate names each get their own listing), - that each library file is included in the droplist by being in a path of the "Tools | Options | Folders | Libraries" paths, - it seems that "My Library" is special and is listed even if there is no "My Library.lbr" file -- it is created automatically in the same place as the "Hash Installed Library" when you first add a shortcut to it. (Note: when I add a shortcut to "My Library", close and reopen A:M, I get a single "My Library.lbr" file, but two "My Library" listings -- one with the shortcut, and one without. If I then put any shortcuts in the empty "My Library", it will completely overwrite the other "My Library" when A:M is closed. So if I want to add a shortcut to my existing "My Library" library, be sure to pick the one that has shortcuts already in it (DON'T GO NEAR THE OTHER EMPTY "My Library" or you'll lose your existing shortcuts). Makes me feel like steering clear of "My Library" altogether. If this is some configuration error I have caused, I'd like to know how to fix it.) I'm still unclear on some things: 1. When you say drag and drop, what objects are you referring to (files or objects in A:M) and what application are you in, e.g. Windows Explorer or A:M? 2. If I create a new "Folder" in, say, the Models tab, where is that folder created (or how is it represented)? Especially if I have "All Libraries" selected. (For example, I created a new Folder in the Models tab for "My Library", and it shows up everywhere no matter which Library is selected, including "All Libraries"). (I think the answer to this question is that A:M creates a "virtual folder", in otherwords, there is no folder on your harddrive, it is just an path entry in the Library ".lbr" file. In fact, the folder will not persist (be saved) unless you put a shortcut in it it after creating it (from my tests), and that the folder is just part of the path designation of an A:M object's data file in the Library (.lbr) file. So A:M must figure out what folders to display dynamically as it reads the Library file and looks at all the objects, unless it stores the folder hierarchy somewhere else as well.) 3. If I create a new model, do I put it in a library in two steps: 1) save model as file to harddrive, 2) put link to model file in appropriate Library file? (I need this procedure to save a model loaded from the CD to the harddrive so it won't interfere with saving the project -- found that out the hard way!) 4. I see now that my eye overlooked the "Create Shortcut in Library" choice on the right-click menu in the Modeling window - that's what I was looking for - but now I have a clue what it does, thanks! It simply adds an entry into the current Library ".lbr" file with the path to the data file for the object. 5. How do you reveal the location of the file for a model? I would expect it to be in the Properties, or some kind of right-click, but I can't find it. The closest I can find is to open a model in the Model window and start to do a "Save as" and see where it defaults to, but that might not be trustworthy since some applications go to the last folder you saved to... (sorry for all the verbiosity, hope it might help anyone else struggling to understand libraries, folders, etc.)

Some more questions I have are: 1. What determines the libraries listed in the Libraries drop-down list in the toolbar? All Libraries Hash CD Library Hash Install Library My Libraries How can I create a new entry in the list? 2. What determines the association of items in a particular Library selection and the paths in the Options | Folders? Suppose I want to add new paths to add models to My Library? 3. When I add new paths in the Options | Folders for say, models, which libraries are those new models added to? Are they just merged together with all models from all paths? What if there are duplicate models in two different paths?

How does A:M find all the Materials, Models, etc? In "Tools | Options | Folders", if I just set a path to a Library folder, does A:M automatically find the Models, Materals, Actions etc. folders because they are siblings? I don't see any settings for individually setting paths to Models, Materials, etc. In other words, do you have to maintain the sibling relationship of the folders for the Library path setting to work?

Yes I have an old version which cost me a few hundred dollars but I never had time to really use it, so I thought I'd give it another try, since it is probably pretty powerful for the features it has. If I can get a project going, I'll no doubt want to upgrade. But I can understand that no one would be interested in answering questions about such an old version so I'll work with the online help, etc. Thanks. -SB

No, you missed the point... Look up the word "irony." Let's see, as I recall, the original poster of the thread you quoted me on was saying he liked the old site interface which also had more gripes and bug discussions by members on it. Having returned to the Hash site after several years away, I had a similar feeling and initially was worried that the absence of bug reports, etc. might indicate the company was not doing well and was hiding stuff that would be bad for PR. But I also said after digging more into the forums, it looked like the product was alive and well. That's all. Seems rational to me, but I guess the phrase you took out of context could seem logically inverted. Of course that wouldn't be irony anyway, so maybe you were referring to something else that escapes me -- although I don't know what your comment had to do with this thread anyway.

The irony of this thread makes my brain numb. Yes I'm stupid although you missed the point - that failing companies lock/censor forums so they can unload product.

My stupid, I think. The models are in "Hash CD Library" which somehow has appeared as a fourth library in both installations (there were only three libraries originally in 10.5) so I can now see models in both versions. Sorry for the long tale. -SB

Seeing new library in both installs now for CD.

I'm probably missing something obvious. I have a downloaded file called "AM2005.exe" that I downloaded years ago. It is apparently the installer for AM version 11.1b (which it announces on startup). It is the latest version I have been able to use with my original AM Orangutan CD. I'm installing on Windows XP Media Center on an HP a1600n computer. It does install and successfully start up. However, there are no models, choreographies, actions, images, etc. in any of the libraries. The library droplist includes: All Libraries Hash Installed Library My Library Under the "Hash Installed Library", in the Tutorials tab, there are two tutorials: Chorus Line You are the director Can anyone give me a clue as to why I'm missing the default models, etc? Note: Before installing V11.1b, I did try installing some other downloaded versions to see if they would work with my Orangutan CD. I did uninstall them each time before installing the next version. Note2: I'm still interested in finding out what is the latest update that should work with Orangutan. Thanks, SB

Hi Ken: I tried the latest V11.1 from the ftp site. The installer calls it "11.1i". However, it does not seem to work with my Orangutan CD. Does that make sense, that 11.1b works with Orangutan but 11.1i does not? I'd like to use the latest version for my CD. Thanks, SB

Thanks. It's always a little confusing to tell which update will work for you. It would be good if some how the folders indicated it, such as "Sorcerez" or "Orangutan", etc. Also, I see files named "2005-patch.exe". Are those to be applied after installing the AM2005.exe, or is that a patch to the original Orangutan that takes you to the same level as the AM2005.exe install in ftp 11.1 folder? Thanks, SB

I originally bought AM V10.5. My last update is version 11.1b. Is there any later update that I would be permitted to get for free? I have had AM for many years but never gotten off the ground with it. My original computer had display problems and was too slow, there were crashes, and I found the program difficult to catch onto (I'm a right-click addict and expect everything to be discoverable by right-clicking on objects). Now I'm running Win XP on several computers (HP a1600n, Toshiba laptop, custom dual XEON) so should have the power if my version is XP compatible with my AM. I'd like know if: 1) Is V11.1b compatible with XP? 2) Can I get a later version than 11.1b to play with (I may subscribe again if I can make some headway). 3) What am I missing since version 11.1b? 4) How well can AM make animations for use with video production? Thanks, -SB