Glider

I am adding some decals to models and have started to see a new problem (many decals done in the past and didn't come across this issue) The decalling is straightforward, no unusual requests, just a PNG or Jpeg to apply to a model surface. During application, it goes as planned. In model mode, it looks fine, but when rendered, I see streaks of the decal color bleeding onto other sections where I did not apply the decal. I'll try and upload an example. Any tips as to where I'm causing this? As usual, I appreciate all the help. Glider

Thanks for the remark. Ahhh the classics!! Thankfully we were all raised by the same TV! Glider.

Makes sense to divide the work into two parts. At the risk of asking an obvious question, how do I stitch them together? I could use a third party editing package (iMovie would do the trick I'm sure) if it is a first half- second half work splitting idea, but is there anything in A:M that'll do the job? If I have two separate processors going on odd/even frames there must be some way to merge them. Glider.

Thanks for the advice, good stuff. More RAM has helped some of the operational tasks in A:M but so far no luck on the render to file speed. No luck on using two open copies of A:M to get faster rendering. I have two copies in the dashboard, get them both running, and so far it has only slowed my render to file down. Am I supposed to get both copies rendering the same file somehow? Here's the test render I used (I'm always looking for new non-work projects and wanted to learn a little more about transparency and reflection. I was 'inspired' by a guy that walked in front of me at the mall....) There's a lot of light bending going on in this image so I think it makes a good speed test. Render time is 32 minutes. Glider..

Thanks for the input- I'm on mac. It's amazing at so many things but A:M and it don't get a long all the time (I frequently cannot save my work unless I hide A:M and then unhide it, etc.) It's an Imac so a processor upgrade isn't in the works but I can get some more ram in there as it's not maxed out yet. A core 2 duo processor at 2.33 is not the best available these days, but it's not exactly a slow machine either so I was a little concerned at how long it took to render some of my work (8 hours for a 28 second animation for example) but recently read that this type of work is one of the more labour intensive tasks a machine (or it's operator) can face. So there will be a few more 'render to file, hit the sack' nights in the future!! That being said, results have been well worth the wait!!! Recently got actual applause for an animation clip I used in an aviation seminar I was teaching (good old fashioned smoke and mirrors to mask the ability of the instructor!!) Have seen a reference to a MAC users forum, but can't find the forum yet. Maybe just not looking in the right spot, will keep at the search. Will definitely look for a second monitor on boxing day. Good advice on the tablet. While I'm here, any trackball users available to weigh in? -glider

Looking for some insight into speeding up my productivity and am going after the machine, and the person using it... Been on a mouse so far but considering a graphic tablet. Anyone offer some advice/ suggestions/ direction? Next Question: I'd appreciate some input on speeding up the machine. I recently read a forum entry leading me to believe that more RAM will speed up rendering. I figured it was simply a function of processor speed but am wondering now that I stumbled across the post.... Thoughts, experiences? Glider

I agree, I don't want to waste any time so I think I'll let this go, I have a feeling the intention has been missed. I was simply looking for something to build new skills on and thought a gingerbread village would be a little more seasonal than a grenade launcher Then, I had wondered if other folks may want to throw their two cents in ( my contribution will be 2.52 cents because my Canadian dollar is taking a beating at the moment!) anyway, it has seemed to appear somehow more potentially sinister than I meant. The only 'commercial' type work I do with A:M is to try and illustrate some technical material to the pilots I train (mostly commercial/airline) and I must comment that not only has A:M allowed me to realize this goal, but dramatically raised the bar on what I would even dare to tackle. I think the mark of a good artistic tool is that it allows a person to articulate what they have imagined. A GREAT tool allows them to imagine greater things. I have imagined (and thankfully created) much more ambitious work projects than I had hoped when I purchased A:M less than a year ago. I'll post an example one day, but can't seem to get anything to upload tonight. The rest is just good clean fun. As to why I think the newbie forum still may be the right place: -The Jobs forum looks commercial (this idea is not) -The TaoA:M forum deals with the TaoA:M lessons (this isn't one of them) -A brief review of the quality of work in the WIP forum shows that it looks far removed from the newbie perspective (the postings are outstanding) and I doubt many newbies spend much time there. I thought a little friendly collaboration might be a good way for the beginners among us to transition into the more advanced forums, as a beginner is going to look at the skill displayed in a piece like 'Christmas Rabbit' and feel that it is out of their league. But, if they wanted to be a part of something bigger, a simple contribution like a candycane might be something they could sink their teeth into (bad pun, totally intentional!) -And in the end.... I'm a newbie! So, when the newbie forum reads "A gathering place for new users to learn the ropes", I thought this might be the spot. It was in the spirit of, well, gathering and learning. I surely wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone or the forum if that's how it looked. Have fun, and I'll be back the next time I run into a wall I can't climb on my own!! Glider.

Just for fun, not commercial in any way. Anything uploaded would be free for all to download/ change/ animate eaten by the grinch, etc. More of a 'directed waste of time' The WIP and JOBS posts I see are way over my head and seem more commercially slanted. My objective was a simple free to all skill builder/ thinktank. Glider

The Idea was just a simple extension of the learning that goes on in TAOA:M as so many of the threads in newbie forum go well beyond the exercises in the tutorial. I have recently picked somewhat random tasks that went beyond TAOA:M just to see if I could do them ( A diamond, a working TV set, 'CSI' style medical animations, etc.) and have found it valuable to see the capability of A:M beyond the basics, as well as improving my ability to actualize the final rendering of something that began as a concept in my coconut! TAOA:M shows how to solve all the problems for the individual lessons (which is perfect to get the ball rolling) but once I started to tackle more ambitious challenges I found out that it was in encountering obstacles that I have learned the most. I Figure that, since the holidays are nearly upon us, that I'd pick something seasonal as an A:M 'workout'. And, rather than peppering the forums with questions like 'how would I make the sugar covering for a gumdrop?' or 'How can I make snow with random sparkles that show lens flare?', I'd toss the concept out to any other newbies who had some time and ideas. They may have more interesting questions and solutions than I can come up with on my own. I am just interested to see the kinds of ideas some of the other budding creative minds would throw into the ring and, what obstacle they encountered and how they overcame them. Hopefully in the end, learn something and see what we had for a group of models and scenery. So, I didn't really see it a s a 'job' so much as an excuse to have a little pointless fun and pick up a few tips on the way. The 'WIP' forum seems to be people with a specific problem that need feedback and/or advice. My plan is just to throw open the idea. I have a concept for a gingerbread house, for example, but maybe someone out there would conceptualize it differently and we could learn something by comparing notes, and bask in the greatness of our group achievement later! As long as it's not undermining the newbies concept, I'd be interested in someone's version of a gingerbread house, a reindeer, or whatever else they think would go in a holiday gingerbread village. We could post all the models and then even arrange and render them individually and see what differences result. Animation or still photo, however the spirit moves you! However, if this idea somehow violates the spirit of the Newbies forum, I'll chip away at it on my own and if I get anything complete by the 24th, post a photo. Glider

I was thinking of making a holiday themed animation as a small project and figured I'd open the challenge up to other people learning A:M Here's the simple idea: A Gingerbread village. Here's the rules: Nobody who's got more than 2 years A:M experience. (We'll let them critique it after!) Needs to be done by Dec 24th Everything on theme Capable of being assembled into a project at the end (Same scale) I'll post a gingerbread tree in photo and model. Feel free to modify/ re-scale if you like, but mostly I'm posting it as a starting point. Some ideas: A house (or houses) Snow, Candy cane fences, Ginderbread citizens, ETC. Hope a few of us take it up. I'm looking forward to see what the other beginners can cook up (no pun intended) and sharing their techniques if there's something I haven't learned yet. Glider Gingerbreadtree.mdl

Well, as the person responsible for starting this tangent, I figured I'd write that I solved the problem......sort of: I managed to get it to work as a decal on the TV screen (and subsequently as a light gel which makes for a kind of cool 'drive-in movie' if you use a volumetric light as the source; small demo photo to follow) It must be a quicktime issue as the only way I can make it work is a as a series of TGA images ....as was suggested, with a slight hitch: It seems it has to be converted prior to A:M seeing it. I can import a .mov file, but A:M shows it as a transparent image when it is applied as a decal. I attempted to follow the advice to export it out of A:M from .mov to TGA, JPEG, etc. (in essence, using A:M as my converter) but for some reason it sends it out as a series of purely black images (no detail at all, just black) or other files, purely white (at least it's an equal opportunity error!) I was using this series of (A:M converted) images and trying to get them to animate. No luck. It would seem that I'll need to take a third party converter and change any video I have to a series of individual images, and import the entire series of images into A:M. Tedious, but it gave the end result I was looking for. For now, I am only using my own animations as videos, and have the option of rendering them to file as TGA files in the first place. Anyone got an cleaner method to bring in mass amounts of individual images (lets say, 4 minutes worth at 30 fps?) Now I'm importing them as a series of images, and then loading them one at a time into an individual folder, and seeing my youth pass before my eyes. If anyone has been successful at getting .mov decals to work after simply being applied, I'd love to hear about it. All the advice previously noted that I tried works.....once I get away from quicktime movies. Maybe I need to learn a little more about quicktime, or invest in QT pro? I'm on a mac if that makes any difference. Very interesting solutions posed here, many WELL above my ability at this point but something to shoot for. Now if I can get my A:M to stop needing a hide/unhide to allow some saving functions, I'm on my way!! Grateful and impressed, T.

Hmmm..... I'm rendering something right now but will sort this out as soon as I'm done....... T.

Here's a 2 minute project: I have a simple TV and in the groups I am picking 'screen' and hiding out the rest. I'm then trying to use the 'nutlight' animation and use it as a decal on the screen. As I go to apply it, it is invisible and I can't seem to ever get it up and running. Any help is greatly appreciated.... T. TVTrial.prj

Seem to have tried all that... will post it as a quick and easy project: Simple frame, and simple animation sequence to be added as a decal. I'll whip something up pronto and hopefully one of you can spot my error. As with all of these little problems, once they get under your skin.......... T.

Seems like good advice on both counts, but no luck yet. As for the conversion method: I have converted a short (3 second) animation to jpeg. This leaves me with 90 separate images. Will I need to apply each of these per frame (Holy Time consuming batman!!) As for the pose slider method: I have the animations rendered in quicktime. Were you working with a quicktime file as well? I can't seem to get anything workable so far and followed the instructions (I think). Will keep tinkering or re-trying..... Thanks again, I am continually amazed by the collective skill on this forum. Any good reference books you folks could recommend? T.

I am trying to animate an item that has moving video on it within the animation. Plan 'A' is to have a television in the background. I have tried to use one of my previous animations as a decal. I can import it, I can apply it (although it is a blank image at time of application) and then it's lost. Still shows up in the image folder in the decal area but doesn't show up rendered or in choreography. Ideas? Plan 'B' is to build a movie projector in an animation. Thorough the manuals, It would seem I can just import a video and use it as a light gel, but I am running into the same issue: I can import it to the image file, even adjust/crop etc. But nothing shows up rendered or in a choreography. I have worked on this for a while and may just be misssing something simple. Would appreciate any advice! Thanks in advance. T.

Great catch! Worked like a charm. It also explained why it was an intermittent problem. The program I normally use to create my own decals exported it with that little glitch. The few times I used a different draw/paint utility it worked. A very frustrating problem solved. Thanks a bunch!!

Tried that too... Initially I am completing the model (including decals) before I even begin the choreography. Usually, I'll chip away at the model over a few days, and when it's all done, I'll decal it. Next day, open it up and no decals showing on the model, in choreography, or when rendered to a file for viewing......

I appreciate any advice. I have a feeling it's a simple fix, but here goes: This is a simple model used to illustrate an aircraft instrument (it doesn't matter which model I load, they're all turning out with the same problem.) The decal names are showing up in the model info, but nowhere to be seen.... new to the forum concept so I hope this model shows up! Vor1.mdl

Simple question I'm sure but one that seems to be eluding me...: I am extremely impressed with this software but am having an issue with decal setting onto a model. If I position the decal it sets and looks great. If i save the model for later use, the decals are gone when I re-open the model and I can't figure out why. The file name of the decal still shows in the decals folder, but the image no longer appears on the model. To use the decal in the choreography, I have to first open the model, then open a new choreography, then re-apply the decals individually and then choreograph the production. Not impossible for some simple projects, but mind numbing for the decal heavy animations... Any advice?