markw

Hi Simon, I just got it to work in 17g, though I've not tried it in any other flavors. The numbers are very small and pushed right into the corner, I nearly didn't see them! What A:M version are you using?

That's good news! Keep pushing on, I for one am quite eager to see the finished movie.

I know what you mean Nancy about the way the site initially displays images. After you've clicked on an image and it pops open, have a look in the bottom right corner of it. There's a 'Save' button down there that I found if I click on it the image then opens in a separate Tab of it's own in my web browser (Firefox) which makes comparing images a lot easier.

Hi Mark, I made a new subpage at Gallery called "Hall of Fame" which should suit your needs : http://www.hash.com/am-films-hall-of-fame-36-en Hope you like it See you *Fuchur* YAY

Hi Gerald, On logos; Of the ones you've done there, I like number 11. And of the abbreviated ones, maybe number 13. Although 14 dose have a certain playful charm about it… I also see we have yet another font style! On animation clips; Yes that's the stuff! Showing what A:M can really do in experienced hands!

17g was the last of the v17 run of A:M. All versions have there quirks and bugs but in v17g they didn't get to much in the way of actually doing things. But as each version of 18 came out I found I was getting more and more crashes as well as each having it's own additional quirks/bugs! So as I say, for me, v17g for general working in and then one of the early versions of 18 for stetting up renders, then rendering using Netrender. Do bear in mind that an A:M subscription licence will let you run any version back to v15 I think. The installers are all still available.

The choice of i7 v Xeon in Macs is not as obvious as it may seem sadly. In numerous reviews it has been noted that for single core process a 4 core 3.5 GHz i7 is quicker than a 6 core 3.5GHz Xeon. The Xeons that are in the current Mac Pros are based on an older architecture than the current i7 in a top end iMac. This is because the Xeons have a longer development/testing phase than i7's do so take longer to get to market. Xeons are considered processors suitable for mission critical systems and therefor need to be more reliable under heavy load in the long run. I would try the test again but use Netrender and render out a minimum of 10 frames, the more the better and then compere new computer with old. This will get all your cores to work and is where your new Mac Pro should start to shine, doing long render sessions. If you have a Windows partition on the new Mac, the Windows version of A:M should render quicker than the Mac version which is only a 32bit app still.

Hi Simon For me I found versions of 18 after "b" not worth the hassle of constant crashing. Unless of course there is some specific feature in "f" that you need. Last version of 17 was OK for general working and I was just using 18 for rendering as it has On Screen Ambient Occlusion. Though as you seem to do mostly Toon renders I'm not sure how useful OSAO is to you. Then of course there is the general curse of Mac A:M and Nvidia graphics cards in all versions, namely that of screwing up the display of images used for decals etc… I believe you once said you have a Mac Mini, which from an A:M point of view, is fortuitous as it uses ATI graphics cards if memory serves not Nvidia. Your dialog box problem is, 99% of the time for me, fixed by going to another app and then back to A:M again to wakeup those dormant buttons. Strange that didn't work for you this time?

Not to worry Simon, it hides sometimes! Tools > Options… > Rendering Tab. Set 'Quality' to Realtime' and the 'Show Back Facing Polys' option will become available. Once set to 'OFF' you can put 'Quality ' back to what ever you want and then press 'OK' Can't help but think this option would be better accessed from the Modelling tab…

Well we're getting there Simon! Looking at your sample model I see a lot of patch normals facing the wrong way (plus internal patches within the walls). You could try setting all wall normals to face outwards that might help with the light leaks. When modelling if you have 'Show Back Facing Polys' set to OFF in the Render Dialog Options window, any patches with wrong facing normals will appear see-through, so much easier to catch early on.

Ah, right thanks for your Edit update Nancy. I think I'v found the culprit! Toon With Multiple Lights needs to be selected for it to work properly.

Hi Simon, OK so I downloaded your .prj you just posted and opened it in 18b as well. I set the Toon line thickness to 0.5 (initially it said 1.5) and then did a screen render. That's ALL I did to the .prj. My Render Options are set to use "The Camera". Mine looks very different to yours I'm confused too Am I missing some other Toon render settings that you have going on some place ells? (I've never realy used Toon much so I may have missed something)

I don't know if this is of any help here in this discussion but Emilio has this Windows only Waves/ripples plugin still on his site. Looks quite cool, shame it's Windows only. Oh well… http://www.moscafilms.com.br/emilioleroux/amplugins_wavemachine.html

Hi Simon, Always difficult commenting on shots out of context and in isolation so, as always, feel free to ignore me! As is, there are few visual clues at the start to orientate the viewer. Slight changes in lighting and camera angle could help offset this a bit. Camera angle: If the camera were to be moved up slightly, say a virtual foot or so, the treads of the stairs would be more visible as we look down. As it is you only really see a line going across the screen separating the bottom of the stairs from the top. Being able to see more of the steps will do two things; Improve the sense of perspective, as the treads will narrow as they recede from the viewer Second, the viewer will get more of a sense of the boy's forward motion as he climbs up if we can see his feet touching each tread. Currently it's almost like he were remaining in the same apparent space just getting bigger as his feet go up and down. Our brains of course know what's really going on but that little extra visual push might just help. Lighting: An additional light source in the stairway might be useful so that we know from the very start that we are looking down some stairs to a door. This extra light just needs to be strong enough to let us see, even if dimly, the treads going down and away from us. It could be light from an un-curtained window say. The outside world is seldom absolutely dark. Another possible "cheat" might be to add a 'Light List' to the stairs which would allow you to put a light in there that only illuminates just the actual steps, so they are slightly more visible. When the boy opens the door to enter the hallway the light from the room he is leaving should illuminate all the area at the bottom of the stairs. At the moment it hardly wants to leave the room he is exiting! Also in illuminating the wall opposite where the light switch is, the viewer will almost subconsciously register the switch there and join it up with the boys movement, anticipating what is about to happen. Him turning the light on!

Pleas do Robert. That would be a really interesting companion piece to Nancy's post.

A veritable bargin! How much is a litre of printer ink? My Epson's black cartridge holds 11.5ml, costs 20.16€. That makes 1 litre around 1,753.04€!!!

I like that comparison Robert, nicely put.

Yay, DVD has arrived! It's been said before but worth saying again, you've done some great work with your puppet parodies Thanks Mark.

Ah, forgive me Rodney, I'm guilty of having made an assumption back there. I was think of someone who did want to produce art that maybe could be judged against other established artists. Yes everyone can just scratch lines or even squiggles if they prefer. But in order to communicate a specific idea they need to be able to order their lines and/or squiggles in such a way that the desired meaning is correctly conveyed. But again this requires some form of effort on the part of the person doing the scratching, as several attempts may be needed before they find the best combination of scratches to correctly convey their idea.

Ah, but that's why when placed together with other words they begin to form context. Very true, context is everything! You really notice that when living in a foreign language. As for drawing/painting I think everyone can do it, it's just that in adults often an individuals expectations are conditioned by art made by other more seasoned artists. And when an individuals first works do not meet the level of this other work, the reaction is often, "I can't draw". But what we see today in the work of other artists didn't just happen for them one morning when they picked up a pencil for the first time but is the result of hundreds if not thousands of hours of past work. And this learning, even for experienced artists, never ends. Every finished piece of work is actually just more practice for the next one. Often people do not realise the effort this all takes and think that somehow the process should be easy/fast but mostly it's not. With time and experience it can become easier, faster but there will always be effort required from the one creating. As with any acquired skill, learning from other more experienced partitioners will speed ones own development. But in the end it all comes down to the would be artist actually putting in the hours "doing". There is no way around this.

Tricky things words. Can be slippery as eels sometimes

Afraid so Rodney! First Firefox stopped responding. Then I tried to Force Quit it and that wouldn't work. A browser dialog then dropped down saying a script had failed to complete did I want to wait for it to complete or Cancel it. Well I'd been waiting ages already so I hit 'Cancel' but nothing seemed to happen. I then I tried leaving Firefox and going to Finder but Finder wasn't responding now either. Nothing was! All I could do was move the cursor around. That's when I decided on a forced shutdown. When I'm feeling brave I might try the page again later... Update: So looks like it's that second link you posted Rodney that's the culprit! The first one works and once loaded dose what its supposed to. But that second one is the killer! Just tried it again and sure enough I had to force shutdown once more.

Here's another thought for the website. As well as the fine collection of stills could we have a gallery button that takes the viewer to a small selection of A:M's star animations. After all the software is called 'Animation Master'. Not 'Still Shot of an Environment Master', however fine those shots may be rendered. Isn't animating stuff what the software is really all about.

OUCH! that was painful! Not only did Firefox stop responding but so did the rest of my system. Had to force shutdown the computer! Not sure I'm ready for this real time rendering!

Don't feel bad about life getting in the way of your good intentions Paul. It happens to us all and posting this explanation dose you credit. Like you we all try and fit animating in around the rest of our lives and it can often be next to impossible. I might be able to find some time to help with the links. Though I too don't have vast amounts of time to devote to this, I would like to see this project done. If those of us that submitted clips could all do one link each it shouldn't take too long (ah, those famous last words!) But that decision would be easier to make if we can see what you have in mind. If you would rather not post your ideas for linking the clips here on the forum could you zip them up and PM them to those of us that submitted things. They're such a varied bunch of clips, I'm amazed you can see a way of tying them all together at all!