southpawami

I was wondering if a steam version was planned. Installing steam and auto installing all my software is like a delicious plate of fluffy pancakes. And... Windows 8.1... seems to want all software reinstalled. I've got curvy3d and allegorithmic software on steam too.

Found that the 10 bit option on my workstation card prevents A:M from causing windows 7 basic color. A:M had a bit of a redraw problem in 10 bit color mode, but nothing too crazy. Adobe flash however, hates 10 bit with passion, allowing this user to enjoy a wonderful kernel crash in a consistent sort of fashion. My wife and I's baby girl is doing great, and we are certainly getting used to being parents.

Typing from the hospital... my wife and I just received a new baby from God... totally awesome. The license file was sent, and it works great. Anywho... the forced color change was fixed somehow. I downloaded the current version that linked from the page you download Animation Master when purchasing. I started the 30 bit color before installing Animation Master 64, and there's been no forced change since this last install. Not sure what the difference was or is, but it sure stresses me a whole lot less.

Robcat... um.. no. Wish there was a pop up message at installation that said copy this license file to your external backup. Will remember this, though. Fuchur... followed directions exactly. had to search how to copy the mark. Thank you. Didn't send anything besides the number, this time, not even the pdf of the receipt. Hope it works out.

I don't think there's an alpha channel for sound. Or is there? Sound card claims may have even more marketing wizardry at work than graphics card claims. I see Audacity offers 16-bit integer, 24-bit integer and 32-bit Float as options. Agreed... sound card claims are crazy. Though in sound software, I gotta give it to Sound Forge Pro for having the coolest spectrograms ever. -- Upgraded to an SSD. Reformatted my drive first to see what happened. Animation Master didn't work. No surprise. Sent a support email with pdf of my receipt to support at hash dot com or whatever the email was that comes up when you type in the code for validation. No response. The quickest rental period I've ever had... lol. No seriously, this has got to be fixed.

You're right. I was wrong. 32 bit color must be 24 bit color with alpha. The ATI catalyst driver for my ATI Firepro equates 24 color as 8 bit color(as it is 3 channels of 8bit). The ATI catalyst driver has a 10 bit option to be used instead of 8 bit. This 10 bit option would be 30 bit color, 3 channels of 10 bit. And logically, I think we'd both have to conclude that a claim of 40 bit color is 3 channels of 10 bit plus alpha. If there is any logic to this 64 bit claim you speak of from Adobe, then I guess that would mean that the latest Photoshop programming is technically capable of handling 16 bit color(3 channels of 16 bit plus alpha), or 48 bit color. Wiki says: "The HDMI 1.3 specification defines bit depths of 30 bits (1.073 billion colors), 36 bits (68.71 billion colors), and 48 bits (281.5 trillion colors).[7] [7] http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/kb.aspx?c=3 HDMI Licensing, LLC.. 2006-11-10" (I suppose this would mean defining proper color counts for 10 bit, 12 bit, and 16 bit color of 3 channels each.) So... that means Adobe Photoshop is technically capable of handling 281.5 trillion colors... sheesh. Which, I suppose this means that Photoshop retains the color information from a 48 bit scan correctly. Then this 64 bit color claim just doesn't sound so glamorous... (The current Sony Sound Forge makes a 64 bit sound claim... does that mean it's really 48 bit sound?) Your also right on displays. External 30 bit displays are slim pickings. Out of 332 monitors, newegg.com has 12 that are 30 bit. Out of these 12, ten of those claim they meet this new 1.07 standard for 10 bit. And they ain't cheap. All that said... I'm on the low end of this new standard. Just 10 bits. And enabling that breaks lots of 3rd party programs. And yes, I didn't pay for the internal Dreamcolor display on my laptop(it was expensive, and the card itself still outputs 30bit color through the DisplayPort.), so when I enable 10 bits, the card is calculating the numbers, but the display is faking it. That said, for whatever reason, it still looks a lot better when that option is enabled then when it isn't. Couldn't rely on it for color values though.

Thank you everyone for all of your replies, you've been really helpful and quick. I appreciate that. My Tally :-D; Answered: OpenCL... still being tested Answered: Windows visual appeareance lessened is not disabling the actual color available to programs Answered: Preventing Windows visual appearance from changing causes redraw problems (on wireframe or rendering?) not so much: If SSD upgrade made on the same computer, will the AM key work? not so much: If 10bit output (1.07 billion color) enabled, will AM crash like Adobe Flash Player does? ... I think I'll test this ...

Thank you. That's very helpful. I didn't realize that windows was using 24bit for aero, and that even when aero was disabled in advanced system settings it was essentially still present. My card doesn't have 24 bit color option, though... it's 32 bit. Although enabling 10 bit color through catalyst wreaks havoc on a lot of programs working happily. Actually... that 10 bit color option gave me kernel crashes with flash player... it was quite troubling till I'll figured it out.

mmm... yea... can't love the basic colors. I used to change 16bit to 24bit color years ago. Now, it's 32bit, and there's a difference, there really is. How do I fix it? I know it may cause problems, but if AM causes 16bit and I'm working on a college project in autodesk/inventor, I have to close AM, I simply don't see how I'll be able to multitask in this way. Also, if I upgrade to an SSD, will the activation number I received when I payed for AM no longer work?

I did an annual purchase of AM a few days ago. AM seems nice, was very happy to see the 3d connexion option, though every time I start AM the Windows Colors drops to the limited Windows 7 Basic palette. It's rather disappointing, as the windows 7 basic color palette looks ugly compared to the other palette. Does any know when this will probably get fixed? Also, what are the current rumors on OpenCL rendering?

Ah... Avast Pro Antivirus stops the connection. Right click avast, select avast shields control, select Disable for 10 minutes.

Same... doesn't work. Same error message. And incidentally, caused ATI Firepro 7820m to change to simple color setting.

Well, I've been thinking about it. I'm still thinking about it. If I go A:M, I'd definitely be looking toward a sub 100 dollar cross program for collada. UU3D, AC3D, wings3d, and Shade12basic are among the options I suppose. Still thinking about it. And yes, the people here have been incredibly helpful. I've also decided I can't afford the 2800 commercial option of Houdini... so... A:M with a friend seems my best 3d option.

Nope... just paranoid... lol. My laptop seems to run around 45 to 50 celsius, so when Houdini renders and 58 celsius it tops, I'm happy. I tried Shade 12 pro, it was an absolute dream in formats compatibility, had everyone of them in the book, but when I applied textures and rendered, my temps jumped to 71+ celsius and it scared the tar out of me. Of course, blue mars hit 81, *cough*, so I don't run it much. As high as I've seen the temps though, seems like the temps can get pretty high without issue... still worried, though... (it's still new.. *blows on it, and buffs the wax again*) Houdini Escape is Houdini for modeling, animating, and compositing. It's got the full import/export format list, toolsets for modeling, rigging, biped/quadraped auto rigging, lights, hair/fur, but no tools for fluid/fire/smoke physics types of things. Houdini Escape runs $2000 which is somewhat difficult to chew.(A subscription for annual updates runs at least $800 more). So, yes... while the free version has been fantastic, the price keeps getting to me. Fun? 3D modelers can be fun? wait... you're kidding right? I mean, moi, swift3d, and sketchup are fun, but that's a slim number compared to everything I've tried so far. I'm still debating it, got just about a month to finalize the decisions, and it's true... $80 doesn't seem like much. It's just 3D painting program... and the facial program add another $220 to that. Still way cheaper by comparison. You really make it sound quite complete by itself. Decisions, decisions.

If A:M's rendering speed has been keeping up with Maya, that's awesome. I appreciate this information, as besides speed, GPU rendering is so attractive because it keeps my CPU temps lower in my laptop.

So true. They say an i7 laptop is equal to an i3 desktop. And my m7820 with OpenCL 1.0 was awesome until OpenCL 1.1. "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment," contentment... ya... that's a hard one. faster processor, tighter pixels, better sound... lol, is there an annual upgrade deal on computers?

Oh wow, you got me excited. GPU rendering on OpenCL? Wow!!! I've got an ATI Firepro m7820 and it's a monster when used by programs(sighs..) I tried the newest Sony Vegas Pro with the OpenCL programming and it's insanely fast. As far as Houdini, it's an anomaly in 3D. It's Firepro's and Quadro's only, so it's the only GPU rendering 3D modeling app I can use with my ATI Firepro right now. The temps from Houdini are incredible also. Basically, it means for me, Houdini is required for 3D options. If A:M goes GPU rendering with OpenCL, and figures a way to keep the temps bearable, it's a must have, for sure. I am eagerly waiting for that update. And no adjustments sounds similar to the bitmap/vector argument. It does sound very cool. Well, this is awesome. I might even get a subscription in a month or two based on this news.

I posted earlier that I haven't been yet able to try this software, so I have silly questions. I do hope I'm not testing any of your patience. I'm guessing there is a lot to animation, more than I'm aware of, and perhaps rendering is the least of it. I'm looking at A:M and Houdini Escape as options, and with a workstation ATI card in my laptop, Houdini renders faster than the other software I've tried(GPU rendering). Yet... A:M's TAO technical manual says that the patch exports take under a hundred patches and turn into thousands on a single character. Does this patch modeling and painting make rendering any faster? My processor is only an i5 in my laptop and from what I've seen so far... an i5 is not desired with CPU rendering. Is A:M any different from other software in rendering due to the patches? Thank you for your help. p.s. i run hwinfo64 on my laptop to see temps... and since it's a laptop, cpu render temps of 71 to 81 celsius (159.8 to 177.8 fahrenheit) are scary to me. could be just paranoid though, who knows.

First off... I'm new to making 3D things. Classes in 3D start in the fall, and I spent a bit of the summer trying every trial available to me. Including, Maya, 3ds max, Shade12, Wings, blender, ProjectMessiah, Modo, Milkshape, Moment Of Inspiration, AC3D, Silo, Hexagon, SketchUp, Houdini... and probably some others I don't remember. I don't know of a trial for Animation Master so that's why I'm asking this silly question... and maybe perhaps making a feature suggestion for a future update. I've noticed Collada import and export is now in blender, wings, mirye shade, google sketchup, sidefx houdini, and luxology modo for sure. Is Collada import and export in Animation Master? And if not, will it be in the near future? Thank you for your help.