MMZ_TimeLord

I could not tell you about the distortion without seeing a shaded wireframe capture.

Someone turn on a light... I can't see the model on my expensive laptop's crappy screen. I aggree about the lighting. Yves had a point on this in one of the radiosity or Ambiant Occlusion tutorials. Gamma correct the picture to 1.4 (I think Yves said that). This is closer to what the gamma should be for our 'messed up' screens.

I have seen this before as well, but I'm not sure what the circumstances have to be to prevent you from making two 5 point patches that touch each other. Anyone have a clue why this happens?

EDIT from my above post: Actually looking at my A:M report, it has not been labled as fixed in Alpha 10, it was a different bug.

If you built your dynamics in Alpha 9, then it could be that the file you saved from there was 'broke' in the first place. There was an error with dynamic constraints not being created properly with Alpha 9. The bug was reported by me and fixed in Alpha 10. I had tried to change settings in Alpha 9 on the drawbridge dynamic chain I had and it broke the constraint functionality. I tried to create a brand new chain in Alpha 9 and it broke the constraint functionality. When I imported a pre-Alpha 9 model with working dynamic constraints, it didn't break as long as I didn't try and change any settings in the dynamic constraints. The constraints on my drawbridge chains work just fine in Alpha 10. EDIT: Actually looking at my A:M report, it has not been labled as fixed in Alpha 10, it was a different bug.

Wonderful job as always Serg! Very efficient model (patch wise). Good references for future projects. Love to see her in a clip too... when you have 'spare' time.

Short answer, no. You did purchase A:M 2006 though. Here's the long answer. The CD has the Yeti on it and is the A:M 2006 CD required to run the software through version 13. Version 13 is in alpha right now and you should get the next alpha version as they are only operational for 60 or 90 days. Also, any models from previous versions will be saved in a different format under version 13. If you are a new user, wait for V13 to be officially released. Hope that clears up some stuff for you. P.S. - The box art is old because they probably didn't have the new ones ready yet. Feel lucky, I only got the CD and manual with my 2006 subscription.

Cory, Switch to quicktime using sorensen 3 compression and your artifacts will disappear. The color artifacts are a result of the codec you are using and the windows media player. (DivX) The other option is to use a different type of codec with your AVI. I really like the animation, tweaks aside, it shows a lot of energy. Great Job!

Excellent start Epoch! now it just needs those tiny feet!

You would have to post a picture of my model window in bones mode vs. yours... I'm not quite getting what you are describing. It sounds like our bulb models and bone sizes are different scales, is that right?

Technodandy, There are two lights in my bulb, so you can delete the lights in yours and just drag the bones from mine to yours. In the choreography on your lightbulb model, you can select the 'show more than drivers' icon and select light2 from the model and create a new 'Aim at' constraint to target the camera. The light settings should be okay... I don't think I fiddled with the camera at all. Let me know here if you are stuck.

Unfortunately if the bulb is by itself, you will not see what is affected in the model window. However, if you place it near something in the model window, you should see it on a quick render. This is how it would look in the choreography when placed on the default 'ground' model. [attachmentid=15120] I played around with the lens flare settings and a single klieg light constrained to aim at the camera in the choreography. You could also turn it into a bulb so it wouldn't have to be aimed. I'll upload the project... this is what it renders. [attachmentid=15121] I hope that helps you some... I guess it wasn't as simple as I thought... never tested it until now. TestLightBulb.zip

Very nice Colin!!! Excellent spline usage!...

in skeletal mode, you add the light and make it's starting diameter just bigger than the bulb surface itself. Then, you should probably apply ambiance to the surface of the bulb so it will glow. You could even make a pose with the ambiance and light on and off so you could control it in the choreography later. Hope that helps... give a shout if you want me to make an example.

My boss and I could not stop laughing... we had to play it over and over... and over... etc. We also viewed the high res version on the MMC. Excellent work!

WOW!... /me falls over...

In other words... render the same animation, but in the render dialog whree the animation range settings are, there is a 'step' option you just change the step from 1 to 3. This will make it render every third frame. (wasn't sure if most folks knew that.)

Nicely done! Can't wait to see more from you!

Excellent mike... was he looking to see if anyone was watching?

"The Art of Animation:Master" ("TAoA:M") is the booklet that comes with your software. It has the lessons in book form. In the new user forum, there is a thread named The Art of Animation:Master strangely enough. The first post of that thread is a list of all the lessons. Almost all the lessons have a video tutorial to go with it. These are priceless if you ask me. I just received my copy of the Animator's Survival Kit yesterday... WOW, there's a LOT in there I need to absorb! You can always get help here in the forums. Just try to get through the "TAoA:M" lessons first. If you have a problem with a particular lesson, post the question in the thread for that lesson's certification. Last, but not least, DON'T GIVE UP! If you are frustrated, put it down for a while, take a break and come back and try again later.

That's some beautiful armor there Jeff! Glad to be of help... I'll find a way for you to repay me someday...

Mike, Excellent animation. I would probably say a little anticipation too, but since you won't be updating it... BTW... I still refer back to the tutorials I bought from you... thanks again for a wonderful product!

Zaryin, Had to rip a lot of things out to get it to load, but I got you your mesh back. I think there was an error in the groups, but without trimming out individual groups I couldn't tell you. Here is the mesh back.. V12. Armor_Shoulder05.txt

Wonderful work John... always nice to see your stuff.

Way better.... yeah, a hint of the ribcage and torso side musclulature and some shoulder tweaks and you'll be done... Great job!