Paul Forwood

Thanks for the replies, guys. Ah, yes, light lists! I haven't tried them before. I'll read up on the subject and give it a go. I did try the klieg light at various positions and intensities and it wiped the other shadows but I haven't tried adding the light to the model. Maybe that's the way to do it. Vern, I'll feed this guy every hour, on the hour, with coffee and doghnuts and post again when he has filled out to his correct proportions. Yes, he is based on you and is meant as a tribute. He is one of he good guys. A modest hero who fights the dark side with humour, but not always in the way that he intended. I have a storyboard for a simple 2-3 minute animation which I would like to, at least, rough in. We'll see. Thanks again for the tips. Here's the same thing in shaded mode. It really shows up all the faults. Haven't finished the rig properly and there are no textures or decals other than the crest and eyes. I'll give it some time tomorrow. Paul Forwood

Actually the question is open to anyone. I would like to have a strong contrasting shadow cast on the ground but have a light reflecting on the character's face. When I add any light and direct it up from just above the ground plane it removes the shadow on the ground. Can someone suggest the best type of light for this? I have tried all types at various strengths but have yet to find the solution. Any resemblance between this character and anyone we may know is purely coincidental. It is meant to be humourous and is not intended to offend anyone, even if they don't like the English. Paul Forwood

Cool spaceship. I especially like the green lights and the ship itself reminds me of something out of Herge's Tin-Tin. It's got that 40's-50's sci-fi look about it.

Lovely stuff! Thanks for posting this it is inspirational.

Found the link! Interesting. A bit of a mix of Lou Read, Frank Zappa and the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band. Funky bass, John. Have you ever animated anything to your own music? Hope to be there on the 30th. Paul

Go to the Images folder in the PWS. Click the triangle next to your image. If Key Colour is set to black, (default), change it to some other colour. Hope that does it. Paul

Hey, John! I know the Grey Horse well. Haven't been for a couple of years but it's only 15 minutes from me so I will do my best to come down and check out the noise. What kind of music are you guys into?

I agree. I like the subtle use of lines also. Lookin' mighty good!

What I can see looks very good but I think that you may need to calibrate your monitor.

And here is my test for russeling leaves using a decal with a targa sequence. More work to do to add variation of leaves, size and motion. How do you create inline movies here? This is so short, just 8 frames, it would be best to get it to loop when ever the image was visible in the browser.

Here it is, Gregg. You might want to add a few branches, depending on your shots, but if you are just gliding over them it should be okay. Please post a pic when you've built your environment. Happy Trails. Paul

How about this one. It's an 80 patch model which uses layers of patches with a cookie-cut decal on each layer. Renders quick. Tried to build a forest for you but couldn't get the crowd flock to work. Haven't used it before.

She is beautiful! I have always delighted in the creation of faerie folk and this one looks like an enchantress. Please post more as she develops.

Looks good to me! Where exactly is he venue?

Almost any weekend would do for me but it's probably best to give people time to see this post and check their diaries. Some folks have got a life!

Look here: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6804&hl=shirt I don't know if it still applies but Steve is only an email away.

Great news! Count me in for a weekend gathering. Can't wait to meet you guys and exchange thoughts and ideas. Congratulations, John, on your recent competition win and, Parlo, your Kevin character is a real winner! I await a date. Don't forget to contact Steve for your official HASH shirt. Cheers!

Oops. That deadline passed on the 1st.

Hey, Chris, that looks like a really good model. You should have entered it anyway but then again you would probably have knocked mine out of the running. Why not use it now that you've put all that energy into creating it. The current A:M Still Image Contest is on the Fantasy/Sci-Fi theme and you could probably do something with him. I haven't checked the deadline though. Well done anyway.

Hi there, Sam, and all potential London User Group members. I'm sorry to say that I don't have a laptop either so hopefully someone else will be able to help. What I wanted to suggest is that we try to get some idea of what people will be expecting from such a gathering so that we can be prepared. Okay, it would be great to just get a group of like minded A:M artists together to chat but I think if we could try to cover a tutorial or two and maybe some interesting animations to view it would be a start. I haven't been involved with a user group before and would be interested in hearing what people want to get out of it and maybe someone who is involved in a group from elsewhere could shed some light on what you get up to at your gatherings. Any takers?

It has all gone deadly quiet. Oh well, maybe another time? If anyone in the London area is interested in forming an informal A:M User's Group or participating then please speak up. I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Thanks for the suggestions, Jack. I will try them and see what the results are like.

I'm up for it too if I can get back home early enough. I've got to be at Hampton Court for 7:00 p.m. as a good friend is celebrating her 50th birthday. Waterloo is at the end of the line from my place and is only 45 minutes so Southwark is cool. Just need the directions. Paul Forwood

Hi This file is a heavily compressed version of my entry to the April Competition at 10secondclub.com. I missed the deadline due to last minute compression problems. I was taking a 640x320 avi file, (13+ Mb), and attempting to get a 320x240 MPEG-1 file which fell between 1.5Mb and 1.8Mb. In the end I failed. The file shown here has been compressed as follows: 640x480 to 200x180pixels compressed with Sorenson3 at 20%. Audio compressed to 8bit mono using MACE 6:1 The results are not good so I am hoping that one of you wizards out there will be able to offer some advice. What is the best way of creating an MPEG-1 at 320x240 with decent sound and a legible video? Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks. Paul Forwood

Thanks folks! Paul