Fuchur

Hi! I made a tradeshow-stall-camera-fly-through for a project at my UAS. Please let me know what you think about it... http://www.patchwork3d.de/ -> work -> animation -> LightWorlds Additional images and infos at http://www.patchwork3d.de -> work -> 3d -> LightWorlds *Fuchur*

Once I lost my work of three weeks too... I hope you will find yours, but if not it will teach you to save in several version... Other tipps: Dont save the models externally from you projectfile, or if you do, save your models in several version too... (more work, but if your projectfile will go corrupt, your model will still be alive...) How I do it: - I save everything embedded in my projectfile. - I save my projectfile with a number (like project_01.prj, project_02.prj) at every major-change... You should do this with every document, file, etc. you will create. I lost several *.docs, *.psds and some other files because of some problems... today even if I loose a file, I always can go back to a slightly older version and I dont have to start all over again. I know that wont help to get rid of your frustration, but this properly will: If you start again with your project (if your motivation is back) than the new project will most likeley have a better result than the old one had. You now know, how to do it or where the problems of the old project were. So make it better this time! *Fuchur*

You should have a look at the UV-editor in A:M, because there are some distortions from applying the decal of the wire... otherwise: nice modell! *Fuchur*

Don't know about that (but I am pretty sure hash will allow you that... I just wanted to stop by and say: Nice looking page... clean and prof looking... *Fuchur*

I think, on a make, most people use Final Cut for cutting their movies, etc. *Fuchur*

You should post this to A:M Reports, if you want an answer... in the WIP-session, this topic is totally wrong... Martin wont expect such a thread in here... *Fuchur*

To help you with finding it, because it is not the easiest search after all: Look into that thread: Thread about Importing/Exporting-Plugins You will find a new obj, dxf and lwo-plugin at Arthur Walasek (hope I wrote it correct)-Website... -> Website As far as I know, you wont be happy with the results, even with the new much better plugin... you will get too many patches, which will make it more difficult to animate, rig, etc. Best way: Stay in A:M and if you want to use another programm for anything else, combine the rendered results in post-production (in A:M or for example AfterEffects or Combustion) *Fuchur*

Just a thought, if you didnt use the force-key-frame-in-all-channels-technique... First: Move all the bones you want to animate at frame 0. After that, go to frame 5 and animate the first arm like you want to. Than, force a keyframe or just move the second arm very slightly. After that, go to keyframe 10 and animate the second arm... A:M will only save the keyframes, if there is a channel where it can save them... by moving the bone, you will automatically create such a channel for the bone... (there are several for the different motion-possibilities...) So, if you just move your arms, legs etc. at keyframe 0 slightly (you can even after you moved the bone bring it exactly to the same position... the channel will be there...) *Fuchur*

Giraffes have legs and bodies. Ooh look! The manual has a tutorial on making a giraffe! In the end you will most often work with 5-point-patches there... but as others suggested before: Have a look at the giraffe-tutorial... that should help alot... Or try to find a way by yourself... that will help you to understand how to modell with splines... I did it that way and it helped me alot... *Fuchur*

-> there is although a "embed all"-feature at the main-navi under EDIT *Fuchur*

You should use Sweeper for that... First you have to make a shape and a spline where the red plant should go along. After that, you should make a modell of the "arms" going away from the main-root and use sweeper again with its duplicator-option... Sweeper is a plugin implemented in A:M since v13. Further Infos *Fuchur*

If you dont know what a polo is, you are properly living in north america... From the VW.com-webpage: "The Polo is one of our most popular foreign models. While it's not available in North America, the Jetta and the Golf are similar to the Polo. You can also get more info on the Polo through the international Volkswagen sites below." -> a bit odd... in germany, the polo is a bit smaller than the golf... Just some background-infos... *Fuchur*

You can specify a folder under options, where the libarys should be located at your hard-drive/cd-rom/dvd-drive.. Did you check if the entry is correct? *Fuchur*

THX a lot! That makes life so much easier... *Fuchur*

Actually I am not a new user(i have been working with A:M since 2000), but the question I want to ask is somehow a newbee-question, so I will ask it here: In the cloth-video-tutorial from hash, I saw and heard about a function called: "select everything attached"... What key is that? I only know the ',' key for the whole spline, but what do i have to push, if I want everything attached? *Fuchur*

Did you use repeat at the decal-setting? What is setted at the star and end-frame of the video at the image? *Fuchur*

Hm... you are using way to many splines... you could use half as many or less and you would get the same result... You should try to avoid CPs and try to model with the curves of splines more... Keep in mind: You cann make a cycle out of 4 CPs... and if you need more, you can insert the CPs where you need them. A good way to avoid high amounts of splines is to use there curve-behaviour and to use hooks when you need a higher resolution at certain parts of you model. I think you made the model by using the lathe-tool, right? you can set the subdivision-level of lath down under options-> modeling... To give you a start. Look at his hair. You could do that hairpart with 2 or 3 intersection. So you have 2 intersections(try to use the bias-handlers...) instead of 5. You will have faster renderingtimes, you can animate your character easier and so on. It is however a pretty nice try for the first time... keep on doing... *Fuchur*

Hm... it is more like a general solution for view-problems, but you could try to start A:M with the shift-key pressed. That wil activate software-rendering and may be some other stuff... Try it and if you get in the options then, you should change your realtime-driver... I cant say, if that will help you, but it is worth a try. *Fuchur*

I like her boobs as they are... more would be definitivly unnatural.... But the string is a good idea... Very nice work! *Fuchur*

I dont know if this has been asked before, but did you find a Director-Plugin (W3C or W3d or something like that is the 3d-format of director) for A:M? Or do you render the images out and use them as stills in director and you dont want to get 3d-formats in director? If you are trying to make a 3d-content-game you should take a look at quest3d, which can import and handle *.x-format. A A:M-Plugin for *.x is available from Obsidan-Games... quest3d is nice, but works in another way than director... Quest3d is available in different version, the cheapest costs about 150 dollars (or something like that) the most expensive one costs about 5.000 dollars. Here is the link: Link to Quest3d-Homepage *Fuchur*

One answer to your problems is this: Anzovin's SetupMachine 2 That will help you to rig your characters... The Modelling has to be done by hand of course... And, as others told you before: A:M doesnt use polygon-box-modelling but Patches+Splines which is more like drawing your character... I used 3ds as well as A:M and I can say: A:M has a much better interface than 3ds has, it is much more easy to handle... I've got first A:M and than had to work with 3ds at work, so i came the other way round than you will... I think you will have to learn the new modelling-techniques, but you wont be sorry that you did learn them when you are through the process... The other question: Polygones -> A:M... that is quite hard job to do... if you anyhow am able to stay in A:M, you really should stay in A:M. There are some freeware-modelling-tools(wings3d, for example) which can produce *.mdls for A:M, but it wont make you very happy... It would be great, if there was any plugin which would for example calculate a spline+patch which could replace several polygones, but as far as i know, there is no plugin which does that. So you will have to handle many polygones, which will be converted to patches, which makes A:M slow(because it wasnt created for so many patches, because you dont need them...) and you sooner or later crazy . Some got good results out of Polygon-models, but most often you will run into difficulties... *Fuchur*

You should think about its "hands"... why not turn his fingers to the inside, like a gorilla would do with his arms to run on them? You properly wanted to create a strange look, but it is after all a bit confusing... *Fuchur*

Very, very cool animation... I enjoyed watching it... the first one is nice because of the music and the general look of it, while I would say that the second is more addicted to a new technology. *Fuchur*

First: look at your reallife-image and see, if you are able to remodell the ground at the video, where you want to show you character. (That will provide a shadow which wouldnt be there otherwise.) Delete the ground-object in your chereography and do your animations. (you should use a rotoscope) After that: go to your renderingsettings an activate the filter "alpha". Now render to TGA-Image-Files. That will give you an imagesequence with an alpha-channel. *Fuchur*