Fuchur

The biggest one is, that you can use the shift-key to add CPs to the selection you already made now. (really annoying that that could not be done before) Another one is, that you can now use the Shift- & CTRL-button (not sure which one) and cut selections of patches in the UV-editor (before you had to do that in an action window...) The changes sound small, but they really can help alot! See you *Fuchur*

Hi! so here it is: Another beginner Tutorial for A:M... PatchWork3d: Beginner Tutorial It is quite large (mp4, about 50 min. 1024px * 604px resolution). Filesize is about 160 MB, but I think it is worth it for a beginner! Let me know what you think. I am covering different things like: - user interface - basic spline / patch principles - some comon questions like: how to connect a shape to an arm > explaining when to use which patches, etc. - what are and when to use hooks - the advantages and disadvantages of peaked vs smooth splines - hooks, lathe, extrusion, copy/flip/attach, a little bit about normals - many many helpful little tipps concering keyboard shortcuts, good practice, etc. And finally we are modelling a spoon in A:M. Hope it will help you to get started with A:M's way of modelling in a better way. See you *Fuchur* PS: It is not my mother tongue so: Please be patient with me

That would be possible... I have 2GB of V-RAM here and 16 GB of RAM, so I should have a quite high amount compared to other with only 256 MB... but it would really eat a lot... I cant see the prop of pixelplucker correctly neighter. See you *Fuchur*

Okay I changed it to "bound to one computer" instead of "software-dongled to one computer". See you *Fuchur*

That is correct. The license is not transportable. Fuchur isn't an employee of Hash, he's just misinformed. I'm not an employee of Hash either, but if you could link me the page that says "hardware dongle" or implies it ( I couldn't find one) I'll encourage them to fix it. interesting... just had a look at wikipedia in english and it seems that u are right. software dongle means a hardware piece by their definition. I often have read the same term to describe a softwarebased copyprotection which is based on a key and / or a string generated by using hardware informations of the computer (mac adress, mainboard identifier, etc.) and using a software to encrypt and see if it is the right one for your computer.. for me the term "hardware dongle" describes for instance an usb stick (=hardware) which is plugged to the computer. in the definition of the english wiki i cant see what a "hardware dongle" is so... an usb stick which needs to be plugged in to run a videocard? anyway what would be the correct term for describing this methode? I am very sorry that my misunderstanding of this terms is causing problems and I will change it as fast as i can if you tell me what would be the right wording. Is it "software keyed" or "software protected" or something like that? For me software defines the method which is used to key / protect something, not the thing that should be protect in this definitions. But if that is just wrong, please let me know. see you *Fuchur* PS: very confusing... if I say something is red-sided I dont mean that red is "sided" or something like that but that the thing (for instance a cube) this is refering to has a red side. Or am I wrong? So for me, software dongles means, that something is "dongled" / "keyed" with a software (protection...) Sorry again if this has confused people... as soon as a I have a better solution, I'll change that on the website. I never intended to confuse or imply something different than A:M has to offer.

I am not sure... it may have been created in an alpha-state, but I resaved it recently with the newest v17... I thought that it would be an AMD vs Nvidia thing... but if it is working with this project, I dont see why it should not work with the other... Maybe it has something to do with the OBJ? Possible Normals which are saved with the obj or not or something like that? See you *Fuchur* Just tried it with your file and had the same problems. I would suggest to use the obj in wireframe and the patchmodel in shaded-wireframe... that way it should be doable. Anyway this could be a good thing for an A:M report... steffen may be able to see what the difference between our files / projects / whaterver is and may be able to solve the thing that is causing this. I'll write a report. See you *Fuchur*

I am not sure... it may have been created in an alpha-state, but I resaved it recently with the newest v17... I thought that it would be an AMD vs Nvidia thing... but if it is working with this project, I dont see why it should not work with the other... Maybe it has something to do with the OBJ? Possible Normals which are saved with the obj or not or something like that? See you *Fuchur*

Hi both, I attached a sample-project of mine. Please see the project and the model and let me know if it is working for you. In there are 3 screenshots of my realtime-views of the chor. Lets see if that looks totally different for you. See you *Fuchur* PS: @Nancy: You need to be careful and know what you are doing. Otherwise it won't work properly, but for me it is no big trouble working with SnapToSurface. It works 99% of the time as I expect it to work... sometimes I need to move the CP I created a gain because it did not snap to the surface for the first time, but it is really very rare that that happens and after moving it a little bit it always works. retopology.zip

A:M 64bit only uses Direct3d (not DirectX) to display stuff. I think it has to do with some dll-librarys which are not available for 64bit which are used by A:M. See you *Fuchur

I have a new PowerColor PCS+ HD7850 2GB GDDR5 based on the ATI/AMD Radeon HD7850. (quite new and good gaming-card) Before I used a AMD/ATI HD 4870 1GB. See you *Fuchur*

one thing u can do is to increase the cp size for cps. *Fuchur* PS: To get this sorted out I think you need to talk to Steffen... I am no longer experiencing this problem. It is in fact better for me than ever before... just tried another retoplogy and it looks great. Transparency is fully okay, etc.

No, but it is easier to work with it that way. See my tutorial on my website about Retoplogy for the process: Retopology-Tool See you *Fuchur*

This is a problem I reported which might be related: A:M Report I had this problems too before, but I am now using another graphiccard (newer generation, to be specific a ATI Radeon HD7850) and since than it is gone. Is there a driver update you can install? See you *Fuchur*

Hi Elm, As far as I understand it (please correct my if I am wrong Jason) there are two version available: - A:M Subscription for 1 year ($79.99) - Never expiring version ($299.00) Both are download-products today. (only manual + ExtraDVD can be selected to be shipped with the never expiring version). Both are software-dongled to one computer per license. > Infos on hash.com: A:M Versions See you *Fuchur*

I can't see the patches that are co-planer to the obj file. You can see where they clip out as well as the settings on the side which seems to have no affect. I'm thinking it's my vid card. I am thinking this is a limitation of realtimeviews in A:M / the version of OpenGL A:M is using. See you *Fuchur*

This is comon. I just use the hybrid realtimerendering for that and make the underlying object wireframed and the new object shaded-fireframe or only shaded. See you *Fuchur*

You have activated "Render to file" > "Output" > "Buffers" > "Apply camera's PostEffects to renderings", right? See you *Fuchur* PS: Just tried a Tint-Posteffect with Cobalt-Style and it worked as it should.

Would it not be possible to just delete the texture-files? Like that you just have to click cancel several times and it should be done, right? See you *Fuchur*

Is there a horizontal scrollbar or something like that? My Windows-Version does show those icons where they should be. See you *Fuchur*

Have a look at my signature... Video-Tutorials on exactly that subject. See you *Fuchur*

I like her alot Steve! She really gives the impression of being female in her looks and the pose and so on. Nicely done! Keep on working on her! See you *Fuchur*

There are several plugins for that. Two can be used in the modellingwindow and two in the chor: a.) "Multiple copies / Multiple import" > Chor b.) "Duplicator" > Modelling window c.) "Simple Scatter" > Chor d.) "Sweeper" > Modelling window ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Advantages and disadvantages: for a.): Pro: This can be used with a much heavier patch-count, since the chor can handle many many times more patches than a single model without massive slowdown. Con: It is often harder to manipulate the position of many 100 models etc. afterwards in the chor. For me the modelling window is easier in this direction. for b.): Pro: Everything in one model, so you can use it as you are very likely more used too. Con: At some time you will hit the patch-limit for one modellingwindow (depending on your hardware and the software itself, will hit in at about 20-30k per model). for c.): Pro: Same as a.) BUT with a more random approach. Con: Same as a.). for d.): Pro: see b.) + mode controlable approach because you can for instance use an spline to place the copies on automatically. Con: At some time you will hit the patch-limit for one modellingwindow (depending on your hardware and the software itself, will hit in at about 20-30k per model). ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Basicly both are used more or less them same. How to use them: for a.): 1.) Create the model you want to be repeated. 2.) Drag and Drop it into a chor. 3.) RightClick on the model and choose "Plugins > Wizards > Multiple copies". 4.) Set in how many instances you want to create and how far the instances will be place away from eachother. > Good for very repeative structures (like for instance a roof) for b.): 1.) Create the model you want to duplicate. 2.) Stay in the modelling-window, select the CPs of the model to be duplicated. 3.) RightClick on the selected group of CPs and choose "Plugins > Wizards > Duplicator". 4.) Set in how many instances you want to create and how far the instances will be place away from eachother. > Good for very repeative structures (like for instance a roof) for c.): 1.) Create the model you want to duplicate. 2.) Drag and Drop it into a chor. 3.) RightClick on the model and choose "Plugins > Wizards > Simple Scatter". 4.) You will be asked for a model you want to place the copies on. For instance you can choose the ground here or any other model. A:M will place the newly created instances on the surface of the model (quite randomly) > Good for creating for instance a wood of trees. for d.): 1.) Create the model you want to duplicate and create a group containing the structur you want to duplicate. 2.) Create another spline which will be used as a path in your modellingwindow. Make a group with only this path in it. (this will be used to define where the duplicated group will be place at.) 3.) RightClick on the model and choose "Plugins > Wizards > Sweeper". 4.) At operation select "Duplicate". 5.) Select the group you want to be duplicated. 6.) Tell it whether you want to use a specific distance to create your duplications (Final + degrees) or if you want it to create a model at every CP you have placed in your path-group (Each step). You can tell it to use regular steps to create a specific amount of models here too. Hope this gives a good overview and that it helps! See you *Fuchur* > Good for creating for instance a wood of trees.

Snap To Surface... this is one of the greatest new features... dont forget it! See you *Fuchur*

In the end you are not forced to buy those tutorials... I never ever read many tutorials of A:M or splines and I never even complete the TAO itself. I just found out by trial and error, because this is the way I can learn best. Barrys tutorials are great, but you dont need them to learn patches. Even if you have run into trouble, it is very unlikely that you run into that very often and the good thing about this learning-method is: You really learn... you are not just a repeater, but a understanding person... Barry is not employed at hash, nor is he connected to Hash in any form other than that he has been using A:M for years. His tutorials are out of questions very good. They are all worth $5 (some of them are even cheaper). I'll see if I will do a tutorial on basic splining... but I am not sure when I will complete them. Anybody know where the "Basic Splinemanship"-tutorials are found at today? See you *Fuchur*

... dont want to be picky here, but you got my name totally wrong on the blog-entry. It is not "Gerald Gum Zhar" (the fun thing: I actually like that better than my real name ) but "Gerald Zum Gahr"... See you *Fuchur*