luckbat

http://www.hash.com/sweeper/

1. The Mac and PC versions of the software are identical. Their renders are identical and their saved files are identical. 2. Use a shared hard drive? That's more of a networking question, really. 3. The A:M CD contains both the Mac version and the PC version. 4. As long as you have the CD, you can download, install and run A:M as often as you like. P.S. "Mac" is short for "Macintosh." There's no reason to use all caps.

There is no Mac version currently. Only Windows.

http://wiki.hash.com/hamr/published/HomePage

Try this tutorial, starting at step 51: http://www.colins-loft.net/new_coop_tutorial/CoopHair.html

How are you getting that terrific range of color on the skin tone?

Could you post a screenshot of the problem? That might help us diagnose it...

The zoom key is 'Z'. If you click and drag the mouse pointer left and right, it zooms in and out. Also, shift-'Z' is zoom-to-fit.

Xtaz, I don't think it's the color set. I'm pretty sure you need a smaller specular size. This makes the surface look more metallic. As Dan Bradbury likes to point out, the best way to have realistic reflections is with an environment map, not with lights.

Not metallic lighting, just lighting. To get the look you want, you'll need to decide what environment/style you want to emulate--Product shot? Daylight? High-contrast?--and then light your model accordingly. You'll likely also want to set the specular intensity & size to something appropriate for this type of metal finish, and maybe add some specular maps to simulate imperfections and smudging.

It looks great, but if you want it to push it further, you'll have to look into metallic texturing (there are some materials on the A:M CD) and lighting.

When you choose a resolution from the list, they're already ranked from smallest to largest. It sounds like you don't really understand what "resolution" means...

Um, $100,000. The people working on it are paid out of Martin's pocket. Not sure I agree with your "recruit people by belittling the TWO project" strategy.

"Volunteer" means no pay, right?

http://www.autofx.com/freeplugins/dreamyphoto.asp?id=12

Absolutely. You can't possibly rely on the GPU-rendered version for your lighting--it's an incredibly crude approximation. You *must* render your set to see what the lighting is going to be like.

With the thumbtack icon.

If you have two processors (or dual-core), and you do two simultaneous renders, then there's no competition for resources. Otherwise, there will be. That said, if you wanted to render a bunch of stuff overnight or while you're at work, the render slowdown wouldn't matter so much, since you'd at least get all your scenes rendered.

So many questions! * Make sure Stride Length is OFF. * You don't green-screen CG renders. You use alpha channels. Greenscreening is only for live-action footage. * You can render multiple scenes at once if you open multiple instances of A:M at once, and set the all to render a different scene. * You may be thinking of multiplane, I'm not sure. Compositing is one of the newer features, and works well.

Well, I can. No one wants to be the only person criticising a well loved piece. It's only after someone brings it up that everyone else can go, "Oh, so I wasn't the only person who noticed that..." Step through the animation frame by frame, if you like. The pupils aren't darting, they're teleporting from side to side. Not even one frame of tweening. It's clearly an artistic decision, and therefore subject to interpretation. Some people here are saying it looks wrong; other people are saying it feels right.

Works for me. The most pivotal animation for my development would probably have been Akira, as it was the first animated feature I'd ever seen that wasn't aimed at 7-year-olds. At the time, I wasn't even aware that sort of thing was allowed. Watching an animation wrestle with such grandiose themes and imagery made me realize that animation could do a lot more than just sell toys. To this day, I still seek out animation that pushes the limits of the medium.

I dunno, some guy. I linked to it in my post, so you can critique it yourself, if you like. [Edit: Whoops. The moderators removed the link and changed it to an underline to confuse people. Not sure why.]

Probably in early October.

Sorry, Joe! Better luck next time. What you missed: 1. The NYNJAs watch a 3d animated spec commercial, and analyze where it all goes wrong. 2. Mike, Gerry and Duke showcase their latest WIPs. 4. Mike gives a tutorial on E-Z targa alpha-channels. 3. The NYNJAs enjoy delicious fresh bagels, pizza and gourmet chocolate.

Yeah, it was a blast! I'll start thinking of fun stuff to do for the next one...