rusty
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Posts posted by rusty
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Thanks for the replies! Are you both on Windows? I'm wondering why one of you saw it happen in V18 and one didn't. I always 'type in the number' because I
keep the rotator snap at .5--just works better for me. I guess the primitive wizard is faster...old habits die hard. Ah... the wife is calling me...nothing but run,
run, run this time of year. I don't have 18 yet and it is far more important to report the bug in v18...I'm not sure how long they fix bugs in previous versions
or how important they view it. If one of you can make it happen in 18, please report it. Plus, I'm not sure when I'll have time online again.
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Hi,
Please watch the video (link below) and tell me what I'm doing wrong. I need a model of a sphere rotated forward 90 degrees. At the end of the video you'll
see the splines warp??? BTW at the end I hit the space bar several times refreshing so it isn't a refresh error. This the latest version 17.
Thanks,
Rusty
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Hi!
I need to determine the type/status of my AM license and, if needed, the fastest way to make it current.
Also, wanting to do the above today I tried calling you but it seems your old phone number is...well it's acting strange. Do you have a new phone number?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
A customer since 2001,
Rusty Williamson
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But holding shift or ctl while AM is starting doesn't seem to work.
Is there still a way to temporarily start AM with all the default factory settings in place?
thanks,
Rusty
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Thank you John and David... Don't know how I missed it. And sorry I didn't get back sooner--I was sick for a couple of weeks then I went in for rotator cuff surgery then I tore a muscle in my knee which gets more surgery next month. Hot dam I'm falling apart, LOL!!
r
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Hi,
For reasons I can't figure out after days of struggling, a project created and originally rendered in V14g looks way different when rendered in the latest AM version and I just need to change a few seconds of the scene and insert it but it must look the same as the existing video. I should have had a copy of V14c but I must have lost it when I lost a disk a year ago.
I need to find a copy of AM V14g to install to render this scene. I still have the dongle so that won't be a problem. Can anyone help.
Thanks,
Rusty
PS: I looked on the ftp site...if it's there I can't find it.
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Is your display driver up to date?
Pretty sure. I'll check.
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Hi,
I posted this before and we all decided it had to be related to other Windows 8 weirdness but I completely reloaded the OS and all other problems are gone but my notebook is still shit canning me on A:M shortcut keys. My system info is below.
Description: The Navigation tools work when the tool icon is selected but not when the shortcut key is used even though the mouse pointer changes the way it should. As far as I can tell it is only the navigation tools. Everything else works.
Example:
* AM is installed with no customization
* I click on the zoom tool and my pointer changes to a magnifying glass and all works perfect
* I press the z key and my pointer changes to a magnifying glass nothing happens when I drag the mouse or draw a box
The same exact thing happens with the turn, move and zoom fit.
I've tried changing the shortcut key to something else.
I've tried reinstalling the application.
Is anyone else using Windows 8 64bit and not seeing this problem?
Has anyone else had or heard of this problem?
Can anyone think of any trouble-shooting or work around I might try?
Thanks for any help you can give me--this is driving me crazy, LOL.
Rusty
System Info:
Alienware M14xR2
Windows 8 (64bit) SP0
Intel® Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
6 Gb RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Hitachi HTS727550A9E364 7200 RPM 465.8 GB
Sound Blaster Recon3Di
MATSHITADVD+-RW UJ8A7
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Hi my friends (even those sometimes cross with me, lol :-( ),
What has never been demonstrated via a 'mascot' (to my knowledge and so perhaps I'm wrong) is what A:M can do in the photo-realistic arena and perhaps this is purposely avoided for some reason. Although this is all that I do, I'm probably not the best (at least, lol, I hope not!) however 'if' I were in a position to do so, I'd make an entry of this type. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case maybe), I'm in the middle of redoing my facial expression poses and controls plus I have no time right now due to my writing efforts.
Maybe next time (and almost certainly at some point). It would be probably a person in a suit, might be female but it would all depend on which virtual actor looks best. It would not be (at least for several years) a cave man or bikini clad woman as I'm nowhere near doing muscle motion well enough.
BTW, the FANTASTIC amazon (or whatever) woman with the elaborate head dress and giggling breasts and behind (I don't know this superb artist's name) would knock socks off but the skimpiness of her clothes might disqualify her or perhaps she's been used and I missed it during my 'no updates from V14' period.
Can't wait to see the entries! They are always awesome!
Rusty
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You are right. There are only so many hours in a day so you have to set priorities.
Writers have to write and if they don't they won't have any stories to share.
I believe your current trailer as it is suffices for what you set it out to achieve.
Our input here is just meant to answer your request for feedback on where to focus should you redo the trailer.
But let me say that rather than endlessly re-edit where you've already been I believe you'd be much better served to move on to the next priority (whatever that may be). That'd also have the added benefit of giving fans of your stories more cool stuff to experience.
As the Beast that is Caged (Keith) suggested, if you just want to bring the current trailer up to date you can cut out a few of the dated shots and/or unnecessary frames.
Regarding the Trailer: Between my agent (my wife), my proof reader (a professional) and my 'fan' club (family and friends), I reluctantly got them to agree to (or agree to disagree) on not dropping the trailer (i.e. removing it -- I absolutely refused to its part of the fun for me) and making only two changes:
1. nuking the absolutely wrong "Quadology" in the title (not replacing it at all)
2. replacing the "Coming August 2012...To Amazon Kindle" with it with parts of the Kirkus Refiew: ""Fascinating... Action Packed..."--Kirkus" ... "An intense, philosophical sci-fi series!"--Kirkus".
All of your suggestions will be incorporated into book two's trailer.
On other fronts:
* I will reduce my promotional efforts to maintaining my blog and posting the entries or a the press release to one sci-fi site (a different one) each day.
* All other time will go to writing book 2
* I will work a trailer for book 2 but until the final draft is done and being edited/proofed and, whatever the storyboard, it will be done (and released) in three phases: 1-a very short one; 2-a medium one; 3-a full length one (this is so I can stop if I have to with something).
Thanks again!!!!
Rusty
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You guys are awesome! I appreciate all the time and effort. There is a lot there and I mostly agree with everything you've said.
Damn, if only there were more of mes, LOL! I'd assign 1 to making corrections to book 1, 2 to shoring up the book 1 trailer, 3 to taking care of book promotional tasks needed for book 1. 2 more to start beating on publisher and agent's doors, 2 more to kick off the trailer for book 2 and then...I could continue to focus on the most important thingh of all, writing book 2. Oh how stress free I would be!
I need to review all you've pointed out again and I've saved copies in the project folder for book 2's trailer along with a lot of other mistakes I made in book 1's trailer so if I can't get to all of them in book 1's trailer they'll be built into book 2's (and 3 and 4).
I'm under tons of pressure to drop everything but writing book 2.
You guys are awesome! Did I already say that? Well I could say it over and over! Thanks!
Rusty
PS: If I had the money I'd hire people. If I had the time I could focus on promotion...then I might have the money. The fantastic review-- 'completely good' (no downsides)--from Kirkus really knocked me off my feet--no one gets a completely good review from Kirkus, what you do is pick out the good things they say, if any, and use those blurbs. It takes more then all the effort to write any book, more then an outstanding trailer (and writers seeing mine, as is, are absolutely floored {you have to see what others are doing to appreciate this}) and more then actually producing a 'good' book. It even takes more than a publisher getting behind it. It takes all of this plus...people buying it.
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Hi Rodney!
I don't know how to thank you for putting so much time and effort into helping me! Wow dude!
At the moment, lol, I'm nursing 4 hours of non-stop dancing and half a dozen Long Island Ice Teas. I'm seeing double and my ears are still ringing and your fantastic response will need to be read again after several coffees to give it the attention it deserves. I'll be back.
THANKS!
Rusty
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Hi,
I screwed up thinking that the word I wanted was 'Quadology' and my proof reader said she could not verify that this word existed and suggested I use Quadrilogy instead, which I did everywhere. Now I find out that this isn't 'really' a word either and that I should have used Tetralogy.
Crap! I have a lot of changes to make--almost everything!! Including the animated trailer. Since I have to do this I'm asking anyone who will take the time to watch it again and see if there is anything else I should consider. If you are willing to the trailer is at the link below. Unfortunately, my time is limited so I'll have to pick and choose. Some of the things I'm considering outside of changing Quadology and Quadrilogy to Tetralogy are:
* Removing the credits at the end
* Removing the copyright scene at the front
* Redoing or re-tweaking the voice
* Reducing the saturation to make it look more realistic
Comments on these are welcome as well.
The trailer can be seen at
http://www.TheSpiralSlayer.com
or
Thanks,
Rusty
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Do we have any type of measuring tape feature in am aside from Guides and grids.
In other programs you can draw a line between 2 points to measure, thats kind of what im looking for.
Yes--I'm going by memory but if you select a spline (not a CP) and right click there's an option something like Measure Spline and this returns the length of the selected spline in whatever units the program is currently set to.
Hope this helps,
Rusty
Edit: A feature that kind of goes along with this is: when drawing a spline, if you hold down--again from memory--it's either shift or ctl and the spline will snap to 0, 45 and 90 degrees.
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Hot damn!! I must return to this thread!! Stuff's been happening here. I'm been buried in gunk....but its good gunk. Redoing my notebook (reinstalling the OS and all the applications--it's running so nice now)...readying the next release of my book (with corrections, links and an excerpt from book 2)...creating press releases...working on book 2...working on the trailer for book 2...and getting so stressed out that I freeze up and wind up doing absolutely nothing.
But this thread's little effort is important for book 2.
Right now however, my wife wants me to do her so....
until whenever!
Whoops, false alarm. :-(
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Sorry if I was harsh. Hash is not a company that will pay a professional to come in and do things like beginning tutorials (in fact Hash hates the word professional and that's almost a quote from da man). Hash is closer to hobby so it can keep its prices down and I say all this in the kindest way. I just tend to forget this.
Unfortunately I am a horrible teacher and, the reality is, I have no free time right now so, no, I won't and can't offer to do a tutorial. Wish I could (I really do).
Cheers,
Rusty
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Well I see these are not all in place yet but that's okay. The third video--Modeling 1--could have been a whole lot better. I hate to say this but it was a little too difficult to understand due to the person's accent. Also more planning would have helped as the person was lost for words at times, backed himself into corners and stumbled and, did a few things that were not explained and quite likely would have lost a beginner...IMHO. But all and all it was okay.
But, if your going to take the time to do something, especially something like this, you should take the time to do it better then just 'okay'. And you definitely should have someone that does not have an accent that is hard to understand (I would feel bad and quite possibly angry if I had made this tut and someone said those things to me...so let me humbly apologize but...what I'm saying is true).
Let me add that these things are not easy to do. A:M is complex and knowing where to draw the spline (pun intended) can be rough. For myself, it would take a lot of thought and planning to do one of these.
Still, an awesome idea and effort!!
Rusty
I guess that you meant well with your assessment Rusty but that was rude.
I have not seen the videos that you are referring to but I do not have to in order to know that there are more polite and constructive ways to criticize a person's efforts to teach others.
You should be particularly mindful of the way you criticize a person's accent if you really feel that you must criticize it at all.
If you got anything out of the video(s) then a simple "Thank you" would have been sufficient.
Obviously, I disagree. It wasn't rude and was justified IMHO. If someone has thin skin I'm sorry for them but hard to understand is hard to understand. Period. The sky is blue. What do want me to do about it?
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We are operating on the general principle "whatcha get is better than zilch."
Kudos to the community (and especially Steffen, Gerald and Robert) for putting these resources together for us.
v17 was the beginning. Look for more videos as we move into v18.
The basic level of quality has been set.
Now we can all join in and record our own favorite features.
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Well I see these are not all in place yet but that's okay. The third video--Modeling 1--could have been a whole lot better. I hate to say this but it was a little too difficult to understand due to the person's accent. Also more planning would have helped as the person was lost for words at times, backed himself into corners and stumbled and, did a few things that were not explained and quite likely would have lost a beginner...IMHO. But all and all it was okay.
But, if your going to take the time to do something, especially something like this, you should take the time to do it better then just 'okay'. And you definitely should have someone that does not have an accent that is hard to understand (I would feel bad and quite possibly angry if I had made this tut and someone said those things to me...so let me humbly apologize but...what I'm saying is true).
Let me add that these things are not easy to do. A:M is complex and knowing where to draw the spline (pun intended) can be rough. For myself, it would take a lot of thought and planning to do one of these.
Still, an awesome idea and effort!!
Rusty
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Hi!
I guess being an old A:Mer I must have skipped right by the new Introduction Screen and the new beginner videos. I've started watching them--of course, as always it seems, I'm discovering things I didn't know (after 12 years!!) I've only seen one video so far and have discovered that
clicking opens a tools properties. The first subject, Interface and Navigation, seems to have two parts but part 2 won't load. Should I report this somewhere?
Cheers,
Rusty
EDIT: And it seems like the next video tut (modeling) says that that 2nd part that wouldn't load is important, LOL! No one is immune Murphy's Law.
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Is this just for the sake of doing it or are you trying to animate something? What actual result are you trying to achieve? You have your choice of paths (deformable), springs, bones and forces!
Hard to explain...put simply I want to fool around and see if under certain circumstances small areas would seem to expand as gravity from the whole affected the local effects of gravity and also mixed in with this the effects on a void and on groups of voids. It was an idea I had for explaining dark energy.
Thanks!
Rusty
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Newton Physics maybe?
Hmm... maybe. I've never looked at the feature that much but assumed that the 'pull' on objects went with the scene's gravity setting. Can an objects be assigned gravity settings?
I'll have to look at it...as soon as Hash sends me another .lic file. I re-installed the OS on my laptop and when I tried to reinstall AM it said 'activation code already in use'. But it's only been about a week and I've only sent two email requests.
Rusty
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Hi,
Clearly A:M was not designed for anything like this but I was trying to think of some way to place multiple spheres and simulate each one attracting every other one--like planets and gravity, the gravity (attraction) having a fall off. Hell I can't even think of a way to have one object pull on another object!
Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Rusty
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Congrats! Does that give you any kind of purchase with publishers?
LOL, I don't know. I'm trying to find out. I'm not sure what it does for me yet.
Rusty
Happy New Years to all my A:M friends!
in Off Topic
Posted
Hey!
I hope that this finds each and every one of you well and happy!
Things have been totally crazy here in Rustyland. Mostly promoting my 1st book and writing the 2nd book in the series. I updated my A:M made book trailer which has been getting awesome comments and reviews! Check it out here if you like...it's pretty much the same as the first but has a quote from my surprisingly fabulous Kirkius Indie book review up front and the new book cover at the end (book cover while done in Photoshop uses models and images all done in A:M).
Most of my time has been spent on putting together my author's site (I really lucked out and got the URLs for www.RustyWilliamson.com and www.TheSpiralSlayers.com!), blogs and bios. I need to hire a WordPress expert to fix some things that aren't quite working (know anyone?).
I'll be starting on the trailer for book two--the book will be published 6/2014 and I have no idea how I will finish it before then. Anyone want to help?
I see the new version of A:M is out which is exciting--can't wait to try it out.
Have a happy and safe new year's,
Rusty