John Bigboote

There is not a 'Render Queue' in the 'After Effects' sense... but there you can run multiple instances of A:M to 'chugg' while you 'glugg'. Remember to disable any 'sleep mode' or power savers in your OS...

Could you do a Youtube search to post a link to the effect from Star Trek? Might help. You also might gather a further field of response by taking the extra 10 seconds to use punctuation, capital letters where warranted and a spell-checker. Many of our more helpful users hail from the UK- where proper use of English language is both appreciated and mandated. Unless you are 'texting'...then- good job!

Ditto Rob--- The BEST way to find a model is right here on the forum... If people have something you need, they may be happy to share it with you. They may also know where you can find one, or even buy one. There is a data DVD available for purchase with a LOT of usefull projects, materials, models props and characters.... WELCOME!

Suh-thweet! I'd like to see the wires on that rim...looks like a difficult job well done.

WOW! Thanks for your input and illustration, Rodger! What software/process do you use to derive your NORMAL and BUMP mattes from A:M models?

Rob- Yeah...that's a weird thing about him. He was initially designed in 1928 when, I guess, white tires were big.

I see shadows are on...were reflections or particles? (Is that grass particle grass?) It should not take that long at all. Is the computer old? Were you multi-tasking too much? strange.

Hey Hasher's- Just sharing some of my recent work done using this remarkable program. My Belle Tire client was going to use a photo(attached) of the new store in Jackson, MI... but the photo just didn't have much 'oomph'. SO- she asked if I could recreate it in 3D, and while at it...add the 'Tireman' character and titles. These are the 'bookends' (animation at the head and tail of the TV commercial.) GrandOpeningTEST1.mov GrandOpeningTEST2.mov

I think that is a fair assessment.

Nice and succinct, as always- Thanks Will! I like CrazyBump...and the price is right...and they call humans 'puny' (Hulk SMASH!) So it can't be all that bad. I've got to get aboard the 'Normal' train...

Million Dollar Question! If they actually raised and lowered the geometry, like a displacement...they would be golden. From the examples in that other thread it appears that they do not, but DO in Maya...great. A bump is so simple to create and implement and gives great effect -other than that it leaves the actual SHAPE of the underlying geometry smooth/flat. I would love if somebody could expound the virtues of the normal map (which has nothing to do with normals?) for me and Masterfunk.

Is that multipass DOF or non-MP...? They are entirely different. The non-multipass is good in a pinch, but for the best DOF effect turn MP ON and use 9-16 passes.(It gets better and better with more passes...)

Yup, I'm showing my age (45) I was there at the start of all the games, the Magnavox2, the Atari 2600, the Mattel Intellivision (I used to demonstrate and sell these at an appliance store.) Then, the Coleco, the Atari5200, Mario... spent countless hours on all that stuff... DOOM was great, we would spend many an entire weekend over my original PC playing and trying to beat it...golf, Leisure Suit Larry-then DOOM2... But then, all the subsequent games sort of changed into 'variations of DOOM' (first person shooter) all the incredible originality of those early years melded away to reskinned 'shoot-em-ups'... it sort of reminded me of the first game we had when I was 12 (1974) where it was called 'PONG' on the original Magnavox Oddyssey.... you could play PONG, but if you wanted to play TENNIS, there was a clear sheet you stuck to the screen (using static electricity) and now you were playing PONG under a tennis 'skin'. Oh yeah- there was also SOCCER and FOOTBALL (PONG, under different lines) As you could imagine, it got old QUICK. I had a PS1 that I used maybe 30 times, and now a PS2 that we've used maybe half as much...Dance Dance Revolution....Yawn-Yawn- Convolution! If I want to dance I'll go out to a bar where a kickin rock band is playing, get a little whiskey in my veins and dance with some 'hotties'... or better yet, my Dawn. When A:M came along in my life...it became my game of choice. I'm real happy to see all these young kids getting hi-pay jobs in the gaming industry- but in my opinion, they are making better and better skins for DOOM...yawn! I've programmed and done the animation for FLASH web games...that was FUN... I have big hopes for the A:M realtime engine that 'is' in developement, but have learned not to hold my breath. I haven't tried a WII yet...maybe that will change my perspective and get me to stop playing 'Hash'. I hope not... I'm not a gamer no more- I have a life instead.

"Lucy---You got some spline-in to do!" (Joke in reference to an old back-n-white TV show from the 1950's called 'I Love Lucy' starring Lucille Ball. She would always upset her Cuban husband, Ricky Ricardo- who would extol "Lucy, you got some splainin' to do".) I figure that if I am too old to know what a 'Master Chief' is, your prolly too young to know old TV quotes...

If that ground plane is flat...make sure it's CP's are peaked.

Whooaaa, Thom!

Wow Rob--- It's Saturday night and I have a buzz...but I can't wait to look at how you did that more in depth...maybe over morning coffee- THAT LOOKS GREAT!

Rigging dilemmas! Did you check to see if there was a pose with the model that would turn ON constraints? There probably is not though... you WILL be experimenting then. Look for the old octopus tentacle rigging tutorial called 'Bendy Legs'- that shows how to use orient-like and constrain-to constraints to get a forward kinematic sort of chain where you grab the last bone and pull and the others follow. You will also want to experiment with the dynamic-constraint so do some research on that as well... I know you can get nice 'dangly' response using it, but you will want more control. You may also want to consider ditching the bones and try using the new SimCloth feature... Sorry- no automatic answers...perhaps other Hasher's will though.

Here's one I did, for reference or for keeps... you kinda needa thinka outta boxxa... beach_ball.mdl

WOW! Great stuff! That looks like you put a LOT of time into it! Can't wait to see the finished product!

In the chor, just telling A:M 'my character starts walking HERE and ends walking HERE' is not going to be enough. You will get 'slip-N-slide' action. Because your walk cycle is non-conforming to minimal keyframes, use more keyframes! You will need to 'eyeball' your characters progress along the ground plane, and use the graph editor for the keyframes as well.

Rob- I think Steve is saying he is 'using displacement maps AS hair'... not 'ON hair'... right Steve?

MEAN!

Those bones are not animation control bones...you don't particularly need to see them. If all the bones were visible the rig would be quite formidable. The control bones can be found in the hands, feet, pelvis, chest and head. One thing I like about the Hash rigs is that they give you a nice fat NULL at each of the limbs that is easy to grab and drag... in TSM2 you need to 'find' the control bones with a little effort, but once you get used to it... Here's my typical method... after installing a TSM2 rig in a character, I'll make a new pose called MY CONSTRAINTS and add all the intermediaries and cogs and what-nots (eye aimer nulls)that I want... THEN, I'll make another pose called ANIMATE READY and in this master pose I'll turn ON the TSM2 rig, turn ON my constraints, customize the TSM2 by switching to forward kinematics for the arms (my preference) turn ON the knee controllers for both legs, set the TSM2's leg, arm and spine stretch controllers where I typically want them... and then finally I'll pose the character in a more natural and comfortable pose rather than the 'T' pose I modelled it in(legs more together, arms down by the sides in a 'standing' pose, fingers slightly cupped...). Now, when I bring the character into a choreography or action to commence an animation I just need to turn that one ANIMATE READY pose to ON and I am ready to go.

AND- When you say 'maybe a cinema spot' are you talking about one of those ads you see at the cinema for local businesses? That would be cool! It's digital-projected at a hi-resolution, right?