John Bigboote

I've always admired those quick-sketch artists...but also wondered what kind of 'clone' school do they go to where everyone learns to draw the same way- it's kinda spooky! I think this style will translate well into an A:M character, I await the progress reports!

Seems like you want to 'nest' compositions... (put one inside the 'nuther) This is a common practice and extremely useful in (dare I say) AE... I'm away from A:M at the moment, but it seems you would want to setup your 1st chor (lets say, the table and chairs) and delete the camera and lights and save the choreography. Now in the 2nd comp (or even a different project) make a new chor and IMPORT the 1st chor. Here, you can make characters interact with the table and chairs...and the new lights and camera will be utilized. CONVERSELY, the lights and cam from chor 1 could be saved with the chor...and the new ones deleted. At least that's the way I 'think' I have done it before...

THIS has always been a recurring topic...so you may want to utilize a search on OBJ... It's hard to give a straight YES or NO answer as you may be fishing for. It depends on what you mean by 'work'... You CAN import an obj as a 'prop' into a choreography, but that's all it is... a prop. And I believe it imports without decals or shaders, so it would be a grey prop...unless you want to change the whole thing red or some other flat color... SOME PEOPLE have had success with Arthur Walesek's obj importer htx utility...but typically an obj is triangularly tessillated and A:M lokes it's 4 sided shapes... so there is a LOT of cleanup with this method. SOME models work better than others. Give it a whirl!

Yes, your mums a bit on the right side...this time. HOWEVER... I know WAY more people in the 3D business who have NO art experience than do. It is not out of the question... 3D in general combines several disciplines and you'll find you need to know how to wear MANY hats: -Artist -Animator -Sculptor/modeler -Director -Lighter -Stylist -Designer -Researcher -Technical director -Cameraman -Texturer -Writer -Actor -Producer -Editor -Sound designer/foley artist -Story teller and many more. BUT, we all have all that in us, some parts more than others!

Looks like the 'Nowhere Road'... "There's a road, in Oklahoma. Straighter than a preacher, longer than a memory."-Steve Earle Im diggin your nowhere road!

I think I'm gonna go next year...where is it in 09? L.A. I hope... (L.A. ROCKS siggraph) I mean Los Angeles...NOT Louisiana...

Chiming in late... it helps to always use a .tga as your roto image...sorry if this has already been thrown in...

It's difficult to demonstrate over the net... I'll give you the same advice I gave my apprentice, who was modeling his 1st-ever automobile and was discouraged...: Do what you have to do to finish it... just remember, it's your first attempt...it's SUPPOSED to be bad. NEXT--- try again, start over- from scratch. This one will be poor too, but will be noticeably better...THEN- do a third, and a fourth. Finish them all. By about then, you will have improved MARKEDLY and will be very happy with your modeling skill. Hate to say it...perseverance. Open-up a model from the DVD/CD and emulate what you see done there. OR- draw the splines the way you think they should go. You are starting in the right direction! My apprentice's skills ZOOMED with this advice, hope it helps you. GOOD LUCK! Keep us abreast of your progress!

There is a 3rd party facial mo-cap solution available called ZIGNTRACK at the hash store for $99... I would'nt hold my breath for an entire body solution, there are too many other companies all over that- and that's really not Hash's deal... HERE are some of my mocap samples: http://campbellanimation.com/BoxerMoCapTest.mov http://campbellanimation.com/MoCAPtest.mov

Largento- I hope you can keep pumping these out... they would sure look great in a future A:M Manual. Would you take offense if I 'borrowed' the comic-book tutorial idea and made 1 or two of my own?

Caroline's 'trick' is a GREAT one! I can't wait to use that! Thanks Car!

Caroline- Great work! It is mentioned in 'The Setup Machine's documentation that this could happen, and you are forewarned to keep an eye out for mis-directed roll handles as you go...it was nothing of your doing.

Good looking stuff, Holmes! What's it for? I have a friend who always says...'When in Rome...do as the Greek do...' I want to correct him, but think it's funnier to just let him go...

I've had Brian Fisher working as an intern for the summer at HDStudios, where I do graphics. Brian has been playing with Hash now for only 3 weeks and has just posted an animation on YouTube that I think is quite good for an early 'go' with any 3D software! He used the Porsche model from my V14 CD, and modeled the roads and environment himself. Hopefully this will be found inspiring to other Newbies or folks considering A:M purchase.

Dang- Vern's off his meds again... In SHORT: A:M does not 'play nicely' with other 3D applications. Now- Vern--- get back in your Forum!

Whereabouts?

Thanks largento!

I was just showing how I can start-up 3 versions of A:M on my PC...be rendering in 2 while working in the 3rd... when the question arose 'Can you do that on a Mac'? ---We have tried it, but A:M will only start once... I know there HAS to be a workaround, right?

Over $450 dollars??? Wow. You might be remembering wrong, Hash has never sold for more than $299 (Correct me if I'm wrong) V8 was a bit buggy, but 'bugginess' in general was an issue for ALL 3D applications in that day(Anyone remember the notorious V9???)... Hash has committed many-many man-hours to the smooth operation of it's product, and the current V15 is quite stable, thank God! AND- at only $50 for the year 'script with an activation that requires no CD--- a bargain.

I'm printing it and handing it to the newbie I'm training...great stuff!

SILLY!

Sounds like you are now 'modeling to fit the rig' whereas a good rig should fit in any model... I'm sure I have it wrong though... the 'squetch' is quite plyable, I've been told.

Ditto- looks great! They could benefit from some carefully made and placed photographic decals that would accentuate the 'folds' of the hand, or the nails and hair...

Depends...do you need to get really close to the net? If not, then try just using an image with an alpha channel and cookie-cut mode. I am only 45...when I was 14 all I had was my uncle Wilbur's old 1950's era regular8mm camera and I had to save my paper-route money for film and processing, you guys are LUCKY!

WOW! That's a great toot! Just watched the whole thing and learned some stuff! Is that YOU john? If I ever start doing tutorials where you can actually hear my voice I'm going to adapt an 'overly' Brittish or Indian accent... works a charm in all those Maya toots! Plus- it sorta lends an air of 'credibilitiy'... my normal voice is way too 'street'... no nixx that, my normal voice is too --- oh crap! I'm crossing some sort of 'line' arent I?