Simon Edmondson

Homeslice I went away and tried it but had a beast of a time. I tried it on two computers both with the same result.... It locked uo the render before anything happened. 18 hours to render less than 1% equates to lockup when, in 'normal' mode, its taking 3 mins per pass ? I know its possible because I've done it before ( about 18months ago ) but its proving elusive now. Back to the mouse tomorrow. regards simon Ps Both machines running XP with service pack three installed and over 1GB of Ram ( I appreciated these are a bit dated but, needs must, when it comes to finances )

Thank you very much indeed I shall pursue that immeadiately. Cheers simon

In anothr project I have a model of a van that I wanted to animate with a constraint to a path. ( I am using V13, although I have V14) I apply the translate constraint and target it t the path but, how do I animate its position over time in a choreography. Or... Am I going about it the wrong way ( not unlikely ) regards simon

I made a building for a friends live action short. The time has come o composit it into the footage, someone else is doing this in After Effects but, needs me to supply a suitable render to work on. I am using v13 ( although I have V14 I have yet to install it). how do I render a file for compositing were I can put the shadows on a seperate Alpha channel or is this not possible ? regards simon

GAngus I have V14 but haven't installed it yet as I've been dealing with all sorts of other problems. Does it and V15 run with OSX 10:46 as well or, does it need another upgrade from that ? Thank you for your observations and help. regards simon

Problem solved, I found out you could DL the update and put it on CD. Thank you to all who helped. cheers simon

Its been a few weeks I know but, I managed to upgrade the Imac to 10:41 by buying it on Ebay. I tried to install AM but I got the same 10:46 message as before. That was expected but, I thought I'd check on my G5 Macbook and AM had installed with no problem on that, even though it only had 10:41 !!!. I'm using the same installer disc but it gives two different results. Is there a way around this ? regards simon Ps Neither Imac or Macbook is connected to the web at any time, so upgrading via that route is not straightforward. All access is done through an old PC for security reasons ( that and I'm a relative newcomer to Macs ...)

Why dont you let us know which model it is and give us a screencap of the area you are talking about, then we can help more. Eric Thank you for your kind reply. I will try to sort it out tomorrow as the computer with it on is in the studio ( garden shed ) behind the house and I don't have wireless connections. I've also got to do the domestic chores between now and midnight ( UK ). Oh joy of joys... Thank you Simon

I have been making some figures from the models included on the extras DVD by adding clothes to a previously naked areas. Not out of purience but because I want to use them as passersby in a street scene and bikini's are not outdoor wear in the northen hemisphere around christmas time... However I have a problem with at least one of the models. For some reason the facial map is incomplete and it looks like there is a white border around the mouth. How do I remove the assigned flesh tones if they no longer exist in seperate groups? The model was made and flesh assigned but that group was subsequently deleted so, even if I go through the remaining groups and try to remove the cp's from any groups they may be assigned to, by using the Alt key. When I render they still come back with the old colour. Is there a way to prevent that and to allow the new colour to take ? regards simon

Thank you to the kind people who replied. I am now trying to upgrade to Tiger or Leopard from the 10.35 that was installed. I hope I get it set up soon. thank you all for your time and consideration. regards simon

I recently bought a secondhand Imac because my main PC was going 'wonky'. I went to install AM from the CD and got the message that 'It can't install AM because the OS needs to be 10.4 or higher ' I think the Imac came with 10.3? or so ( you may gather I am a fairly recent convert to the world of Macs ). Is there anyway around this or do I have to get 10.4 or higher ? I was trying to install what was, I thought, AM13 although I also have 14 available. Thank you for your consideration. regards simon

you'll find them at the highest level of your bone heirarchy. Rob Thank you once again for your very swift and helpful reply. cheers simon

Thank you very much indeed to Bruce, Nancy and Rob for their unbelievably quich, and helpful replies. I am going to enjoy working with this. One further question, if I may, what do I need to turn on to get the feet targets visible ? regards simon ( the happy one )

A few days back I was advised to obtain the setup machine for use with my simple models. I did this and have spent a few days trying to install the rig into the model. .. with not a lot of luck. I follow the tutorial through steadily and get all the way through to the point of installing the final rig. That process goes through but, when I try to use the result, there is an error listed in the PWS, "Error Loading String 5003" When I try to use the figure in an action the cp's in the mesh don't seem to be affected by the bones so that, for example, when I move the bones in the arm the mesh just stays in the standard T position. When the pelvis is moved, likewise no response from the mesh. Can anyone advise as to where I might be going wrong ? Regards simon

TSM2 for A:M is free now and as easy to install as simple bones. If you're on a PC there's a download in the rigging forum. Don't spend any more time fighting a non-rig. Thank you very much for your response. I bought TSM when it first came out but it had slipped my memory because it was on another machine ( don't ask ! ) I will try the download. Thank you. Simon

In some of the 'given' rigs I notice there is often a 'switch' or pose to change between forward and Inverse Kinematic linkage on a model ? i'm using my own setup ( too basic to call it a rig ) just simple bones with points assigned. The default seems to be that it becomes an IK system ? Is there a way to have the joints of the torso on forward while retaining the IK on the legs and arms. Or to be able to switch between one and the other? regards simon

It's most likely a video card issue. Did you update you video card drivers as suggested by robcat2075? You could also try setting your real-time drivers to opengl or direct3d in the global tab of the options menu. I'm not sure about the drivers as its an old computer which was given to me awhile back. I will try it on the newer machine later today. Likewise with the opengl/Direct 3d suggestion. Thank you for your help. simon

Thank you for your reply. Pardon my ignorance but, how do I go about doing that ? The original images were 1550 x 3300 ( approx ) and I scaled them down to 380 x 825 ( approx ), then selected lower quality. Would it be better to use a different file format, rather than jpeg ? regards simon

-try a smaller image file. I tried a smaller image file but the problem remains. However, I have noticed a curious anomoly and wonder ig that might have some bearing on the problem ? I downscaled the file in Photoshop and saved it out as a level 2 jpeg file( with 10 as highest quality, 1 as lowest ). The file sizes varied between 75k and 25k, as measured by Windows X/P within 'my computer'. When those same files are imported into the project Workspace they show up as being ten times larger, 750k rather than 75 ? Am I missing something obvious here? Thank you in advance simon

Robert Thank you for your response. I shall try them all. regards simon

Mark Thank you for your reply. i am trying to use the images as rotoscopes within the modeling views. That is where they show up as white rectangles. The same thing happens with V13 I just found out. I think the other responde suggests its a video card problem. I shall rescale the files. For the models: I would love to be paid for the piece but the reality s it would be unlikely to happen, so its for non profit only at tis time. regards simon

Two question really. I'm working in V11 temporarily and I imported some images ( jpegs ) to use as rotos. They show in the PWS, they show when rendered or when the individual file is called up from the PWS but, when I try to open it in the view it only shows up as a white rectangle. Is there a way out of this? WXP on 1 Ghz machine with 512Mb of Ram I could try it in V14 or V15 but I'd like to fix it now. Second question is more general. I am working on my own animation which I hope to put out to festivals if it is good enough afterwards.A part of the story would involve people passing a shop window. They wouldn't be a integral part of the narrative just there to show the passage of time. Would it be OK to use the figures that come with the AM CD ( I was thinking specifically of Sir Nigel and LadyG ) or would I have to seek specific permission ? Thank you for your patience. simon

>> want to put it in the context of a vacant lot in the middle of a city-scape. Any recommendations or how-tos for that sort of thing would be greatly appreciated. Bill I've just got to thethread following your directions, might I make a humble suggestion? If you set you tree growth in the context of the real time it would take, you have a wonderful foil to use for an implied "time lapse" animation to contrast with the tree and the man made location around it ? I think the oldest tree in the UK is thought to be nearly a 500 years old ( I may have that wrong ? ). The developments that have gone on around it in that time are quite astonishing. The pace of development in US cities is even faster of course ! I'll go to sleep now... Simon