fae_alba

So I had this model hanging around that I had created a good 4 years ago. He got wind of this project and begged to be a part of it. I mean the little bugger just wouldn't leave me alone until I gave in. So here he is... chatter.mov

John, I just wanted to verify that you received my email with my pinBall movie. I didn't receive a confirmation and sense my email has been a bit wonky of late I want to make sure you did receive it.

Ok boys and girls...here is a final render. I tweeked the camera movement just a wee bit. pinball.mov

No physics..I didn't have the time to learn a new trick (this was done in basically 1 hr incriments between software "builds" for my job). The ball is simply constrained to a path, the camera is keyframed all the way. It wasnot my first choice, but I had to get this done. I at first wanted the camera to follow the ball along the chute to give a roller coaster feel, but it became problematic, again because of time. As for lights, my initial plan was to have all kinds of lights, in the chute, along the sides etc. I even had a trap set on the board where the ball would settle in it, then a series of lights would flash along the side. But alas...time is of the essence.

Here's my submission...I'm not entirely happy with it, but I had to simplyfy things as camera movement and such was starting to get out of hand. I still need to do a final render and perhaps some tweeking of the camera and timing, so if any of you have suggestions let me have 'em.

I've started on one (I'm coming in a bit late..but I plan on playing hooky on my second job to get it finished) and have a couple of ideas for a few more, though I'm not guarenteeing they will get done.

Well, I've been wanting an excuse to dust off my copy of A:M...might as will be for a ball. Count Me In!

Cute project - but I am curious: What was the assignment ? and What grade did you get ? Not my assignment...my daughters. Although as anybody with kids will attest to..that invariably makes it mine. The assignment was simply create a five minute movie. No direction on type, style or story. That was left up to the students (high school seniors). Don't know the "grade" i got yet...I'm hoping for an A

Yeah I know, but this was one of those projects that just had to get done, and get done now. I could have added some roughness to the snowman, could have put a hat on his head to hide the imperfections...could have put a yellow blotch in the snow where the dog got him, but who has the time? I mean really.

Ok folks. Here is my kids final project (hope I get an "A"!). The animated bit with the vortex sprites is tucked into the middle of it. It was a quick one-off totaling a whopping 4 seconds. For all that it took over 12 hours to render out on my poor 'ol laptop. The model is not perfect, the timing and camera work is not spot on as I would have hoped, but it got the job done. Its on YouTube, the link is below. If the link doesn't work, then search for the title Once Upon A Snowman. enjoy.

Thanks much guys, I'l have a go at it tonight. I'll start with sprites since I already have an emitter set up. I'll post results soon

I'm looking to create an effect with sprites (sparks) that will swirl around an object in a vortex like shape. The effect I have in mind is along the lines of when the Beast turns back to a man in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". Anyone have some ideas on I can do this??

But... James you are in... and Mr. 'Fae Alba' too. The next raffle (whenever it happens to be raffled) will include 'old users' too. So... anyone can win the last prize. Rodney, "Mr." Fae Alba? Please...don't make me feel any older than I already am!

Making money is a good thing... it pays the bills, puts food on the table and lets us buy new and fancy things. But I've heard there are much more important things than these. All this could be just rumor though. Ah, utopia utopia, where art thou? Mony also pays the pesky college tuition bills (I'll be up to paying for four this time next year!)

Please do. If you skip one we get all confused. My suggestion for additional credit/experience with Exercise 1 is to experiment and explore the various rendering settings. While you'll get into these later in the TaoA:M manual there it'll help to know what to look for. Don't be afraid to test out the possibilities! (but... um... keep focused) Most of all... have fun. Animation may be work but fun is what this is all about. Whether you make a million $ working at Pixar or stick to your own creations, don't ever...Ever...EVER... forget that. Whoa, wait a minute, you can earm a million $'s working at Pixar!?! I so gotta get my artsy daughter a job there so she can support me in my senile years! But Rodney is right about experimentation (with A:M that is). Observing cause and effect is the best way to learn.

I'll be looking forward to that. (My daughters are quite artistic too but I think they get that more from their Mom) Erika's talent certainly doesn't come from me! Her sick sense of humor perhaps, but not her art. That too comes from her mother.

Rodney, how are you? Been a long time since I've even given myself the luxary of working on animation stuff. It'll still be a challenge to find the time, but I'm committed (or perhaps should be committed!) to doing it. Father/Daughter team? Perhaps down the road, but right now she's trying to find that elusive internship to satisfy graduation requirements. She's a great concept artist, and I am working on some ideas that she will be doing for me, so you'll be seeing her influence here soon enough.

Hello All, I'm not a real newbie, but my level of knowledge and skill with A:M qualifies me as one (at least I think so). I started using A:M back in '02, but have been away for the past 3+ years complete my BS degrees (I'm a 44 year old colleg grad, yippee) and paying for my oldest's college bill (ouch, and does anybody need a Fine Arts Major Intern?). Anyway, my daughter (The College Kid) is the reason I'm back. Seems she's taken a liking to animation and illustration. She's gunning for an internship at Disney (long-shot) and is boning up on Maya (its what they use, can't help it). But I dusted of my copy of A:M 02, and looked at the advances made on the product, so I bit the bullet and upgraded. So I'm back,and looking to squeeze in some modeling and animating time in between two jobs, life, and so on.

Hello Rodney, I don't know if I qualify as a "new" user! I started using A:M back in '02, but have been away for the past 3+ years complete my BS degrees (I'm a 44 year old colleg grad, yippee) and paying for my oldest's college bill (ouch, and does anybody need a Fine Arts Major Intern?). Anyway, my daughter (The College Kid) is the reason I'm back. Seems she's taken a liking to animation and illustration. She's gunning for an internship at Disney (long-shot) and is boning up on Maya (its what they use, can't help it). But I dusted of my copy of A:M 02, and looked at the advances made on the product, so I bit the bullet and upgraded. So I'm a sort-of new user, right?

Word of advice, if you are working for a client, and have a piece that you are really not sure of, DO NOT show it to the client! They just might like it and wnat you to go with it. Such has happened with me. I did the still with the table and window as a test to see how it would look, and sent it for my client to look at to get in idea if they wanted that kind of graphic on thier program. Turns out the want that one as it stands. ARRGH! Now I need to make that still something that I want to take credit for, and I need some suggestions. What can be done differently to bring some life into the still life?? I'm using you guys/gals in a virtual brain-storming session to kick my own brain back into gear. Many Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Well, trial and re-trial has yielded the following... Your thoughts?

While I was bouncing ideas off of you guys I was also sending a few over to the client just to make sure I was going in the same direction. The last with the table clicked best since they wan a "personal touch" with the cover (ie pics of the pipe band or past events). So I am now carrying the theme a little with a plaster wall full of pictures from past events. I'm still going to work that dang sporran in though! I'll post an update later this eve.

Well, I suppose its worth a try...

Ok, tried from another direction. Added a claymore, changed the color of the flap, camera angle to directly above, and added a texture to the backdrop with a test title...Tell me what ya think about it..

Ganthofer... Yes the sporran is the pouch worn around the waist wilst wearing Highlan attire (the kilt). It can be made of fur with tassles (for formal dress) to leather (for day wear) with/without tassles, whatever. Mine is a rigid leather pouch covered in mink fur with a leather flap held in place with thi tip of a deer antler. The fur on the model is actually a scan on my sporran, I took one copy of the scan, turned it into a grayscale with a gausean blur and applied it as a displacement, then the color version as a decal. The embossing on the flap is the logo of the local pipe band which runs the games that the program is for. I did reduce the size of the flap a little as you suggested, but what I really need is some suggestions on how to improve the model/render so that it will really pop off of the cover of the program. Here is a front view of the model.