Atomike

This is what I needed. You both get 16 Awesome Points. I hope I can remember this. I should just bookmark this page.

So I'm trying to do something incredibly simple. Rotate an object more than 180 degrees. But I am having terrible difficulty. After 6 years of using A:M, this is one area that I cannot figure out. Since I know it's a rage-inducing process. For years, I've simply avoided rotating anything more than 180 degrees since I knew that A:M really does not want to you do this. But now I have to, and after many searches, the answer I need simply is not there. I click on my bone - go to the properties panel. Go to rotation. Right click on that. And at this point, I'm supposed to see a way to change the driver. But I don't. I just see "New Relationship" and "Edit Expression" neither of which is the correct thing. So, 2 questions - 1. What am I doing wrong. 2. Why wasn't this fixed in version .00001 of the software? Regardless, maybe people with many, many years of experience can finally help me dig deep within the various menus and sub-menus so I can rotate something. Thanks in advance.

I gave up with that computer, and just used a different machine - all is well now. No idea what the problem was before. Regardless, I’m up & running. Thanks for your reply. MikeD

Web.

I've installed A:M on a second computer, and ordered a second license. When I try to start A:M on that computer, I can't even get it to start - I only get this error: "The application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem.". Reinstalling does not fix the problem. Restarting doesn't either. I can't even find any Master.lic file to delete. Apparently this file has not been created yet. Running XP.

There has been lots of talk about the hair, but what I find really great about this spot is the lighting and look. It has a richness unlike almost any other AM work I've seen. There are certain things that can be done in AM by very talented people (like this, and Briar Rose) that really show off the potential of the software. I'd buy a video on lighting technique put out by these talented folks in a second. I really think that's a big weakness in most animations, and I'd love to see more on the techniques used here.

I have, in fact, heard that major studios render everything with an alpha channel, and composite them together later. This gives more control, and requires less render time to make small changes. Personally, with A:M however, I never do this. I've found I get better, cleaner results by rendering everything together. However, the other guys are right about green-screen. It won't look nearly as good as rendering with an alpha. That's what you'll want to do.

Vern. Your analysis seems to completely ignore that Mrs. Palin has a husband. Husbands can watch kids you know. From your analysis, it seems clear that you're searching for a problem because of Mrs. Palin's political views. Not because there is an actual, real, rational problem. Either that, or you're just 50 years behind the times. I'm not endorsing any candidates or parties here. I just want the political discussion to be about real things. I want policies to be important. That's my issue here. Again, I'm tired of these criticisms that have nothing to do with policies. These critiques just seems so petty. So anti-intellectual.

Vern, this is politics. Everybody knows this. If you agreed with McCain politically, you would not care about this issue. Most folks care about real issues. This is not one. Obama's term-statement is irrelevant. McCain's investments are his own business. You may think that these things display their leadership skills - but really, why not look at their actual views on real issues instead? It's really alot more accurate. I don't publicly endorse any candidate on this forum. I just wish that real issues were the real issues. That and animation.

To be fair to Mr. Obama, his line about the President's term being 8-10 years is accurate. You can serve 2 terms = 8 years, plus another 2 if you take over for another president (death, resignation, etc). Therefore, you can serve 10 years. To be fair to Mr. McCain, his "extra" houses are investments. Anyone who has a problem with the multiple house issue simply needs to look in a mirror. As stated above, if you own a 401k, you have people handle these things. To blame McCain for this statement is intellectually dishonest. To be fair to the voting public: both of these issues are completely irrelevant to the election.

You'll need to be more specific about the pay rate before you get any takers or demo reels. Is it by the hour, or by the model? Or something else? You'll need a specific amount per hour or item to generate interest. When looking for someone to work hard for you, you'll need to show that you're serious. Vague promises of undefined pay will be ignored by everyone but the incompetent.

I've been tasked with creating several rooms. Here's my first room using AO. Before this project, I've never really used anything but normal lights (I've never used radiosity or AO before). One thing I notice is how grainy the whole thing looks, despite using some okay settings for sampling and passes. Also, it's very bright at the top, which sort of blows out the ceiling area and ceiling fan. I wasn't expecting that. I'm unsure how to make the lighting more even. Any thoughts on how to improve are welcome. Please keep in mind I'm brand-new to AO when you make suggestions. Settings: AO: on No radiosity. No real lights in the scene. ambiance intensity: 300% Ambience occusion: 100% AO sampling: 30 16 passes.

I ran out of time trying to figure out how to make it light up. What would be the best way to do this? Also, you're correct that the voice is not great - I had to voice it myself for deadline reasons. Thanks for the kind words!

While AVID Xpress DV is a wonderful pro tool, you can do alot simply with AVID FreeDV - which is the completely free "demo" version of AVID. At home, this is what I use, although you are limited to 2 video tracks and 2 audio tracks. In many cases this is enough (1 track for your imported animation, and another for your titles, or a second composite layer). Depending on the TV station, they may accept something as common as Mini-DV, or perhaps even an uncompressed Quicktime on a CD or DVD (which you can export from AVID FreeDV). It's really going to depend on the stations in your area and what equipment they have - although I don't see any reason why they wouldn't accept these formats.

While other software is useful, it's not entirely necessary. Here is a recent spot I did make almost entirely with Animation Master. The amount of additional software you need is entirely dependent on what you want to do. In some cases, you'll be fine with A:M alone.

I've worked at many places (all very small with low budgets) doing ad work. Much of the time, the method and software used are at the discretion of the producer/writer/editor. If I felt like doing an animation, I simply pitched it to the client, and went for it. Very few people, when given the option, will not want to do an animation in their commercial. If you want to do animation in commercials, get a job producing/shooting/editing spots in a very small market - either small TV station or cable TV place. When you show your boss what you can do, he'll want more - especially if you're fast.

Thanks! After seeing your awesome transformer video, I consider that high praise! I only had about 1.5 weeks to do it, so given the limited production time, I think it it turned out okay. If anyone is wondering who the people mentioned in the video are, it's the writers of the magazine.

A magazine I read is running a short film contest on Youtube - and so naturally I entered an animation (all the others are live action). Here's the problem. It seems that at least one other contestant is continually giving my animation 1 star to lower its rating. I would really appreciate anyone who could go to Youtube and give me a good star rating (the more the better) to counteract this. Here's the link to my video. Thanks to all.

Thanks, Rusty! U Da Man!

I'd like to try the squench rig, however it seems I need something callled the "Squench Rig Plug In" - and every link I've seen to this plug in seems to be down. Any idea how I can currently download this item? Thanks.

Show it to friends? Sure. No problem. All I'm saying is that it seems weird to work on a project for a year only to have Fox send you a cease and desist letter because you used a creature that looks exactly like their Alien Queen. You may have no problems at all, but it seems like a gamble considering the time requirements. An original IP would be a far better bet methinks.

Especially a project which clearly violates nearly every copyright law ever created. Where would this project ever show? You would not be able to enter it into any real contests, or ever show it for money (and you certainly wouldn't be able to sell it). Frankly, it seems like time that could be better spend on a project that you could actually show to people.

Thanks, Dhar. I think that sounds reasonable.

Concerning the models on the CD and Extras CD : it is often asked here about the rights of these models - can they be used in commercial productions... etc. etc. The answer seems to always be "check the notes in the model" and yet, for the life of me, I cannot find any notes for any models I have ever checked. I do not have the new DVD, but rather last year's Extras CD. This seems to be devoid of any notes, and it has me quite curious about the rights for certain models. Any information anyone has would help me out alot.

Pure A:M! Well, almost. The end slate with the white logo (and audio mixing) were composited in AVID Xpress, however all the real visuals were done in A:M. Thanks to all for the kind words.