JHV

Looking at the last animation before the side view, I'm still not getting the sense of a "tunnel". This could be because of the shortness of the clip, but I think that the camera needs to be animated to travel "Through" the tunnel. I like the blue ball at the end of the tunnel, it's very organic looking, but the sides seem a little sparse.

Very fluid. The muscle just behind the leg seems to grow disproportionally when he lowers his head. Now all he needs is a tiny set of arms.

It's a real bonus John, to have someone be able to kickstart my brain! I'll have to pick yours a little more when I get started on those sprites. The way I have them now, they emit like a guy with a bad prostate!

I had to cheat a little and get this animation done. It's a little rougher than I would have liked, but it still works for what it is. I did use the blobbies in the shutoff segment, and would have liked to use them in other places to describe the fuel flow direction. Even better would probably have been using sprites, but I'm still unclear on how to get them (sprites) to behave properly. Thanks to Johnl3d for all his advice and guidance, and to everyone else who gave me tips. http://hre.com/jhvdigital/videoclips/colorsystem.rm Quicktime format; http://hre.com/jhvdigital/videoclips/pumpanimation.mov

I had thought about using arrows to indicate fuel direction, but I think that if I can get the blobbies (or sprites) to work, it will look great.

Thasnk John: The problem I'm having is that the program will not allow me to bring the material into the action. Drag & Drop doesn't work. I can create a new action and bring in the fuel injection model which has the blobbie material applied to it, but I can't isolate the material in the timeline or action at all. I have the window set up as you illustrated, but stil no luck.

I can't get the rate of emission to keyframe. I've tried in the chor, and by creating an action, but adjusting the rate of emission value seems to have no effect. What am I missing here?

OK, so I adjust the rate of emmissions via key frames and I can turn them on or off correct? Here's the animation (6 seconds) after being rendered last night and today. http://hre.com/jhvdigital/videoclips/pumpblob2.avi (just under 2 mb)

I zoomed in with the camera just to see if I had the general idea. The animation segment runs 7 seconds (it's still rendering since last night, 14 hours so far). The fuel pipe does have a curve in it, so if I can get the material to flow through the pipe and back to the tank, that would be a good thing. Next issue that I have is timing. I'd like the blobbies to come on at a particular time in the chor (After the shut off handle gets to the half way point). I looked for a start/stop time, but couldn't find it for the blobbies. Is there a way to do that also? From what I've been reading, I might BE better off with sprites. Evidentally, they don't create such a drain on resources when rendering. I'll try them as soon as I get more comfortable with the blobbies. (Gotta learn that 1 thing a day you know!)

That is so good it's scary! Excellent realism! The poses are terriffic too.

From having NO idea as to how to create the effect I asked about yesterday to the short animation below this morning (sooner had it not been for the horrendous render hit! LOL). I finally clicked to the little tweaks. I still have a long way to go, but at least I have the basic understanding of how the system works. Thanks John and everyone else. Now I have to work on the other alternatives that you've provided. I've looped the 1/2 second so that you can see the effect more easily. http://hre.com/jhvdigital/videoclips/pumpblob.rm

Material effector .mov was VERY interesting. It gave the insinuation of a liquid without the blobbiness of blobbies (think that's easy to say?). I would also assume that the render hit is minimal compared to using blobbies or sprites. As long as you can get people to understand what is happenning, then the animation will be successful. Could you point me in the right direction for that effect? Again, I appreciate all the help and suggestions.

John: I liked the sprites that DIDN'T blow up! ALso the hair animation was very interesting as well. You guys are way ahead of my learning curve right now, but at least I have some things to play with. I don't ahve a real tight time constraint on the project so I have some flexibility in getting the look that I want. I appreciate all your input and guidance.

I do have one other question on the subject. Is there a way to reduce the render hit? I'm not multipassing, and I'm rendering in Low quality (which is all that's necessary for the project), but I'm finding that the program is calling for nearly 3 hours render time for 5 seconds of animation. (That may be a realistic number, but I thought I'd check with those who know). Having the fuel flow for 20 seconds would cost me a 12 hour render (not in and of itself too costly, but if there is a way to reduce the time, I'd be very interested in knowing it) Remarkable forums!

That was it! Shift 8 was the element that I was missing! Thank you so much! NO at least, I can experiment with the particles and see if I can get the effect to look convincing. I would most definitely look forward to a tutorial from you. I was ready to just do it all in AE and forget about the blobbies, but now I can say I "learned that one more thing" in A:M! Thanks John.

Thanks John! I jsut seem to be unable to grasp how exactly to make the blobbies emit from anything. I made a small round flat model and applied the blobbie material to it, but nothing is coming out. I can't find any actual step by step information on using blobbies. I do find tutorials, but examining them leaves me just as confused as I was before! I'll keep trying, because I know that once I understand the process, I'll be kicking myself for not getting it sooner.

As a matter of fact, the system IS an old one. It is a mechanical injection system that is used to this day on drag racing cars and boats. (No electronics at all). The system was developed in the late '40's, and survives to this day with very little modification. (Over the years, multiple pumps, nozzles etc. have been added). The animation is to help to explain the very basic system for someone contemplating switching from a carbureted application to an injected one. I would very much like to include fuel flowing through the lines as it would be a tremendous help to visualize where and how the fuel gets to where it's supposed to be. I downloaded a project with blobbies and sprites, but I must confess, I haven't got a clue as to what is going on. If I could figure out how to get the blobbies or sprites to emanate from a particular direction, and be constrained to the inside of the fuel line, I'd be in 7th heaven. I try to learn one new thing a day in A:M. So I'm trying to figure out the sprites and blobbies. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave the background the way it is. For the moment, I'm trying to get my chor sorted out with the correct shots and timing. Once I get that nailed, I can make a decision as to whether or not to enhance the scene. (By then, I'll probably know how to do it! LOL! Thank you for the encouragement and support.

Here's a preliminary animation of a Fuel System Schematic for Fuel Injected race cars. It took a little over a day to create the models and render the animation. Text was composited in Vegas 5 and rendered to a Real Media file for space considerations. To have done this in another modeling package would have taken far longer in my opinion. I still have to work on the lighting and camera angles, but the ability to make and change things so quickly in A:M is a real bonus. http://hre.com/jhvdigital/videoclips/hashforums1.rm

Sputtered Titanium Nitride is gold in color. Used for high abrasion surfaces. Must be how the contractor spec'd it out!

Version 20 with some materials applied. I'm still battling with the volumetrics. I'd like to put some wispy mist hanging close to the floor. I could do it easily in After Effects, but I'd really like to learn how to do it in A:M.

All space pods should have enormous engines thrusting them through space LOL! Now that you mention it, there is that Enterprise influence. Amazing how your brain processes things and pops them into yoru head without your permission!

I've been playing with the Osprey tutorial from JohnArtbox and am pretty happy with my progress. I still am driving myself batty with getting the lighting that I want (trust me, it's more difficult than lighting a real set!). Of course, the requisite checkered floor has to make an appearance, although I'd like to have a better handle on materials to generate a grungier texture for the floor. I'm experimenting with decals as I can whip up terriffic textures in photoshop, but as for my ability to get them into A:M, well, I'm still in the embryonic stage there. This attached picture is about the 15th generation of the project (thanks to John for some of the models, as well as the Hash libraries).

It's a little too geometric for my tastes. I'd like to see a little more flowing and organic shapes (less angles more curves). IT's very satisfying to create something with the program. I do have one suggestion for you, however, and that is "don't think so hard". That may sound odd, but it's the same with any of the 3D programs that are available. They offer SO much in terms of tools and resources, that it is very easy to get caught up in trying to add every effect or texture that you can find. Start small (using the tutorials is a good way to get comfortable with things) and then work your way up to the models that interest you.

Hysterical! Very original and extremely well produced. Bravo!