zandoriastudios

This was the 1st alpha with the feature, so the issues with how close the camera is should go away once Martin makes some tweaks. Be sure that you report any issues in AM:Reports so that it can be looked at.

for decalling, can you select the groups pivot and rotate it so the y-axis is the way you want? Or if you apply a decal cylindrically, will it use the orientation of the view in the model window to define y-axis? Or must you physically position those groups in an action??? I haven't done these experiments, but it is worth investigating--please try them and let us know what worked.

Balrog V13! I did notice that I had to be careful when I made a displacement map from my bump map--the black creases pushed the eyelids into the eyballs. I also got some wierd lighting where the displaced surface seemed to catch the light from the internal light in his head... So I adjusted so that my displacement was only adding detail outwards (128-255 greyscale) and then still kept my bumpmap. I think it will just take a little adjustment to get used to the new rules

I saved a 16bit out of Photoshop as .exr and that worked OK

Ctrl+D to toggle decals

Dhar, Displacement mapping pushes the surface of the patch up or down based on a grayscale image. Similar to a bump map, but where a bumpmap doesn't alter the real location of the surface--a displacement map does. In earlier versions of A:M a patch would be subdivided into 16, and that is how much extra detail you could get. Now, it is dependent on the resolution of the displacement image, so you are now going to see JAW-DROPPPING detail in A:M models. And this is going to have the people who have been trying to learn ZBrush (only for this reason) peeing in their pants. Because A:M just jumped a lightyear ahead of everyone. To quote spaceballs, "We've gone plaid!" Ludicrous speed ahead!!!

It is the resolution of the texture map that determines the amount of detail you can put in, not the patch resolution. So if you are going to be "up close" to a mountain range, then you need to consider what is the resolution of the image that is decaling that surface, because it is the displaced pixels that are defining the shape. To decal a sphere, right-click before applying and change application TYPE from planar to cylindrical or spherical (depending of the type of image you have), scale the Y-axis of the decal to be even with the top and bottom (Y-axis) of the patches that you are decalling, and APPLY. If you look at the IMAGE in your decal, you will find that it is automatically set to repeat 3 times on the x-axis. keep that in mind as you add other images into the decal, because you will need to manually set that value....

Check out the new per pixel displacement in V13! Thanks, Martin!

He is about 13" Tall, about 19" wide. 12" deep

I thought about you when I was modeling the chef's hat (toque), Paul. LOL

This is a photo of a prototype that I've been working on at my day job as Creative Director for SMP Display & Design group. It is a cast urethane sculpture of "Mr. JellyBelly", the mascot for Jelly Belly Candy Company, for the new international display. I had modeled Mr. JellyBelly in Animation:Master and exported several different poses of him as .3ds files to bring into my CAD program where the rest of the display was designed. When the final design was approved, I had this figure carved and molded for the prototypes. I airbrushed the finished figures before boxing them up to send to a tradeshow in Europe. Anyway, since I did use A:M in the design process, I thought I would share here.

Well, Colin makes it look EASY--he's been doing this many years. Making a face like that is one of the most challenging things you can do. If you started that on DAY 1, then you skipped the other tutorials didn't you! Work up to it, don't try to do it as your first project.

Maybe you need to save the .prj to your hard drive, so that you can overwrite the settings when you save. Should set the frame range from 00:00:00 to 00:00:00 to render just one frame (although you can render any frame, doesn't have to be frame 0). Changes made to the "shortcut to camera" should over rule the settings of the camera under OBJECTS. Check to see what buffers may be enabled--I don't remember what state that project was when I last saved it...

a combiner material blends two attributes. When you change TYPE to combiner, you see that now the material has two attributes. Set the surface color to black in one and to white in the other. that is to create a pattern that will act as a light gel when you apply it to a light.

Here you go: http://www.zandoria.com/caustics.htm

The thing that sticks out to me is that the trees (being hair) are all pointing away from the hills in the direction of their surface normal--But trees as a rule grow straight up. So I guess that is something to keep in mind using that technique that you will have to groom the trees

Nice work!

Is Sandgroper actually thinking of like really actually BUYING it? Wow, that would be something!

Set the render options to Real-time shaded, not final. Then rendering a scene only takes a second or two.

It seems to me that the candle flame should be the brightest thing in the scene, since it is the source of the illumination...Is that a modeled flame? If so, maybe turn its ambience to 100% and give it some glow. I would also turn the light falloff down and be sure the light is colored to give a yellow/orange light. That would give nice complementary color too, between the blue sky and more orange illumination in the room.

What about using a cylindrical map for the bump detail on the fusalage?

Really nice work, John! You really bring it all together!

Awsome Stian!!! super impressive demo of your ability

Wicked! I think I must have!

I like it, Ken. I think that we will probably rotate the seat part--It should be able to move around and shift (If you've ever sat it one, you'll know the feeling of nearly flipping out of it). I think we should also have a few stray kudzu leaves on the vines lashing the throne together