guilded

I have no idea what to do when it comes to rigging, and i think it's really holding me back because I can do some ok modeling but I have no idea where to start when i want to animate anything. I really need to learn how to use constraints and stuff, and I know there's probably some obvious place to start learning but I looked around and I must have missed it. Where should I start? I think i'd like to rig some mechanical models.

how would i go about making a glass triangular prism that refracts a light that is pointed at it?

on the lighsaber model, how was the folder "relationships" created for the constraints?

I'm trying to make some grass and i'm following along on http://www.hash.com/am2004/Modeling/Hair/index.htm but when i change the color of the blades from green to yellow on the diffuse color timeline, the color changes in blocks--that is it begins with a green, then abruptly changes to a lighter green, and then to a yellow. there seems to be no gradient.

I'd like to model a fly rod, but the only problem I see is with the fishing line. I'm really bad with bones and constraints and what not, but I'm guessing i'd probably want to assign bones to the line or something to make it limp. I also need to wrap it around the reel, obviously. I just wanted to know what the best way to go about making the line was before i started.

I didn't have the shell selected, and it was centered around the Y axis. Anyways, I think I got it to work for now--I just hid all but a very small portion of the shell so that the repeats wouldn't appear. The images are still a little warped but it will do for now. Thanks for the help. Also, shotgun shells have a very fine ridge-like texture all the way around the casing. Any ideas on how I could simulate that? If the shell was standing on end, the ridges would run top to bottom on the plastic part, and they are very small.

When I turn the repeat back to 1, the image is stretched and i cannot get it to fit on the object like it should. When I use planar, it cuts off the image on the edges; I need it to wrap around the shotgun shell cylinder.

I'm modeling a shotgun shell, and I would like to put some decals on the side. I have one decal that I've created that says "Remington" and it has an alpha map. I import it and change the application method to cylindrical, but when I apply it there are about 20 different "Remington"s stamped around the entire model. Spherical and Planar produce different, but undesired results. Any suggestions?

animation that is transparent: SEC_ANIMATION_4.prj

later... animation that is not transparent: MAIN_ANIMATION_3.prj

This is continued from a topic in the Animation: Master forum. My project file is attached. The problem is my prop is transparent and I don't know why. MAIN_ANIMATION_3.prj