Fishman

Make sure that all the CPs of the spline that you are symmetrical about to do CFA is located on the y-axis. Scott

I don't get the same results when I use the grid wizard. The planes all are produced in the proper orientation. Check the orientation of the plane against the axes that are shown in the corner of the screen. Scott Ps: Your caps lock key seems to be stuck. Please don't type in all caps, it looks like you are shouting.

All, I would have loved to attend. Unfortunately, the holidays are busy with school and other kid activities. Hopefully, we can meet in the new year as well to break up the winter blahs. Scott

I got excited when I saw a new post in this thread, but alas, it was only another fan hoping that Peter has not shelved this awesome piece of work. Hope things are well with you, Peter. Have a happy Thanksgiving. Scott

You are still not deleting it in the right place. Click on the little triangle next to the object name. Under there you will find things such as File Info, Options and User Properties. When you expand User Properties, all your pose sliders will be there. You can edit, organize and delete them there. Scott

Click on the Object in the PWS and look under User Properties. There you will find all the pose sliders. In addition to deleting them, you can also set the defaul pose percentages there and group them into folders. Scott

Caroline, that is an excellent little tutorial. You captured the essence of the problem of spline interpolation when trying to keep things in place. Another potetial source of problems with Shaggy is the Balance and Balance Rigid poses. Go to frame 0 and turn off the Balance and Balance Rigid poses. Scott

Nice model, Ken! He looks like he stepped out of Flushed Away. Scott

Robcat, The model is still under development, there will be both a drive train and a timing chain. My wife and I own a tandem and love it. The pedals are not offset by 90°, and most manufacturers do not make them that way. My reference photo was a Trek T1000 and the pedals are synchronized. I have also seen track racing tandems and their pedals are in synch as well. I think one of the reasons they are usually in synch is that gives maximum starting torque as both captain and stoker can be pushing down at the same time when starting out. Probably more of a response than you really wanted, I imagine. Thanks for looking in! Scott

Hi all! Here is a clip of Shaggy riding a tandem bicycle that I modeled. (it still needs chain rings and a chain, but I couldn't wait). The tandem is rigged such that when you translate it, it automatically spins the wheels and pedals. Learned how to use expressions on this one. A cool feature. Enjoy, Scott Shaggy_Rides.mov

One of the reasons the Ed Lynch tutorial uses the Force Keyframe method is that you will then have a keyframe for all the bones at each pose (including frame 0). This will reduce the likelihood that something is moving when you don't think it should be. Another thing to check is the timeline and to look at the shape of the curves. Sometimes spline interpolation between key frames can cause overshoot, giving the impression of other keyframes when it is really just the path of the keyframes. (This is what Caroline was referring to) Sometimes you have to go in later and tidy things up by changing some interpolations to linear or hold or zero slope. You might post a screen shot of your timeline that will help us diagnose the problem. Scott PS: You having difficulty with an aspect of the software is not necessarily a problem with the software. If you can create a repeatable erroneous result, then you should file a report on A:M reports.

Everything has two types of keyframes, rotational and translational. Most bones only do one or the other, but some can do both. If you are making key frames by nudging bones, you may be making translational or rotational keyframes but not both. So what may be happening is that the other type of keyframe is referencing back to frame 0. Best thing to do is open up the time line and look at the bones individually and see where the keyframes get set. THe best way to deal with some of this may be to set key frames for all the bones at each frame by using the force keyframe button. Ed Lynch has an excellent tutorial on this here: http://www.hash.com/users/ed/tutorials/animtut.htm It is for an older version of A:M, but the basic principles still apply. Hope that's helpful! Scott

Silly question, but are the first two different characters? If so I would make them different colors to help distinguish them. On the first character, the black box on his chest seems out of place. If it is a story element, then keep it. THe boy is a nice looking character, although the nose area looks like it could use a little tweaking. Overall they are excellent models! Scott

I think what your looking for is in the PWS under the model in question. Click on the name of the model and in the properties section there should be a selection for User Properties. Your pose sliders are under there and can be deleted. Scott

What you are looking for is the concept of constraints. They should be explained in The Door is Stuck exercise as well as the help file. There is even a video tutorial. - It is here: http://www.hash.com/VM/ Look in the Misc section for constraints and compensate mode. The type of constraint you are describing is a "Translate to" constraint. There are others such as "Aim at", "Orient Like", etc. They are powerful animation tools. Good Luck! Scott

Nice work, Dhar! You captured the mood of the music very well. Congrats! Scott

Not sure what to suggest other than the version you are using isn't the latest. Try downloading the latest update of v12. I think the latest is 12.0w. Scott

Sadly, I will have to confirm my no. I look forward to the fall or winter meeting where I hope to be able to show my mini movie contest entry. Have fun! Scott

Another popular way to get a 5 pointer to register is to select the 5 points and then hit the "." key twice. For some reason this jolts the program into recognizing the 5 point patch. Scott

The two splines being continuous means they cross at the control point. The concern is that you would have 4 splines that dead end at a CP but they look like two splines. The way to be sure is to disconnect one of the splines using Shift-K. If you get a spline running through the CP when you pull the CP you're good. If you get a spline that deadends into the CP, then you need to detatch the other side, connect them together and then reattach. Here is a good page on getting rid of creases - it is for J-Patch, but the principles work for AM. http://www.jpatch.com/?page=crease_tutorial Scott

I t5hink you were close, but you overdid it. You still have 3 splines intersecting at a control point. This will crease badly. Try the attached. Delete the spline shown by the black X. Make the two pink splines continuous. Move the hook shown by the arrow to the middle rather than the 1/4 hook. This will leave you with a 5 point patch to close and then you'll be good to go. Scott

Clearly this is an example of a picture being worth a thousand words. If you can post a picture, you'll get more concrete suggestions. I would highly recommend the giraffe tutorial to help you get going on modeling organic objects. Spline flow/continuity is critical to this type of modeling. It is very elegant when done right and frustrating when trying to learn it. When I get into a tight spot, I often study the models on the CD to better understand what the pros do. Scott

The specular color is the color of the highlight. Here is an excellent summary of material properties. http://www.zrrp.com/tut/mat-1/ Scott

An update. The players changed colors, I tried to make the lighting a little better and changed the camera angle a bit. Here is a clip where the pitcher gets his sign, check's the runner at second and then throws. Comments please, mostly on the animation. BTW, I am aware that he actually doesn't throw the ball, that is in the works, I've been concentrating on the pitching motion. Later tonight I will post a version where he is viewed from the other side, for comparison. Thanks! Scott Retimed_First_Pitch.zip

They can be found in the Latest Info forum. Scott