oakchas

Z, I'm still having trouble with "her"... from the side is her face too flat? forehead, not sloped enough? Very oval head on, too wide? I cannot pinpoint my disagreeability with her... but it's unimportant, it's not like I'm looking for a date... maybe jon has a better idea.

very nice.. looks a bit like a tabletizing line... lots of "flavors" Food grade or pharmaceutical. From a maintenance standpoint, I don't like the layout... gotta crawl under the conveying lines to work on some of the equipment... and many of the glass cages on a cursory look, appear impenitrable.

face looks ok in 3/4 view. Head on... looks a bit he/she to me. And from the side, looks like a childs head. Hmmmm? head's maybe just too big for the body. Just first impressions.

GA, JR... I get it But I uploaded the latest QT...WITHOUT iTunes... maybe that'll help.. at one point with both, I had to clear the cache every time to view a new mov. Robcat, that was very nice... very good!

Actually, I like it better with the fur! You do lose a bit... but not too much.

nice job. Fun stuff!

I apologize... for the usefulness or lack thereof. It's just that we have so many new users that want A:M to be something else, or to do it all for them. I'm afraid I don't know much about mocap. And again, am sorry I can't be of more help. But, there are plenty of discussions about mocap, and about import and export options throughout the forums. Best wishes,

thanks guys... I'l even get to look at what I did get on Tuesday or Wednesday... Work interferes with my animating life....

Thanks all for the replies... it'll be Tuesday or Wednesday before I can get back to it and try these things....

The key bases are not joined into one surface... that is the top plate... I hadn't thought of seeing how big, in pixels, each key is... I'll look at that... but the problem I have is rendering out bigger than 1280X1064. Maybe I don't need to go bigger than that, anyway... I'm currently rebuilding it anyway 'cause I pulled a stupid trick and corrupted the mdl file... I submitted to Hash Reports ... but figured I ought to rebuild and learn my lesson about saving to separate files...

Okay... I downloaded V 12.0 T of A:M and the Help installer for same. I have attempted several times to use the help installer.... and it connects to the Hash site, I think, and begins to DL the files... A couple of times it "failed to connect to server" or some similar error msg. So, I downloaded the Zip of the Help file HTML. I unzipped this to the help folder in the Hash directory (that was probably the wrong thing to do). Then later, I tried again to use the help installer... It seemed as though it was working... said it had about 174 minutes left.... (and I'm on DSL, shouldn't that be faster?). Then all of a sudden (about 3 minutes later), it was done! It said it was installed successfully... So, I of course, didn't have time to check it out in A:M, since I had to come in here to work... Did I actually do something right..? Do you think I probably have the help installed correctly? Or should I scrap the whole directory and start over? Trying to figure out if I have something A:M maintenance related to do tomorrow before I come into work again.

To add to Rodney's slightly askew reply regarding tracing bitmaps to vectors... I'm offering something that may not work... but would be worth the attempt especially if you haven't got any AI compatible software.... Here we go: Last year in the OT forum somebody posted a link to Creature House Expressions which had been bought out by ("the evil") MS.... the link still takes you there... but I don't know if you can still download the executable... and, if you decide to do so... a few caveats... You will have to fill out a MS questionaire... you will have to have or create a MS Net passport login... and finally, it may be a limited time useability... If #3 is the case, you could download MS Graphic designer for free and use thru the end of the year. It has an auto trace funcition.... I do not know how well it works... and it sorts by color, apparently from what research I have gotten from the web (I'm not at home to try it) I HAVE used the program to create AI graphics in AI ver 8 or below... to use with the AI wizard That said... here's the link.... hope it works for you>>> linky

So, Tmac... Where are you..?

nah, don't trash 'em, just scale 'em up! If you open the mdl file of the biped you create in a text editor... you'll see that, for the most part, it's just a bunch of numbers (probably indicating cp positions in 3D space) So, for tiny little bipeds, you'll have as many cps as you would for huge ones.... File sizes for the basic mesh of the mdls tend to be pretty small... but then you start decaling and making skin look real... and the requires some graphics and then... well, files can get huge.

1&1a-1d load one character into a model window.... not a choreography. Use the 8, 9 and zero keys at the top of the keyboard (not the NUM PAD numbers) to change from wire to shaded to shaded wire. Use the num pad numbers 2, 4 and 7 to see front, left, and birds eye views of the character in each mode (wire, shaded, shaded wire)... is everything working? Okay, now in wire mode birdseye select one control point near the center of the model it will turn green. Press the T key on your keyboard. slowly click the left mouse button and drag around the screen S-L-O-W-L-Y. The model should stay on screen (for the most part). once you have selected the point and start draging the character around, you can press the 8, 9, or zero keys on the top of the keyboard without releasing the mouse button and change view modes. once you can see what you want... you can press the page up and page down keys to change the resolution of the character this will make the character smoother or "rougher". Does all that seem to work? 2. Loading models into a project you may see the different models names at the bottom of the screen as file folder like tabs... or are you loading them all into one model window? Or are you putting them all in a choreography? If you are loading them all into a single model window... that may be the problem. if you are loading them all into a choreography, leave them in wire frame mode and fender to a tga file... do you see them in the render as they should be? If not, the problem may be #5 or #6 but I am not sure since I have 1 gig or ram and only one monitor. 3. I'm still having that problem too.... but you can always log in here and see the same stuff (pretty much), without over using RAM resources (I'm pretty sure). 4. I'm sure you are frustrated but there are no quick fixes or instant animator pills available.... so if you haven't even tried the excercises in the Art of Animation Master that came with your software, then slow down and start doing that... then you'll be better prepared to be on your way..... Okay... I've got cramps in my fingers from typing so much.... try these things and let us know... we all use the software and are not currently having all the problems you are.... though many of us were just as anxious to get going with it.... And make certain you have the lates video drivers for your video card as mentioned above.... keep us posted!

Hey T, That's what the forums are for... especially this new users forum... we'll help if you let us. Tell us the problem... screenshots help... and we'll do what we can... (you'll be pleasantly surprised, probably)

FMB, I'm getting exceeded bandwidth errors on your last two links.... You can post your pics thru hash... but you will have to convert them to jpg format....

Bring in your talent, your patience, your skill. After you have transitioned those to the A:M way of doing things (without polygons), you will find yourself animating more and modeling less than you would (or already have?) in other 3D apps. While no 3D aplication is the be-all end-all for making and/or animating objects of your own creation, A:M will create finished objects, images and animations that rival those expensive competitors (and will do it for considerably less cash outlay). Now, if you really must have output to some poly based program, there are workarounds. If you must import from poly apps, the workarounds are a bit more cumbersome. If you have some specific desires for import/export formats, list them here, someone will be able to answer them directly. Look around in the galleries (still and film) to see what A:M can do. You will see every level of expertise represented... not just the cream of the crop... you'll see everything from works in progress, to ~30 minute movies. Some of them as good (or better) as you will find anywhere else.

that would be a yes. resaving over the existing... won't open in any version.

Well, Thanks slippin' I am only really disraught over my own stupidity for not saving the file in a secondary location... seperate from the project... I've survived worse... just don't like it when the cause is my own shortsightedness and laziness over saving in more than one location... Now, If Hash can't help, and I remain confident they can, then I will really have to flog myself because the majority of the model is COMPLEX and will take a while to re construct. I'm considering entering into the text of the model myself and deleting the offending group. And hoping that that is the only portion that is corrupting the remainer of the model.

I knew better than not to save it elsewhere... now the model is corrupted.... won't open in 11.1, or 12.0s... sending it in! Arghhh!

I have been working on a complex model. I am "cleaning it up" removing some unessesary cps, and consolodiating patches. I have much of the model hidden. When I go to group and delete some patches, A:M closes abruptly. I was hoping to do a Copy-flip-attach. but If I can't delete some of these extraneous patches because of closing, I doubt I would be able to do the c-f-a for the same reason. this is in 11.1b... on a P4 3.4 GHz w 1 GB ram and a 200MB HDD. Should I report it, move to a later version of 11, or move to v12 s?

hmmm... Why are the cute little froggies boxing? Ummmm... Dennis, ummm, well I just don't know what to say... Well wait, I can say this. When I had the roundhouse in Eureka Springs there was a frog museum next door. Interesting.

Ahhhh the trick of the well placed ...Yikes! Reel him in, take a pick and let 'im go... He's gettin' to be a bigun! Looking great so far, look forward to seein' that cast iron show... then the creases... heck, call 'em mold marks...

Glad I could help (or at least point you in a good direction), Ed... Yeah, Xtaz is a great guy! And knows his stuff, too. But the best part is, he (like many others here) shares what he's learned! My sig line says it all!