DrPhibes

Robert, can't thank you enough for this. It may totally solve the problem. I imagine that I will need to bake the animation to get key frames recorded to the pose slider timeline. I wonder if there is an expression for that Expressions did not even occur to me. I use them all the time in after effects, never think about it in A:M

OK, this is a long shot. Is there a way to automatically apply key frames to a percentage pose slider. For example; If I manually move a bone from point A to point B in an action, that animation would then automatically move a pose slider a certain percentage based on some predetermined association (x translate of bone1 from -5" to 10" moves the pose slider 0 to 100%) This may sound like a strange need, but I have been using A:M to program animatroncs with the majority of the control generated through key framed poses exported through an A:M action file. I am looking to combine the pose sliders with an IK rig, but I want that IK rig to drive the pose sliders in a couple cases. Charles

So the rotoscope does not save for me the way you describe. Also, as I tried to use the technique described in Rodney's post about decaling the rotoscope onto a plane, I discovered that the software crashes when ever I try to decal an image sequence. Bummer.

So in my further test, if the project is saved with the action window open, the rotoscope is saved. If the window gets closed, rotoscope goes away.

OK, not sure what happened. This time when I reopened the file, the rotoscope was there! Weird.

I had created an action and placed a rotoscope to use as some movement reference. Saved my project, and when I came back and opened it a day later I found that the Rotoscope was not retained in my action file. This meant that my scale and translate settings (that I had not written down) were gone. This may have always been the case since I can't remember ever opening a rotoscope in an action window, but I was hoping that someone knew if this is an error or just the way it is. I did find that I could use Rodney's suggestion here to solve the issue, but it seems like a silly thing to not be able to hold the rotoscope settings. Thanks,

This one will be a year or two, but someday

Glad this is not just me. I thought I was missing something.

I had thought of this, but the trick is that I wanted the shapes in one model for a decal trick I was using. I can do what you propose, but it complicates the decal. Also, it is so much easier to animate the structure from the pose sliders. In the end my work-around does the job, but it would be nice to just share content from one slider channel to another. I may rebuild the thing to use actions later though.

Hi all, I have looked through the forums for an answer to what I am missing here, but have not found an answer. I have a simple set up. 13 rings in a single model that expand and contract. Each ring has a separate percentage pose that provides that motion. In the Chor I am timing the expansion and contraction to a piece of video using the pose sliders. There are moments where I would like to set three or four key frames in the timeline for ring number one, then copy and paste those key frames into the pose for ring number two on. This way I am animating one ring and not manually setting key frames for the other twelve. Simply using "copy and paste" did not work. My quick work-around was to set a frame on all the rings and then open the project in notepad and next copy and paste from the pose of ring one to the poses of ring two onward. It work well to do that, but how do you do it in the app? Attached is a sample file similar to what I have built. I am sure someone will ask why I don't use bones and an action or something, but I have it setup this way for a very good reason. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks, CB Cube Pose Test.prj

This of course isn't to say Disney uses A:M... they certainly don't in any official capacity... but rather that the software they do use has undeniably benefited through it. I can confirm that A:M has been used to design multiple pieces for the various theme park. CB

Yes, that is what I am saying. Selecting a control point and then turning only rotates around the global axis of the model, not the local axis of the control point any more. I went back to version J and is works fine. Version K it does not.

Am I the only one that lost the ability to rotate my view on the local axis of a control point while modeling? A:M will only rotate on the global axis of the model when I turn it. Is there a keyboard shortcut to turn that on or off, or is it broken?

Thanks for the kind words. I try to use A:M when ever it makes sense in our workflow. This dragon started as a smooth, primitive foam scale model (looked like a white Brontosaurus) that was free of any surface detail. I laser scanned the model and then using the snap to surface feature of A:M I created my patch based model of the original foam real life model. This base model is then sent to my mechanical engineer as a solid model (generated using a workflow we have developed with a few other tools) who begins to design the frame and structure inside the dragon. Simultaneous to that I build all the detail into the model (every thorn and rivet) and most importantly rigged the model to run it through all it's motions to check for clearances and collisions of the body parts. When everything is ready, I export STLs and send to a get milled on a variety of large CNC machines including a really cool robot arm. Then most of the parts get laid up with fiberglass directly (to save molding costs) and then assembled and painted. Obviously there is a lot more to it, but that sums it up. Unfortunately with this particular project I cannot publicly share any of the process images or A:M renders. I like using A:M, and have been for more than 20 years now, but it's just one tool in my large toolbox. I don't think I would be able to use A:M as much as I do without the support of a few other tools. Right now about half of my projects run through A:M in some way. I am working on 2 large Disney attractions right now that don't open until 2016 and A:M has been an important part of the process. I also have a large sculpture for the Wynn casino being built in Cotai China that was originated in A:M. You can see more of what we do at www.michaelcurrydesign.com Thanks, Charles

I can post a little more on the process I use soon. I have a project that I finished last month that might be a good teaching example on how to do this on the cheap. Charles

Yes, that is a feature I wish I had 6 months ago when I was working on that project! I use that feature all the time on my current projects. A:M is now an even better tool for the process. Still wish it had millimeters as an option for the working units thought. Charles

Yes, an STL is exactly what I exported as. The STL exporter works very well from A:M and I have had no trouble printing directly from them. The main issue is scaling. A:M does not allow you to set your working units to millimeters. As such, when I import the STL into anything else, the scaling is always off by a factor of 10. Not hard to work around, but it would be nice if A:M would just include MM as a units option. Charles

In the past I have posted about 3D printing from A:M, however, this time I thought I would show some of the work from my day job and how A:M plays a big part in it. We recently finished work on ICE AGE LIVE. An ice show that will be touring Europe for the next few years. We designed and built the large puppets and costumes for the show. In order to reproduce the characters as accurately as possible, I took the original animation geometry from Blue Sky Studios into Animation Master, and after a bit of modification to fit human performers where necessary, I patterned directly off the digital character within A:M to create flat patterns for our fabric department to then sew together into the fur bodies and costumes of the final characters. Sid the Sloth is a good example of a character that was almost entirely design and patterned from A:M. Here is a video of the promo Sid character touring a mall in Germany; In all about 60% of the digital design work was done in A:M for the 16 or so characters created for the show. Here are a couple more video clips from the show; Clip02 The main reason I am posting this is to hopefully get some of you thinking about how you can use A:M to expand beyond just images on a monitor, and translate your digital designs to physical creations. Charles

I have a current subscription and did all this on v16. I just installed 17 but have had no time to start it up. Because A:M is not really designed for mechanical modeling, there are the typical challenges with precision. I'm printing with extruded ABS plastic, so it is pretty smooth when printed, and durable. I did not sand any of the surfaces of the objects shown here. These are straight out of the printer with just a little clean up some flashing.

It's been awhile since I have posted in the forums, but robcat2075 informed me that some of you might find these current projects of interest. Last year I bought myself a Thing-O-Matic from Makerbot.com, and have designed most of the things I have printed on it with A:M. This is a photo of a Lightcycle model I originally modeled in A:M about 12 years ago, then updated into a model kit you can download and print from Thingivers.com. Lightcycle at Thingivers.com Today I have finished one of my steam engine models, fully designed in A:M and them printed on my Makerbot in ABS. The only non-printed parts are one spring and a few machine screws. I have not been using A:M much for full rendered animation or images for awhile, but I use it almost everyday for projects like these. Both at home and at work. Charles Babbage

Great job on the B9 robot. Good companion to the Robby I did years ago. http://www.hash.com/stills/displayimage.ph...t=3&pos=197 Charles

Correct, the first tut only is for the waves, but the third tut (if you could call it that) is about combining the waves with a wake created by an object http://www.babbagepatch.com/wakes.htm I realize the frustration people have currently with the tuts from my site. I did these way back in version 8.5. There have been many cool improvements it A:M that make many of the steps in my tutorials unnecessary. I have been promising to update these tut for ages, and as soon as I upgrade to v13/14 (currently using 12) I may get is done. I hope Charlie

I have always defended the movie too. It has it's faults (Dread should have kept his helmet on through more then the first five minutes of the flick), but the ABC robot is awsome! I have the 6 foot Dread movie theater standup hanging in my dad's shop. Take a look at the sample metal flake I made here, it may suit your needs. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23134

Reminds me of a similar A:M project I did years ago for a radial steam engine model. The real model will be about 3 inches tall (if I can ever make time to finish machining it) steam2.avi

I'm glad people still find this useful. I have been trying to get an updated tut done for version 11/12, but it seems every time I get started, other work distracts me. SOON, I promise