Mike Hart
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Posts posted by Mike Hart
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I recently I upgraded from XP Home edition to XP Pro and now the disappearing files problem hasn't recurred. Maybe just coincidential but still, satisfactial.
Knock plastic-wood.
Mike Hart
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yeah u see, I have multipass aswell.. 9 (3x3)
but still I get edges.. within the model it looks fine but im not having any AA against the background..
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Have you tried increasing the passes? What kind of background are you using? (Is it an image or default background or layer, etc.). Are you in a choreography? Are you rendering from a camera? What kind of file are you rendering (tga, mov, avi, etc.)?
Can you post a pic of the problem? It sounds wierd.
How's that for answering aquestion with a question? Don't answer that but, the other bits of info might help someone give more specific help yo your problem.
Good luck,
Mike Hart
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I used the "Search" feature (at the top-right of the page, next to "Help") of the AM Forum to find the following topic:
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2996&hl=m+pro
You might find that an interesting starting point, for this particular question
All the tools, you need, to find the answers to most of your questions are at your finger tips.
One thing to bear in mind is that the AM forum isn't really a chat room, so much as a "learning library" of cataloged questions and answers, provided by the other users who, started at the same point you find yourself at now. My point is...; that you get better responses when you pose positive or constructive questions rather than posing them from a negative stance. You know... the old honey vs. vinegar routine.
Mike Hart
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You might, also, consider decaling from a side view, instead of front or back views. That way you can decal all the way through a model so that one side is the mirror of the other with just one stamp. Presumably, the wrinkles are symmetrical but, if not, you could always do seperate stamps for each side and then tweak with the UV editor to get assymetry.
Mike Hart
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I'm sure Mike Hart (the author) will pop up with a clarification.
Zach
Zach,
Thanks but, I'm not the author. Mike Fitzgerald is. I've praised Mike's Cog tute, in the past, so I reckon that's how you confused us. I've often said that there are too many Mike's on this list and the rest of them should change their names to Schlomoe or Wendell or Biff.
Anyway, I still say the Cog tute is well worth $30. At first, I thought it was only worth $29.99 but now I believe it's worth every last penny.
Mike Hart
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Try this.
Create a new model and drag your "root" bone to the new model, in the PWS, which should make copies of all it's children bones. Then slect the root bone, in the new model, and hit the "s" key to get the scale manipulator. Now you can scale it -100% on the x-axis to position the new bones. You can do it manually or use the manipulator properties by selecting the show manipulator properties icon. At that point you'll need to rename all the "right" bones to "left" bones, in your new model. You can do that the old-fashioned way or use a text editor, if you're so inclined. I'd also rename the "root" bone to "root2" or somesuch. After that you can drag the "root2" bone back onto your original model's "root". Delete "root2" and you should be good to go.
Mike Hart
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I'd look into animated texutre maps or decals. You can apply an animated sequence in a decal and set it tp repeat throughout your scene.
You can make a animated material using the AM filters like, Cellular or Turbulence to make an animatable material that you can then apply to a flat grid (using the Grid Wizard) and then render it out as an avi or mov or even a targa sequence. At that point, you can decal the animation(s) to a model. You can further monkey with the animations in a 3rd-party app like Quicktime or Photoshop, etc.. to refine the effect.
Hope that helps.
Mike Hart
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Hey Mark,
You've got the right attitude and you're looking in all the right places.
Unfortunately, I've never gotten Mirror All Smartskins to work either. That may be because I don't always maintain the right attitude. Anyway, I do know that any of the model-mirroring tools require that the mesh be symmetrical within a tolerance of .0something and that the center spline be at 0 on the x-axis. The problem, you're having, may have something to do with your bones and/or mesh not being symmetrical within the tolerance range.
Many people try to avoid around using smartskins, altogether, by using "fans bones". Fans are nothing more than an arrayed set of bones that graduate the rotation of adjacent bones to mediate the effect of the rotation of the bones in the joints.
A simple elbow fan (child of bicep), would use an Orient-Like constraint targeting the forearm bone at 50%. So the fan would rotate (orient) half-as-much as the forearm thus, making a smooth bend between the forearm and radius.
Other things to look into are "Cogs" and "Weightmover". Niether are free.
Cogs is fans on steroids. The technique can be learned from turorial by Mike Fitzgerald. I think it's about $30. IMHO, it's worth it.
Check it out: http://www.3dartz.com/
Weightmover is an Anzovin Product. I've not, actually used it but, have been told it's a great product. If it's as good as The Setup Machine, it's bound to be great.
Good luck,
Mike Hart
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I have no idea if your problem is the same as mine but; my XP system does the same thing, from time to time. In my case, I think it's a hardware issue not XP related.
Whenever XP won't boot, I open the box and push on all my cards and cables to make certain they are seated properly , in particular my video card. For whatever reason, that "fixes" the XP-boot hang, until it happens again in a month or so.
I don't know what/who to blame, the video card or the motherboard.
you might give it a try.
Another possibility is that it's overheating.
Good luck,
Mike hArt
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Whenever I see the offset "ghost" bone, in a relationship window and it doesn't clear up when I close other open windows that are using that relationship; I am suspicious that a constraint's offsets have become corrupt, altered or otherwise screwed up.
In my experience, the best, most expedient, thing to do is just delete that bone from the relationship and re-constrain it. (Be sure to make note of the settings before deleting the constraint.)
The "?" folders are supposed to indicate a problem with a non-existant bone or renamed bone. Sometimes, however, the "?"s appear when you close the relationship window but still have it expanded in the PWS and still have an Action or Chor., that uses the relationship, open. Those "?"s, usually, go away when you re-open the relationship or close the other windows. If they don't go away then, there's a problem bone and/or constraint that you need to troubleshoot.
Mike Hart
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Hey Mike,
You've discovered what I've been trying to tell people for months. When I began using AM on a PC, it was like walking out of a room filled to the ceiling with jello into a room with only knee-deep jello. Everything is sooooooooooo much faster than what I was used to on my G4, my head spun.
Mac believer's, it is true; PCs are better for running AM than Macs(period). However, true Mac believer's (being true believer's) are not going to believe the truth since, they already believe in something, and may even pillage us for saying this so, hunker down.
Hunker downingly yours,
Mike Hart
PS - Be sure to load up with all the firewall, anti-Intrusion, virus protection, etc. you can get. PCs are intruder magnets. There's plenty of freeware out there.
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It looks great William. My pennies are waiting.
mike Hart
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Oops, I meant "Rodney" not "gra4mac"
Mike Hart
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Have you tried all the usual remedies, like defragmenting you harddrive, uninstalling all instances of AM and then reinstalling? (Turn off virus-scanning while doing this) Got the latest video drivers, etc.?
In Windows, you can't allocate memory, like in MacOS.
I'd, defintely, save projects incrementally, as gra4mac says, and occassionally, save the models, chors. actions, & materials seperately from the project. That way, you can re-assemble a lost project, from it's parts, if you have to.
Mike Hart
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i can scale the rootbone (together with all the others) manually, but after that my constraints are all f§#%$ up.
You should mirror the bones before adding constraints. Mirroring bones does not mirror constraints too. Instead of scaling the model bone, try creating a "dummy root" bone that is the parent of all the new bones and then scale and translate that bone. Later, you can delete the "dummy root", once you've copied it and it's children to the model.
Hope that helps.
Mike Hart
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I'm just wonfering outloud, a bit, here but, would it be possible for Steelshark to use TSM on a single, 2-legged, segment of the wyrm and then string several instances of the TSM'd model together in a chor. to produce the whole worm? Each subsequent segment could then use Translate-to, with lag, and Orient-like constraints to get wyrm-ish locomotion.
He could also constrain the assembled wyrm(s) to a path and then animate the path to get the inch-wyrm effect.
Mike Hart
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Am I cursed? What horrible thing have I done to bring this on myself?
I had that very same problem. Yes, you are cursed. Only you know what you did to deserve the curse. I'm sure all will become clear once you emerge from the cloud of denial you now find yourself. In my case, it was something I did when I was a boy scout that I can't tell you anything about, other than it involved coke bottles.
The only resolution, I've found, is to push the CD back in and pound the desk. Cursing is optional but, I recommend it just to cover all the bases. For whatever reason, it only does this with the 2004 disk. Cleaning the disk didn't help me.
It may help to petition "Not Set" with an offering. First born sons are always popular. Not Set seems to like decorative baskets too so, I'd spring for one, if I were you. If you don't have a first born son, I'll rent one to you.
I use my AM on a PC now and am enjoying it, so much, more now that I don't have to pound my poor fists on the desk anymore.
Mike Hart
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I'll do just dat.
Thanks for the help.
Mike Hart
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I don't know what's up with this but, I apologize for the hassle. Thanks for trying.
I've changed the link to go to the shared folder where the Displacement Problem pic is. It's working from 2 PCs and a Mac.
If that doesn't work, I give.
BTW - Is there anything wrong with 256 x 512 pixels? Is there a rule-of-thumb for dsiplacement map sizes?
mike Hart
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Hmmm...., it's working for me in IE and Mozilla. Try copying the shortcut and pasting into the address bar.
The dimensions are 256w x 512h pixels.
Thanks,
Mike Hart
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Very nice. One of the best, of her kind, that I've seen. She does look a little mesh heavy but, well done.
nit-pics: The line from the nose to the corner of the mouth seems a little harsh, for her age, in the first pic, and the ear is a little "deflated", as others have said. It just needs to be plumped out, a tiny bit.
The last image with the smirk expression is excellent. The way you've got the lips cheeks and nose working is right on. Those lips are killing me.
Mike Hart
PS - the hair is beautiful.
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oops sorry, Godfrey. You're right, it's not on mine, either. I'm not sure where it came from. Maybe I created it and just forgot. That's never happened before; that I recall.
Anyway It's a 72 dpi targa file.
You may be right about using it as a bump too. It looks good, as a bump map, on the surfaces directly facing the camera but, not so good on the profile surfaces where, I was hoping to get an accordion-fold effect.
The displacement, i am getting, looks okay on some patches but not on others. I can't figure out why some are orienting vertically and others horizontally. The rotate image command seems to have no effect when the map type is set to displacement, as opposed to bump or color, etc..
Here's a link to help clarify. I applied the "V" to demonstrate that the images are all aligned.
Thanks,
Mike Hart
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Heyall,
I'm trying to make flexibale joints for an astronaut suit, with relatively low patch count, by using a displacement map on the the joint patches (knees, elbows, etc.).
I'm using a modified "corrugated.tga" which, I found on the AM disk, as a patch-image. The map is grayscale with horizontal banding, perfectly symmetrical and tileable.
The map looks great, just as expected, when it's type is set to color or bump. When I change it to displacement, however, it does not.
I've set the render resolution to 16 (or adaptive) but, the displacement does not reflect the image map, properly. Some of the patches appear as horizontall displacement and others are vertical. I used a "pointer" image to align all the patches in the same orientation but, that doesn't help. Although the arrow is pointing in the same direction on all patches, the displacement map is still vertical on some and horizontal on others. (unlike the perfectly aligned result when set to "color")
Additionally, the number of bands (7), in the map, is not reflected in the displacement. Most of the patches have only 1 or 2 of the bands that appear as displaced surfaces. Also, the effect is terminated at the edge of each patch so, there's a "quilting" or pillowing around the perimeter of every patch. I was expecting that the displacement map would continue, seamlessly, from one patch to another, resulting in a "corrugated" displacement, just as it does when the image type is set to color.
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? It's not just a realtime anomaly, the result is the same when rendered to file.
Netrender 2004 10.5q
1-gig RAM
Athlon 2.4
Nvidia Geforce FX 5800
Thanks,
Mike Hart
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Wow! This really is great. I love the facial textures. He looks capable of tremendous havoc. I can't offer any criticism for the ape. I don't think the diaper is working, though. I don't understand the folded paper-looking thing in the front and it needs a fabric texture to integrate with the ape.
Is it too obvious to mention that the fur isn't working, as well, towards the top of the diaper.
I don't want to seem nit-picky because, this is a truly wonderful model.
Mike Hart
PS - I've always preferred clean monkeys.
Change the Colours?
in (2003-2004)
Posted
Funny,... I always thought of first time viewers as "amatuer" but,... you may be onto something.
Mike Hart