Gerry

Keep it up Gene, I've enjoyed all your progress and all your videos!

Sounds like it's time I learned something about baking. Never messed with it, but it sounds handy.

This is looking just great Jody!

when I was watching the weather report this morning they had a "lightning" graphic and it got me thinking that maybe (assuming you want to take a detour into doing a lightning bolt) you should look at YouTube to see if (that's silly, OF COURSE YouTube has this!) YouTube has some videos of lightning that might serve as inspiration. I would think there are a couple of ways to do this in AM, but offhand I'm not sure how you'd do it. EDIT: the quick and dirty way that comes to mind is to create a 10-frame graphic in Photoshop and put an animated decal on a layer or just a panel in the background.

Here's another thought, why not make the wall/ceiling continuous geometry instead of separate objects? Then you can color wall and ceiling however you like, and I *think* that would solve the light leak, no? Your lightning bolt effects aren't working for me. I think it would be a static shape that would just glow sharply and suddenly. That's one approach, anyway.

I second that, you guys do great, inspiring work!

I think both of those solutions work much better, and the first one, with the ceiling hidden, is the better of the two. Another thought I had, just to complicate your life, would be to show the bolt of lightning outside, but only on the first flash. I think it would add to the drama and shock of that first flash.

Good luck Simon, this is an interesting problem. I think you'll figure it out, and maybe teach us something in the process.

Hm, that's a stumper. What kind of light are you using for the lightning (not that i would know how to advise you either way... )? EDIT: here's another observation: When the lightning flashes, the ceiling in the reflection is more brightly lit further back in the room, which is odd! So in combination with the light "leaking" close to the wall, the illusion of lightning is really not working to its best advantage. I wish I could explain it better, but I hope that helps.

Well, when the light hits the ceiling it looks like light is leaking over top of the wall, mainly.

Simon, I also think there shouldn't be any lightning illumination on the curtains or ceiling.

Just voted again!

Well that's an interesting start! It will be interesting to see where this goes!

Just voted, Gene!

nevermind, got it!

Someone, maybe John Bigboote? recently posted an animation he had done with a waving flag, and as I recall, posted the .prj that could be reused with a new flag decal. Does that ring a bell? I poked around but couldn't find it.

How'd that other thread get locked?

Even newcomers (especially newcomers!) deserve a Happy birthday wish! here's yours!

Hey MikeV, not to complicate your life, but as you build your set, I would highly recommend beveling EVERYTHING. I know it sounds like a ton more work but the end result makes it way worthwhile. And once you get in that mindset, it becomes easier.

here's the link I haven't seen them, but many people here seem to feel these are quite good. Nan, at the very least you should try the three on modeling. I *thought* I was pretty good at modeling, but I learned so much from these I felt like a beginner again, but in a good way. They made me feel smarter. And he's talking about AM specifically, not animation or storytelling theory, which certainly both have their place. Only in the rigging section does it get a bit troublesome, since a lot of what he's doing depends on whether the constraints offset button is on or off by default, an interface change that we all struggle with a little bit. and even at that, there's still a lot to be learned by watching, if not actually rigging along with him. The modeling stuff is pure gold though.

These exist already, in the form of Barry Zundel's tutorial series. You can buy them one at a time, for like five bucks. So you can stop *wishing* they exist. They already do.

Niced looking work, Chris! Only comment is that the asteroids look a little plain. will you be adding some texture or material to them?

Hey MikeV, you're doing fine and asking good questions! The projects in TaoAM may not reflect a lot of newer functionality in the program, but they are still good practice and all will benefit the patient student. I still keep my v8 manual handy for reference and I use it all the time, even though the whole interface (and much else) has been overhauled since then, because the basic rules and tools are unchanged.

Hi Alvee! You'll have questions eventually, so stick around!

Nice!