Gerry

There's lots of new features and better stability since v13, and seriously, $49 a year is a steal. So if the CD is really gone, your options are $299 for a v15 CD or $49 for a year's subscription. Also there are updates during the year (that work for either version) that it pays to stay aware of.

Yeah, that's the serial number for your individual copy, that you would use when your first install it. And yes, if you need the CD to run it then it's definitely not the subscription version. Keep lookin, it's there somewhere!

HI- This is a great start, though the bed (and bedposts) look a little clunky. The knobs look large and out of proportion, and I'm wondering why the bed is on a solid platform instead of legs. The table looks great though!

this is looking really great!

Glad you're making some progress with this. It can be a little frustrating at first, but hang in there and don't be afraid to ask questions here. I'm always amazed at the elementary questions being posed on the forum by people whose work I consider to be really advanced.

That's some deep and intuitive digging on Steffen's part. I used to delve into the .prj text files when I was having some rendering probs a few versions back, and it's good to know you *can*, but not always a good idea if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.

A:M Forum RULES!

Yarrrr! The theme of the NY Times Crossword today was "Talk like a Pirate Day". I got it right away, mateys!

By ink stroke I assume you mean Toon Line render. It's not a plugin, it's a render option you'll see when you render to file. Under Options, click Toon Render to "On" and you can access different options, like thickness of line, whether to make the line black, a color, or a percentage of the object color, whether to render just lines or lines and color, shading options(partial, full shading, flat color), etc. etc. There's lots of settings to look at and play with. You might want to look at either help files or the manual if you've got it. I can see from the manga style you're going for why you're wondering about texturing, and you're right, for this style you don't need to knock yourself out with texture maps! But like I said, under Surface settings you can set specularity and falloff, stuff like that that will give your "flat colors" more roundness and depth if you want. I think there's also a "manga style" option for eyebrows,( at least there used to be) where the eyebrows lay on top of the bangs. If you look through the image galleries there's tons of manga style images for inspiration, and maybe you can direct questions to the guys who do that style, or at least ask how different effects are achieved specifically for manga. EDIT: Hm I see there IS an InkStroke plugin! I'm completely unfamiliar with that!

Well scupper me timbers and hand me that belayin' pin, Cap'n! Have at ye!

You can also create materials, which is a good middle option between solid color and texture maps. The great advantage to texture maps is that you can create a much more realistic appearance by creating textures for as much of your model as you feel capable of doing. the drawback to materials is that they tend to look mechanical and repetitive, especially if you rush it or don't know quite what you're doing and settle for a material that's "just okay". Also take some time to learn about all the settings under "Surface". Adding a little roughness and tweaking its settings can do wonders. But if you take your time and create texture maps you'll see a real difference in the finished piece. And the sense of accomplishment alone is worth it!

Welcome to the Forum!

I didn't know that either! But in a pinch you can also edit renders together in QuickTime Pro. It's like twenty-nine bucks.

Ooh, that's a good one! I'll have to try the shift-k thing tomorrow, I was unfamiliar with that.

On this topic, I was creating a walk cycle today for the first time in v15d and I was unable to move the stride length indicator. It appeared I could scale it, but I couldn't move it into position at frame 0. Has it been changed in recent versions?

Nice model, but her face seems a little large for the size of her head. Just a first impression.

I got a shock with my image contest entry when I viewed it on my Mac at home. In creating it on my office PC I got the lighting kind of "in shadow" while keeping it lit enough to see details. On the Mac it was lit like daylight and the moodiness was completely gone. I immediately delved into Yves' tutorial on the subject and realized I was in over my head. It becomes more of an issue though, because I've been commissioned to create a music video that, while it's strictly a vanity project and may well never see the light of day, I want to use it as a learning process to better understand gamma, color gamut, creating for the HD format, and in addition, if it is ever shown, it will be in Asia. I'm trying to learn about HD requirements for the tech aspects of that part of the world but I freely admit I don't know where to start.

When are you gonna do the one on making an aircraft carrier like Stian's?

Heh, heh. There's lots more where that came from!

I can't complain, that was a tough slate of entries! I'm not sure I even voted for myself! But I really like seeing this guy move, and I'm feeling more and more comfortable with the rigging process. I used TSM and 3Dartz's cog joints, and though some joints need more refining I'm pretty happy with how he's working. I recently posted some storyboards I did for a trailer for these characters, though Croaker doesn't figure into the trailer. But I may start working on developing the models needed for it. You can see the storyboards here. http://www.mooneyart.com/bugbots/storyboards.html

Here's another with a few refinements to the lighting, camera and timing. For some reason, light doesn't appear to be hitting the ground plane. Croaker_leap05.mov

Here's a quick test of my rigging and animating. Still some work to do on the joints but I've found a good comfort level with tweaking, testing and tweaking, which i was always nervous about before. I'm most grateful for Caroline's Gala rigging thread and the stability of v 15d. Croaker_leap_test01.mov

I know these guys are kidding. When I saw this entry I knew the whole circuit board was modeled because you're a maniac with the bevels and the lighting and the hoohah! Your aircraft carrier is one of my faves and I remember in the WIP where you had beveled every ladder and railing. It all pays off in spades! Beautiful work!

Bill, this really looks great.