Tom

Here is a different Mp4 format in case the previous Zune compression didn't work. plume1.mp4

here it is plume.mp4

thanks Rob! Here is the smoke file Smoke.tga

One last question....completely unrelated to the decal mapping question. I am trying to create a plume of smoke like the kind that happens when a rocket is about to launch. (see the "red line" in the picture below) I am struggling to understand how the sprites can react to the force AND gravity and create that cool looking plume that rolls in on itself. In the zipped Project I attached I create an invisible channel to help shape the plume ........but my smoke is a dud. The project file is zipped (but it is in V. 18) so if any adjustments are made, please do them in V. 18...thank you, Any suggestions are welcome... Tom RocketPlume.zip

nice...

Best wishes to the entire Hash community for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!! Tom

Great premise and nice animation! Tom

Rob- That is a great workaround! I always wondered how to do that .............and now I know! Thanks, Tom

Very cool technique and modeling! Kudos! Tom

Love those leaves!!! Thanks for explaining how sprites work! Tom

I had one other question Rob... Do sprites always face the camera? or can they be made to spin? Many thanks for any info... Tom

Thanks for the response Rob! That looks like it did the job! Best wishes, Tom

Sweet.... That effect really works well! Tom PS- Rob, I had an unrelated question...(and since you are very knowledgeable about AM I thought I would piggyback on this post). I am trying to load a series of 32 bit tga files to be used as animated sprites and AM only loads the first image in the series in the sprite pull down menu. I am using 18.0o AVX. Any idea what might be going wrong? Thanks for any assistance...

Great job Rob! Entertaining way to show the contest and results! Well done! Tom

Martin- Great to hear from you! You planted a wondrous seed and although one can't always predict what shape the fruit will take, it has turned out magnificently. Your software has been a blessing to many, many artists who would have been otherwise strangled by corporate greed. Remember when Softimage cost thousands of dollars to license one seat!!! yikes..... Thank you!!! As far as the unseemly stuff.....yes, unfortunately when egos and money are at stake, and the reptile brain (R-Complex) does it slithery thing...the only consolation is that the weasels often get whats coming to them quickly. I know of a situation where a guy apprenticed with a craftsman and learned all his tricks. He then went out on his own and siphoned off the old craftsman's customers. Two years later the weasel had another guy learn his tricks and siphon off his customers......instant karma Anyway, Are you going to Comic Con? would love to touch base... Tom C.

Grand High Pooh Bah- Love this approach to 3D animation! Disney did a wonderful take on this style with their 2012 Oscar short "Paperman". BTW- the story of paying with "smells" with the "sound" of money goes back to various folktales. Mullah Nasruddin (who Richard Williams loves) tells this one: The Smell of Soup and the Sound of Money One day a poor and hungry visitor took a piece of bread from his pocket and hold it over a hot cauldron food at a open restaurant window. The dry bread became softer and he began to eat it but the restaurant keeper stopped him for fee of the food steam. The poor visitor had no money and they decided to go to judge. Our Hodja was the judge of the town and listened carefully both men. Hodja took some golden coins from his purse and show them to the restaurant keeper. – Come here, please! said to him. When he came to receive coins, Hodja jingled the coins in the palm of his hands to the man’s ear. – Now the fee was paid, said Hodja. – What is that all about? the restaurant keeper wondered and asked. – Justice! Hodja replied, the sound of money is a fair compensation for the smell of the food. That's All Folks!! Tom C.

That is Fun Rob! Did you do a cookie cutter for the leaves or? Tom

Thanks for the dropbox movie...that is a very interesting solution! Thank you!

Thanks Rob! And Happy upcoming Birthday!

Thank you both for the reply! I appreciate you taking the time! I thought I was a bit crazy not being able to do it with the native combiner material tools of AM but now I realize it really is a tricky problem. Until I can find the spiral combiner...it looks like decals it is! thanks again! Tom

Hello Hashers- In the past I have not gotten into designing materials much because there is a such a wealth of materials already available designed by others to choose from, and Dark Tree is also amazing... ...however I am trying to teach myself how to think like a Materials designer and I realized that I have no idea how to design a material for a barber pole. The idea of designing a spiral color wrapping around a cylinder is beyond me..and designing two alternating colors is again bewildering. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks! Tom

Thank you! These may come in handy sometime! Tom

People might want to check out a free program called "Pencil 2D Animation". It works with Windows 7 and it has a lot of potential for a free program, like onion skinning and variable playbacks. Tom

Thanks John! Having fun playing with both projects! Tom

Cool. Thank You Rob! Downloaded the Cloud Proj and can't wait to play with it! Thanks again! Tom