Shelton

Thanks Rodney This was one of the ways I was thinking about. I had invisioned making a copy of the chor and deleting what I don't need. All the machines in the farm have plenty of memory and speed but still I was test rendering two characters plus a prop and AM crashed saying out of memory. So I knew it was time to think how I was going to render the short. I will keep you up to date. Steve

In another thread I had a hardware hiccup and well I had to do somethings over on the bus. Got it back to a state before I copy/flip/attach. Here is an update, Steve

Is there a plugin or add on that allows you to print the PWS and its contents? For example I have a character with several decals and maps and settings that I would like to save in print form. I am saving all this information to prevent data loss. I have backups on several machines and back up drives but I am old fashion and would love to create a notebook with all the characters and sets and props information. Steve

Thank you guys for all the comments. Wealth of knowledge here. I am still a long ways away from that point. Just wanted to make sure I was not killing my efforts. Steve

Thanks guys excellent help. I have worked with several compositing programs for years and will be using them to complete the short. All the stuff I have done in the past has been one or two characters with very limited backgrounds. Thanks so much as this has been a big concern while I was on vacation. I found myself thinking of how to do this or that and laying our the shot, I probably was not much fun to be around. Steve

Ok this will show my limited knowledge of AM and animating with AM. Some of the models for the short I am working on have 2500 patches all the way to 5500. There will be up to 7 characters in a scene at a time. There will also be a city scene with several buildings most of the items will be props as it were but still I can see a large patch count in the chor. So my questions are as follows. In other programs you can render layers at a time. Does AM have that capablility? For example, as the girls walks down the street she will only interact with the sidewalk and street with her shadows. can she be rendered from the chor and then other elements rendered seperately? I have not tried it yet but I guess I could render the set/scene first with all the characters inactive. Then rendered each segment of the chor as active that I need and turn off the already rendered items. Then I could take each one of the renderings and add them into a video editing program such as Premiere, Vegas Video, etc and the render the movie from there. Is this a way to by pass the large patch counts? I was looking at the TWO files and a large number the renderings I worked on, the file set up was already completed by Steve Sappington. Any thoughts would be helpful on how to set up the scenes, chor Steve

Here is the shot of the completed front of the bus. I have the sides nearly completed and will be begin the back later tonight. Steve

I am back at it and trying to create a mirror on the bus. I want to see the refelections in the mirror, I can see the glass reflecting toward the windshield but if I go at an angle to see to the rear it only shows a dark color or no reflection at all. What type of settings should I have on the surface? Steve

Thanks Gene and David. Well all the family gets here tomorrow so I will not have much time the next 7 days. May have some time late tonight but if not see you when I return. Steve

Bus 3/4 and I am done for tonight Steve

Well could not stop. Took my laptop and started the bus. Here is the start with wireframe Steve

It is hard to stay away from the forums even while you are way. Thanks guys! Steve

Thanks Gene I appreciate the support. This has been really fun to get up and running again. I have a great deal ahead of me. The short will hope to be 5 minutes and so far I have created 4 characters and a handful of props. I have three sets to build, tons of props to go, texture, learn more on each step, etc...... Steve

Well I changed the knees. She was 5'5" and I decided to make her 5'8" and cleaned up the arms as well. Got the shoes on It will be a couple of days before I post another update. Will be taking my laptop on vacation, our year trek to Walt Disney World. Be back in three weeks. Steve

Thanks guys.. David I wanted a different look but I think I did go to far. I will touch that up tonight. Working again on the hair tonight and shoes. Steve

Finally had a chance to put some clothes on her. Looking for a pattern now. Will upload later. Steve

Excellent! Reminds me of the character in the League of Extrodinary Gentlemen. Good Start! Steve

Here is a shot of the legs and toes from a birds eye view. i also narrowed the chin slightly, cant stop tweaking.

Nice looking Steve. I like the lighting and the set. Steve

Thanks Stian. I am starting the model of a transit bus this week and would like so crits from you and the other mechanical modelers. I have not built anything such as car or truck so this one should be difficult for me. Steve

Thanks!! Thinner was the trick, I also streched her neck as well. I like it a lot better. Steve

Wow, Nice job Stian Steve

Thanks!! I have decided that I am finished tweaking the girl's face for now. The cheeks are redone, move chin up, increase eyes, narrowed lips, rotated the center of the lips toward the front of the face to all for some nice folding of the cheeks, pulled mesh forward, narrowed forehead, narrowed chin on x axis, and last but not least pulled the forehead forward as well. Here a revised shot. I had hair on her as well but AM crashed and silly me forgot to save the progress. So tomorrow! Steve

Thanks Steve. I will u/l two shots, one totally reworked mouth area and one with modifications to the existing mesh. I am working on a network today so hopefully that I can those up later tonight. Steve

Hi David I don't know how I missed this thread, but really great stuff going on here. Love both models. Steve