detbear

One of my last waterfall sims in A:M has an emmission rate of 200,000. I think thats what it was. Very long render.

I've done tests with these fluids in A:M over and over now for a while. The particles won't settle. The "jittering" is always there. It seems like every 6 months I go back and do some more experimenting....thinking I can get it to solve...But it always results in a similar outcome. It's very frustrating as JB said because the system has great promise. But unless it is improved, I think the fluid system needs a second round of development. WITH THAT SAID.....maybe there is a magic bullet set up that I haven't been able to obtain. Hopefully there is a setting or adjustment that can work.

Yeah... And making even the most tiny changes in any of those perameters you mentioned above will result in a drastic change in the fluid behavior. It's a beast.

RC, Those are some really nice tests. Your particles must be larger than mine in my attempts. And the models smaller. Mine are life-size at this point. I guess that would help if I shrunk my set down.

At this point, we are after whatever get's the look we're going for. The Massive waterfalls are more ominously cloudy and smoke-like. And the big have water falling from "towering" heights. We are after a fall with less pressure and less gigantic cloudiness. In a way, a bit more artificial. Kind of like a theme park ride. Hard to explain....but when we get it, we'll know it. Or....I hope we will

Yes Mark. It is very steampunkish. But not in a "Victorian" setting.

I'm very excited about this. Just like my "Boomer" show, this has been a few years in the making. So I've got bunches to show eventually and a hope that it will turn out better than I can expect. This is part of a larger project I've been working on since around 2011. I'm very excited about what the results will end up looking like. I use A:M in mostly all of my productions for just reasons. It is both artist friendly and fast all around. I started with A:M in 1999 after seeing an example of it being used in the book...... The Animation Book by Kit Laybourne. Prior to that, I had been dabbling around with Ray Dream and a few other 2D programs further back in the 80's on the Amiga computer.(Remember those giants) My how "state of the art" has changed. William

I saw this a few days ago. I really like the shaders and lighting look. The Popeye character looks a little "young" in one of the shots. I guess I always remember him having a kind of "Old Man" look to him in the classic Popeye. The director keeps saying this is a test only. But much of what is happening in this clip needs to be re-done for clarity purposes. I know it's Popeye and that Popeye has a bunch of fast, slap-stick action. But the pace in this at times is too fast and hard for the audience to read what's going on. Even for a Popeye style action.

Hey Stian, Thanks so much for your reply. That's great to know. Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that Hdrshop might have a function like that. Rodney, Thanks for your replies too.

Hey Rodney, I find that the light probe option works really well. That's also the option Stian uses in his tutorial. It could be that I missed the folder that the light probes were in. But I don't think I did. There are non spherical images, but none like a "Light Probe image"..... (circular ball style).

Hey. Stian has posted about how to apply HDRI lighting. On Stian's HDRI image site, there doesn't seem to be any light probe images to be used along with the HDRI's. I have a question. Is there a way to create a light probe(ball) image from an HDRI. Normally the "Light Probe" exists first and then an HDRI image is made from the light probe. BUT what if there is no light probe image but just an HDRI image. Without the light probe (ball) image, and the matching HDRI image, the lighting won't be accurate. Thanks, William

Yeah.....sorry about that....I guess I meant the Global Ambience. The scene has a combination of lights along with the Global Ambience. I did render it to file. AFter turning the GA back to zero, it did capture the SSS. But I'll have to re-light things.

So I think it must be the fact that I have GI on with the "Color" settings. Am I right that Global Illumination is the problem?

Hey Everyone. I'm in V18 and trying to get the SSS on a character to render without it looking black/ dark. It looks similar to when you try to render transparency with real AO and the "transparent AO" set to "Off" Anyone know how to get the SSS on without looking like black wax?

You mean the code for the plugin? Not sure. If it is an mdd importer/ exporter it should be able to import it's own creation back into A:M I would think.

Yeah... There is an option to import and export mdd sequences in both an action and a choreography. The trick is you must right click on the character name in the PWS and select wizards/export or import. That will give you the option. BUT when I import mdds....even the one created on a model in A:M..........it turns the model to spaghetti moosh.

This is a puzzle for me and I really need the answer. Concerning mdd import export. When you import an .mdd file, does it only work on an .obj model import.......as a prop for instance. Or can you import an mdd and have it work on the hash model. This is what I use to think: 1. In exterior App I can export a model as an obj and import it into hash via the obj import wizard.(results in a hash model version) 2. In exterior App also export an mdd file with motions. 3. Import the mdd file onto the new hash model created in step 1. HOWEVER....I can't get this to work. What's more puzzeling is that I can export an mdd from a Hash model in A:M. But then I cannot get the mdd to import back onto the same hash model. Can anyone clarify how this import functions in A:M?? cheers & many thanks, William

Hey Mark. Do you remember the animated screen saver back in the early 90's called "Johnny Castaway." It was an animated guy living on a teeny island. He would fish every now and then. Sometimetimes he would run behind the palm tree, change into his jogging suit and run around the palm tree. All kinds of fun, random things would happen. You should have some random things animated on your street on the flash site. Here's a video of the Johnny Castaway screensaver....it just ran all day and night as long as your cp was on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVgGfKY91Lg William

That never seemed to work well in any of my scenes because it wasn't easy to control or fit into the shot. Then again, I certainly didn't spend a massive amount of time on it. Maybe for still images it could be composited in somehow.

RC, I think it worked in 15F. But only for still images and only for cylindrical motion. I never could get it to achieve realistic results. Just a semi-realistic stand in.

I will also add that I'm trying to make a very realistic waterfall to move through. BUT more of a waterpark or disney ride version. rather than a foamy, smokey fluffy thing. Yeah...After Effects is a primary part of my pipeline. The Green Screen method works good. But takes a few more steps. I'm working on a trailer for a kickstarter pitch. It is vital that whatever goes in the pitch is Feature quality. A good opportunity for A:M to display it's abilities. BUT I have no budget on this particular project to hire help. Actually I've done pre-production on this now for over a year and much of my forum inquiries have been directly related to it. RobCat.... I like the material effector "fuzzy edge" potential. Post work can get that in some cases. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages.

I'm fairly confident that: 1. Animation Mentor will figure that out and make it right with their student. They do care about their students. And the biggest studios in the world go to Animation Mentor first to recruit new animators. 2. and that Maya will continue to be used in just about every feature film blockbuster that most aspiring animator would love to work on. 3. and that Animation Master will continue to be a favorite tool for people who enjoy using it(including me).

That's really cool Will. Getting Z Brush level textures stamped onto A:M models is an awesome combo. Is it automatic to have the mapping info come in automatically. I know that there are a few other Apps that bring in the maps to the A:M obj importer seemlessly. Whereas others take a lot more pre-work. Is ZBrush one of those "works seemlessly" just by exporting and importing into A:M. Or is there a "pre-flight" protocol you must do in ZBrush to make sure the textures come in and stamp on correctly. I don't have Z-Brush...so I can't try it myself.

Thanks guys, I haven't worked with material effectors before. That may take a bit of a learning curve. Maybe the boolean method would be a bit easier. Cheers, William

I'm moving an object towards the camera through a waterfall. I want it to emerge through the waterfall. What I've been doing is using a green wall that I key out later. This leaves just the object as it passes through. Is there another/ better way to "Clip" an object in A:M so that I can bi-pass the green screen wall??? William