[I need to poll your gamma]

I bet $10 that the image A is using gamma = 1 and B gamma = 2.2

 

I think that's going to cost you $10 I've tested it by applying gamma 2.2 to image A, and image B is still brighter (about 4%).

[Tree Growth Animation WIP]

Just an idea: why don't you create the tree in one model, and rig every branch? You can add a scale bone and constrain the length of every bone to the length of that bones. Now, if you animate the length of the controller bone, the tree will grow. And you can create an additional action to make the branches shake while it's growing.

[Image Contest Vote!]

Wow! Great entries. I want to join a contest again, but looks like it's getting harder to win every month

[motion capture]

If you want to do facial or 2D motion capture you could use Zign Track or A:M Track. See the link in my signature.

For full-body motion capture you would need other tools like Opti Track, but that will cost you a lot more...

[Importing cameras from other programs]

Could it be possible to assign a bone to the camera and then export the bones data as a .bvh? It would only hold position/rotation data and not lens info...

 

I'd like to be able to export my A:M camera to Adobe After Effects...

 

That would be possible, but Vue does not import BVH, so you would still need a third application to convert the BVH motion to a Maya script file, or vice versa.

[Importing cameras from other programs]

I've send Steffen an email. I hope he will share this plugin...

 

EDIT: the email was bounced, looks like it does not exists anymore

Maybe someone knows an other way to contact him? Too bad the PMs don't work anymore...

[DWG Files]

You can use this tool to convert DWG files to PDF

[SINFO?]

Those are Sound Info files and contains some details about the sounds used. I think A:M reads it for whatever reason. I just ignore these files.

 

OK but I don't think jpg's store sound.

 

The problem I had though was it creating the .jpg.sinfo file WITHOUT the regular .jpg file.

 

Nope, they don't store sound, but A:M generates these files for every render, with or without sound. If there was no sound if the project the contents of the sinfo file looks like this:

ProductVersion=15

Range=0 0

[SINFO?]

Those are Sound Info files and contains some details about the sounds used. I think A:M reads it for whatever reason. I just ignore these files.

[Importing cameras from other programs]

As far as I know this is not possible. Vue exports the camera paths as Maya scripts, and A:M can't read those. I have been thinking of writing a converter so I can convert the Maya script files to A:M action files for a personal project. I have been to busy with other things, but I'm sure I'll write it some day because I want it as much as you do

I hope you're not in a hurry...

[Path direction control]

The end of the path that is modified last will be considered the last position. If you need to reverse your path, a solution would be to add an extra CP to the end of the path and then delete that CP, so the path remains unchanged, besides it's direction.

[Fuzzy rendering]

Did you deliberate turn off multi-pass? Enabling multi-pass might might give better results.

[Fuzzy rendering]

Maybe you can show a render or your settings? Fuzzy could mean you have turned on depth of field, pixelated could mean single pass render without anti aliasing.

In the render options dialog you can choose to use the settings from that dialog or the current camera. That can explain why your results are different.

[Lip Syncing Tool]

The A:M track version exports to A:M action files. You can choose to control bones or poses. Just import the action and apply it to your model (you have to match the bones and poses names to make it work). The full version (Zign Track) also exports to other formats like BVH, TRC and Poser pz2. If you're only using it for A:M, A:M Track is the cheapest solution.

I'm not sure what kind of puppets you mean, but you can connect your bones to anything you like, or create poses in any way.

[Lip Syncing Tool]

I have used such a tool in another 3D application, but the result was very disappointing. I don't know about such a tool for A:M.

If you really want to do automatic lipsync, maybe A:M Track would be the tool for you. In case you don't know what it is yet, it's a facial motion capture tool that uses video files. It's a bit more work then just recording an audio track, but you get the whole face animated. For correct lipsyncing there will still be a bit tweaking to do, but that's with most of such tools. See the link in my signature for more details.

[Erratic movement on a spline]

Do you have some good results in the mean time?

 

I was just trying some ideas, but it is not yet working out as I was hoping.

I've added an extra bone for offset reference to the model with an expression that changes the Translate.X of that bone to a random number only if it was 0. In the "else" part I wanted it to decrease with 1 for each step, but that does not work if you're refering to the same value. So I Added an expression to Translate.Y ="..|X" and used "..|Y-1" in the "else" part of the first expression. Now the offset should decrease with 1 each frame, till it reaches 0, where it would be given a random value again. The translating of this bone then could be used to link to in the final expression.

But now the problem: When I have set this expression both X and Y values change to -1. When I set set X to a positive values to test it, a infinite loop occurs and A:M crashes...

 

Does anyone have any idea how this can be done without getting in an infinite loop?

[Erratic movement on a spline]

This should be doable with an expression. Do you need it to be done real fast? I'm leaving for a one week vacation this weekend, but when I get back I could give it a try. I think it would not be a problem to do this. But maybe someone else can do it earlier, if you're in a hurry.

[Image-metrics]

There is an other thread about this subject here

Btw, don't all such companies claim they have the latest technology?

[Rope a dope question]

Maybe applying a tileable (cylindrical) decal with the rope veins already in the correct direction would do the trick. That would be my first attempt.

[Preview in File requester for importing mdls is not working]

Did this ever work for you? As far as I can recall, this didn't work in any of the A:M versions I've had. It never bothered me.

[A:M Bold Black Lines]

Looks like a driver problem. Are your video drivers up to date?

[Create a Kaleidoscope]

This website shows how a real kaleidoscope is made: www.kaleidoscopesusa.com/makeAscope.htm

It's pretty easy and you should be able to get similar results with CG mirrors.

[Shadow casting without object rendering?]

You could render with the shadow buffer on (render options), and place the shadow layer in your final composite. Then you can render your scene without those cookie cut images.

But maybe someone knows a better trick...

[Vern's world forum section not working?]

Maybe it is your smell I can post there.

Or maybe it's just a temporary problem and it's already working again now.

[Decals / Images]

Hi Jani. I bet your computer is performing better with that textured wall in stead of all those bricks

You're getting pretty close to a good looking wall. If you use a tile able decal image it's much easier to fit your decal on the surface. (use the repeat property in the image properties)

You can also add a bump decal to it to make it look more realistic. Do you know what that is or do you want to start with a simple decal for now? (don't want to push your brain too much )