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Hi Drusen - As Hash A:M is a 3D modeling/rendering/animation program, you cannot draw characters into the program. You essentially "model" them by clicking and creating points and splines (curved and straight lines). You can use a program like Photoshop, Painter, Paint Shop, Pro, etc. to first draw your character(s) so you know what it is you want to model. You then place that drawing into A:M and use it as a reference to model from. If you have already purchased the program, take a look at the tutorials in the Art of Animation Master book - it will better explain this. - Michael

This is extremely impressive work. And a great lesson to all of us about judicial use of control points. Less is definitely more! - Michael

The fur definitely appears to be reacting correctly! Nicely done. I'm still wistfully imaging that adorable scene...... - Michael

Holy UFO, Batman! That's an excellent use of flocking. Hmmm.....I wonder how I can apply this to the Lost World image I'm cooking up?

Hey Chris - If you have the 2007 CD version, you can download v.14 from this Forum post link: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26455 - Michael

Wow, Daniel - Peanut Butter looks fantastic! And the model with that much hair rendered in 11 minutes? Hmmmm...I may indeed have to upgrade to v.14. I remember doing the Wookie tut and it took FOREVER to render that bloody Wookie fur (but it looked great when it was done ). I really dig PB - beautiful job. I'd love to see him in a room, sitting on a bed or a chair, perhaps with some diffused sunlight coming in through a window.....marvelous. - Michael

Hey Jesse - The model and textures look excellent. Something I still haven't quite come to grips with A:M - texturing. The bump map used on his skin for pores and specular highlights is fantastic! Anyway, I also wanted to ask, how did the job interview go? - Michael

George - thank you for this. This technique is just what I needed! I have been having that same problem, going from a cycling path animation to a choreography action. What a great idea! Thanks. And the Super-Bunny is a hoot! - Michael

Hi Chris - Your computer will work fine with the dual core processor and A:M 13, however, it will only work with a single processor. I believe multi-processor support is included in v.14, but not v.13. You will still be able to use v.13 without a problem. Anyone else out there, please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks. - Michael

These all look brilliant. Thanks everyone! I am in the process of storyboarding an animation of Animation Boot Camp - to use for a level 1 final - probably going overboard with it, but I'm having fun. These will definitely come in handy! - Michael

The characters and backgrounds in Tak and the Power of JuJu were created using A:M. I don't know what game engine they used. They modeled, textured, and animated the characters in A:M and exported them to some game engine (perhaps one they created?). Right now we are using Maya to model and animate for a game I am a part of (The Silver Lining). We use an exporter to export the Maya files to use with the Torque game engine (low-cost 3D game engine made by GarageGames). I am trying to get our team to us A:M for future games because I find working with it much easier - I think they would too - and it's MUCH more affordable . - Michael

Hi Nekosei - Thanks for the reply. Pardon my n00bness, but I actually do not know how to do any of the steps you mentioned. I created the separate arm bones like you mentioned, but I do not know how to set up the on/off relationship. Also, I'm not sure how to add the null to the lower arm bone. I'm assuming I do the things you mentioned in the Action window and not the Modeling window. If you wouldn't mind, could you please break the steps down for me? Thanks. - Michael

Hi All - I've started rigging the Luxo lamp and I could really use some help. I've gotten as far as I can on my own, but I'm not sure how to properly rig this. As you can see from the images, when I straighten the arms of the lamp, they actually separate from their pivot points where they would naturally be attached. I'm not sure how to constrain this. I have attached an image of the bones, the model pulling apart, and the hierarchy list in the workspace window. If anyone has any help to give, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks! - Michael

Hi Michael - What browser are you using? I had the same problem with Mozilla Firefox and I had to uninstall and reinstall Quicktime. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Quicktime (I know, kind of an obvious question)? - Michael

Hey J Man - As I said, you have an excellent base to go from - the skies the limit on this. Mighty Morphin' Teenage Mutant Ultraman! . - Michael

This being your first attempt, this is really good. There's nothing to be discouraged about here. Ok, her butt could use some padding, but her back looks fantastic! And, yes, as Heath pointed out, her nipples do scare me too . This really is an excellent first stab. Keep at it and I think you will have a really beautiful model to show off. - Michael

Hi Heath - Great character design. The animation is fluid and looks perfectly suited to the character. Very whimsical. Would make a perfect fit in Futurama - he could take Bender on! . - Michael

Hi J Man - You've got an excellent base to work from. This looks fantastic! What are your plans for him? - Michael

Try transparency decals for the vent holes; they are a small enough detail that you shouldn't need to model them. Nice job thus far =) Now that sounds like a fantastic idea! Ditch the model and just decal the vents - WOO HOO! Thanks! - Michael

Thanks, Chrury - I'll give the CPs a try and see if it smoothes things out. I completely agree, Rob. I modeled this using a pic of an actual Luxo lamp. The Pixar version is a very modified version. After modeling it, I decided I would shorten the arms so that it would be easier to animate. I hadn't done it yet, because I wanted to solve my current issues first . And thanks for the link. I'm about to read it right now. Thanks for the spring model and the technique. I'll go play with that as well . Wow! Thanks everyone for your quick responses. I'm going to start applying these as soon as I read Rob's link . - Michael

Hi Elliot - Without seeing images or learning more about your setup, it will be nearly impossible to comment on. Post some images of your scene setup (camera settings and render settings) as well as images of the screen render vs. final render. Hopefully myself or someone else on these forums can help you. - Michael

These look fantastic. I look forward to seeing more I actually just posted this image to the Work-In-Progress forum for some help. It's the first non-tutorial model I have done - I'm not finished with it, but I'm almost there. - Michael

Hi All - I have nearly completed modeling the lamp I will use to continue ABC training. If I can complete this model and successfully rig this sucker, I'll post the model up for all to use. I have two questions which are stopping me from completing this model: 1) The lamp shade itself. I lathed the shade and then I added points to create the slotted cutouts (see images LuxoLampShade-Render and LuxoLampShade-Closeup for examples). When I added the points, the top-middle section of the lampshade is no longer smooth. What I'm wondering is, how would you recommend I create the slots in the lampshade to keep it nice and smooth? 2) For the lamp's springs, I am currently using cylinders (and for the sake of ABC, I may continue to do so). But if I was to truly model this lamp, I would have to create tiny spring coils which would probably be a nightmare. How would you recommend creating the small springs for the lamp? I appreciate any assistance. Thanks all! - Michael

Hey David - This kid's looking fantastic. I'd love to see the latest update. You posted that you had updated it, but there's no image for us to gawk at and enjoy . - Michael

DUDE! This is absolutely fantastic! I love the character design, and even more so, I love the themes you've placed him in. Really nice lighting on the rock 'n roll Flubnub. And the Braveheart version...I'm still snickering over that. I can't wait to see where you take him next. - Michael