mfortunato

Beauty! Thanks, Niels. I checked the Camera in the choreography and the alpha option wasn't there. However, I checked the actual camera object and changed the alpha to "off". Bingo! It worked like a charm. Thanks so much for the quick reply. - Michael

Hi All - I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem. In my camera properties, I set the background color (in this case to white). When I click the onscreen render button, the background is white. When I render my final animation, the background is black. I tried changing the bg color to all kinds of crazy colors. Same exact results. I'm sure I'm just missing a setting somewhere. What setting am I missing? Thanks. - Michael

Excellent car design. Reminds me of something out of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Lovely animation too. Although, having it jostle up and down a bit in reaction to the engine working would help to give it even more character (not that you don't already have that in spades with your design). Beautiful job! - Michael

Hello to All! I thought since I had started doing the exercises, I should introduce myself to the forum. My name is Michael Fortunato. I am currently the lead texture artist for Phoenix Online Studios upcoming "The Silver Lining", an unofficial sequel to King's Quest (www.silverliningthegame.com). Some of you may have seen postings about our project and articles in some PC and video game magazines. I've been working on the project with the team for 3 or 4 years now (I've lost count) and we are really nearing completion (I cannot wait!). I had seen A:M years ago (I probably first saw it about 10 or 15 years ago) and was very intrigued by it but really afraid to take the plunge. At that time, I was just getting started in 3D artwork using Ray Dream Studio and POV-Ray. I was afraid to approach 3D Studio, SoftImage and A:M (I likened it to the big boys, so to speak). But last year, I decided to purchase it. I have been working with Maya on "The Silver Lining" and figured if I can learn Maya, I can learn A:M. I have gone through the first six exercises and I find the interface very easy to use. However, there are a TON of things I still don't know how to do (just look at my exercises and you'll see the struggles I'm having). But I'm having fun. Ultimately, my goal is to learn modeling and animation and combine that with my knowledge of lighting and texturing to make my own animated shorts and films. It's something I've wanted to do for a very long time. I'm an actor and singer and relish the idea of mixing those talents with animation. I love doing cartoon and character voice overs and will be in heaven as I learn to combine all these elements together. I'm still a LONG ways off but I'll keep slowly plugging away at it. I must say that I think animation is the hardest thing to do. It's much more difficult than my past experience with modeling, texturing and lighting. But it's amazing how much life you can bring to a model with just a little "nudge". I have been truly enjoying my experience with A:M thus far and hope to continue to do so into the FAR future. These forums are fantastic and everyone on here is wonderful. I love the community spirit and hope I am able to contribute to it as I gain mastery at this program. Thank you to all who have posted your work, your tutorials, your feedback.....these have all been a help and inspiration for me to keep pushing forward. I'm excited to begin the next phase of the tutorials....MODELING! - Michael