J Man

Hey Michael, great model thus far (a lot more in depth than I expected from the mention of a lamp.) I am mediocre at best when rigging, but if I'm not mistaken, to solve your upper arm hinge problem, you have to (as NEKOSEI mentioned) create a bone for both peices of the arm. Next, right in the model window and go to New>Property>On/Off. Under the properties tab (View>Properties) right click (Ctrl-Click on a mac) your new property and pick New>Relationship. This will bring up a new action. First (IMPORTANT) CLICK THE COMPENSATE MODE BUTTON at the top; this looks like a red block ontop of two grey blocks. Now then, right click the first bone you would like to apply this to, and select New Constraint>Orient Like. A medicine dropper cursor will come up (this part is about selecting the bone you want to relate it to,) and you then select the second bone. This should solve that problem. That's the way I did it, and if there's a better way, someone please correct me. As far as the null: create a new null (New>Null in the model window) and place it at the base. Once again, create a new property by right clicking and selecting New>Property>On/Off. Right click the property in the Properties window, and select New Relationship. Once again an action window will be created. Right click the lower arm bone, and select New Constraint>Aim at. Once again, the medicine dropper will come up: select the null. I believe that should handle it. Peace, J Man

Hi Michael. I don't have a definite project for which he was created; basically, I wanted to make a model that could get me started, but I figure I could use him for the first good project idea that comes to me. Right now I'm tryinh to refine the details (I am trying to install the 2001 rig) and I will eventually try to create my own walk, gesture, and basically any other simple actions I can think of. If nothing else, I'd at least like him to be thorough. I'm sure you've realized he doesn't have any textures on him, and the colors are really basic, but he is just supposed to be a model I can call my own that can work and be without having to deal with the horrors of smartskins and CP weights. I appreciate the comments! J Man

Sorry about that. I'll remember that next time though, thanks!

Hey guys. This model is very reminiscent of Thom and the ball-with-legs model used in so many boot camps in A:M. I know he's not much, but even the smallest step is good if it's in the right direction. Please feel free to critique in any way. I have attached one of him in standard pose, and one in a more actiony pose, and one of the purely mechanical bone rig (no CP weights, fan bones, or smartskins.) I am contemplating replacing it with the 2001 rig, for the simple reason of the hips null target. Thanks for reading! Peace. J Man bones.bmp pose.bmp skin.bmp

Where by chance are these sticky widget bones on Thom's body?

hey Matt. I too fall under the category of newbie, (just got v12.0 last march) but I hope I can help you out. first of all, right click in the window where your model is, and choose the save as command (don't use the File>Save as). Second of all, if you don't have the Project Workspace open, select that by going to View>Project Workspace. Just in case you didn't know, the Project Workspace is a comprehensive "outline" of the Project you're in. You can find any Choreographies, Models, Materials, or Decal/Rotoscopes in that particular project in the Project Workspace. You should be able to open your lincoln memorial model from there. In order to create groups, just select all of the control points you want in your model using the Shift+click command, and go into the project workspace. it will bring up a group called "untitled" under Objects>model1>groups. to make this group permanent, rename it. you can use the submenu of that group to change the color and all of that nonsense. Hope that helped! Peace. J Man

Hi there party peoples! I have been having a problem with Sweeper - actually, plugins in general. I have tried to download sweeper from Moscafilms.com, into my AM V12 software. I believe I followed all of the instructions: I unzipped the file, looked under the Tools>Options>Folders tab, and typed in the correct path to the Sweeper.hxt file. I rebooted the software, applied two groups (profile and path), selected the path, and... no plugins. None! I can't even open the plugins built into the software like grid. yet when I take out the "Sweeper" part of the file path under the folders tab, the preset plugins become available. Have I downloaded the wrong file for my software, or have I made a mistake in installing it? (I tried downloading the v.13 file from the s1.hashmirror.com site, but was denied access. ???)