omoanime
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Posts posted by omoanime
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Hi,
I recently built a multipart spaceship and what I learned was that it is definitely better to build the parts as separate models and then import the models into the final model. The decals do come in with imported models.
To give some variation, This is what I have done. I am sure that there are many other ways of approaching this.
- Create the segment model and decal it.
- Make as many copies of the first model outside of A:M as you need. I give a name like tank_segment1, tank_segment2, and so on.
- Make your variations on the decals and save them, giving them a name to match the model they belong to, ie. tank_segement2_frontdecal.tga.
- Open the tank_segement1.mdl file in a text editor.
- Find the decal name in the .mdl file. change it to the correct name, and save.
- Import into A:M
It might seem like a lot of work but I find it faster and more accurate than trying to repeat all of the steps for apply new decals in the same place over and over again.
HTH,
Paul
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Have you tried the magic of the ~ key?
Drag your point to where you want it to attach and, while still holding the mouse button down, tap the ~ (tilde) Key. The point will attach itself to the spline where you pointed it to (99% of the time)
I like to model in one window and switch between views. Here is a link to a great resource for when you are just starting out - a printable keyboard shortcut card! I had mine laminated (2 sided) and keep it next to me whenever I am modeling.
http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/pengwin/3dtut1.html
Your character looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait to see it done.
HTH,
Paul
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CPU is fine and no overclocking or any other magic tricks. That's just it's normal operating temp. I guess G4 chips behave a little differently from AMD/Intels. Also, the temp that I am getting is more likely the internal operating temp vs the actual CPU temp, now that I think about it.
I do try to help the machine out by raising it up to allow air to circulate beneath and I have a fan blowing on it when I do big heavy renders but according to the folks at the Apple Store, this is all within specs.
Guess if I find myself stuck on the proverbial desert island, I have two options: cook my last hot meal with the powerbook or use the wireless connection to send an email for rescue at the island's starbucks - because starbucks wouldn't pass up a deserted corner location, right
Paul
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If you want really scary, the general "normal" operating temp within my 1.25GHz PowerBook (the aluminum version) is 100 F to 140.5 F
If you are an OS X user, there is a nifty temp display (Temperature Text) that you can use if you have Konfabulator installed. It will place the temp floating above all other apps (including A:M) so you can see the temp steadily rise as you render away. There are also widgets (as these things are called in Konfabulator) that will display CPU load and memory usage. Much more entertaining than American Idol
Paul
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Hi Chad,
Every time you load a new version of the program (upgrades, reinstall, etc) it resets the defaults. The default for screen rendering is set to the lowest so that those with less powerful systems can work. Those of use blessed with stronger machines just need to bump up the rez with the Page Up key. Once you do that and save, it is set as your new default.
On the A:M 2003 vs. 2004, check to make sure you download the right version. There are a bunch of files on the server and it is easy to grab the wrong one.
Good luck and have fun,
Paul
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John,
No problem viewing it here. Mac OS 10.2.8/Safari web browser/Comcast Cable Modem
Paul
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Cute. I like the stylized characters.
Good work.
Paul
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Thanks everyone!
I would post a snippet but since I making this as an entry for the Hash animation project due at the end of the month, I don't want to unfairly bias people.
But all of the tips have been great. I applied all that I could and rendered it and I am okay with the end product. There are a few areas I would like to tweak further and will if my schedule allows, but for now, I am happy.
Thank you all for offering your assistance. Ken B. if you think that this thread would be better over in the New User Forum, please move it there.
Thank you,
Paul
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Nice work!
It will be a shame to see it blow up but that will also be very cool.
If the generosity bug happens to bite you, you might want to think about offering this model to the library that Art is making of props. He already has a military helmet and night googles. With this, Hash is just about ready to go to war! Watch out M**A and 3****X
Paul
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Hi all,
I am playing with lip syncing. Does anybody have any "rules of thumb" they are willing to share?
So far, I have learned the following:
- keep a mirror handy to check mouth shapes by observing your own face
- You need to set the phoneme timing within each phoneme and then make sure that the word timing matches
- The dope sheet is great for making the first rough draft. Brilliant work Hash!
What I am wondering about:
- Is there such a thing as a minimum time for a phoneme? (like no less than 1 sec for an "i")
- Does the mouth return to it's "resting" position before starting the next phoneme within A:M?
- Should you lead certain phoneme; ie start a "D" before it is actually heard?
Thanks for any tips and knowledge!
Paul
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Brad,
The OS X version is in beta. You will need 10.5 (the 2003 or 2004 CD) to run the beta. You can find it here...
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4472
Randy has been working hard on it and it is coming along very nicely.
Hope this helps,
Paul
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Thanks Jeff,
That was it! I have no clue how that happened but I am really thankful that you were there to solve the mystery.
Watch out, Mystery, Inc. Jeff Lee has your number
Thanks again,
Paul
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Hi all,
I did something to the camera in one of my choreographies and I cannot seem to figure out how to reverse it.
I hit a key and the viewing box (the pink lines that indicate the camera's viewing area) disappeared. In the other choreographies within in this same project, the same camera has the viewing box, so the goof appears to have only affected this particular instance.
Any help is gratefully accepted.
A:M 10.5/Mac OS 9 (running in OS X classic (panther))
Thanks,
Paul
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Nice work Mike.
All the elements are there and I especially like the attempt jump and land. Adds a bit of story to the action.
Down the road, I bet the new hair (which I have not played with) will add even more by allowing the tail and mane to be richer and more part of the action.
An excellent job.
Paul
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Thanks AX and Dingo!
Great advice and very helpful.
Thank you again,
Paul
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Hi all,
I have reached the point in my learning and discovering A:M where I want to make a character walk and move. Since I am not at the point where I am ready to build a full character from scratch, I chose to modify the Gala model that comes with A:M.
She looks fine and the bones all work properly but her hair and clothes remain static and do not move with her when I try to pose the character. I am sure that this is due to my modifications to her hair and clothes but I am not certain on how to reestablish having them move with her.
Is this done via relationships? Constraints? Superglue?
I will be very grateful for any advice or pointers to tutorials. I do have David Roger's wonderful A:M 2002 A Complete Guide. His character, Washer, in the book is doesn't have a body beneath his shirt. Is that the correct way to handle this?
I can post images, if that will help.
Thanks in advance!
Paul
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From the Internet. Plenty of comedy to mine here, Vern.
COCKLES OF YOUR HEART
[Q] From Craig Bodhi: “I’m curious about the idiom warm the cockles of your heart.”
[A] It’s one of the more lovely idioms in the language, isn’t it? Something that warms the cockles of one’s heart induces a glow of pleasure, sympathy, affection, or some such similar emotion. What gets warmed is the innermost part of one’s being. It’s not that surprising that it should be associated with the heart, that being the presumed seat of the emotions for most people. But what are the cockles?
We’re not sure. We do know that the expression turns up first in the middle of the seventeenth century, and that the earliest form of the idiom was rejoice the cockles of one’s heart.
Cockles are a type of bivalve mollusc, once a staple part of the diet for many British people (you may recall that Sweet Molly Malone once wheeled her wheelbarrow through Dublin’s fair city, crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh!”). They are frequently heart-shaped (their formal zoological genus was at one time Cardium, of the heart), with ribbed shells.
It may be that the shape and spiral ribbing of the ventricles of the heart reminded surgeons of the two valves of the cockle. But I can’t find an example of the word cockle being applied to the heart outside this expression, which makes me suspicious of this explanation. It may be that the shape of the cockleshell, suggesting the heart as it so obviously does, gave rise to cockles of the heart as an expansion.
After this piece appeared in the Newsletter, James Woodfield pointed out that there is another possible explanation. In medieval Latin, the ventricles of the heart were at times called cochleae cordis, where the second word is an inflected form of cor, heart. Those unversed in Latin could have misinterpreted cochleae as cockles, or it might have started out as a university in-joke. Oddly, cochlea in Latin is the word for a snail (from the shape of the ventricles—it’s also the name given to the spiral cavity of the inner ear), so if this story is right we should really be speaking of warming the snails of one’s heart.
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Hi Diego,
I would be happy to take a look at your footballer
but unfortunately, the links you posted are causing my browser (safari on a mac) to crash. The images seem to have a .txt extension. Can you post .jpg, .gif, or even .pdf images so that he is visible?
Congrats and I look forward to seeing the striker (or is he a goalie?) Only time will tell!
Paul
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Jos'h,
Congratulations. Your show, Game Over, which airs tonight, received a nice review in the New York Times...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/10/arts/tel.../10HEFF.html?th
Now, get to work on teaching them the errors of their ways in not using A:M
But, on second thought, they are trying to emulate the clunky polygon-based game world. Maybe they aren't ready to handle smooth, believable 3D from a program that doesn't cost them thousands per seat.
Paul
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Is compositing an option for this program (either within A:M or a 3rd party app)?
That might help if you are up against a deadline. I just happened to be reading the last chapter in David Roger's A:M Handbook where he discusses just that.
FWIW,
Paul
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I am sure that Steve S. will chime in soon but it was posted somewhere earlier that if you are a forum member (which you are) your vote is verified and recorded at the time you cast it (at least that is how I understood it) and they have processes in place to handle any malicious ballot box tampering/stuffing.
So the long and short is that your vote has been counted and there will be no verification email sent.
Hope this helps (and is accurate)
Paul
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Graham,
I think Mao-Chan might be a great guide for you. The opening (which you can view at the link below) has three young girls who have nice, simple anime hair that would be pretty straightforward to animate.
Plus Production I.G. has some very cool, well integrated 3D models in the opening - a tank, a harrier-style jet and a sub. Now all that is left is to to get them to use A:M exclusively
http://www.omoanime.com/reviews/animedetai...sso?id=1306&h=1
Warning - the opening tune will embedded itself in your brain.
Paul
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Hi Graham,
First, I agree with Rodney. There is no one "right" way to do anime hair and I hope that I did not come across as sounding like it is my way or the highway.
Two, here is a link to my anime website. Take a look at the quicktime preview. If you have quicktime pro, you can even save it to disc. It is on the small size to save bandwidth but the blue-haired girl has a few moments where her hair is in action.
Observe how all the action is actually just one big wave of the long thick ponytail plus a few strategically place hairs by the eyes, forehead and ears. Gonzo is one of my favorite anime studios and they do a really nice job of balancing fluid motion and economy of drawing.
Hope this helps and keep up the good work!
Paul
http://www.omoanime.com/reviews/animedetai...sso?id=1208&h=1
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Hi Graham,
The head looks like it is coming along nicely. It just so happens that I have been playing around with anime hairstyles lately. What I have noticed from the 1,000+ anime that I own and the anime drawing books I have is that anime style hair is a two-part process.
First, there is the base "helmet." This is a close to the skull layer of "hair" that covers the scalp solidly and is colored with the hair's base color.
The second part are the layered "fronds". These are the elongated V shaped strands/locks of hair. They are what moves and catches the highlights. Traditional pencil animators don't want to spend all their time rendering hair, so they judiciously place these in strategic places - as bangs or forelocks, over the ears, and by the eyes generally. This puts them where the strands movement will give them the most bang for the buck.
If your girl has long hair, it will generally be one huge "frond" with a bow or clip at its base. The bow is important because that is the reference point for the movement.
Here are a handful of shots of my attempt at anime hair. I used the free Gala model as my actress and gave her new eyes, eyebrows and hair. Apologies to her creator.
Paul
Multi-segmented beast
in (2003-2004)
Posted
Great point, Marcel.
I haven't tried that and I am glad that you posted it.
Thanks!
Paul