Wizaerd

Rodney, do you mean to say that while in the modeling window, you can add a light? I was modeling a lamp for a room, and tried to add a light in the model itslef, but it didn't show up. Of course, I'm sure I did something incorrectly... Could you elucidate here as to how to accomplish this?

Yeah, actually I did do a couple of backups for different stages of construction, but hitting Save As, and typing in a new name is way more complicated than just hitting Save, especially when trying to get my head around something. So no, I don't have an appropriatly Save As version of my project. Anyone have a good way of automating these types of version backups of projects?

I was thinking the same thing as well, ugh... Not looking forward to it tho, it took me forever to get the characters posed in the CHoreography the way I wanted, then added the cyclic motion... Everything was looking good up to that point... Time to investigate saving the choreography poses as actual poses so that when I do re-create it, I can just drop them into the scene and their positioning will be done... Thanx... probably won't get to it til tomorrow night sometime, but I appreciate the assistance anyways...

Something specific... Realize that the bad luck I've had here is mostly due to my own ignorance, and fumbling around... I have a character in a choreography, and I've applied a cyclic action. I have it repeat 6 times, and everything looks pretty good. I created a new choreography action, and wanted it to pick up from the end of my cyclic action. Based on this example, http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...ost&p=51603, I move the time marker to the appropriate frame, make sure my choreography action is selected, and hit the Insert (Force) Keyframe button. No key frame. (I also have the Keyframe Model button selected, as well as the Key Other, Key Pose, Key Constraints, and Skeletal Translations, Scaling, and Rotational buttons pressed). So after hitting insert, and not seeing a new keyframe made, it was time to start fumbling my way through it. The first thing I did was hit Shift Insert, and after selecting one of the radio buttons (probably the wrong one) I certainly got a key frame, although I got one for every object in the choreography. Certainly not what I wanted or needed... So I deleted that keyframe. Eventually I figured out a way to insert a keyframe for just the character I wanted, but as I was re-posing my character, I noticed her material was missing... Not only from the specific frame I was on, but for the entire animation thus far... And now I have no idea how to get it back... My assumptions were: Insert (Force) Keyframe would add a keyframe. It didn't. (I had to select a bone and wiggle it to make a keyframe... right or wrong, I dunno, but it was the only way I could get a new keyframe there) I realized after the fact that I probably shouldn't have had those other buttons selected when making my keyframe (Key Other, etc...) I chose the wrong radio button in the Advanced Insert KeyFrame dialog I shouldn't have deleted the keyframe after making that wrong choice So that's where I stand. The information in the TAoA:M deal specifically with Actions, and not so much the manual keyframing from an action to a choreography action, or with animating in the choreography. The information from David Rogers books is pages and pages of text with no real good visual guides on how to accoomplish what I was looking for. Some of the other items may or may not have dealt with what I was hoping to accomplish, but I can only spend so much time reading, re-reading, and searching for posts to help out. Hence my request for a brief, yet verbose (with losts of visual examples) of using the timeline... I didn't think what I was trying to do was overly complicated...

I have the 2005 SIGGRAPH CDs, but I haven't watched every single bit on them. The sound on the different files are so varied, and the one from Shaun Freeman (Animation Basics), the sound is so muffled it's hard to make anything out. I haven't bothered with any of the others, because they're so much older. Perhaps a personal failing in my personality, but I don't want old... I want fresh, new, exciting... heh heh heh I considered buying these as well as The Setup Machine 2 as well, but couldn't justify the cost in my own head until I progressed enough on my own... Plus the age thing, they're pretty old... I can barely model a character, much less be caught up in rigging them so expansively yet. I've built and rigged one real character so far, and it was such a frustrating excercise, I almost gave up right then and there. Fortunately, I'm a bit more determined than that... Since then, I've been building stick people, and rigging them but SmartSkinning them just frustrates me even more that I go curl up in a recliner with a novel instead... Of all the items on your list, this is the only one I've never heard of... I have the book (the 2006 edition) and boy golly, I've learned a lot from it. A whole lot... But was looking for a more visual medium. He does go into the timeline fairly well, but words & I don't really get along as well as video & I... This will most likely make me the least favorite poster here, but I bought this DVD, and overall, didn't find it too impressive. I'm certainly impressed with Jeff Lew and his capabilities, but the DVD? eh... Was waiting for 2 & 3 before purchasing, that way I can get them all at once... Thanx for the feedback Rodney, I guess I'll re-open Roger's book and wait for Barry to get to work... (j/k Barry...) And I suppose I'll attempt watching more of the SIGGRAPH 05 CD...

At a very high level, a timeline is a timeline is a timeline... I'm familiar with using timelines in other programs (Moho, Flash, etc...) however the one in A:M just confuses the holy heck outta me... Anyone know of any good verbose (with lots of illustrations) explanations of making the best out of A:M's timeline features? Thanx

I can always modify the 3DS object itself in another modeling app, as well to eliminate the doors or make them appear open... Or at the very least use creative camera angles to hide the doors, and model new ones in A:M directly... Several different approaches...

Been handed a fairly big project at work, so have less time for A:M, plus I'm working on something else in A:M as well... Fortunately, I'm not under any deadline since it's just something I'm putting together for my own eddification... Are you still planning on rendering out that UPS truck as a rotoscope? That way I have something to base my own on without using someone elses model... Was considering a 3DS object, especially since it won't need to animate, but thought I'd at least try modeling it...

I did... thanx... I did... Made perfect sense... One of my biggest headaches was trying to figure out how to keep all this moving in synch in the background. I think instead of having these things moving in the background in a steady cycle, I'm going to plan my shots more carefully, and only include the boxes as needed... Basically, animate everything (using a single box for the "close up" shots), including my character and camera movements, then come back in after the fact and place the moving boxes. I'll probably save on render times as well as complexity of the animations themselves as well. Well, at least this is what I'm hoping I'll be able to accomplish... I've not ever used the Newton plugin, but was going to at least take a look at it, as well as try out some basic stuff with it... The good thing is I'm not on any kind of deadline, so I'm taking my time will all this... As well as working on a few other things when I get tired of looking at the same thing all the time...

That image was by no means "the shot", since it'll be animated... Homer'll walk in from the right side, around the truck (which'll show the packages coming out of the window along the small conveyor...)

I still have the truck to do, as well as additional texturing, lighting and filling the background with hills, etc... But your sketch pretty much sums up what I want for the opening outside shot...

Thanx... I'll be heading out here in a short bit, my girlfrind and I are spending the weekend at some fancy schmancy resort... This is how I'm doing the outside boxes, since the conveyor path is very very short, and there's no stopping points along the way. Yeah, but in keeping with the exaggerated toon theme of the animation, the arms will close the flaps. There'll be no lever for that, just for the initial packing of the box. An arm'll pull a lever, a chute will lower, and a bunch of sphere, squares, and cones (all brightly colored) will drop into the box. Then further along, the arms will close the flaps. Yeah, that's the problem I keep seeing as well. Doing all this to a single box would be simple enough (ok, not simple, but simpler...) But I need boxes moving along the conveyor all the time. However, the thing to keep in mind is that besides the packing, the closing of the flaps, the sealing, the weighing & labeling, all these boxes are in the background. The focus of the camera will be on the character throughout most of these shots. Joe Thanx, most of the modeling is already done. (except for the delivery truck, and computer station and even that's mostly done...) Since it's a single person project, the overall style of the models are fitting together. I'm not going for realisticness, it's mostly the "story" I'm going after... While it doesn't seem from my initial post, there's a story at all, but in reality, there is. Those in my industry and my office will completely understand it... It's strictly a personal project, so I'm not necessarily creating it so that anybody and everybody would "get it", although seen in it's entirety when it's done, most people would "get it"...

ddustin, only the boxes in the opening shot (outside the small building) will show boxes moving into the truck. It's a short enough path, that I've already figured out that'll work (with Rodney's help)... The boxes inside the warehouse are trickier because there needs to be a steady stream moving at all times in the warehouse, regardless of my camera shot or angle. They'll start already built, strictly a box with it's flaps opened. They'll move along the path (conveyor) for a short bit, stop, a robotic arm will pull a lever and a chute will drop items (basic primitives) into the open box. Then it'll slide down a bit, and stop while robotic arms close the flaps (most likely two set of arms and two stops to close each sides flaps). Slide along, stop while arms seal (tape) the box shut. Slide along, stop on a scale, be weighed, slide along, stop for the label application, then continue out the window. The truck or outside conveyor will not be seen from the inside shots... oh, and I'm not available for any online meeting or conf call, it being my birthday weekend, and have plans for most of the weekend... I forgot to mention the conveyor is not in a straight line... here's a top down shot of the warehouse with the conveyor system

ddustin and I are collaborating on a project, not so much working together, but helping each other out with tips and techiques, and thought we'd post a message here to get some feedback (suggestions , tips, and/or techniques) as how to proceed. The animation in question would be a short, not really a movie per sae, more of a commercial. The camera opens up onto a small building (very small, appears to be big enough only for a single person to stand inside). On one side of the building is a window with a conveyor belt running out from it, to the back of a delivery truck. packages would be sliding along the conveyor into the back of the truck. A character (I'm thinking the Homer Simpson aka The Fat Guy) walks in the door of the building. Inside the building is a huge warehouse. Because it's meant to be a cartoon, the dimensions of the inside are greatly exaggerated. There'll be conveyor systems all around the warehouse, with packages sliding along in various stages of readiness. Along the conveyor will be stations where robotic arms will be working with the packages. packing them, closing them, sealing them, etc... Along they'll slide to the end of the conveyor where they'll be weighed, a shipping label will print out, and be applied to the package, and it'll slide out the window. The parts I (we) need assistance with is the modeling of the delivery truck for outside, and a method to get a steady stream of packages sliding along the conveyor. I don't want to use anyone else models, (other than the FatGuy) but am looking more for assistance in the form of suggestions and tips on how to model the delivery truck, and how to get the multiple packages moving along the conveyor. I have the outside of the warehouse modeled, and in a sperate set (choreography) the inside of the warehouse. I also have in place the conveyor system (nothing fancy, I'm not looking for photorealisticness) as well as various packages modeled and textured (again, nothing fancy). I have a model of the robotic arms (rigged for animation), but haven't placed them yet. Still to be modeled are some basic shelves for the warehouse (easy enough), and a computer station where the package will be weighted and a label printed. Again, any and all suggestions and tips on the remaining modeling would be greatly appreciated as well as ideas on how to keep packages moving along the conveyor...

Hmmm, I thought models were saved in the project files... I suppose since I did a "save as" for it, it doesn't get included anymore... I've already corrected it, and have moved on, but I'll redo the excercise again tonight to see if I get the same results... Thanx for your help...