Tralfaz

Generally, no. Torrents, in my opinion, are just a way of distributing illegal software, movies and music. The web version of A:M has not been cracked, and still requires you to purchase a license in order to use it. It looks like it is just the v15 installer that is being distributed. It is amazing though, how many requests I have come across when googling stuff for A:M of people asking how to crack the software. Pretty sad really. And yes, I do have a legal copy of A:M As a programmer, I try to be as legit with my software as possible. Al

The torrents are also distributing the web version of A:M, in which case you still need to purchase a subscription in order to use it. Al

Excellent work Eric. You have the enviable ability to model just about anything! Al

It was me who posted about rendering in steps. What this allowed me to do was to quickly get the first frames of a long sequence rendered out so I could bring them into Sony Vegas and preview the animation without waiting for all frames to be rendered. This is just something that I do and works for me, but may not for everyone. Al

That is just plain crazy Stian! The zoom feature didn't work for me either in IE7. Wished it did so I could zoom in to see all the incredible detail you have in your model. When you sleep at night, you must dream in splines and patches!! Al

Well done Mark! Great looking model with nice smooth splines that are kept to a minimum. Very informative to see how you work through the model to end up with your final result. Thanks for taking the time to do this... Al

Oh, yeah. You know it Mark. I'll be here. Ditto!! I really need to learn how to model organic objects... like aliens, and humans and tortoises, oh my! Al

I am downloading them right now using IE8 on WinXP Pro SP3 32 bit. Al

Really well done Robert! Eric mentioned something about a book. Do you know which book he is referencing? Al

When rendering for video, I always choose a lossless format (e.g. bmp) as a sequence of stills. It allows me to run multiple copies of A:M to get multiple renders going, as well as the benefit of stopping and starting again at a later time without losing all the work that has been already completed. The same would apply in case it crashes. Al

I've rendered 1680 x 1050 to a JPG, without any issues using ver 14.c and Windows XP Pro (both 32 and 64 bit), with 4 GB RAM. Al

This is coming along quite nicely. Great modeling. Your little devil kind of reminds me of a small Hellboy. Al

You are right about mufoof working great. I have a 3D World magazine that shows mufoof being used with a light to simulate global illumination. So, forget Avatar!!! Now, from A:M comes 'Close Call' in 3D!! No extra cost fancy schmancy 3D glasses here. Just cross your eyes, focus on the center image and voila! Instant 3D!! Planes3D.mov Al

Okay, here is a quick render of the planes in flight. Added the 'MUFOOF' spinning propellers to both planes. Called 'Close Call'. Al Planes.mov

ditto snicker! Could you use a distortion box to give the front of the bass the bow? Al

I have found the following when doing mechanical modeling, and may or may not be the same with organic modeling. 1) I have found on curved surfaces that multiple 5 point patches that are touching each other don't render very well. I have had some very weird artifacts when rendering and have had to rework the area to eliminate the 5 point patches. 2) Again with curved surfaces, having multiple hooks joining to the same spline can also cause some weird artificacts when rendering. 3) It looks like you could remove some splines running from the wrist down into the thumb without affecting the look of the thumb. 4) Where the wrist joins the hand, you have a combination of hooks and 5 point patches. Not sure if this will cause any render or animating issues. Also, it looks like the CP's at where the splines do run connect from the wrist to the hand may be peaked. You may get better flow if they are not peaked. I am not very good at organic modeling, so I wouldn't go making a lot of changes unless someone else can confirm my findings. All that being said, I would be ecstatic if I could get a hand to look this good and not like a deformed Hellboy hand! Al

Which version of A:M are you using? And could you post the 3ds file you are trying to use? Are you running Windows or Mac? Al

Very cool plane Jake. Hope you don't mind, but I am adding a P51 Mustang that I did from the A:M exercises (I think it was excercise 10). It isn't rigged like yours, but it would be great to see some aerial dog fights between the two planes. (Love watching the TV show Dogfights on the History Channel.) I had created a quick animation of the P51 Mustang In Flight for the exercise as well. Also included a zip file with the Mustang. P51Mustang.zip If you would prefer that this wasn't here, let me know and I will remove it. Al

Sorry, I am in London, Ontario. I believe someone here at one point had started an on-line map where you could place yourself on it. Can't remember who it was. It was pretty cool to see all the A:M users from all over the world. If I find out who did it or where a link is, I will post it here. Or if anyone else knows who did it, please post the link here. [Edit] D'uh!! The link is pinned at the top of this forum! http://www.frappr.com/hashfrapper [/Edit] Al

This is really gorgeous work Stian. There is just so much to take in. Al

Thank you. Completed all of the major modeling, just have some details to do on the bottom of the moon bus, then some textures. Don't think I will be doing the interior of it, at least not right now. Al [Edit] Completed the modeling tonight, and applied very basic textures to the model. The model is now available in the Model section of the Resources (Contributors Cue). [/Edit]

I've been doing some more work on the Moonbus. Added landing gear, engine nozzles and started working on the front section. Al

Thanks everyone. I would love to pick up that kit again Robert. Don't know if my eyes could handle doing all the detailed close up work. I have problems with my eyes, which is why I gave up building model kits a few years back. Kind of a drag, as I really enjoyed doing that stuff. Everything you see is all modeled, no bump or distortion maps. And I've said it before, and I will say it again. I just love the way A:M does the AO renders! Al

Happy Holidays everyone! Well, I happily downgraded to XP Pro from Windows 7 and A:M appears to be working super smooth again for me, along with my Nero burning software and Vegas video editing software. Yay! Did some more work on the moonbus along the hull and communications array. I know the model builders used a lot of kit parts when making their models. After looking at the communications array, the center support almost looks like it is part of the landing gear of a jet. Al

Here is one more model from the movie 2001 - A Space Odyssey. It is the Moonbus, used to ferry the scientific team from the Clavius moonbase out to the Tycho crater where the monolith was found. I remember having the Aurora plastic kit of it when I was in my teens. Found some blueprints for the moonbus, as well as some excellent photographs of master model builder Martin Bower building a studio sized model. Al