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Well, this thread brings together a lot of other stuff I've posted on these boards, so bear with me. I'm still working on the full version of my "bathroom" scene, which is complicated enough that it requires storyboarding. Since the characters and set are already built, why not do the storyboards in 3D? Well, it turns out there are a lot of good reasons why not, but suffice it to say, 3D storyboarding is only worth doing for judging your characters' relative positioning, along with the corresponding camerawork. As soon as you start moving arms and heads, you're gonna wish you'd just picked up a pencil. On the plus side, 3d storyboards sure look a lot prettier. I ran a Photoshop: Poster Edges filter on this one to make it look "sketchier." For anyone who's been following my work on this scene, here's where it all comes together: 1. The lipsync test I finished back in January corresponds to the 13th image of this storyboard (though the costume was different back then). 2. The fight scene for which I've been soliciting advice starts at the end of this storyboard. Hmm. Now that I think about it, pretty much every thread I've ever started is related to this storyboard in some way... Anyhow, I figured I should upload it and let people see how the project's coming along. These 20 shots represent roughly the first third of the scene. Comments are welcome, just keep in mind that these are storyboards, not stills of the actual animation, so no polishing was done. My main concern was camerawork. Enjoy!

Boolean cutter great for cartoon efects [attachmentid=14511] cutter.mov cutter.zip

Hi, this is a pic from my project. Please let me know what you think, critics are very welcome. Thanks in advance.

hi been trying to make these models for this space walk type of thing. suppose to be in this type of spaceship with long tunnels and other things first pic the tunnel tunnel2 second pic is a alien gun im not sure what for yet still thinking spacegun2 tell me what you thing of them thanks jobe

Hi hashers : I finished the project ( conception, sketch, some storyboards ) to my new short last week , to make it ill need 2 cars, I worked 4 days to make the first car ( named X-Two2-GO ) .. in this week ill work on instrument panel and engine parts ( maybe , I don’t know if I will do it ).. In this topic ill show all progress 1- Shaded Wireframe 1 2 – Shaded Wireframe 2 3 – Shaded Wireframe 3 4- Model without surfaces 5 – X-Two2-GO finished I hope the link work ... the album with the images can be find here : Project animation if the link doesnt work .. please copy it an paste it in the browser ... All modeled in v11.0 beta 1 all comments are welcome thanks cheers Xtaz

Hi, this is a render WIP from my personal project. Any comments and criticisms from you guys will be very helpful for me.

So, I had this idea - it may crash and burn... but here it goes. I need to learn how to model and rig a mouth - and learn it well. I think I'm not the only one. I've been wowed by Victor's mouth rig, and David Simmons "Bertram's Face Rig". Trouble is there are no tuts out there to explain them. David has posted his files and some explanation but for a n00b like me - it's not enough - and I'm still not sure how to well design the MOUTH first (modeling wise) to get rigged well. So I figured I'd make kind of a generic 'mask' face. I'd post it here - we can all iterate the model until we feel it's well done enough. Then I'll start trying to implement one of these boned mouth rigs. All along you can follow along, download the projects/models and (hopefully) help the process along. The idea is when it's done, it's a fully operational mouth rig that anyone can use - and they can reference this very thread and see the process of how it has been built - almost like built in documentation/tutorial. It may not be as complex or intricate as Victor's/David's - but it will be something useful...hopefully. So here it goes - my first attempt at the model mask - attached. (NOTE: It's not meant to be a stunning model - obviously - but functional for a rig.) It needs some help My main question at this point is - is the mouth constructed right? I'm not sure. I've look at lots of models as a reference and I'm still not sure. Feel free to grab it, modify it and post back. mouth_man.mdl

Just finished this bit of fan animation for one of my favourite Youtube channels and as it's done in A:M I figured I'd share it here. Also Rodney mentioned that it would be nice if my next project wasn't as scary as Breckridge so as the title of this topic suggests, this one is a bit nicer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdDvio7152c

Hi hashers ... I was just playing whit A:M .. it took me 10 minutes .. and i liked his results you can check it in : http://xtaz.com.br/anima/aros.zip ( use loop oiption ) ( 590 Kb / MOV ON 2 )

Just checking to see what I could do with Render as lines and a bit of glow. Cheers, E lr_001.mov

So I am getting a little carried away. With A:M its very easy too! After doing "It's a Pitch" by the book, I thought "Wow, this is cool!" So, I just had to do some elaboration on this one. I am getting ahead of my self in many ways, but that drives the learning. Now I need to figure out how to switch to the 2nd camera for the next shot. I have it set up to aim at the rabbit for his walk to the door, but haven't figured out how to keyframe a camera switch. http://www.bitterjewelerfilms.com/Stuck%20Door.wmv

DeepMotion gives you three free mo-cap conversion per month so there's no reason to not shoot some experimental test now instead of letting them go to waste, even if you don't use it in your final project. Don't wait til the last minute... Summer ends in September!

Hi all, i´ve started a project to descripe a future town as they thought of it in the beginning of the 20th Century. Here´s the first complete Picture.

I was thinking about how I'm starting to get into building structures and said "well, Willy Wonka's factory has many interesting shapes and structures.." Not only that, but it'd be really fun to make the candy machines and even just the building itself! I started by planning to sketch out some concepts of what's going to be in the building. I've scanned my first one and posted. I'm excited just thinking about this..

The opening part of the MC project starts in a local grocery store. I designed and built it in MC (along with a decent sized chunk of the surrounding street) with the intention of using a program called JMC2OBJ to export the map as a model into A:M. Sadly a lot of the mods I used to make the set were incompatible with JMC2OBJ. So I've been recreating the set directly in A:M. She's taking a little while but she's coming along. For Context

I rarely have that problem (lack of words) It's hard to accept this and even harder to hear it said when we are experiencing problems but... more than 90% of the time it's the user, not the software. That's just the way it is. We are, more often than not, the source of our own problems. Having said that... quite often the software can help guide the user to a solution they would otherwise not see. But computers only do what we tell them to do. Some of that is coded in software while some of it is the user not understanding how to use that software. In the case of the mysteriously moving object, the movement is very likely directed by something you have set. With regard to the rotating sphere.... is it rotating in the model (less likely) or an Action or Choreography (more likely)? If in the Model window... does the model have any poses set up? Models can't change on their own as the data is static so if something is changing then we can look to a pose (relationship) or action. There are two types of Action, standalone and choreography. If in an Action or Chor then you've very likely but unintentionally animated the object. So we'd need to crack open the timeline and look at that aspect. As Robert suggests, seeing the project file would tell the tale. In the latter case of the ball straying off the path my first guess would be that you've placed your bone correctly from the front view but if looking from the side might not be placed at 0 on the Z axis. If not this then it could very well be a constraint that isn't set up correctly (this is actually more likely but it's easy to check for bone placement first) To know more about this we'd need to know more about how you set your object to follow the path. We have to guess what you are doing because we don't know. One of the best ways to resolve a problem is to record a video of the issue and share that.(such as Robert is doing that demonstrates how he sets up a project). There are many video capture software but currently (on the free side) I'm recommending Open Broadcast Software (LINK). Get the Studio version not the classic. On the paid side it's really hard to beat Camtasia (LINK). The video approach works best because it captures exact steps used in a process. This can not only resolve a problem but lead to suggestions that improve workflow and better usage of the software. The next best approach to solving a problem is to share an example of the problem in a project. This can either be the actual project itself or another setup specifically to demonstrate the problem. The latter is usually best in cases where, for one reason or another, the user can't share parts of the project. For instance, when they are working with someone else's files and don't have permission to share the files. The downside of sharing files is that care must be given to share all of the pertinent files. Since A:M doesn't automatically save files into a Project these can inadvertently be left out. Software can't always anticipate/guess what we want. These two methods (video capture and sharing of (embedded) project files is also the ideal way to submit bug reports for those rarer instances when the problem isn't on the part of the user but fully in the realm of the software. One of the reasons I rarely have frustrating problems with A:M (or any other software) is that my first thought is to never blame the software. Once I've ruled out user error (my own or someone elses) then I can better see the shortfalls of the software. And in most cases there is a reasonable workaround.

Hi - Here is the link to the short film I've been trying to fit in around everything else. Things are finally chugging along so hopefully I'll be able to update this site with some regularity ( I'm sure these are famous last words as the year goes into meltdown) - but oh how I will try. Current wildly optimistic projections have me finishing this sometime in the first quarter of next year. Anyway, enough Blah blah heres the link - look forward to hearing any comments. Raglan Cheers Matt

What happens in this film happend to me a few days ago, I add some things, but mostly it is true. I like the way it is turning out, 47 seconds and 12 MB, sorry I no longer have DivX so I can't encode them anymore . Enjoy. { PROJECT FINISHED DELET THIS POST } it is also available at my site, http://www.psyog.cjb.net wich I will be updating severly for the next few days, it is in the movies section. Any input on the animation before I do a Final render would be nice. Thankies, enjoy.

Installers: Windows 32Bit Windows 64Bit Intel Mac v18.0 Intel Mac SSE4.2 Change Log New: Interface: Save before Render: saves the project, if it is modified, after hit "OK" in the "Render to File Settings" Dialog can be controlled with the "Save upon Render" checkbox at Tools/Options/Rendering , Default is ON Physic: Bullet Integration into A:M added Bullet Constraint for physic simulation with the bullet physics engine Alpha Documentation Modelling: Scale to X=0 option Before we do a Copy-Flip-Attach it is good practice to select all the CPs we presume to be on the center Y axis, go to their properties, set their pivot point to X=0, then scale them to 0% in the X axis. It would be a convenience if we could select the CPs and then just >"Scale to X=0" to accomplish this frequent task in one step. Interface: Clear Undostack (menu Edit) removes all entries from undo/redo , has also a button Modelling: Fix Internal Patches "Remove internal patches" Tries to break internal patches , detach cp's from detected internal patchesand create a named group with this cp's. for 3 and 5 point patches it works only partially depends on the spline layout Interface: Reset Toolbars (menu Help) Reset all toolbars to their default layout Particlesystem: Hair support for Turbulence on forces Interface Rendersettings [bug]6782[/bug] Render UX 000: Maximize Render Dialog Window [bug]6783[/bug] Render UX 001: Add Render Option to File Menu [bug]6784[/bug] Render UX 002: Allow Render Setting Open/Collapse State to Persist works only in "Advanced mode" Two new buttons here too, "Expand All" and "Collapse All", expand/collapse all possible properties Plugins: [bug]6759[/bug] Feature: update .ai importer to accept other vector formats added a plugin for importing the SVG format Plugin to add bullet constraints to multiple models in a chorRMB on choreographie -> "Add Bullet Constraints to multiple models" Interface View: [bug]6720[/bug] Feature suggestion: Birdseye View Queue undoing/redoing for view position have now a seperate undostack has their own buttons and shortcuts shortcut for view undo Shift+Alt+Z shortcut for view redo Shift+Alt+Y If You don't make a new install or "Reset Toolbars" You must manually add the buttons from Tools->Customize->Commands->Standard Choreographie [bug]6779[/bug] Feature: Right Click/Duplicate Menu entry "Duplicate" for objects in a chor If the Shift key is hold down , while clicking "Duplicate" keys from the source object are not copied. Interface Timeline Constdrivers displaying now their values in the timeline Interface CPweight dialog [bug]6772[/bug] Feature Request: Weight Menu Undo the weight dialog has now a "Cancel" button , which reverts the changes done in the dialog to the state before the dialog was started. Weighting has now also a general Undo/Redo , if the dialog is exited with the "Done" button. Interface Modelling [bug]6773[/bug] Bias Handler Snap to Grid New button for this , Tools->Customize->Commands->Manipulator default key Shift+2 act's like "Snap to Grid" Existing installations needs to add this button manually to the toolbar or "Reset Toolsbars" additional: new menu entry for the menu, if a group of cp's is select "Snap Bias To Grid", snaps the in and outbias for the slected cp's to the nearest grid interval Interface Modelling [bug]6771[/bug] deleting all "Relationships" new menu entry for models "Remove User Properties" , delete all user properties and relationships for this model avaible only for modelcache, not for instances Warning : This action is not undoable Interface Modelling new menu entry for models "Remove unused drivers" , delete all drivers without a key avaible only for modelcache, not for instances Interface Rendersettings [bug]6744[/bug] Feature: Save before Render saves the project, if it is modified, after hit "OK" in the "Render to File Settings" Dialog can be controlled with the "Save upon Render" checkbox at Tools/Options/Rendering , Default is ON Changed: Plugin: Brick it's now possible to add Bullet Constraints for the instanced model z position can be set models can be imported in userfolders save/restore settings documentation Plugin: Simple_Scatter it's now possible to add Bullet Constraints for the instanced model models are now imported into userfolder documentation SDK added Bullet Constraint (HConstra.h) added Userfolder for chor (hhashobj.h HHashObject::InsertUserFolder) (sample how to use both at HXT/Brick) added OpenView for HChor [bug]6687[/bug] SDK missing method for joining splines? (HModel.h BOOL JoinSpline( HCP *cp1, HCP *cp2)) GetObject() is changed to GetHObject due a nameclash with wingdi.h [bug]6689[/bug] No API method for CP detaching (HModel.h void DetachCP( HCP *cp1)) added GetPlayRange and SetPlayRange for HChor, HAction and HActionCache example: BOOL CTestPluginApp::OnChor(HChor *chor) { TimeRange tt = chor->GetPlayRange(); tt.m_end.StepFramesBack(5, GetHProject()->GetFPS()); chor->SetPlayRange(tt); return TRUE; } Help AMAindex.txt rebuild ("Display help for current property") Particlesystem: Hair Forces need not longer high magnitudes to affect hair dynamics groom mode selected guidecp's now drawn with the selected cp color added possibility to select more than one hairguide for operations except the "Brush Mode" operation two new buttons "Select Hairguides" if You press this button you are now in the selection mode, and can select more than one Hairguide Limitation, it's only possible to select one HairguideCP, for the other selected Hairguides the HairguideCP from the first selected Hairguide is used "Deselect Hairguides" deselect all selected Hairguides Distortion Action Objects [bug]6686[/bug] Distortion Action Objects Resolution limited to 10 Has now the same resolution as the modeling window (maximum 1000), and use as initial value now the same settings as for the distortion in the modelling window Bake Surface [bug]6732[/bug] larger border for Baked Surfaces Plugin: Ai import AI import can be find now under "Plugins->Import" (before at "Plugins->Wizards") Interface [bug]6777[/bug] Increase size of Info Properties Description and Notes Fixed [bug]6755[/bug] computation error for normals [bug]6748[/bug] Space Marines project renders differently than original (tweaked darksimbiont materials) [bug]6749[/bug] Flocking birds does not render correctly in Render Lock Mode [bug]6737[/bug] Animated Material loses animation in saved file Particlesystem: Hair Hair dynamics are not updated, if project fps was set to 25 undo/redo now working as expected when some patches hidden , not all hairguides for the visible patches are drawn Distortion Action object changing the resolution for the distort action object after the target is applied works now as expected (distortion box is updated properly) bug fixed , when the Target is set back to the default value (default values for the distortion box was not restored) All Particlesystems redraw error for all Particlesystems fixed , if the model or group is translated,rotated or scaled [bug]6740[/bug] A:M crashes if try to render to file with multipass after reset Decal crash, when a decal has two (or more) images with maptype "Other..." ,the driven properties are the same and one should be deleted [bug]6739[/bug] Hair renders white in netrender Choreographie If a model is scaled and a constraint with transform properties added,scaling is incorrectly chor translate mode broken [bug]6733[/bug] 5-Pointers seem to have a different behaviour for hair particles... [bug]6728[/bug] Bullet Rolling Friction > 1.0 suddenly halts object [bug]6727[/bug] Three-point patches render texture incorrectly [bug]6718[/bug] Mirror Bone not mirroring CP weights correctly [bug]6730[/bug] loading old file causes crash [bug]6729[/bug] Adding CP causes crash [bug]6717[/bug] Slow Paste when DSTS material present [bug]6722[/bug] Smooth Plugin causes crash [bug]6724[/bug] plus key not always working for frame change [bug]6721[/bug] Props view inside-out in shaded-wireframe Note: Normals can be displayed now for Props too [bug]6716[/bug] CP at Bone origin is ignored by Compute Bone weights. [bug]6725[/bug] Using Sweeper on this model brings A:M to a crash [bug]6713[/bug] Changing CPs from Peaked to Smooth doesn't "dirty" PRJ [bug]6714[/bug] PRJ is already "dirty" when loaded [bug]6715[/bug] Can't adjust bias of CPs next to Hooks [bug]6704[/bug] Rotate Manipulator doesn't work on D-box in Action [bug]6712[/bug] Altering hair doesn't add asterisk to PRJ [bug]6711[/bug] Undo not working in Hair Grooming mode [bug]6707[/bug] NetRender ignores Camera Fog Keyframes [bug]6706[/bug] Crash after moving mouse between windows [bug]6703[/bug] Crash after importing Rotoscope... [bug]6710[/bug] "recall view/position" never works the first time. [bug]6708[/bug] STL export doesn't include displacement [bug]6694[/bug] Dragging Groups causes crash [bug]6680[/bug] Crash after dragging Groups [bug]6693[/bug] Dragging Bones causes crash [bug]6679[/bug] ALT for Free Rotate not working on axis [bug]6563[/bug] Add with Shift-Key pressed does not add a new non-continuies spline [bug]6695[/bug] Undo after extrude causes crash [bug]6700[/bug] On-screen renders very slow Bullet if no cp/patch is assigned to a Bone with bullet constraint , crash occured joints hasn't worked correct new behavior, if the constraint is added to a model, which is created from the "Explode Rebuildmodel" plugin. In such a case , bullet constraints are added to each "Explode_" bone with a breaking value off 1, constraint's between the pieces from the model automatic generated most of other settings not avaible in this case see the Fracture example [bug]6691[/bug] Extruder plugin causes crash Force - Type "Cone" falloff not handled correct Type "Cylinder" false result for Kind "Fan" fixed Type "Box" fixed real time view for "Width Softness" [bug]6685[/bug] Decal placement tools do not work correctly in Camera view [bug]6631[/bug] Depth sorting problems in choreography [bug]6643[/bug] Bias-Handler not showing (the line of the bias handlers not visible) Rendering: material on 3 point patches now correct calculated (in some cases a division by zero has occured) [bug]6511[/bug] Menu incomplete with Patch Group Tool [bug]6540[/bug] copy loose decaling on 5 point patch [bug]6645[/bug] Patches render inside-out in shaded mode [bug]6505[/bug] Layers drawn in front Realtime: crash ,when Draw Normals is on, and a other project is loaded , where the shaded mode for a model was not set[/u] [bug]6647[/bug] Grid only shows when an object is selected Interface: deleting RigidBody constraint from popup menu not possible "Constraint to Path" position updated after select a Pathmodel or Spline from combobox or cursorpicker Modelling Chor creating Pathmodel in chor is back now [bug]6657[/bug] Rendering to file: No file saved... [bug]6661[/bug] Screen stops updating after using CTRL-Z [bug]6662[/bug] After closing PRJ and starting New PRJ, crash on drawing new spline. ModellingCrash, when deleting a bunch of cp's and splines, and heavy use of Undo/Redo [bug]6663[/bug] After Deleting a spline, Undo does not restore it. [bug]6664[/bug] Crash upon drawing spline in new PRJ [bug]6666[/bug] Crash after multiple Undos [bug]6667[/bug] Tutorials Splash screen missing background image. [bug]6668[/bug] Axis handles for Scale mode not drawn properly [bug]6660[/bug] Play range do not stick when saving and loading a scene/project [bug]6670[/bug] Patches not completely drawn in in real-time view [bug]6671[/bug] Distortion Box CPs disappear [bug]6672[/bug] Undo doesn't work in Distortion Mode [bug]6673[/bug] Lens flare errors in Net Render [bug]6571[/bug] Net Render slaves cannot load camera from Technocrane [bug]6674[/bug] Prop not visible after Turn [bug]6675[/bug] rop textures not displayed correctly Note: For decaltype "Color" the alpha channel is not used in final render, if You need this, change the decaltype in the chor to "CookieCut" (the obj file format doesn't know such a type) in contrast the realtime render use the alpha channel , even the decaltype is "Color", but I will not change this behavior due heavy sideeffects Decal crash , when the decaltype for a prop decal is changed to Bump or Displacement Decal Combobox for decaltypes displaying now only the usable decal types for props Decal Bump and Displacement maps for Props now working properly Modelling false menu displayed , when selecting cp's with holding the Shift or Ctrl key and no group was selected before [bug]6791[/bug] Crash when doing Move or Zoom [bug]6787[/bug] Much longer rendertime compared to previous version,if reflectivity is != 0 [bug]6786[/bug] Changing preroll from one particle system affects all other too [bug]6781[/bug] No reflections below reflectivity values of 0.501 [bug]6780[/bug] The Modeling Grid turns itself off [bug]6774[/bug] Crash upon Rendering (Texture Size) [bug]6775[/bug] After fresh install, mfc140.dll not found [bug]6776[/bug] Copy/Paste crash [bug]6770[/bug] flockfx model not saved [bug]6741[/bug] shag hair problem rendering [bug]6769[/bug] Channels not displayed properly with N or R [bug]6766[/bug] Unable to correctly select render quality in Net Render [bug]6760[/bug] Snapshot doesn't remember last directory used [bug]6763[/bug](OSX only) JPEGs cannot be loaded into the application [bug]6757[/bug] A:M stops updating display during SimCloth [bug]6753[/bug] Flag does not wave correctly when doing cloth simulation [bug]6756[/bug] SimCloth fails in V19

Thought I'd toss up one more teaser from my project. This character is finished modeling and rigging but is slowly going through the texture process. Comments Etc welcome -David Rogers

Apologies for the butt shot. Anyone else run into this??? Cps wrinkle in objects when twisting/turning and whatever it is is truly happening to The CP and shows up when rendered. Only happens in action or Chor. As soon as you click on the Cp it straightens out but then goes right back to being twisted when you advance a frame. This seems to show up randomly.See Pic This is shutting down my 5 yr. project unless I can fix it. As always ANY help appreciated. These CPs are in their natural state - no bias tweaking at all.

As you can see below I am still piecing him together. The coloring is temporary and I am going to try making a bump map so he has the right shell. What I want to use him for, however, requires him to speak. I discussed this with a few people on the IRC chat and they said the best way to do it was to animate his face, then apply it to the model as a decal. Someone also mentioned that it is possible to use pose sliders with the decal so I could apply the decal and still change it. Does anyone know how this is done? This sounds like what I need to use.

Hi Guys! I finished the first parts of my project, ... This movie will presents some aikido technics and etiquets! But just I can upload this in more parts! Sorry! This are first parts: Part 1 (This is required divx 5.03) Part 2 and I'm waiting your opinion! Sharky

Here is a model of the New Horizons Pluto Spacecraft. Not that impressive, but a paying client is extremely happy with the final model. Animation and Texturing will be done by others. My contribution to the project is complete. I just provided the mesh model. New Horizons Link

I have an old project that does this sometimes in v19.5 but not always I recall the work-around way back when was to save, restart A:M and reload