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Truly evil! It's a good thing you came clean... I was to having myself committed... either that or become conspiracy freaks like vern... and aaver(n) So do we get to know what the project is/was? Or are you under one of those (conspiratory) non-disclosure agreements... If'n they are watching over your shoulder it may be best to reply in code... I'll decipher as I get the time...

This is a low rez render of something I'm working on. I've got a long way to go yet. I realize that. It's basically pre-vis of a quick banking shot of a chase sequence in a sci-fi action adventure project that I've written and am pitching to direct. As of this render, the spider hadn't been fully textured (it is now, but I'm probably gonna have to re do it. ) Also, obviously the lightings not done, etc, etc, but I just wanted to "come out" so to speak and share a little of what I'm working on. I realize it's "just pre-vis", but I want to make it as best as is reasonable considering I'm not Peter Jackson.... yet. Its in the "CG Test Renders" folder of my Yahoo briefcase. http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/sterlma@pacbell.net Sterling

Rich, Thanks for the comments! I've been tempted by 'toon' but will probably only run it in render tests. One possible exception would be if I use the toon settings that produce results such as the spaceship. Straight toon or anime, unless I go fully with that style would be too distracting. A second exception would be to composite toon lines over the top of regularly rendered scenes. A third exception... (you get the idea, right?) I'll use whatever works within a unified 'style'. That style hasn't been finalized yet for this project. The style in this case must serve the story and the story is still being worked. ...and I agree that A:M is for artists... it's for us hobbyists too! Thanks again. Keep on splinin'!

Im Back I made some changes that were suggested in a perviouse post and then made this new animation. Just an update of a project Im working on in this 800 KB Sor3 mov clip I have a galloping action that goes to a jumping action then back to a galloping action still needs work but it's a start...(pegasus horse model) I cant seem to get the hang of transition to next action to look very good so I just copy and paste keyfames from one action to the other to start a new action in the sequence.Anyway Im having fun even when I goof up.LOL Mike Cossey My briefcase SBC yahoo briefcase link...I hope http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mscoss...case.yahoo.com/

That's a great idea, Zach. I'll look into it. Paul, the only problem I can see with everybody rendering out individual scenes and then sending me the TGAs is the sheer size of those kind of transfers. As long as people have fast enough connections and also don't mind tying up their computers on rendering then let's do it. Anyone who doesn't want to render can just send me the project files and be done with it. And yes, this has been fun so far. Can't wait to see what else you guys come up with for the cheeses. I should have thought about this whole collaborative thing a few episodes ago.

I've also got netrender(10.5r) and two machines (maybe three if I take the dongle to work...). Since I've never been a part of a group project like this, I don't know why we couldn't render out or individual scenes and then send you the targas. Does anyone have any comments on the pros or cons of that approach? ZachBG (for clarity): I'll forward you the dining area set later this weekend. I'm thinking of replacing those darktrees with native textures to see if the render speed improves without losing the darktree quality. If I'm happy with it, then I'll send them along to anyone else that needs them. All The flythrough I left rendering overnight again. I decided to render out a larger size so we could see the scene a little better, but then it took 3 hrs to render 1 second. The flythrough is 6 seconds. You do the math, but my math says I'll put it up on monday. I'm having a lot of fun with this! Is anyone else having fun?

Ohh, you have AM 7.x . Your problem is due to the way AM handles projection maps. After you apply the mat to the model, you have to fiddle with the material shortcut offsets and scale to make the map 'fit' the model. the mat always sets the default map axis at 0,0,0. SO... to make it fit your model group: simply select the group and look at the properties panel. Take a note of the pivot location. This is the center of the group. Type in the offset in the mat shortcut panel. You might have to adjust this a little for odd shaped groups Now that the map is correctly positioned, you have to change the scale, either with the shortcut properties, or within the projection mat itself ( this only works for planar and cylindrical). I think after you do this, your problem will go away. Practice on a sphere in another project to get the hang of it. Hope this helps. Javier

Well, I'm no pro, but... So far its looking good, but most of the light in the picture should be coming from the moon 'cause its night time, and there wouldn't be as much showing in front of the wolf. Instead, there would be a thin line of moonlight outlining the edge of the wolf and the rock its on. Also (unless its the look your going for) you could make the sky more of a dark blue with gray clouds instead of black with gray clouds. Because in a forest, even at midnight, the sky is still slightly blue, and not pitch black. Umm... other than that, some more trees on the right would look good too. Good luck on your project! Robert (P.S.- your web site's pretty cool )

This is the opening short scene of a project I am working on, lasting 00:09:15 and I wondered if anyone could advise me on: Composition Lighting Framing I am trying for a more professional feel to my projects and would like to get some input from the "pros" but all are welcome to comment. Oh yeah....the wolf model is not finished yet, I know it needs work. More images can be seen here:- http://home.btconnect.com/FatclownFilms/videopage_2.htm

I made an entry for the 10 Second Club at the end of February. Actually, part of the work was for the club, and part was for another project I'm working on. Anyway, the version that was submitted for the club contest was pretty good, but after getting a little feedback I made some improvements before posting it on my site. Here's the direct link: http://www.jb-av.com/anims/friendfordinner.mpg 1.24 MB, MPEG-1 Enjoy!

Hello everyone. This is my first AM project, I bought the software last week and I can't put it down! Especially since I had previously purchased Truespace 6.6, what a waste of time and money! Well I guess it was a tought me to appreciate AM. He will eventually be a soccer player. Sugestions and critiques are MORE than welcome. I could use all the help I can get. Thanks! My Webpage My Webpage

I've discussed gamma correction at length with Greg. And we agreed on the fact that gamma correction is a tool. It is not a panacea. It should be used with proper knowledge. Otherwise, it is probably better to not use it at all. At least not during render time. Greg have devised a very clever way to drive the idea of the usefullness of the post processing tools available in A:M. By selecting two opposing colors, the intermediate antialiasing colors slowly shift from one color to neutral gray to the other color. This further enhance the effect of the gamma correction. without gamma correction, the intermediate gray color appear darker than the two saturated colors. In this instance, a gamma correction will considerably attenuate this contrasting effect. We also agreed to pass the information that gamma correction as a post process should be used on a per project basis. The 1.8 correction value is fine for this example but could be too strong for another project with another set of colors. And before deciding on a gamma correction as a post processing step, you should make sure that your own monitor setup is well gamma corrected. Otherwise, you are in a very ill position to judge the actual effect of the gamma correction you are applying. Gamma correction is a monitor thing. You need different gamma correction on different monitors. One problem with gamma correction is that there are no standarsd to agree to. Some computer have well corrected gamma while other don't have any. So let's say I post here an image which I already added a 1.8 gamma correction. If you are lucky and your monitor is already similar to mine, and you do no further gamma correction, then you will be lucky to see the image in all my intended glory. But if you own setups adds another 1.8 gamma correction, then you will see an overly bright image. In an ideal world, everybody should have a well corrected gamma setting. But that is not the case and we cannot predict the setting of those who are going to view the image. If we could all agree on a gamma correction of let's say 1.8, then this would be the standard for everyone. But in the absence of such a standard, a gamma of 1.0 (the default) should be prefered. And any further correction should be done at display time and according to the target display system. To read some of the issues about using gamma corrected images, see The Sad Story of PNG Gamma “Correction”

That is FUNKY! It's got a nice style to it. Nice render, too. But my neck feels sore already, just thinking about how the driver has to sit in order to see out the windshield. Are there going to be characters invovled in this project? Are they going to be realistic characters or stylized? It would be interesting to see who was going to drive that machine. Keep us updated, Jim

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

i had something like that happen once after I substituted a larger bitmap for a smaller one in an "environmental" material. It looked like a pointy spike sticking out of my model. But only in shaded mode... wire frame looked ok! I'm not saying that was the cause of it, but i could only fix the problem by manually deleting all the materials from the project file in a text editor.

As one bad attitude person to another ... these first attempts don't seem all that awful. Hey, what do people expect from first attempts? I'd say there's more going right than wrong from what i've seen in your first two pics. My advice is not to stress out trying to perfect each new project. They just ain't gonna be perfect the first time out. Try a lot of different small stuff. try a hand, try a nose, try a foot, try a duck, try whatever.... do each one until you reach the wall then table it and try the next one. eventually you'll come full circle back to topics you've tried before, but you'll you'll look at it fresh and say "ah, now i know what I shoulda done with that" If you're clever, that is. The A:M 2002 book is good though.

Thank you for all your comments! You can do just about anything you want but the main item on the table is always the character animation. These clips are so short that if you pick a good one, more camera angles shouldn't be necessary. It's that good staging thing that Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston talk about and that I attempt to use in practice. And you can use pre-built anything, but the topics are always such that props or sets aren't major factors. I like it that way since the character motion is what I'm most into right now. He blinks in frame 71. According to my calculator that means that even if you get 1000 times better than you are now, I'd still be 10,000 times better. Ouch! You better get animating right quick, Zack! Ok, I'll admit it... he has no eyelids! I made this character in 1998 to be a "help angel" in a CD_ROM project. He only had to do three things and blinking wasn't on the list. I tried a few more things with him but rigs were so primitive back then I gave up. He's really supposed to be a toon rendered character so i never planned any texturing for him: But I may upgrade him with eyelids and a mouth when I finish Jason Osipa's book. Result of my experiments on a crate in the living room. It is an action. In the contest forum, several people criticized it for being too repetitive. (Geez, I managed to bore them in only five seconds! ) I added one block as an "action object" to animate the feet around and to figure out the intial movement of the block. The block in the action helped me to align the character with the real blocks in the choreography (which were individually animated). I match-moved the choreography blocks to the action block, then deleted the block from the action. Hmmm...I bet I could have saved myself some time if I had just constrained the chor blocks to the action block. Thanks again for all your comments! I'll keep them in mind on my next attempt.

Windows versions can be found here: 2004 CDROM (Orangutan) dongle (HASP) Version Multi-User Dongle Version Beta FTP area V11.0 Features V11.0 Online Technical Reference V11.0 Beta now requires dongles to be programmed for year 2004. If you receive a hasp or "No Authorization" error you will need to have your dongle upgraded for the 2004 subscription. Contact upgrades@hash.com for more info. Run the RUS Utility to get your HASP ID#. After receiving an update code from support@hash.com you can use this utility to flash the HASP. ----- Fixes since last Beta version. Fixed the project to be marked modified from relationship windows loading Fixed turning off embedded property on a never saved object {Rachel Jones} Fixed Alias Edges.pfx to match 8.5 {ArtWare} Fixed crash opening an animation window with posteffects Fixed unable to load embedded post effects used on animations {Sam Buntrock} Fixed crash clicking on camera in bones mode in chor {my main man Vernon} Loading radiance values from verion 8.5 and older works correctly. { Yves Poissant } Custom Color dialog working again { Frank Hulsey } statusbar and menubar hide/show work properly, and so does it in fullscreen mode { Greg Rastomi } Customized colors save and load properly { Shaun Freeman } The Play button no longer sticks on Play mode is much faster. Speedup Interface during Plus/Minus key Added Reflective Filter surface attribute property { Yves Pissant } Recent Projects are always visible in Project menu now. Library tab now have shortcuts available ie "View Model Library" { Greg Rastomi } Frame editbox selects on inital focus { Bob Croucher } Right clicking on the frame bar when it isn't fully visible { Jeff Lee } Made global gravity and drag animatable over time. {Anders Avero} Targets can be set on dynamic constraint for controlling both ends of the chain. Multiple dynamic constraints can be added to one chain for custom settings for each bone.

Wow, this IS a huge project! We needed the knowledge provided by this great site for a project we just finished. So diggin Eternal Egypt was like a Dejavu for me. Our project was about the Sphinx, but a bit more fiction. We can't show the clip yet, (actually I don't know if we ever will?!?) but here are a few rough screenshots I can show without getting in trouble with the producer. It's about the "real meaning" of the Sphinx wich "acctually" is the cat of the "town musicians of bremen" (an emblem of bremen city). Greetz.

John - I really like your city, and do think that it's a better style setting for your characters than the lab model you've been working on. The lab is gorgeous (I'm gonna take a look at the project file to do me some learning!) but just didn't feel like it was right for the characters you've been working on. I'd almost go with minimal environments - only objects that directly define or play a part in each shot and the rest replaced with strong colour schemes. I think that this would give your characters a more dynamic setting. edit - I've just got what I've been connecting your work with and why I made the above suggestion. Ren & Stimpy. It has that John Kricfalusi feel somehow.

The superhero project and the IGOR's live on, it's only the lab concept that's discontinued. It just doesn't match the feeling I'm after. It's a bit too straight edged and literal. It probably would have made it this far except that the image contest for this month is mechanical, and once I decided to enter I felt compelled to carry it through. I use the character's name followed by the date for model iterations. If it's a special-use model I might add that fact to the description ie ToonBiplane220204Exploding. I use capitals for the beginning of each word for readability and because I can't bring myself to put spaces in filenames

Here's today's contribution to the project. It's a model of an old brownstone rowhouse. I'll use this to create a very wide shot of a whole row of these as a backdrop for the trees that will grow along the street. The shot will be an extreme telephoto--very wide, like an extreme letterbox format--with the trees growing up along the street. Later I plan to animate a boy and girl planting the trees, with the trees growing up as they progress down the street. Still have a few details to add, like doors and texturing. I love Animation Master! Such a joy to use! Anybody know off-hand how to set the transparency of an individual patch independently from its surroundings? I need to make the patches behind the windows transparent. Thanks! Bill Gaylord

First, I apologize for posting such a large graphic to you WIP area. I'll fix that asap. Downloaded your Lab Project. Really cool. Especially nice to see how other's put their projects together. 1 Question: Some of your entries in the PWS have lowercase letters. Some super secret coding to remind you of something? Or just the way it showed up in the PWS... Curious to know. Evidence:

John, You just gotta update your forum information so people can click over to your website. How am I suppose to be lazy and get to your site if you don't update. Seeya, I'm off to download a cool project (the hard way).

Back again. I dropped the DOF off while I did some colour/texture work. All fairly simple native AM textures. I also moved the white walls towards brown. I'll reinstate the DOF, add some subtle post effects and then move onto some more character work. For those who've purchased SkyCast the laboratory project is available for download at the SCBonus area. Rod: I'm actually planning on playing these viewpoints off against each other, it'll either work really well or people will just look at me with an air of confusion and ask"...and???". It's the risk I take I think your world has to look consistent, there's nothing worse than an image with lots of imported models in different styles. I also think the script should be consistent in the same manner. Unfortunately this means that a lot of ideas will go the way of the laboratory, into my library of "stuff". It doesn't matter if it looks cool or sounds hilarious, if it doesn't forward the story it gets canned. Unless I've decided to break the rules NB I'm not in favour of grand rules.....they produce the kind of homogenous pap that Hollywood is so guilty of. Down with rules, market research, and artistic committees (end of rant) A few of my friends have tried to suggest commercial rewritings of Superhero, so that I can market it for Sat Morn cartoons. It's not a project I expect to make money out of...but hopefully I'll be proud of having done it...when I eventually complete it. If even two percent of the people who see it really like it, then that's better than 80 percent thinking it's ok. (end of more ranting )