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Hey - I took a chance to do a job today with the new 'Snap To Surface' tool, and it saved the day! Don't know how I woulda done this without it. Shawn Rogers asked if I could model this 'NEWFANGLED' soccer ball(ref photo) for him... at first I though- NO WAY, but then figured the S2S tool may help in the process and it could be a good test for it. Plus I love the challenge, the ball looks SO simple, yet it is really QUITE a modeling dilemma. 1st- I lathed a really dense sphere and exported it as an OBJ. Then imported it into the chor as a prop... this was to be the surface for me to draw on, activating the S2S function. A couple false starts, a couple rounds of 'make it bigger-make it smaller' and I had a good workable base. The tool and the 'snap group to surface' option worked really well, a couple of times it would snap to the backside surface- but the undo got me back. Whats REALLY nice is when you have the tool ON, you can slide CPs around and they adhere perfectly to the surface. I will post a 360o render when it finishes. The Snap To Surface tool will be available in Version 17.

Reference: [bug]6102[/bug] I'm wanting to explore a few of the reports filed away in A:M Reports in order to better understand what the user was/is looking for and so that in v18 they will be more likely to see what they are looking for. Obviously my exploration will stop short of any coding or programming... but in the exploration who knows what might be found! Report 6102 looks like one worth exploring because it is likely the reporter hasn't yet fully explored the Snap to Feature tools in light of other tools currently available in A:M. General Data: 6102 DJBREIT moderate beta0 Modeling 3/26/2012 Windows 7 64-bit Sevice Pack 1 i7 960 3.20GHz Description: Some extra tool to round out the Snap to Surface This is a new and unassigned report. In the exploration I hope to learn more about what the current implementation of Snap to Surface can do. My focus has been within the Modeling window and with use of models/structures created in A:M but I am not averse to using imported Props. I am just more personally interested in a purely A:M-centric workflow.

Made a simple robot

Had some fun with BioVision's bvh files and Animation Master! It took some time to get used to the bone hiearchie. Most files start with a T-Bone pose from where it is possible to catch the right IK bone and corresponding Orient & Translate. Then themodel will act a-like. Some trouble with flying splines as CP weights. For models with low polycount it is atracting as they have not that dense surface to be divided in.

I am not understanding how to use the snap to surface feature? This is my first time trying it. Can someone walk me thru the steps to get started, please. I have made a SIMPLE obj in A:M (model exported as obj) I imported that obj 1) as a prop, and 2) imported that obj into a blank model. I have tried to use the snap to surface feature both in model window, as well as in chor (with prop) If I try to do it in the chor, and use the Add cp's - I get a path object If I try to create CP's in model that has prop imported in it (used plugin - import, obj) - I can't seem to control how the cps snap to surface. No comprendo. Que pasa?

Installers: Windows: Windows 32Bit Windows 64Bit SDK: v19.0 SDK UpDate 0007210: [Net Render] NetRender Crashes during startup (sgross) 0007216: [Interface] Clicking outside of Chor locks out Manipulators (sgross) 0007222: [Bones/Rigging] Deleting bone causes crash (sgross) 0007225: [_Other] Crash on v19 model load (sgross) 0007217: [_Other] Crash on load of old model (sgross) 0007214: [Interface] Accent color of Windows does not change window color of tiled windows in A:M (sgross) 0007213: [Particle Systems] Hair width over length is somehow repeated several times (sgross) 0007208: [Hair] Crash on reset of Hair Parameter (sgross) 0007137: [Dynamics] Dynamic Constraints broken (sgross) 0007203: [Net Render] NetRender nodes close with format error (sgross) 0007200: [Interface] NetRender interface spelling correction (sgross) 0007194: [Net Render] Actions render incorrectly in NetRender (sgross) 0007196: [Modeling] Crash on Copy of Groups (sgross) 0007195: [_Other] Crash after edit of Expression (sgross) 0007189: [Bones/Rigging] Crash on delete of multiple bones (sgross) 0007186: [Bones/Rigging] Path Constraint target list crash (sgross) 0007185: [Bones/Rigging] Bone name trouble (sgross) 0007184: [Bones/Rigging] Crash on Bone Drag (sgross) 0007162: [Rendering] Surface transparency causing Hair transparency (sgross) 0007188: [Sounds] Playing any audio in A:M sets system volume to zero (sgross) 0007175: [Plugins] Mirror Constraints not working? (sgross) 0007180: [_Other] Crash during Backup? (sgross) 0007181: [_Other] Crash on Revert (sgross) 0007179: [_Other] Crash while renaming Pose (sgross) 0007177: [Decaling] Crash while examining decals (sgross) 0007178: [_Other] Crash on PRJ close (sgross) 0007176: [Modeling] CopyFlipAttach adds unnecessary dot suffix to new names (sgross) 0007174: [_Other] Crash loading PRJ (sgross) 0007173: [Realtime] OpenGL3 Hair with textures drawn not correct (sgross) 0007172: [General] False rounding for float/double values (sgross) 0007171: [Realtime] OpenGL crash, if a scaled copy for the realtime texture needed (MipMap) (sgross) 0007166: [Sounds] Sound stops before end of play (sgross) 0007157: [Rendering] SSAO not working (sgross) 0007165: [Composite/Post Effects] Feature: allow Blur greater than 15 (sgross) 0007160: [Realtime] Fluid particle false shaded render after load (sgross) 0007159: [Rendering] Crash on render (sgross) 0007129: [_Other] v18 D Box PRJ no longer works (sgross) 0007155: [Rendering] Fluid Particles render as Camera Background color only (sgross) 0007154: [Particle Systems] Blobbies don't die, don't resize (sgross) 0007152: [Particle Systems] Can't Bake Blobbies? (sgross) 0007153: [_Other] Default Resolution in Camera settings: Change from VGA to HDTV - 720p... (sgross) 0007146: [Lighting] Use Front Realtime Light reverts to OFF after onscreen render (sgross) 0007142: [_Other] Reverting property in Chor doesn't * project (sgross) 0007147: [Materials] PRJ saves forces unwanted keys in Material instances (sgross) 0007148: [Rendering] Custom Frame list renders only first frame multiple times (sgross) 0007143: [Plugins] Simcloth doesn't simulate (sgross) 0007145: [Net Render] NetRender Memory Allocation Error (sgross) 0007144: [Images/Animations/Rotoscopes] EXR missing from allowed image import types (sgross) 0007139: [Rendering] Shaded/Wire Renders don't show "Show Grid" or Rotoscopes (sgross) 0007138: [Rendering] renders use CPU SSAO instead of GPU SSAO (sgross) 0007140: [Animation] Euler/Vector/Quat default selection not retained (sgross) 0007134: [Net Render] NetRender nodes get stuck on "Loading Frame" (sgross) 0007121: [Materials] Increase the viewport size of a material? (sgross) 0007151: [Particle Systems] Crash on change of Attribute to Combiner (sgross)

Hello, Is there a way to baked surface for a selection and not on the whole object?

A few experiments toward getting a nice human Sub Surface Scattering result. "Loyd" model by Steve Shelton. Default surface (no SSS) render... Sub Surface Scattering renders. Pink and less pink... I've turned on some Surface "noise" to suggest the pores in the skin. SSS with Ambient Occlusion... Separate AO render... Curve-Adjusted AO... SSS render composited with adjusted AO... Separate specular render... Composited SSS+ AO +Specular...

Ever since the MakeNormalMap.atx material was replaced by the Surface Normal buffer in the render engine I've always had unpredictable results. I couldn't seem to get a flat plane that was orthogonal to the camera to return a consistent color of 128, 128, 255. Sometimes it did but many times a flat plane would come up short on the red & green channel. So in the course of generating wrinkle maps for the seats in the street car, I ran more than a few tests and have found the answer; to get the correct colours the algorithm needs a full range of surface normals in the image. The following images are my proof. The top image shows the chor layout; a camera orthogonal to a flat plane. Behind the flat plane is a mildly deformed plane and behind that is a hemisphere. The first image is the normal buffer output looking at just the flat plane. The normal buffer assigns a colour of 5,5,255 Moving the flat plane to the left to expose part of the deformed plane produces the second image. The normal buffer assigns a colour of 19,19,255 The third image has half the deformed plate showing and the normal buffer assigns a colour of 56,56,255 With 75% of the deformation showing in the fourth image the flat plane registers as 57, 57, 255 as it does when the entire dented surface is showing in the fifth image. In the sixth image the hemisphere is moved out from behind the plane to expose about one quarter of it and the flat planes now register as 118, 118, 255 With half the hemisphere exposed to the camera (seventh image) flat surfaces now have the correct value of 128, 128, 255. As is the case when the entire hemisphere is exposed. So my suggestion for generating correct normal maps from any surface is to have a "calibration" hemisphere within the field of view. But keep it fairly large, if it's too small (like about half the size shown) the red/green channels start to fade.

I was just about to start celebrating after Robert helped me mix Toon and normal on the same model in a render. It was going to save a lot of time. Then I saved the project and odd things happened. I had modified one of the models, Delivery Man, that came with AM, giving him a beard and a dress shirt. This is what it looked like with Normal render. V17, OSX When I did a Toon render ( before he new modifications ), I noticed some mesh penetration, I tried Robert's suggestion and was really pleased with the result, except I noticed some more penetration and spent a while fixing it. Saved it and went out to do some analog 3D while it rendered away. Came back and checked it, only to find that his beard , and other surface values had reset to the default ones of the original model. The mix of styles was there but the colours had gone. I then spent about 90 mins trying to get it back to how I wanted it because, very foolishly, I'd trashed the earlier files and couldn't get them back. But, every time I reset the values then tried to save it, it would crash out. Tried it in V18 but with no greater luck. The original model is far better than I can manage but, I only wanted to use a small proportion of it and change the colours.( not trying to take credit for someone elses work ). Is there any way to reset the surface values to the default settings so I can go back and modify them without the originals showing through ? Thank you for your timeand help simon Neighbour Two A.mdl

I find myself playing tug-of-war with Version 18 of A:M more than I used to with Version 15. There seems to be a lot more snap. I pull a control point to a position when I am modeling, and the computer snaps it back to where it was. How can I turn the snap off or adjust it to a level that is helpful?

Hey everyone. I'm considering trying to transfer a very dense figure model into A:M. I was hoping that the re-topo tool would help out, but I was not able to find much on what others had been able to get out of it. Has anyone been successful in "retopo'ing" a high dense mesh, human figure in A:M?? William

I have heard alot about it,but never really knew what it was for ,surfing on youtube ive seen alot of programs exporting from one program to another and back,and I saw John Bigboote had just posted something about it for v17 ,and is it new in v17? ( Most videos were just timelapsed and did'nt explain anything)

I don't know about other folks but I've been using the heck out of the new Snap to Control Point feature. I was using it before to match up splines and CPs but today I used it in a Pose to assist with precision placement at 0%, 50% and 100%. My project here was to create a modular monster whose belly can match to 'small', 'medium' and 'large' sizes as well as (manually through the pose slider) other settings. If you'll pardon the cheap graphics from this POC... I'd say it worked rather well. I meant to render a wireframe to show the three target zones for the modular monster's waists. Edit: Mov replaced with shaded wireframe render. (the three ovals being the three target sizes for monsters' waists) A:M has gained a substaintial improvement in precision modeling through this addition in v18. SnapToCP.mov

The problem that is solved is the limited resolution of the image file used by the decal. A way to paint a texture using a 2d software is to unwrap / flatten the model, make a decal and save that decal out using a screen shot or use take snap shot in A:M. Both is great, but it has limitation that the resolution of the taken snap shot is limited by the resolution of the display you are working on. This feature can now create "the same" result / something similar but with a more or less unlimited resolution. Best regards *Fuchur*

Hey Everyone. I tried to find my old thread about this but could not locate it. I inquired previously as to if there is a way to snap a bone's base to a cp. Has that been figured out? Or is it still not possible? Sorry about the re-posted subject. Cheers, William

As a follow up to your 1st post Largento: Your screenshots of the anomaly look a lot like the "backward facing polys" option in your rendering settings is not selected and you may have some surface normals facing incorrectly in your model. I feel sheepish mentioning this since you are a Hash Fellow and know the software much more deeply than I. You stated that you haven't used the software in a while though, so I'm taking the chance to mention this.

that is Snap-to-surface Mode. Button looks like this ---> https://forums.hash.com/search/?q="snap to surface"&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy

I recall when radiosity renders took hours. Now it's a few minutes. I dropped some old models from the AM CD into my tiny house room lit with radiosity. All the lighting is just that one bulb light near the ceiling. Mach 5 Racer: BioBot: MotorCycle: Janitor of War: Space Marine. Something about the surface specularity on this model and the previous one is causing the conspicuous bright spots in the room ( I think).

I have been trying to make a chianti bottle. For whatever reason the 4 point patches are not filling in. I have tried rendering, but the patches don't fill in there either. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Any ideas? A picture of the bottle as it exists now follows:

The lighting definitely looks better in the above photo, the ceiling looks less sterile and more realistic due to the less perfect surface. If not for the CG character I might think this was a photo in an architectural magazine and not a rendering.

Hi Kim. Snap to Surface was indeed introduced in v17. Our forum Search is inoperative at the moment but there are discussions of Snap to Surface somewhere here. I would be curious to know where you heard "a lot" about Snap to Surface. I can't imagine it.

I've discovered a progressive render issue in v19.0p. While it's not a show stopper it's been annoying me for a long time and I've finally found the root cause. This image is an overview of the test chor. There's a camera with a 1000mm lens looking at five instances of a grey reference sphere, each at a different distance from the camera. The sphere instances are scaled in the chor as they get closer to the camera so that from the camera view they don't change too much in image size. They are positioned so the camera can see all five spheres side by side. Between the camera and the closest sphere is a slightly tinted, four patch plane that is a "glass sheet" with a transparency of 80%. It is positioned so that the camera only sees the lower half of the spheres through it. A simple sun light shines down from above and the chor has global ambience turned on with a white colour; intensity = 80% and occlusion = 100%. This image is the results of 5 pass prog renders and 9 pass full screen renders. The first two sphere rows are with no glass in the way while the last two rows have the glass turned on. For prog. renders through a transparent surface something strange happens as the surface gets farther from the camera. If you turn off ambience and leave in the glass slide this issue also goes away. Although it always happens in progressive renders, I have seen it occasionally in 9 pass full screen renders of an 80Mb project chor. So if Stefan does try to fix this issue he may want to look at both types of screen rendering. amb_occl_thru_glass_distant_embed.prj

Several areas I haven't yet fully explored: Templates to aid in modeling with Snap to Surface (Some will be more optimal than others) Mixing Props and A:M Models to further enhance workflow (What isn't caught by the Prop might be caught by the Model) -- The example of this would be a flat plane that is placed at a point of intersection with the Prop. Should a CP be placed off the Prop then it would be caught by the Model. Animated Snap to Surface (I need to learn to screen capture my tests because I've forgotten my earlier exploration into this area. The idea is to model on top of (or to track) a moving Snap to Surface object.) Further investigation into what Snap to Surface sees and what it allows through/ignores. (This relates to Templates in that a mesh could be built that would allow something akin to Snap to Intersection. Further exploration of the use of Snap to Surface in conjunction with other tools such as Snap to Grid, Magnet Mode etc. Theoretically, Snap to Surface in conjunction with Snap to Grid should result in a semblance of Snap to Intersection.

Still plugging away at ska dance project when time allows. Presently redoing the head in the light of the example David posted a few weeks back. Have encountered a strange problem though. It still needs lots of tweeks and readjustments but, the model doesn't want to acept the surface colour properties assigned to it? For example, the lips have an RGB setting of 208.180.160 assigned to the group but it doesn't show up in shaded mode or quick render. Can anyone kindly suggest the problem and possible soution ? simon OSX 10.68 V17g DH 001.mdl