just talk

[jesse]

hey every one im new to everything but im learning it at school and i love it already i just perchised it

[PF_Mark]

Welcome to AM

[itsjustme]

Have fun! Welcome to the community.

[c-wheeler]

yep, welcome aboard.

Youre in good company, this may not be school, but I think all of us here learn from each other.

 

Chris

[phatso]

This is better than school. Ya do it whenever ya feel like, there are at least a dozen teachers who are experts, ya choose yer own projects, ya can't flunk, and it's free.

 

So anyway, welcome to the forum. There's so much to A:M that the book barely scratches the surface, but you can get answers to any question here.

[jzawacki]

Anywhere that teaches online courses for this? I know the book is great, but I'm more of a hands on learner and have a better chance of talking the wife into letting me spend more hours on the computer if I was taking some kind of online course with a video feed from the instructor.

[itsjustme]

Anywhere that teaches online courses for this? I know the book is great, but I'm more of a hands on learner and have a better chance of talking the wife into letting me spend more hours on the computer if I was taking some kind of online course with a video feed from the instructor.

 

There are two online courses, that I am aware of, that teach animation. However, those courses don't teach you how to use the software, they assume you know how to use the tools already. Neither of these courses provide assets for Animation Master, so you would have to make them yourself.

 

My advice (for what it's worth), would be to learn the software using the resources available to you here. Then, if you want to take an online animation course, you will have the understanding of the tools necessary to complete your course work.

 

You might be surprised how much you can learn about the software and animation in general on these forums...and it's free.

 

As for the software, there are a lot of tutorials (including video tutorials) available here. Do a search, if you don't find what you need, ask.

 

Hope that helps.

[jzawacki]

It's not that I am not willing to provide the time, it's that I don't have much time to provide. Also, I'm not a reader. I'm more of a hands on type of person. I have started TaoAM a couple of time, and completed a few lessons (I know your not supposed to jump around..) and have watched the online videos a few dozen times (which are great, btw). It would be nice to be able to sign up for an online course (creates dedicated A:M time) as well as allows a hands on person to learn quicker then stumbling through online toturails. And then, requiring "homework" to be completed makes sure the user (me) is actually doing the lesson and understanding the steps.

 

I have yet to even create my own model. I have only played with pre-created ones. Even something as 'simple' as extruding, as I read it.. thought that is sounded easy.. but I haven't done it yet. But, I take Google SketchUp and have built many models in it within minutes. I'm sure they aren't animation worthy.. and maybe once I grasp the concept in A:M it will be the same way. I don't know.. I guess I just get over whelmed every time I start, and then decide it's easier to borrow models, and the next thing I know, I'm off in left field playing with smoke and fire, or hair. Stuff I don't even need. My wife yells down (computers are in the basement) and it's midnight.. I'd been playing for 3 hours and have nothing to show for it.

 

I could be wrong, but I think an online course that I am paying for (dedicated to A:M, not animation in general) is what I need to succeed.

[largento]

Although not exactly what you say you're looking for, I high recommend Barry Zundel's Animation: Master Training DVDs! It really jump-started my learning and they are discs I still go back to again and again. The first disk covers modeling, the second is rigging, and the third is animation. Following along, you can model your own character, rig it and then animate it. Along the way, Barry covers the interface and concepts behind A:M. He originally created them for a class he was teaching, so it's like sitting in on lectures.

[jzawacki]

Are you talking about THESE?

[itsjustme]

Are you talking about THESE?

 

Mark was referring to Barry Zundel's training videos...they are located here.

[phatso]

I've used sketchup too. You're going to run into the same problem I ran into with simpler, easier-to-learn programs: they're only made to let you do basic things, and when you want to do something more advanced, you hit a wall. Sophisticated animation is out. Photorealism is way out. If I had it to do over again, I would have started with a program where I wouldn't have to discard what I'd learned and start over later on.

 

This discovery, more than spline modeling or reuseable action, is why I'm using A:M now.