Decal images reset to none

[AndyDavis]

I'm stumped. I have a very simple animation. I am using the Hash supplied cube model. Each major face has a decal with an image. (Think of a )photocube.

 

I get my decals applied, but the image associated with the image object keeps getting reset to 'None'. I run through the six faces, and re assign the images, then pretty shortly thereafter, I'm seeing a gray cube again and all of the images have been reset.

 

It seems that as soon as I save, the image reverts back to None.

 

As you can imagine, this is very frustrating and any clues would be very welcome.

 

 

 

[bighop]

Two things come to mind:

 

1. Is the image set to color?

2. Did you hide the 5 sides of eh cube when you were applying the decals?

 

Thanks all I can think of.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Andy

[KenH]

I don't think just changing the images back will make the model "dirty" (is it marked with an asterix?) when you save it. You'll need to do something else......like move a cp with the arrow key and undo......then all changes in the model (including the images) will be saved.

 

If that doesn't solve it, then there's something else......perhaps the type of image file you're using. Or something.

[mtpeak2]

Are the images and model saved to your HD? You can't save the model back to the cd.

[AndyDavis]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Everything is on the hard disk. I made a copy of the model that is local to the project.

 

The images are .tga files. It was originally a sequence, but I backed off to a single file when I started having problems.

 

I did apply the decals to each face with everything else hidden. At one point, it actually looked like the cube was correct. When I update the image reference, I do get an asterisk. When I hit save, it goes away. Unfortunately, so does my image assignment.

 

The image type is set to color, although the file reference is being reset, so I doubt it would matter if it was bump.

[Caroline]

I think you should go back to first principles and try this:

 

Restart A:M first.

 

1. Project Menu > New

2. Right click Objects and Import the cube from the disk.

3. In Cube Properties > File Info change Embedded to ON.

4. Right click Images > Import > Image (*thought* did you import the image as an image or a sequence before)

5. Import an image from the disk > Data > Images

6. Drag the image into the Modelling window (don't bother to hide).

7. Click OK to accept the default of Decal.

8. Right click the Decal > Apply

9. Right click the Decal > Stop Positioning.

10. Repeat for the top view with a second image.

11. Save the project

 

I hope that's all the steps - it works for me.

 

Does that work for you? If not, then I don't know what's happening. If it did, then it must be something to do with the image.

 

Edit: I just did a decal like that with a tga sequence, and that worked for me too (that was neat - I hadn't done that as a decal before) - note that when you first open the image sequence you only click the FIRST image in the sequence, you don't select all of them.

[Luuk Steitner]

An other possibility would be that you have "show decals" switched off. (Crtl-D) Did you check that?

[Rodney]

I ran into a 'reset' problem in v13 that may be related.

It had to do with animating images/decals/rotoscopes over time.

But it wasn't resetting things to 'None'. It reset images to the first image in a sequence as I recall.

Worse... when I set an image to a specific part of the sequence it worked great UNTIL I saved, closed and then reopened the project. Opening the project again I found no image settings had been saved.

 

The fix for me was to crack open the Image shortcut in the PWS of the Choreography.

Then change the setting to 'Timed'.

From there I set the image over time (using the timeline) and saved.

(Assuming this is related to your problem you would key the same frame over time)

From then on it opened and worked fine.

 

I suspect this may be related to Windows Vista issues.

I never had the problem with XP.

As always Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).

 

Rodney

[AndyDavis]

Again, thank you for the replies and assistance.

 

I am running V13 on XP. I have not tried this on my Vista machine.

 

I tried Caroline's sequence and it worked great. That is until I saved the project and then reloaded it. Then I had the exact same problem.

 

It is OK to use a sequence of TGA files, correct? My sequence is simple while I work out the animation, it will become actual photos as the project progresses.

 

Should I use a PNG sequence instead?

[KenH]

You need to narrow it down.....is it the model or the image or maybe the project. Try exporting the object into another project and see if it acts the same. If it does, try decalling a simple patch with the same image and see if you get the same. If yes, try changing the tga to a jpg.

[AndyDavis]

Should I use a PNG sequence instead?

 

Scratch that one off the list. Same result, works great all the way up until I save and reload. Image sequence imports properly and still shows ccorrectly after the save/reload. The decal image just seems to lose track of what image it is supposed to be displaying.

 

Getting back to Rodney's suggestion, in the tree under my project, I have an images folder and under that my imported images. The imported images have settings for Filename, Start, End, and FPS. I don't see a 'Timed' anywhere. Am I looking in the correct place?

 

Ultimately, I do want to use a sequence and use key frames to advance through the sequence. The idea is that I will change the images when the face is not visible. I think I need to get over this more immediate hurdle first.

[AndyDavis]

You need to narrow it down.....is it the model or the image or maybe the project. Try exporting the object into another project and see if it acts the same. If it does, try decalling a simple patch with the same image and see if you get the same. If yes, try changing the tga to a jpg.

 

I can get this every time with brand new stuff.

 

New Project

Import the Cube from the Hash library.

Decal one face

 

It looks good.

 

Save, close, reopen. Image file pointer is reset, and I cannot get it to save again. Here's the image I'm trying use:

 

[NancyGormezano]

It is OK to use a sequence of TGA files, correct? My sequence is simple while I work out the animation, it will become actual photos as the project progresses.

 

Should I use a PNG sequence instead?

 

Are you also setting the frame number? (in the image decal container). You might also need to initially set the frame number of the sequence to 0. And check the fps for the image sequence & that it gets set correctly (under images). I notice that sometimes that doesn't stick as well.

 

If you are going to be animating the display of the sequence of images - then you will also need to either set up a pose slider to control the frame number, or change it directly in the chor.

[AndyDavis]

Here's a simple project that demonstrates what I am talking about, again thank you so much to all that have tried to help me with this.

 

Loser.zip

[NancyGormezano]

Ok - the cube came in without the decal for me too - but the decal container was there. It might be a problem with png format. I never use it. I changed the image to a jpg (in photoshop). tga should work too

 

I then deleted the decal container - reapplied the decal (using the jpg) - saved the cube. Started a new project, brought the cube in - and the decal was there.

 

EDIT: - I also changed the name to F1001-small.jpg rather than F1.001-small.png in case A:M was having problems with the name of the image - but I was just covering my bases without direct knowledge that this is a problem.

[mtpeak2]

Rename your image to F1_001_small. Remove the periods from the name, AM doesn't like that.

 

I renamed the decal, relocated the image and saved. When I reopened the project, the decal showed.

[AndyDavis]

EDIT: - I also changed the name to F1001-small.jpg rather than F1.001-small.png in case A:M was having problems with the name of the image - but I was just covering my bases without direct knowledge that this is a problem.

 

That was it. Arrrrrgggggg. Thank you for taking the time to help and finding the needle in the haystack!

[KenH]

Well spotted......I'm surprised Windows let you put a period in the name.

[AndyDavis]

Well spotted......I'm surprised Windows let you put a period in the name.

 

That's been a legal filename for well over a decade.