Welcome to the A:M Forum! Introduce / Reintroduce Yourself

[Rodney]

Welcome to the A:M Forums.

We are glad you are here.
If you are returning, we are glad you're back.

If you are just getting started please make sure you spend some time in the Newbies forum and read through the A:M Manual (The Art of Animation:Master and The A:M Technical Reference).

Ask questions. Join in the discussions.
Give and get feedback.
Explore A:M!

This Welcome topic is a continuation of introductions to the forum from previous years. Click here to read some of the past introductions


General Overview of Animation:Master

Anyone can create 3D pictures and animation at home or in the studio with Animation:Master.
Animation:Master includes everything you need to create fabulous computer graphics; complete sculpting features, powerful animation tools, superb rendering, and all this is compatible with the most popular computers (PC and Macintosh!). Its cross platform compatibility makes A:M an excellent choice for the individual or studios with multiple operating systems.

Animation:Master, the 3D motion picture studio is the most powerful and affordable spline based modeling and animation program available. Specifically designed for classic character animation, the drag and drop, customizable interface and powerful motion tools give you the control that is required to tell your story. A:M is geared toward character animation and gives you the ability to build libraries of actions and characters to be reused over and over.






Features (Don't forget... with A:M you can build and explore your own personal features too!)

• Spline Based Modeling, Animation, And Rendering - for smooth organic models and natural freeform motions.
• Bones Mode - for easy IK construction.
• Inverse Kinematics - to interactively pose articulated characters.
• Skeletal, Morphing, And Bending Actions In Combination - all three kinds of object and character motion can be overlapped and used in unison.
• Time Based Motion "ease" - for accurate acceleration and deceleration of movement.
• True Patch-based "uv Decal" Mapping - using bit mapped images that are locked to a surface and distort properly when an object bends and twists.
• D3D or OpenGL - real-time rendering.
• Motion Libraries - so that a complex action needs to be built only once and then used over and over again. Includes motion capture input and motion control output.
• Lip Synch Key Framing - for assembling lip shapes with automatic inbetweening.
• Technical Support - Top notch and totally free with an active forum where users meet 24/7.

Interface

• Integrated, User Friendly interface, with easy turning, zooming, and navigation features.
• D3D or OpenGL accelerated for a smooth tactile feel in all areas of the interface.
• MFC based interface allows for completely customizable options including color schemes, tool bar placement and customizable keyboard shortcuts.
• Drag and drop interface technology fully implemented for easy object manipulation.
• Create scenes with as many characters, lights, cameras, and props on the stage as you like.
• Modeling , creation of Actions and choreography can all be done in the same window from any view .
• Proportional Zoom; finer zoom control in choreography.
• Centered Turn; turn about the local coordinate system.
• Global Axis Translates; option to move control points in world space instead of screen space.
• Multiple, re sizable Windows; have two action windows, or set up three modeling windows in a traditional tri-view layout.
• Drag able, dock able panels; put the panels anywhere you want on the screen or hide them completely.
• Simplified Operation; tools operate in a more "standard" fashion.
• Save Interface State; projects maintain their window's layout for next use.
• Interrupt drawing to increase drawing speed.
• Specify automatic reload of last project at startup.
• Limit memory usage.
• User controllable rotate snap angle.
• Object Instancing
• Intuitive Object Manipulators; uniform for lights, cameras, characters, props, etc.
• Markers/Rulers
• Fully editable Timeline Window
• Customizable Folders in the Project Workspace
• Multi-Select in the Project Workspace
• A:M Community chat window and Forum

Modeling

• No more inefficient polygons! Model with flexible Hash patches.
• Start from a Library of example characters.
• Curved lines move easily to allow for quick manipulation.
• Complete selection of real-time tools combined with point-and-click sculpting makes object creation easy.
• Model over a Rotoscope image.
• As many Rotoscopes as you like can be loaded into any view.
• Seamlessly integrates "bones" into low-density, uni-body models. Characters (or objects) are built as a single model, then bones are inserted any way you like to for the "skeletal" IK basis for your character.
• Un attach; disconnect "attached" points while modeling.
• Insert Control Points; automatically adds control points to those hard to get to splines.
• Perspective Modeling; option to model while viewing the object in perspective.
• Nested Hide; hide more points when some already hidden.
• "Lasso" or free form group tool included with standard group tool for easy selection of multiple control points.
• D3D or OpenGL shaded real-time mode when modeling instead of wire frame.
• Patch Hooks to reduce resolution and eliminate creasing
• Bias Handles for easy control of spline curvature.
• Optimized Polygon export.
• Unique object manipulators for translating scaling and rotating.
• Specific grid sizing for use in creating precise scale objects.
• Grid can also be toggled on and off.
• variable lathe cross sections.
• User definable Undo and Redo.
• Uniform Normal Face Control for Polygonal output .
• Paste and Extrude offsets.
• Cut, copy and Paste
• Flip or Mirror a selected group of points around any axis.
• True Type Font and AI Import
• Locked Control Points
• Copy/Flip/Attach
• Polygon Import
• Lock Control Points
• "Distortion Mode" Deformation Tool

Animation

• Patch-based animation allows smooth, flexible movement.
• Complex movements are simplified; unique bones motion offers lifelike bouncing and twisting.
• Complete skeletal and muscle control features.
• Inverse Kinematics (IK) for creating skeletal based motion.
• Character animation with lip-synch made easier.
• Stride length to prevent a character's feet or tires from slipping as they move.
• Action Overloading; applying layers of Actions to a character so that it can "walk", "talk", and "clench" its fists simultaneously.
• Action Range; choose only a range of frames, Hold, or Wait from an Action
• Rotoscope facial movement in Muscle with sequenced backgrounds.
• Poses.
• Lock Bones.
• Sophisticated Key frame controls.
• Many different kinds of real-time constraints for perfect anchoring, picking up objects, and animated paths; Including: Aim At, Kinematic, Path, Translate To, Orient like, Aim Roll At, Spherical Limits, Surface, Scale Like and Scale to Reach.
• Flocks, Crowds and Swarms
• Powerful Channel Based motion control.
• Scrub Bar.
• Action Undo.
• Action Objects; for animating props, even other characters seamlessly within an action.
• Force Objects;apply dynamic forces any way you like.
• Rotoscoping
• Action Blending
• Copy/Paste Mirrored Action
• Pose Sliders (frame ranges can be saved in a pose).
• Kinematic Rotational Stiffness
• "Continuous Play" Scrubbing
• Animated Camera Rotoscopes
• Onion Skinning
• Kuper camera motion data import
• Hard and Soft Body Dyanmics; including cloth, springs, masses and collision detection between objects.
• Automatic assignment of geometry to bones
• Smart skin for perfect joints
• Relationships for creating smart characters.
• Weighted CP blending
• Animated distortion boxes

Rendering

• Ray tracing of transparency, reflections and shadows for visually realistic results.
• D3D or OpenGL real-time previews can be saved as output.
• Super fast, High quality hybrid renderer.
• Selectable Specular Color.
• Mirrors with adjustable settings.
• Alpha buffer rendering for combining computer animation with live action.
• Anti-aliasing.
• 32-bit, variable, unlimited resolution rendering.
• AVI animation playback within the software.
• Bound Rendering; Quick Render or Ray Trace only a portion of the screen.
• TV Safe and Title Safe indication.
• Transparency Averaging.
• Anti-aliased Image Maps.
• Shadow Maps
• Gamma Correction.
• Show or hide render in progress.
• User selectable reflection limit.
• Motion Blur.
• Extensive render status meters.
• NTSC safe color.
• Photon Mapping.
• Soft Shadows
• Film Grain
• Bloom
• Soften
• Dither
• Dynamic Range (gamma correction)
• Field Rendering
• Line Geometry
• No "anti-alias" option (Game Sprites)
• Film Tint and Film Grain; presets like "black and white" and "sepia tones"
• Stereo Rendering
• Shadow Buffers and "Shadow Only" Buffers
• Exportable lighting maps, vertex colors for game engines
• Selectable Soft Shadow Color
• Fully Customizable Toon or Anime Style Shader/Render
• Materials and Object Attributes
• Ability to apply custom textures, images and object Attributes to individual patches.
• Image Maps Locked to the surface through use of UV coordinate system.
• UV Editor for interactively adjusting how a map lies on geometry.
• Glass with Refraction and Caustics.
• Image types include color, bump, transparency, reflectivity, diffuse, specular, ambiance, mirror, gradient and cookie-cut maps.
• Textures you define, modify, save and reuse.
• Integrated Algorithmic Perlin Materials Editor.
• Flatten; unroll a segment before applying Decals.
• System Color Dialog uses your platform's standard 24-bit color dialog to choose and change colors.
• Displacement and Fractal Maps.
• Edge Transparency.
• Environment Maps.
• Gamma correction can be applied to Image Maps.
• Supports 32 bit Image Maps
• Frame Control of Animated Maps; so that image maps can cycle, skip frames, hold, wait, or "ping pong".
• Unique Decal (image map) manipulator allows you to scale, reverse and position an image in real-time .
• See through Decaling.
• Maps automatically cached for interactive map editing though use of any third party paint program.
• Tile able Image Maps.
• Spherical, Cylindrical and Planar Projection Mapping.
• Animatable Material Attributes.
• Material Effector Objects.
• ATX class 3rd party Material plug-in support.
• JPEG and TIFF support
• Transparent Density
• Translucency
• Reflection Falloff
• Material "Bump" attribute"
• Effects
• Volumetric Lights.
• "Dust" objects for animatable smoke, fog and steam.
• Glows.
• Lens Flares.
• Depth of Field.
• Turbulence.
• Light Projection Gels.
• Hair.
• Particles; streaks and blobbies.
• Particle "Sprites" for stunning special effects.

Other Features

• Motion capture input from a number of different sources
• Controllable, targetable, colored lights with colored shadows.
• Multiple Cameras.
• Non-perspective camera for scrolling game screens.
• You can perform most functions, such as modeling, animating, and texturing from the camera's point of view.
• Audio load/save for synching.
• Complete Game and Export SDK including real-time model and map export, action export, viewer and source code.
• Multi-plane style layer compositing and cameras.
• Lip sync Dope sheet and Phoneme creation tools.

Supported Image Formats:
Load: TARGA, JPEG, TIFF, PICT (mac only), PNG, EXR, AVI, Quicktime.
Save/Render: TARGA, PICT (mac only), PNG, EXR, AVI (pc only), Quicktime.

Manuals and Video Training included:
- The Art of Animation:Master and A:M Technical Reference
- Video Training Tutorials
- Community Tutorials Forum

Get started with A:M now!

[Vertexspline]

Just noticed this has not had an introduce or reintroduce. And would be nice to see and hear from some of the new folks here in the forum which is one of the most friendly and knowledgeable forums around the 3d world for sure.

 

So any new folks ----do not be shy ---just say hello and a few words of introduction.

 

To get things started -- a re-intoduce

 

I am a returning AM person from 2007 version 12. In hindsight, back then, I did not have the time to put in to get things right and kind of became frustrated by my lack of modeling skills. And eventually AM became used less and less.

 

Fast forward to Sept 2011 when I had returned. Why? I wanted to make some animations of my own creation and after dabbling with many 3d packages in the past it became more and more obvious to me AM was always the best solution for one person to tell one story of their own creation

 

So I bought a version 16 yearly sub for my laptop in Sept and very recently one for my Desktop. So that I can maximize my free time working on AM wherever I am.

 

AM version 16 has been great for me .....this community has been awesome as well .....It's still not easy stuff - but there are so many resources now to learn its just a matter of putting in the work ..and practice . (even my modeling is getting better this time around ..lol)

 

So hello all you new folks .. welcome aboard the Animation Master forum !

[Rodney]

As we approach 2012 I want to remind everyone to do two things to make your experience better in the forum:

 

1. Introduce/Reintroduce yourself

2. Update your Forum Profile

 

Introductions

Introducing yourself lets others know your interests and focus. It also helps to break the ice, as it's a lot easier to interact with someone you already know. A reintroduction is always appropriate when you've been away for awhile as it lets everyone know what you've been up to and that you are still active even though you might not post often. Of course you don't have to post that in this topic... feel free to add a new post in the New Users forum if you are new and the Animation:Master forum if you are returning if that works best for you.

 

Forum Profiles

Keeping your profile up to date not only allows other to get to know you better but can help others communicate better with you.

And did you know... when you first setup your profile you can conduct a quick self assessment to let others know your current skill level in modeling, rigging and animation? Everyone is looking for information but by keeping your profile and this assessment up to date the information you are looking for just might find you!

 

See you around... I'm off to update MY profile!

 

 

 

Note: To edit your profile open up 'My Controls' up at the upper right of the forum and look for the Personal Profile section on the left. Under it you should see various categories to edit:

 

- Edit Profile Information

- Edit Personal Portal Information

- Edit Signature

- Edit Avatar Settings

- Change Personal Photo

 

To update your self assessment select Personal Portal Information

 

 

Best,

Rodney

[Ilidrake]

Hello! The name is Ilidrake and you'll find me lurking all over the forums...even when I'm not looking. So hello to the new guys...and gals, and hello to the old guys....and gals......again

[hikmayan]

Hi everyone,just getting started but don't know where to download Trial version of the latest AM.

Is there a link somewhere in this forum to download trial version of the latest AM?. I will appreciate the Mod or anyone please send me a link via email or pm. Looking forward to have fun here with all the gurus.

[Fuchur]

Hi everyone,just getting started but don't know where to download Trial version of the latest AM.

Is there a link somewhere in this forum to download trial version of the latest AM?. I will appreciate the Mod or anyone please send me a link via email or pm. Looking forward to have fun here with all the gurus.

 

Sorry, but till now there is no trial version for A:M available.

What can be offered is the 79 Dollar-Websubscription-version which will give you full access to A:M for one year on one computer.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Gerry]

Hi and welcome to the forums! Unfortunately as Fuchur said there's no trial version, but the subscription works out to about twenty-one cents a day and that's about as close to free as you can get. Plus, this forum is free and priceless at the same time. Definitely worth it!

[patmals]

Hi guys, after a long hiatus away from AM i have returned with firm belive that this product is one of the best out there.

[robcat2075]

OK, I'll re-introduce myself...

 

I got started with 3D

but not with a Hash program. I recall reading about Hash's "Animation:Apprentice" around that time but didn't bite.

 

In 1995 I got a job in a corporate media department that was all Mac and saw an ad for this program called "Animation:Master" that was optimized for character animation. That sounded cool so I convinced them to buy it.

 

That was V3. It had oddities in the workflow. For example, to rig your model you had to save out each piece of the mesh separately and re-import it to give it a bone. I didn't get too far with that.

 

V5 was dramatically better, not too far from the workflow we know today. You can see examples of A:M work done for that job with v4-v8 in the 90's

 

I drifted away from A:M as the job needed more Flash and almost no 3D. Years later, about 2003, I saw a book about CG character animation called "Stop Staring" and after a few pages thought "Hey, I bet A:M could do this"

 

I loaded my old V8 and quickly found I remembered nothing of how it worked. Wanting to be current I upgraded to v10.5 and started relearning it. I've never actually read that "Stop Staring" book but somehow it was what got me back to A:M and I've been having fun and drama with A:M ever since.

 

I used A:M for my assignments at animation school; later I did about 2 and a half minutes of animation for TWO and a little bit for SO and have been part of a few other A:M-based projects.

 

Today, I try to be Mr. Answer on the forum and hope people find that helpful.

[ernesttx]

Hello everyone,

 

I caught the A:M bug around 1999, I think I had v5 or v6 and it has been my primary 3D animation program. Over the years, I've tried several other programs (Poser, Daz, Carrara, Cinema 4D, 3D Studio Max, Blender, Lightwave, Messiah) and everytime I keep coming back to A:M because of its ease of use and straight-forward approach to character animation.

 

I started (and slowly continuting) a web series using ony A:M and can be seen at www.youtube.com/ernesttx and have a few short clips on A:M Films. I edited a trailer for SO and occassionally lurk around the forums and help where I can.

 

My primary uses for A:M are character animation and special effects in all my videos that I have created. I will be producing a live action film shortly (hopefully) and will use A:M as the primary 3D modelling and animation program and see how far I can take it in special effects.

[Gerry]

Hi, I'm Gerry, and I'm an AMaholic.

 

("Hi, Gerry.")

 

My background is as a commercial illustrator, doing a lot of magazine work in the 80's and 90's in the NYC area market, as well as doing a cartoon feature, Mooney's Module, in ASIMOV's SF Magazine in the early 80's, which led to the creation of The Gravity Poster.

 

I first bought v8 after seeing an ad in Animation World magazine in 1999 because it was affordable and it ran on a Mac. Dabbled and had a lot of fun for several years, but was extremely intimidated by the idea of character animation until about five years ago when I decided I had to just get on that horse and ride. This forum is easily the best feature of Animation Master.

 

I'm at my current day job for just exactly six years where I do 3D, Flash and After Effects work for courtroom and litigation presentations. I've got 3D Studio Max on my machine and I really do try to practice and do tutorials from time to time, but when an actual assignment comes in, I just tell my boss I can do it quicker in A:M, and since we're a small studio it's not like my work needs to be handed off to another animator, so they're fine with that.

 

I've done a lot of 3D work here but the best part is the Christmas animations I have done every year since I came here, except 2011 when I was too busy completing my music video,

. I asked my co-worker Randy to do the animation (in 3DS Max) but I wrote and storyboarded it and worked with the composer on the music.

 

Although this is the most dysfunctional, mismanaged and alienating office environment I've ever worked in, when work is slow I can spend all day, for weeks sometimes, working on my personal projects. So as much as I'd like to complain, I just keep splining!

[robcat2075]

I'm at my current day job for just exactly six years where I do 3D, Flash and After Effects work for courtroom and litigation presentations.

 

Hey Gerry, If you ever get to use A:M on the legal stuff I'd love to see it. I suppose it's all super secret though...

[Fuchur]

So as everybody seems to be reintroducing him/herself I will take my turn here too.

 

My first contact with A:M was around 1998 when there was a brochure with different software in it when my first 3d software (called Monzoom 3d / Pro by Oberland) I used was discontinued. One of the software packages in there was Animation:Master.

 

Later the company of the 3d software I used before offered a sidegrade to C4d for quite good conditions, but I had seen A:M with the cool superhero-character (don't know his name... radioactive man? ) and wanted to try it. So if this superhero wouild not have been created, I would not be here and if Hash or a reseller had not decided to advertise in the brochure, I would never ever have heard of A:M and would very likely be a C4d guy or not into 3d anymore at all.

 

Anyway in 2000 I decided to get version 8.0 of Animation:Master and began to learn. I loved it and got my update for v10 later on. Since then I updated to any version that came out. (v10-16 / v17). I never used v8.5 or 9.0 (and from what I heard, I am not missing v9 ).

 

Today I work at an mid-size advertising agency in Germany called 3We, creating educational and advertising(often for big tradeshows, etc.) 3d-animations often in the medical area (eye surgery, contact-lenses, etc. and animal medicine) but although in the technical part. Customers are for example Pfizer, Bosch, SEW Eurodrive, Abbott and Zeiss Dental Services. Aditional to my 3d-work (which is a smaller part of what I do at 3We) I am head of the web development team at 3We and part of the video-editing and post-production team.

 

I do all that mostly with A:M but although use XSI and 3ds for CAD-input. If A:M would have good importers for CAD-data or could handle those better, I would not use the other programms, since I find them much less intuitive and thought through. Maybe the new Resurface-Tools makes it easier for me there...

 

Like that the only 3d-software I use in my sparetime is A:M. On the forums I try to be around as often as I can (usually several times a day), and I try to help the users and Hash where I can. (an example: The website you are currently visiting (not the forum but the website) is a developement of Jason and me and you can find many video-tutorials about A:M on my website...).

 

I am sure we will meet sooner or later on the forum again .

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Gerry]

Hey Gerry, If you ever get to use A:M on the legal stuff I'd love to see it. I suppose it's all super secret though...

No, I've got one nice exhibit that I'm pretty sure I linked to here some time ago. Go to http://www.mooneyart.com/interactive/interactive.html, the one on the left is mostly done in AM. it illustrates the entire injection molding process for this particular industrial insulator. it was well-received and actually fun to do.

[robcat2075]

Hey Gerry, If you ever get to use A:M on the legal stuff I'd love to see it. I suppose it's all super secret though...

No, I've got one nice exhibit that I'm pretty sure I linked to here some time ago. Go to http://www.mooneyart.com/interactive/interactive.html, the one on the left is mostly done in AM. it illustrates the entire injection molding process for this particular industrial insulator. it was well-received and actually fun to do.

 

Hey, that looks snazzy!

[Gerry]

Thanks Robert! Not all of our work is proprietary. Like the piece I linked to, we often do tutorials for a judge or jury to explain an industrial process before we get to the proprietary information. We have some standard ones like "What is a Pixel?" as a lot of our cases have involved patents on various flat screen technologies. So we create a generic animation that, with luck, we'll be able to use and re-use.

 

The one on industrial insulators is probably not one we'll reuse much! It was pretty specific to one industry and one product.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

My name is Jody and I've been using Hash's Animation:Master back in the day when it was Playmation on floppy disk. (1992) I had always interested in 3D animation, ever since I went to see Disney's TRON back in 1982 and even tried to code my own 3D engine on my Commodore (commode-door) 64 when I was 15.

 

I've upgraded consistently almost every year for A:M with the dongle (non-expiring license) and am now happily on V16 Web subscription.

 

Being part of the A:M community is truly fun and an honor to see so many different styles and types of 3D Animation. Working with Martin and his crew on the TWO project was extremely enjoyable. I missed out on SO unless it's still under production, but hope I can work on another project like TWO soon.

 

Modeling and character animation are probably my two strongest points. Texturing and lighting still need lots of work for me to feel I've learned them well.

 

I have not yet had the opportunity to work in the industry, but would love the chance to ease into it or find a niche that I could fit into while doing 3D animation.

 

Hi, My name is Jody... and I'm an AMaholic... ("Hi Jody!" )

[Darthlister]

Hello again,

 

Just getting back into A:M after a few years, so will probably be around a lot getting re-used to it. Looking forward to a lot of fun.

 

Rich

[Gerry]

Hi Rich, welcome back! Stick around, this forum is the best feature of A:M!

[TheSpleen]

Hi.

I am around alot.....making mistakes.

 

Gene

[NETech2470]

Hi, I bought the Boxed Version of Animation Master and Phone book sized Book in 2004 however never really got into it like i had planed to due to Personal/emotional issues.

Without getting into to much detail, Lost my Father to cancer in 2001, lost my Mom to Cancer in 2010 but at least she was there for my wedding before she passed. Less then a year later my wife choose to vist her kids in canada and somehow in the process wound up moving in with some older guy who supposedly has more money. Which sucks but is ok as long as she is happy.

 

Anyway I now have alot of free time and have reinstalled this trying to learn as much and as fast as i can. you see I spent everything i had for the immigration lawyers and paper work, etc so my Canadian wife could live here in the Usa but now she is staying there and money was wasted. Im currently unemployed and 1 step away from being homeless. but hey its life right.

 

So i have finally started learning Version 11.1 with the goal to share my creativeness while doing something i enjoy and making a fair living doing it.

 

Im sorry for the rant as my only intention was to introduce myself and what im about. But Unfortunately this is me and where im at in life.

 

With that said, HELLO and it is Very Nice to Meet you all

[zandoriastudios]

Sorry to hear about the troubles that brought you here, but glad you are here nevertheless!

[Gerry]

Yes, by all means stick around! A:M is a much more pleasant experience in combination with this forum!

[NETech2470]

Thank you for the warm welcome

Quick question who would i talk to about resetting the AM11.1 Community Chat password in the AM program Itself?

It don't accept my forum password and i tried everything i could think of, even tried the forgot password within that software several times but gives a error saying registration info don't match my order. I know all the info im putting in is correct.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I posted in wrong area.

 

ADDED: I think i know why, Cause my version has the Elf Troll guy on the box and i updated that to 11.1 via the site FTP

So maybe it is not taking into account that it is not the original old version but a updated version.

[robcat2075]

I'm not sure about the password thing, it oughta work if it worked before.

 

But you dont' need the chat to use A:M, if you have questions ask 'em here on the forum.

[Fuchur]

It is useful, so try it!

You have two possibiliities... first: you can just create a new login or you talk to Jason.

-> support@hash.com

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NETech2470]

Thank you for the replys I just created a new name and its working ty The other one i think i only logged in a few times years ago so it wont be missed lol. I had to use a different email though to create a new one.

Thank you

[ReubenM]

Hi Y'all,

I'm returning to AM after one of many hiatuses ("hiatii"?), having begun way back when with Playmation... it was somehow affiliated with Will Vinton Studio at that time... and flirted with various versions of AM through the '90's and 00's. I've purchased a new license in order to take part in the AM17 beta, still firmly believing AM is the best tool for character-based storytelling, esp. for the indie animator/filmmaker (go, Killer Bean!!). I anticipate a sharp curve reacquainting myself with the protocols, so please don't mock me for newbie questions! Looking forward to tons of fun!

 

Reuben

[itsjustme]

Hi Y'all,

I'm returning to AM after one of many hiatuses ("hiatii"?), having begun way back when with Playmation... it was somehow affiliated with Will Vinton Studio at that time... and flirted with various versions of AM through the '90's and 00's. I've purchased a new license in order to take part in the AM17 beta, still firmly believing AM is the best tool for character-based storytelling, esp. for the indie animator/filmmaker (go, Killer Bean!!). I anticipate a sharp curve reacquainting myself with the protocols, so please don't mock me for newbie questions! Looking forward to tons of fun!

 

Reuben

 

Welcome back, Reuben!

[Vertexspline]

Welcome back Reuben------always good seeing folks returning to AM after a break or so. It kind of speaks well of the tool itself that keeps folks coming back. And I have to agree for indie animator/filmmaker (especially solo or small group) there really is no competition for character based story and considering the price point---its just so far in a league by itself indeed.

[ReubenM]

upon purchasing the license i was pointed to a video "overview" of AM that was clearly pretty old but appeared still useful: the guy doing the teaching loved the software and had a real sense of humour. I didn't watch till the end and haven't been able to find my way back to it-- anyone know the vid I mean?

[Rodney]

upon purchasing the license i was pointed to a video "overview" of AM that was clearly pretty old but appeared still useful: the guy doing the teaching loved the software and had a real sense of humour. I didn't watch till the end and haven't been able to find my way back to it-- anyone know the vid I mean?

 

The most likely candidate to my recollection would be Jeff Cantin's "Basic Splinemanship" SIGGRAPH video.

Another (less likely?) candidate might be Greg Rostami's video demonstration. Greg's demo isn't particularly humorous but it is certainly an overview.

 

Both are online via A:M Films:

 

http://amfilms.hash.com/video/117/Jeff-Can...IGGRAPH--99--LA

 

http://amfilms.hash.com/video/148/Animatio...emoGreg-Rostami

[ReubenM]

Thanks, it was the Rostami one. Wish I'd seen that years ago!!

[robcat2075]

Here's an introductory video with no sense of humor, but may be helpful none-the-less...

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...st&p=358113

[MSFlynn]

Yet another prodigal son. Like many, my AM journey began with Playmation. It was late in 1992 and like many aspiring 3Ders, I could not afford software like 3D Studio, SoftUmage, Lightwave, etc. I had Autodesk's Animator which was 2D and POV Raytracer which was free. I used to render out sequences from POV and animate them in Animator. I also did 3D simulations with Animator. I had picked up VistaPro and was creating landscape stills and some flythroughs. I had just gotten into computers and DTP/Graphic design in 1991 and was always reading PC World and PC Computing. One day in late 1992 I was flipping through one of those and in the back, amoungst pages of ads, something caught my eye. It was a small ad, maybe 3" tall by 2" wide featuring a guitar with a face. The ad was for Will Vinton's Playmation. 3D modeling and animation software that ran in Windows and not DOS like everything else? And only $349? I decieded that since it was so inexpensive that it had to be pretty crappy but at least I might be able to learn something until I could afford "real" software. (Don't judge me - I know I'm not the only who ever thought that!)

 

I ended up being hooked and never really had any interest in other software except to want some of their features in AM. My passion then, and now, is creating landscapes and sci/fi imagery. When Animation: Master v2 was released in 1993? (there was no AM v1 if I recall correctly) I was still bummed that there was no support for DXF import. I wanted to get my VistaPro landscape meshes into AM.

 

On a different timeline of my life, I was also an aspiring guitarist. (Isn't everyone?) I had gotten serious about it at age 23 in 1984. From '87-89 I was in hard rock/heavy metal band that never played a paying gig and never really got out of the basement. When I got into computers in '91, I started playing guitar less and less. In '99 I heard about Line 6's GuitarPort and subscription service to custom backing tracks to play to and started playing again.

 

I was still spending a lot more time with AM than guitar though. I had written a small, extremely slow program called GridWizard to create AM model files from VistaPro ASCII Z data. I knew nothing of programming and had to learn Visual Basic to do it. A couple of years later I re-wrote it in C++ and it was much faster. In 2006 I used VB .NET to re-write it again and added a lot of features/options.

 

Also in 2006 Line 6 came out with their POD XT Live floorboard and that's when I started to gravitate more towards playing guitar than using AM (I upgraded to the HD500 last year).

 

In 2008 I moved from SE PDX, where I was born and raised, to SW PDX in Beaverton because gas was closing in on $4/gallon and I was driving 25 miles each way to and from work. Right around the corner from my new apartment was a little cafe and bar that I started to frequent with a friend from work. He found out that they had Karaoke Fri-Mon from 9pm-1:30am so one Monday night we went over so he could sing. We got to talking with the KJ who also happened to be the owner of the entertainment company. I had had an idea for awhile and this was an opportunity for it so I pitched him the idea of "Guitaraoke". I would supply the backing tracks and play all the main rhythm and lead guitar parts and people could come and sing as if it were a regular Karaoke track. I had to learn to create the .CDG files for the backing tracks to make them work like Karaoke files and to do a good job, they usually took me 6-8 hours. It was at this point where I had to decide where my time would be spent because I could no longer concentrate on both hobbies and be happy. I realized that I was far more anxious and depressed if I wasn't learning new songs to play than if I wasn't working on some AM project so I left AM behind. Not that the urges weren't there - I gave in over 2 years ago and did this image: Dogstar with v13.

 

I did the guitaraoke thing 2-3 days/week for 4 years until late last summer the economic vicissitude's of the times put an end to Karaoke at Malone's. It was within walking distance if I wanted to walk (I never did since I always brought my board, a rack and 7 guitars) but I could drive there in a couple of minutes. None of KAZ's other Karaoke venues were close enough to be considered convenient and I didn't really want to try and find any place close enough to try and convince them to let me try Guitaraoke so I've been sitting at the home studio stagnating on Guitaraoke because I don't know if I'll ever do it again, and wondering if I should put out singles on iTunes for wait until I have enough finished material for a whole CD. (I have enough material to create 3 instrumental CDs if I were to finish everything). Currently, I've got a bug up my butt to do my own take on the first movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony so I've been working on that for the last 6 weeks. I have two songs ready to record that you can listen to here if you're interested: Soundclick.

 

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can close on my first house (if BofA will get off their lazy sitting parts and finish the repairs!) and get moved to Lafayette. Once I'm settled in, my fiancee and I will decide if I'm going to try and find someplace(s) in Newberg and/or McMinnville to do Guitaraoke. In the meantime, the AM itch is setting in (not that it ever really left - I'm still always checking out my surroundings and asking myself how I would model this or that).

 

Anything I do with AM will in all likelihood be sporadic but I think, at age 50, that I'm ready to divide my time between AM and guitar again, even if it's 80/20.

 

Here's hoping that it all doesn't end 12/21/12!

[robcat2075]

Welcome back, Michael!

[Fuchur]

Wow... you are a true veteran of A:M as it looks like .

GridWizard is from you...

 

Welcome back! Hope to see you around here more often.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Vertexspline]

Michael---Welcome back indeed. Hope you get all your stuff working out well and you can start having some fun with Animation Master again.

[rekh]

Greetings,

 

Reintro -

 

I'm another person who has played around with AM but never got serious. The last version I had was version 11 ... or maybe 13? I took the long route ... dabbled with Lightwave, Cinema 4D, Softimage (using VMware on my Mac), Carrara, Daz, Quidam, etc, blah, blah, blah. I used the aforementioned software to mostly hack and get things done - like rendering book covers and comic book panels, but never truly bonding or getting my hands dirty with the software. Every six months I would come back to check on AM.

 

Last week I entered the forums and read how Mac users are enjoying faster rendering speeds and more stability with Animation Master. I purchased the subscription and started rendering everything in the Data folder to test the rendering speeds. The rendering speed has increased .. YAY!!! Also, not one crash in 24 hours of pressing buttons and playing around not knowing what I'm doing, but just pushing things around.

 

I think Animation Master is a great program ... guess that's why I never truly left ... always checking in.

 

Tomorrow I plan to start the tutorials and get my hands dirty. Any recommendations for learning AM (tuts, videos, etc), would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Hash for adding the Obj import/export plug-in. Nice!

 

Gonna just put my head down and learn this app. I have a graphic novel idea that I'd like to use AM for.

 

Hope I didn't bore you folks.

 

Oh ... if AM 17 comes out tomorrow, will I have to re-purchase?

[Rodney]

Oh ... if AM 17 comes out tomorrow, will I have to re-purchase?

 

No. That is the beauty of the subscription.

 

It's great to have you here sinking your teeth into A:M with us again.

[rekh]

Oh ... if AM 17 comes out tomorrow, will I have to re-purchase?

 

No. That is the beauty of the subscription.

 

It's great to have you here sinking your teeth into A:M with us again.

 

 

Thanks for the welcome, Rodney.

 

I just downloaded the TAOAM tuturials. I've downloaded two videos from youtube also.

 

I used to have the Animation Complete Guide; from 6 years ago ... or more. Can't find them ... drats.

 

Would you recommend, Animation: Master: A Complete Guide (Charles River Media Graphics)?

 

Do you know of any books and or tuts that will help me in my marriage to AM?

 

Edward

[itsjustme]

I used to have the Animation Complete Guide; from 6 years ago ... or more. Can't find them ... drats.

 

Would you recommend, Animation: Master: A Complete Guide (Charles River Media Graphics)?

 

Do you know of any books and or tuts that will help me in my marriage to AM?

 

"Animation Master: A Complete Guide" is helpful...you could also download the Technical Reference and The Art of Animation Master.

 

As for video tutorials, here are some that you might find useful:

 

Will Sutton's tutorials

 

Jim Talbot's Decaling a Face

 

Duplicator Wizard Tech Talk

 

Marcos Rezende's tutorials

 

Robert Holmèn's tutorials

 

Holmes Bryant's "Building Your First Rig" Part 1 and Part 2

 

 

Hope that helps, Edward.

[rekh]

I used to have the Animation Complete Guide; from 6 years ago ... or more. Can't find them ... drats.

 

Would you recommend, Animation: Master: A Complete Guide (Charles River Media Graphics)?

 

Do you know of any books and or tuts that will help me in my marriage to AM?

 

"Animation Master: A Complete Guide" is helpful...you could also download the Technical Reference and The Art of Animation Master.

 

As for video tutorials, here are some that you might find useful:

 

Will Sutton's tutorials

 

Jim Talbot's Decaling a Face

 

Duplicator Wizard Tech Talk

 

Marcos Rezende's tutorials

 

Robert Holmèn's tutorials

 

Holmes Bryant's "Building Your First Rig" Part 1 and Part 2

 

 

Hope that helps, Edward.

 

 

Oh yeah ... this helps big time!

 

Thanks, itsjustme.

[youngman]

Hi i am Jason,

 

It has been a little while since i have been active on the forums which has been down to some slight medical problems.With them now sorted i hope to be a lot more active again ! I know i need to start from scratch again but just loading up AM16/17

i felt straight at home again,a little fumbling here and there and i started to remember where things were and what they did.... It may be a little while longer before i start posting things again but i will starting over in again in TaoAm to get up to speed and hopefully start to create some new works.

I have been lurking around in the Forums over the years and have been impressed by the great work created by everyone,and also the improvements in AM implemented by Steffen.

 

I can't wait to get started again.

 

See you soon

 

Jay

[robcat2075]

Hi i am Jason,

 

It has been a little while since i have been active on the forums which has been down to some slight medical problems...

 

Welcome back to A:M! Glad you are still with us!

[youngman]

Thanks Robert,

It is nice to be be back..Once Am is is your blood it never goes away

 

Jay

[Xtaz]

Yellow blood welcome back

[Gerry]

Welcome back, Jason!

[mouseman]

Glad to have you, Jason. Don't be afraid to post questions! The people around here are very knowledgeable and helpful, and good questions can prevent you from spending hours on something that should only take 10 minutes.

[Alvee]

Hello! I'm ALVEE!!!! It has been a few months since I've come to this website. So HELLO! I don't have much to say...