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

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M, John!

Hello all

I use to use AM back in V6 days and updraded to V7.
So been many years now since ive used AM and see your at V18.

Last few years i have been dabbling in C4d just modelling but found its rigging and animation rather complex to use and i remembered the simplicity of AM.
So iv just requested the trial version to see what it is like now days.

If i was to upgrade to version 18 would i have to pay the full retail for the boxed version $299?
Cause i remembered that when i upgraded from 6 to 7 i only paid (back in them days) $100 for the newer version so not paying full price.

Once i get the trial version and have a play with that for a while, ill think about upgraging my version 7 (lol) to v18.

 

Cheers
John

 

 

Welcome back to A:M!

[hostler]

Worth it to upgrade?

For the past few years I have been using a CD (Yes, I said CD) linked version of AM 12 on my laptop. On paper, my laptop had all the requirements to run AM 16 and 17. It never worked, for one reason or another. I am suspecting that it had something to do with the integrated graphics. I can't be sure. Fast forward. I now have a desktop. I've always been satisfied with the program's performance on a desktop versus laptop. Laptop performance is fine until the model becomes too detailed for the processor to handle it. I have some models with over 30,000 patches. Viewling them in any kind of real-time environment on my laptop is about as fun as watching paint dry and almost as slow.

I've seen the system requirements for v18. It seems, on paper, to run on my machine. Rather than pay for something that I might never be able to use. I thought it best to get some "expert" opinions. I am providing the official system props from my machine along with the improvements I intend to make to it. I will leave it to you to tell me whether it would be worth it to pay for the upgrade.

Just for some background, the last desktop I ran this program on, was the best my money and credit would allow ($2000+ stripped down to just hardware) It was a Dell with Win XP. My current desktop has integrated graphics as well. Any help is appreciated.

OS: Win 7

Processor: Intel Core i3@3.40 GHz

Installed Memory: 4.00GB

Intel HD Integrated Graphics (no video memory listed)

Forgot to mention the one big upgrade I am planning: a 2GB NVIdia Card. Also considering an expansion to 8GB of RAM if necessary.

[Rodney]

Also considering an expansion to 8GB of RAM if necessary.

 

IMO this will be your best upgrade (to run the 64bit version of A:M... as I understand it the 32bit version will max out of RAM at 4GB... which most operating systems and associated processes need all by themselves).

In short, you really need all the RAM you can get.

 

I run A:M on a Dell Inspiron desktop with Intel HD Integrated Graphics (running Win 10... very happy with that) and approx. 11.9 GB of useable RAM).

A few days ago I experienced some odd graphics glitches on Win 10 that I hadn't seen before (and each time the problem signaled that I would soon have to restart A:M). I installed Intel's driver utility and it identified a proper driver update.... installed the recommended driver update... and haven't had the problem since. I would recommend running Intel's driver utility on any system you have in order to make sure you have the best/most current or most appropriate driver.

 

I see no issues with your other specs but will defer to others with better understanding there.

 

I can't speak to NVidia cards as I haven't used one of those in many (10 or more?) years.

 

To answer your question of upgrading from v12...

 

Yes, definitely worth it!

Do undrstand that the file format changed at v13 to a more XML friendly formatting so you might want to lock your old files down on a read only format (CD ROM) before saving them in the new format. Newer versions of A:M should identify the files as older version files and prompt for a decision to leave in old format or update to new BUT... it doesn't make sense to stay in the old format because you wouldn't be able to take advantage of newer features/formatting stored in the new file format. Hope that makes sense. Ask if you have any questions and folks will happily join in the conversation. Bottom line IMO: Keep the old files in a safe place and update the ones you want to use to the new format as you move forward.

[Fuchur]

A:M will very likely perform better with a deticated graphic card than with an integrated one. (especially since integrated once from Intel have problems with OpenGL3 and are very slow compared to the other once. The integrated once of AMD (if you have an APU-power computer) are fine, since those just have the better graphic power and have support for newer technologies than most Intel-graphics).

 

Nvidia vs AMD-cards are harder to define. I think, AMDs are better for A:M (the developer uses and AMD-card as well) but it really is not a bigger deal with both of them, since anything you can buy today will be much better than what you have integreated in an i3 (no matter if you get an AMD or Nvidia card). Nvidia can be better if you need CUDA for some other software, AMD can be better if you need OpenCL for some other software.

 

It is not of use to buy a super-high-performance graphic card. Anything beyond the 150 Dollar price-tag will very likely not improve your A:M performance in any very noticeable way. (there are a few GPU-powered effects available which may benefit, but in the end they are all that fast to calculate, that it should not make a big difference)

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[hostler]

Worth it to upgrade?

For the past few years I have been using a CD (Yes, I said CD) linked version of AM 12 on my laptop. On paper, my laptop had all the requirements to run AM 16 and 17. It never worked, for one reason or another. I am suspecting that it had something to do with the integrated graphics. I can't be sure. Fast forward. I now have a desktop. I've always been satisfied with the program's performance on a desktop versus laptop. Laptop performance is fine until the model becomes too detailed for the processor to handle it. I have some models with over 30,000 patches. Viewling them in any kind of real-time environment on my laptop is about as fun as watching paint dry and almost as slow.

I've seen the system requirements for v18. It seems, on paper, to run on my machine. Rather than pay for something that I might never be able to use. I thought it best to get some "expert" opinions. I am providing the official system props from my machine along with the improvements I intend to make to it. I will leave it to you to tell me whether it would be worth it to pay for the upgrade.

Just for some background, the last desktop I ran this program on, was the best my money and credit would allow ($2000+ stripped down to just hardware) It was a Dell with Win XP. My current desktop has integrated graphics as well. Any help is appreciated.

OS: Win 7

Processor: Intel Core i3@3.40 GHz

Installed Memory: 4.00GB

Intel HD Integrated Graphics (no video memory listed)

Forgot to mention the one big upgrade I am planning: a 2GB NVIdia Card. Also considering an expansion to 8GB of RAM if necessary.

I apologize for not introducing myself in the beginning. My name is Ken and I have been using AM since I bought the program back in 96, could have been '97. Not sure anymore. The entire breadth of the 90s is kind of a blur for me. It was like 499, or something like that when I bought it. I am a huge Star Wars fan, mainly from the tech perspective, though. I've been building models since I was twelve. For me, AM allows me to build virtually any kind of model that I want. Given my interests I'll let you all guess what those models are. Despite being primarily a character animator, it's surprisingly good at mechanical animation as well. AM's ease of use is AWESOME. Almost everything I know about the program I figured out. Most of it is right there.

I'll write more as days pass. I have to leave for work now. Everyone have a great day and I want to thank everyone who has replied to me thus far.

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M, Ken!

[thumperness]

I'm back...again.

 

I have more of a plan this time and have some specific things I want to do.

Looks like I have a couple of Robocat tuts to go through. (Like hundreds)

 

Talk to you all soon and hope to fill my WIP folders soon

 

David

[Rodney]

It's great to have you back David!

 

I don't see it anywhere now but think I remember you working on a bow/arrow animation (?)

Assuming I'm not imaging that... how did that turn out?

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M, F. David!

[thumperness]

Rodney,

You are correct, but through several hard drive crashes I have lost the bow and would need to restart that one from scratch.

[Rodney]

I believe about that same time Mark Skodecek rigged a pretty sweet bow and arrow too.

I'll guess that one's long gone as well.

 

We really need to gain a repository of daily spline doodles around here. Then... at least with regard to recovering A:M models... hard drive crashes would be just a minor inconvenience.

[tysono_71]

Hey Rodney I am back!!!

 

Just purchased the subscription and am ready to start playing around. I'm not much of an artist but I would like to make some stills for various projects. I used My original A:M version was 2005 or 2006 I believe. I still have the CDs but it's for Mac PPC so can't run them. Plus I discarded the manuals which had the serial numbers in it. I am using Windows 64-bit now as it works, the Mac version doesn't like my on-chip GPU.

 

a little about me

 

I am a programmer in C#.Net/Java

I socially ballroom dance

I am learning to play the piano

 

take care,

Tyson

 

[Rodney]

It's great to have you back Tyson.

 

I am a programmer in C#.Net/Java

I socially ballroom dance

I am learning to play the piano

 

For a brief second I was picturing you doing all of those things... at the same time.

The scary thing is that I *almost* saw it in my imagination and let me tell you it looked like quite a show!

I wish I could program. Dance? What's that??? And, I wish I'd stuck with playing the piano when I was 10 years old. I sure could use that now.

 

Best of luck to you in all the above as well as with your projects with A:M.

Keep us posted!

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M, Tyson!

 

And you are a programmer, too!

[CaptBobo]

Hello everyone!

 

I've been an A:M user since way back in version 8 or so. (My best guess!) I should say I've been an A:M owner -- I kind of fiddled with it on and off over the years and even started the AoA:M exercises, but my full-time work kind of kept me away. However, I recently started working for Disney as a software developer (I'm a huge Disney-phile, BTW) and working for a company that emphasizes imagination and creativity got the animation bug resuscitated in me.

 

Anyway, I did get to work a little bit on Scarecrow of Oz back in the day. Has there been any talk recently about doing another A:M community project? Perhaps a short or something -- I know the feature length projects were a TON of work.

 

I've fiddled a bit with Blender, and it's certainly a nice application with a ton of features, but honestly, it doesn't have the same "feel" that A:M does. It's hard to describe, but A:M seems like a more natural fit for a beginner and you can grow into it. The A:M community has always been very friendly and helpful, so that's a big plus as well.

 

So, perhaps this time I can get myself *all* the way through the AoA:M exercises. We'll see!

 

-Sean

 

P.S. - Sorry for the criminally abundant use of emojis.

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M Land, Sean!

[Fuchur]

Hey Sean,

 

nice to have you back . Let us know if we can help you to get started again .

We are on and off again about doing a short together, but till now there is no real approach getting to production stage. Maybe sometime in the future .

See you

*Fuchur*

[Rockape]

Hello Everyone... ,
Thought I would introduced myself whilst awaiting the arrival of A:M, I'm no stranger to the world of 3D and Animation having "cut my teeth" on the Amiga 500, 1000, 1200 & 3000 using such software as Turbo Silver, Imagine, Real3D and a plethora of others I can't remember the names of.

With the eventual demise of Commodore and the Amiga I naturally migrated to the PC using such software as Imagine for Windows, 3dStudio, 3DS Max (up to v6), C4D, to mention a few.

For some reason I have always kept a watchful eye on this software since the days of Apprentice and Journeyman, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this once marketed as "Playmation" in conjunction with Will ??????? Studio (Memory isn't what it used to be), Well I finally took the plunge and Purchased a full licence today.

Many thanks for your time.

[robcat2075]

Welcome to A:M, Rockape!

 

Yes, v1.0 of what is now Animation:Master was sold as "Will Vinton's Playmation"

 

I remember many of the programs you mention as I also began on an AMIGA.

[kazagruma]

Hello. Nice to meet you. I am Japanese animation master user.Previously I was working with a handle named Juno. I worked at a Japanese animation and game company.The animation master was version 4 to 10 users.I recently came back to the animation master platform after a long absence.I became independent. And recently I started making works from scratch.I do not have enough knowledge of constraints. Please tell me about "Dynamic Constraints", "Surface", "Bone To Spring". Thank you.

[Rodney]

Junyasan. Hagemamashite dozo yoroshiku! (Yes, I believe this is the first time I've officially met you)

It's great to have you here in the forum.

 

You may want to start a topic for your interests so that others can dig deep into information and provide feedback and examples.

The one thing that pops into my head with regard to Surface Constraints is that we need a Bone to point at the object that exists on the opposite side of the surface.

[Fuchur]

Hey Junya,

 

very nice to have you with us .

We will talk about those constraint types in another topic

See you
*Fuchur*

[robcat2075]

Welcome back to A:M, kazagruma!

[robcat2075]

Here is a post with a tut on Surface Constraint

[kazagruma]

Thank you everyone.This forum is warm like home.

 

I found a sample file of Robert. I could easily understand the structure of surface constraints.

Thank you. It was very helpful.

Knowledge seems to be buried in the forum.

I will head for excavation.

 

I will join this forum as well. I will report my achievement.

Thank you in the future.

[Rodney]

Gambate kudasai!

[KNBits]

My name is KNbits and I just wanted to say hi.

 

I used A:M quite a bit years ago and I'm looking to get back at it as a hobby, curious to see how it evolved since.

 

I'm glad to see familiar names still hanging around the Forum.

 

See you soon!

[Rodney]

Whoa, Francois!

 

Long time no see.

 

It's great to have you back with us.

[fae_alba]

I always find it interesting how many folks leave a:m only to come back to it years later. Great to have you all back!

[Bruce Morgan]

Hello to everyone .

I am Bruce Morgan.

I do music composition and art work .

I aim to do graphic novels and animation shorts .

I met the Hash family and Martin at Los Angeles conventions in 2006 .

It was a wonderful experience !

 

The short animations I saw had high quality .

 

In 2005 I was talking to Jo Williamson about his Hunter animation online .

There just seems to be no limits to the capability of an independent artist using this program AM (is what I call it)

 

Now I am back hoping to use a Mac Tower with OS 10 .6.3

I will read the recent notes and upgrade after I understand what platform I need .

Cheers

Bruce

[largento]

Hey Bruce, welcome back!

 

I'm not sure if Snow Leopard will work with the latest A:M, but if it doesn't, we might be able to find out what version was the last one that supported it. Depending on how old your tower is, you might be able to upgrade to a new enough version of OS X to use the latest A:M. I'm running El Capitan on my 2008 Mac Pro.

 

I believe the A:M subscription grants you access to older versions of A:M.

 

I'm very comfortable using the Mac version and I've made three short films with it, but I do know that some people have expressed frustration and moved over to the Windows version. There are certainly instances where the Windows version comes out on top. For awhile, I actually ran Windows using Parallels on my Mac so that I could make use of the Windows version without having to switch computers and it worked fairly well, but I'm so used to using the Mac version that I found myself using the Windows version less and less and couldn't justify the extra expense.

 

I'm using a late 2015 iMac for my main machine and I use my 2008 MacPro to render.

[Bruce Morgan]

Hey Bruce, welcome back!

 

I'm not sure if Snow Leopard will work with the latest A:M, but if it doesn't, we might be able to find out what version was the last one that supported it. Depending on how old your tower is, you might be able to upgrade to a new enough version of OS X to use the latest A:M. I'm running El Capitan on my 2008 Mac Pro.

 

I believe the A:M subscription grants you access to older versions of A:M.

 

I'm very comfortable using the Mac version and I've made three short films with it, but I do know that some people have expressed frustration and moved over to the Windows version. There are certainly instances where the Windows version comes out on top. For awhile, I actually ran Windows using Parallels on my Mac so that I could make use of the Windows version without having to switch computers and it worked fairly well, but I'm so used to using the Mac version that I found myself using the Windows version less and less and couldn't justify the extra expense.

 

I'm using a late 2015 iMac for my main machine and I use my 2008 MacPro to render.

Thanks!

This is very helpful !!

I have an iMac ready to load with any os needed .

I leave my older platforms AS IS

So

I like te idea of a modern best version of AM for

the iMac

and

An old Mac version for my MacPro tower

I am planning some 2d projects as well as 3d .

Thanks again .

Bruce

[robcat2075]

Hi Bruce, welcome to A:M!

 

My first advice is ... start small. It's very easy to overwhelmed by an initial goal that is too big.

 

My second bit is... if you have the option of running Windows on that Mac, the Windows version of A:M is snappier and more reliable with fewer graphics card problems.

[harunw]

Hi all!

 

I've just returned to the forum after all these years, and today purchased the subscription for v19, yea!
I thought I'd reintroduce myself....my name is Harun and I've used A:M since v8, I think.
But never really had the time to dabble much in it, and to be honest, not sure whether I'll have much time this year either...

For a start, I was thinking I'd do all the exercises in TAOAM, just to refresh myself, but this time, to also post them into the forum too.
Which sub-forum is the best place to do this?

Anyway, it feels great to be back into A:M!

[robcat2075]

Welcome back!

 

I believe Rodney recently created a sub forum "Welcome to The Art of Animation:Master" where you could put your TAoA:M exercises.

 

The "Work In Progress / Sweatbox" sub forum would also be appropriate.

[harunw]

Welcome back!

 

I believe Rodney recently created a sub forum "Welcome to The Art of Animation:Master" where you could put your TAoA:M exercises.

 

The "Work In Progress / Sweatbox" sub forum would also be appropriate.

 

Thanks! Will have a go at it soon....

[Alice12345]

hey just getting started can any one please give the link anavar where to download trail version

[largento]

Welcome to the forums!

 

You can request a trial version on this page.

[higginsdj]

Well damn, cannot believe AM is still going strong after all these years - well done guys.  Been busy doing other things, the most recent of which is Miniature painting and 3DPrinting (Resin stuff - lots of DLP Resin printers to keep me busy).  Hell I am going to have to start subscribing again.  Question - Is the Mac version as 'reliable' as it ever was - ie should I stick with the Windows version?

[Fuchur]

In short... yes. Stay with the Windows version ;).

Welcome back to the show and sounds like a lot of fun... Resin 3d printers are a little too expensive for me till now (I love them so) but I'd really like to hear more about your work with them :).

Best regards
*Fuchur*

[robcat2075]

Hey! It's the astronomer! Welcome back!  Yes I think Windows is your surer bet.

Note the "Planes Trains Automobiles" Image contest coming up soon.  I bet you have something like that already to dust off and submit!

[higginsdj]

No, deleted everything AM some time ago when cleaning up disk space on PC's and backup drives - need to start from scratch.  Have been using ZBrush to sculpt my own busts and 'fix' models that I have been generating out of DAZ3D.  Some samples - 28mm miniature diorama (all paint - no lighting effects), one of my own sculpts as rendered in ZBrush and the actual 54mm printed bust, a Daz3D model printed at 90mm (after being fixed and made printable with a judicious amount of effort in ZBrush) and a Soldier Bust by a very talented sculptor named Duncan Louca and 3DPrinted at 54mm.  Each of these prints done on my Phrozen Shuffle.

[Shelton]

Very cool!!

[Fuchur]

Pretty damn cool indeed :).

That is really a very high and precise quality.

Best regards
*Fuchur*

[pixelplucker]

Nice work, that's a pretty slick printer. I still use my Form1+ here but Formlabs has discontinued parts for it forcing me to go over seas for tanks and found another supplier for resin.

What would normally cost me approx. $240 or so for 1 tank and 1 liter of resin not cost me $115 for both. The resin I just ordered is from ApplyLabWork. You may want to see if they have a resin for your printer. I believe your printer falls in the class of a dlp printer.

[Krotus]

Former longtime user returning after hiatus to focus on playing guitar and then to get an Associate's Degree in Computer Information Systems.

I haven't really used AM since October of 2009. I'm currently writing an application (some AM users may find it useful and no, I am not going to disclose what it is until I have it available for sale) and I'm going to need to create some images and for some of those images I'm going to need models. Took a look at the Daz3D/Hexagon package and decided that I'm better off using AM.

Unfortunately, I've aged in the last 10 years and I can't remember or even figure out how to render an image in AM from a specific camera, so I've got some brushing up to do.

[itsjustme]

 Welcome back!

[robcat2075]

Welcome back Michael!

1 hour ago, Krotus said:

Unfortunately, I've aged in the last 10 years and I can't remember or even figure out how to render an image in AM from a specific camera, so I've got some brushing up to do.

You can cycle through all the cameras by pressing 1 on the number pad. The camera you have currently chose in the viewport is the one that renders.

[Shelton]

Welcome back!

[Rodney]

Welcome back Michael!

 

Quote

I'm currently writing an application... 

...no, I am not going to disclose what it is until I have it available for sale

 

oooo  color me intrigued!