Tralfaz Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 I am looking at coming back into the fold but was hoping some of you could answer a few questions for me. Back on v13, A:M used to really slow down if I had 10K patches or more. With the newest version (especially the 64bit), has this been taken care of or does it still slow down at 10K? If I purchase the v16, does that still qualify me for the v17 beta? What type of improvements have been made since v13? Ummm... I guess those are really the main questions I had to ask. BTW, last I heard, Martin had gone on a safari, returned but was rarely heard from. Hope things are going okay for him and he is still involved with A:M. Oh yeah, I had to laugh when I found myself in IMDB for doing some foley work on TWO! Pretty cool. Thanks in advance... Al Quote
MMZ_TimeLord Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 10k patches with a decent system is no problem. It's when you push the 40k or 50k range that it really starts to drag badly. Especially if you've done a lot of deleting and adding to the same structures. One way to speed the model back up is to copy and paste the entire mesh into a new model. This forces A:M to reorganize all the CPs and Splines. If you do this before you start any rigging or any decal work, then it's WAY easier to manipulate a model that size. Also, remember you can assemble model pieces in an action and this will reduce the complexity of a section edit. Yes, your purchase of V16.0 Web subscription qualifies you for a full year of access to the program, regardless of version changes. If you pony up for the CD version then you will probably want to wait until V17.0 hits public release, so you can get it and not V16.0. That being said, I was very reluctant to go the subscription route at first, but when I heard that NetRender is in the web subscription AND we can purchase extra Nodes now over the default limit (4 for the web subscription and 8 for the CD version), I was happy indeed. Welcome back! Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted March 31, 2012 Hash Fellow Posted March 31, 2012 I am looking at coming back into the fold but was hoping some of you could answer a few questions for me. Hey, Al, it would be great to have you back poking around here! Back on v13, A:M used to really slow down if I had 10K patches or more. With the newest version (especially the 64bit), has this been taken care of or does it still slow down at 10K? Jody's answer above sounds about right. There's going to be a wall somewhere, and it's best to use the alternate strategies to avoid hitting it. Ostensibly, A:M can now use extra cores in a CPU to help plow through the work and that may be what has raised the wall somewhat. If I purchase the v16, does that still qualify me for the v17 beta? Yes. Your one-year subscription lets you run anything that comes out during that year. What type of improvements have been made since v13? It's faster! Check out these speed improvements. NetRender is included now and works on multi-core CPUs. Read the back of this brochure for some other recent major additions Ummm... I guess those are really the main questions I had to ask. BTW, last I heard, Martin had gone on a safari, returned but was rarely heard from. Hope things are going okay for him and he is still involved with A:M. Martin's been very quiet for quite a while. I think he's taking a break from software for now. Oh yeah, I had to laugh when I found myself in IMDB for doing some foley work on TWO! Pretty cool. Al Your a bigshot now! Quote
largento Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Welcome back, Al! v16 was an amazing improvement. The biggest thing (like Robcat pointed out) is the render speeds. Amazing (even on the Mac.) Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted March 31, 2012 Hash Fellow Posted March 31, 2012 Just to try I made a grid with 100K patches and tried stitching a new CP into it. A:M appeared locked but my Resource Monitor showed A:M using variously from 25% to 95% of my 4-core CPU and it came back after about 10 minutes. It does try harder now. Quote
Fuchur Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Just to try I made a grid with 100K patches and tried stitching a new CP into it. A:M appeared locked but my Resource Monitor showed A:M using variously from 25% to 95% of my 4-core CPU and it came back after about 10 minutes. It does try harder now. A:M v16 (and up) utilizes multi-cores using OpenML for Finding Normals and a few other functions (where it makes sense). Like that today you can handle more patches in a single model than before. It highly depends on your core-amount and the power of your system and yes you will still run into the problem somewhere. Best is to avoid that by assembling together multiple models in the chor. The new Snap-To-Surface-Feature in v17 maybe helpful there too. There are many changes from v13 on. I am not totally sure what was in v13, but these are the bigger and "newer" features in A:M (not in chronological order): - Speedimprovements (especially from v15 to v16 but also for v17) for both Windows and Mac. (windows-computers seem to perform a little better so). - Netrenderer now included with 4 cores for free and addtional cores that can be bought seperatly for a very reasonable price). - IBL, Ambient Occlusion (with Transparency-Support) and FastAO (> Plugin, actually called "FakeAO" which is very fast, the newest one even can use the GPU-power, but even the CPU-version takes only a few seconds to render with) - Fluid-Particles - Hair-Shaders (additional to the standard-hair-system) - HDRI-Rendering with Buffer-Output - STL-Export (for example used by 3d-printers) - MDD-Animation-Data-Export (to export vertexed-based animation). > for example to get animation-data to Modo) - RenderPresets to share render-settings in an easy way. - Selection-Filters for easier selection. - SubSurfaceDisplacement (I am not sure if this is really new for v13 or if it was included there already). - Bake Surface (> bake Surface-attributes to decals so they may render faster. Includes an AutoUnwrap-Algorithm which is best to be used with 3d-Painter) - Newton Physics (I am not sure if this is really new for v13 or if it was included there already, but they have been improved in v15 if I am not wrong). - 2008 rig, face rig, lightrig - Snap-to-Surface (in A:M v17) - A:M Answers (in A:M v17) - UV-Editor-Improvements (in A:M v17) ... endless smaller and possible bigger improvements I can't remember right now. See you *Fuchur* Quote
Vertexspline Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 Tralfaz- All the others give great points. Just to chime in ----if you liked 13 then you will love 16. I went from 12 to 16 and It is like a brand new deal. Besides the extra functionality that is really nice......It just renders faster and is just more solid in all the nook and crannys. If you are going to do anything in AM in the future -----getting the subscription to 16 is highly recommended. Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted March 31, 2012 Hash Fellow Posted March 31, 2012 Maybe the most often asked-for, most long-awaited feature that will be in V17 is the visible warning that appears when you have the A key off. D'oh! Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted March 31, 2012 Hash Fellow Posted March 31, 2012 Maybe the most often asked-for, most long-awaited feature that will be in V17 is the visible warning that appears when you have the A key off. D'oh! Quote
Tralfaz Posted March 31, 2012 Author Posted March 31, 2012 Thanks for all the info folks. Lots to digest and see where my path will take me. Al Quote
mouseman Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Al, good to see you around. Another (brand new) source of information on the history is now on the Hash wiki. I stole a lot of the history from the wikipedia page. Quote
John Bigboote Posted April 1, 2012 Posted April 1, 2012 Hi Al! Hope you decide to stick around. When 'getting up there' in high patch counts, you need to be crafty about your workflow. I have used A:M to build entire 20,000 seat stadiums, an interpretation of Manhattan island complete with Brooklyn, New Jersey and thousands of buildings and skyscrapers and other hi-count models without A:M slowing down at all. I make small pieces of the models in a model window and assemble it in an action or choreography. I have been watching demo's for the 'flavor of the week' 3D app... m*do, and in even the most basic of modeling tutorials they warn against 'hi-count' problems that can occur. I think every 3D app deals with this, you need to learn ways to circumvent the problem. I will post links to my NYC and soccer stadium videos... when I find them... Quote
Tralfaz Posted April 2, 2012 Author Posted April 2, 2012 Thanks everyone. I've been using a poly modeling program for the past couple of years and have gotten used to all of the tools and shortcuts. It will be a bit of a learning curve again to get used to patch modeling. Animating in A:M is so easy from what I remember and nothing else comes close! Al Quote
Tralfaz Posted April 2, 2012 Author Posted April 2, 2012 I loaded my old version of A:M (actually 14.c, not 13) and was looking at the materials. I see where you can set diffuse color, etc., but can you use diffuse maps, specular maps, bump maps, etc? My memory isn't what it used to be. Al Quote
largento Posted April 2, 2012 Posted April 2, 2012 Maps=decals. Once you place a decal you can change the image to be: color, bump, specular intensity, etc. Some materials can include bitmap images. Quote
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 2, 2012 Hash Fellow Posted April 2, 2012 Decals/maps are certainly more intuitive for displacement and bump mapping but you can do elaborate displacement things with materials http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com/2010/04/tank-treads.html http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com/2010/03/dino-skin.html Quote
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