Kombowz Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Hi Everyone, I was wondering how the DVD version of A:M worked as I'm thinking of buying a few copies for the game studio. I realize the web subscription one is only good for a year and then it's gone. I was wondering if someone was able to put the exact differences here so I can make a choice as to what way I'm going to go. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a feature comparison on the site anywhere... Thank you everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilidrake Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I dont think they offer the dvd,. Cd anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 15, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 15, 2012 It's a license. Like the subscription, it is locked to the computer you install it on. Like the subscription, it lets you run anything the comes out in the year after you activate. Unlike the subscription, it doesn't expire after one year, you can continue to run whatever versions you got during the year. You can't run versions that come out after that year. If I got that wrong, someone set me straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuchur Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 It's a license. Like the subscription, it is locked to the computer you install it on. Like the subscription, it lets you run anything the comes out in the year after you activate. Unlike the subscription, it doesn't expire after one year, you can continue to run whatever versions you got during the year. You can't run versions that come out after that year. If I got that wrong, someone set me straight. Robcat is right. That should cover it. See you *Fuchur* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Edmondson Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 It's a license. Like the subscription, it is locked to the computer you install it on. Like the subscription, it lets you run anything the comes out in the year after you activate. Unlike the subscription, it doesn't expire after one year, you can continue to run whatever versions you got during the year. You can't run versions that come out after that year. If I got that wrong, someone set me straight. Pardon me, I was out of circulation last year when the process changed. Does that mean you can only install it on the one machine? I use it on the Imac at home but have it on my lap top for when away from home ? simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 15, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 15, 2012 Pardon me, I was out of circulation last year when the process changed. Does that mean you can only install it on the one machine? I use it on the Imac at home but have it on my lap top for when away from home ? simon There isn't a transportable version now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Edmondson Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 There isn't a transportable version now. Thats unfortunate, for me at least, although I can understand why. simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombowz Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 You know, I have a love / hate relationship with A:M There's nothing else out there that I've seen (I've done some heavy looking) that's like A:M aside from maybe cheetah 3D (and that's mac only). I love A:M and how to use it, it's just fast to learn with no learning curve really vs anything I've tried. But then there's the dark side to A:M in the fact that the Export options are totally garbage for anything outside of A:M which is killing me in making a decision on what to do at this point... The only export option that's available (that can retain bones skin and animation) is the X exporter (only thing useful for what I need A:M for). Aside from that it doesn't work into my production pipeline at all... I really wish the developer(s) of A:M would get better import/export (FBX / DAE / SOMETHING COMMON) support for their software. Maybe the reason is that it's not possible because of A:M being a spline only software. I don't see any other reason for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 16, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 16, 2012 Martin would say... it is what it is. From the beginning the goal of A:M hasn't been to access every possible means of CG production, but to provide useful tools for character animation and the pipeline for that from modeling to render. That's not dark to me, I'm glad I can do the whole project from start to finish in A:M and not need to translate assets. If you need something A:M doesn't do, then you need it and you have to decide if that thing is worth the loss of what you get with A:M. If it is, it is. That's a judgement you need to weigh. As you suspect, flawless translation of splines to polygons and back is a huge programming challenge. A:M has one developer now and he does a great job, but he has focused his time on things that benefit the most users overall: moving to 64 bit, a huge speed increase, upgrading NetRender (now included in A:M) and of course, reliability. Everyone benefits from those changes. Very few A:M users need to translate to other apps. None-the-less, there are several threads here showing how people have used A:M as part of a pipeline that uses other apps. Those may be helpful to you. Look for "MDD export" in particular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombowz Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 I know all about the history and reason for A:M including their vision on what A:M is and all it is. I think I'm just frustrated because I want to be able to use A:M for everything. Including my game development studio. Let's face it, for what A:M is, it is very good. I'm just expecting to much I think. I will give that export a look and perhaps make a thread for other game developers to discuss this kind of thing. Thank you robcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuchur Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I know all about the history and reason for A:M including their vision on what A:M is and all it is. I think I'm just frustrated because I want to be able to use A:M for everything. Including my game development studio. Let's face it, for what A:M is, it is very good. I'm just expecting to much I think. I will give that export a look and perhaps make a thread for other game developers to discuss this kind of thing. Thank you robcat Just to mention it... from v16 on, A:M offers MDD-Export. Combined with OBJ this can be very powerful. And you should have a look into my signature. I have found a quite easy, cheap and fast workflow to FBX for A:M. See you *Fuchur* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 16, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 16, 2012 I will give that export a look and perhaps make a thread for other game developers to discuss this kind of thing. As Fuchur noted, he has collected quite a bit of information useful to people wanting to use A:M to develop for games, but if you gather any further insights we'd love to have you share them here. Martin said that one of the most frequently asked questions about A:M is "Can I make a game with this?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombowz Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Fuchur - That's great to hear. we should talk some more, I've checked out the videos and the look useful for sure. I'm not sure what MDD file format is however. The OBJ file format are okay for non-animated objects and I need to be able to export the animation bones skins weight etc. Robcat - yeah A:M can't make games, but it can definitly assist in making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuchur Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Fuchur - That's great to hear. we should talk some more, I've checked out the videos and the look useful for sure. I'm not sure what MDD file format is however. The OBJ file format are okay for non-animated objects and I need to be able to export the animation bones skins weight etc. MDD is an animation-format. It cant handle bones but only Vertex-Animation. The good thing about it is, that it really doesnt matter what you animate with. While DirectX cant use (for example) SmartSkins MDD isnt limited there. It is very useful if you want to export Animation-data from A:M to another 3d-programm. (modo for example) It is not editable with the bones in the other programm, but if you do it good in A:M you can use the other programm for instance for rendering or effects. Soulcage Department has posted some test on the forum. You amy want to use the search to find some of them. I made the characters and animations for a game prototype I made called Komboz in A:M (I would have uploaded it here, but file isn't allowed as the size exceeds 2MB) You may want to try to upload it again. First make a ZIP-file and then upload it. This forum can handle uploads up to 2048 MB (that is 2GB, not 2 MB) if the fileformat is allowed. See you *Fuchur* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombowz Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 I made the characters and animations for a game prototype I made called Komboz (See attachment) This was developed a few years ago before I started college for computer programming. komboz___in_your_face___05_04_2010.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 17, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 17, 2012 ...I started college for computer programming. Hey... I just got an idea for who you can recruit to program that FBX thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombowz Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Someone working on an "FBX Thing"? I wouldn't mind helping if I'm able to sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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