Should I renew my A:M subscription?

[Rodney]

My subscription is about to expire and I've begun to think of all of the reasons I should resubscribe.

While plunking down $79 for another year of A:M is really a no-brainer (of course I should)... maybe... just maybe... I should consider the reasons I have to resubscribe.

 

So... help me out here guys/gals.

Give me a reason (or ten) to resubscribe.

[pixelplucker]

10. Your keyboard will get really dusty

9. Staring at a blank desktop just isn't fun (anymore)

8. Clicking your mouse is irresistible

7. Twirling in your office chair makes you dizzy

6. Your just a few thousand dollars short of a Max subscription

5. You spend more on beer and get less done

4. Swapping over to Blender makes your eyes glaze over

3. Too hard to resist making Jacobs ladders with splines (accidentally)

2. Too much fun undoing Jacobs ladders done with splines

1. You will miss my stupid humor on the forums

[Rodney]

1. You will miss my stupid humor on the forums

 

You know... you are starting to sway me...

[robcat2075]

11. You like seeing those two aliens boxing while A:M is rendering.

[johnl3d]

I would loose my only fan club member

[Rodney]

I would loose my only fan club member

 

Doh!

[robcat2075]

13. It's still the only usable spline-modeling animation program on the planet.

[markw]

A:M and no Rodney . Inconceivable!

[Rodney]

A:M and no Rodney . Inconceivable!

 

It is a stretch, I'll grant you that.

 

Waitasec.... Did v17.0f just come out??!??

 

ZoomFit after Paste now configurable at Options->Unitsdefault NO

 

Nice. I've got 12 days to check this stuff out...

 

Steffen sure knows how to entice a guy.

[TheSpleen]

10. Your keyboard will get really dusty

9. Staring at a blank desktop just isn't fun (anymore)

8. Clicking your mouse is irresistible

7. Twirling in your office chair makes you dizzy

6. Your just a few thousand dollars short of a Max subscription

5. You spend more on beer and get less done

4. Swapping over to Blender makes your eyes glaze over

3. Too hard to resist making Jacobs ladders with splines (accidentally)

2. Too much fun undoing Jacobs ladders done with splines

1. You will miss my stupid humor on the forums

What he said

[sb4]

At least wait until I get one original animation created and can walk on my (and its) own two feet!

 

(sorry, I panicked... )

 

-SB

[Rodney]

At least wait until I get one original animation created and can walk on my (and its) own two feet!

 

Hopefully... that will that be in the next 12 days?

[Fuchur]

Lets make it easy: Yes you should... you are one of the guys who should really know the best why .

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Rodney]

Lets make it easy: Yes you should... you are one of the guys who should really know the best why .

 

Who can argue with that logic.

Perhaps I should resubscribe.

 

Or... maybe I should subscribe more than once?

Hmmm.... now I'm debating... one for the laptop and one for the desktop?

Purchase six months apart from each other so the subs will overlap for maximum coverage?

[markw]

Lets make it easy: Yes you should... you are one of the guys who should really know the best why .

 

... one for the laptop and one for the desktop?

Purchase six months apart from each other so the subs will overlap for maximum coverage?

Now you're thinking

[sb4]

At least wait until I get one original animation created and can walk on my (and its) own two feet!

 

Hopefully... that will that be in the next 12 days?

 

With my track record, it could be any year now...

 

But seriously , do you have any animation projects in the works right now? That would be a definite incentive.

 

And what are they, out of curiosity?

 

-SB

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Rodney,

 

1. You would most definitely begin to feel withdrawal symptoms.

2. You would become frustrated with your inability to record further tutorials with the current version of A:M.

 

I have purchased a second subscription for my laptop and am loving it! Not to mention the 10 render node licenses I picked up too.

 

I think you are far too entrenched in this "Hobby" to let go now.

 

C'mon... you know you wanna...

[Rodney]

do you have any animation projects in the works right now? That would be a definite incentive.

 

And what are they, out of curiosity?

 

Hmmm... let's see...

Of late, I've been testing for a couple different projects... kind of like putting bait in the water to see if some sort of fish might bite.

 

A few days ago I was working with Lloyd on his 'Woke Up Dead' project. At times I've used his movie to test the waters for using A:M as a storytelling and project management device. (Note: This can be a bit frustrating because A:M was never designed with that kind of esoteric stuff in mind. Personally though, I think it's just a matter of time.)

 

I'm in the early stages of designing a logo for a friend who wants to sell honey (this will mostly use Coreldraw but I might end up modeling some bee hives).

 

I played around with a short story idea for a new origin for 'The Incredible Hulk'. This would likely be more of a straightforward comic book (with lots of photoshop effects rather than animated. I experimented with a classic printed comic book style for this one. (This project would primarily use the 3D models as references for drawing)

 

It's been about a month since I did anything with 'The Mystry Rider'. (There are some story points that need to get worked out before production gets a green light).

 

It's been about two months since I did anything with 'Tuckertown'. (I suppose you could say that this is my primary comic strip idea. The need for continual humor and refrigerator style jokes is the primary obstacle for this one)

 

The recently announced animation contest has me modeling robots with a one minute animation in mind.

 

In the past week I've doodled and spelunked around with A:M and generally had a great time.

 

Today I experimented a recurring idea of a building that can change into one of many different styles (there is a cityscape project waiting in the wings that I'd like to complete so that the generated models could be used for backgrounds/props). Today's experiment focused on using booleans to cut windows into the building's sides.

 

And now there are only nine more days until my subscription expires...

 

I think you are far too entrenched in this "Hobby" to let go now.

 

I know for a fact you are right.

[Rodney]

I encourage everyone to post and post often but I don't tend to do that myself.

The irony is not lost on me.

 

Here's a few random doodles that I found laying around... (Note: I'm not particularly a fan of eyestalk characters so I must have been channeling the Tinkering Gnome here for the frogduck)

 

The female body was a exercise in using minimal splines... as well as a cloth test (as I recall).

 

The rubic's cube was to answer a question... "What if someone invented the rubic's cube back when whittling wood was the primary method of creating games and toys?" Perhaps we would end up with something made of wood and marbles...

 

Bandito was a quick test in lipsync (and for use of the Amplitude plugin)... style aping the ever talented Mark Largento and his take on the Muppets.

 

Wrecking Ball is more of a test for how boolean cutters can bring down a building (the main part of the project would use Newton Dynamics and Cloth).

 

Alienhead is an example of a typical doodle that doesn't even get to the stage of being rendered out (rendered for posting here though).

 

I've done a couple versions of Pixar's Car characters but this is the only one I found. I have one that is more 'realistic' lying around.

 

...and I'll end this post with an early proof of Concept for the title character of 'The Mystry Rider'...

[Ilidrake]

Nice doodles Rodney

[Rodney]

Thanks Lloyd. Doodling in A:M is sure fun enough to resubscribe.

 

In grabbing the images above I ran across the attached variation on 'The Mystry Rider'.

I had to laugh because I had forgotten I had even created this one.

I need to find the original models because I think this one would be fun to return too at some later time. I hadn't modeled much before laying this one aside. the duck's head... the bull... and a cactus or two as I recall. I mocked up a basic pinball type swf file... (the pinballs... were bulls of course... and the cowducks have to keep them in line)

 

And... of course... guest starring the voice of Robert Downey Jr. as the sheriff Clyde.

[sb4]

Those look great! You can't give up with all those ideas baking. Gives the learners hope too. And your support on the forum would be sorely, sorely missed.

[Rodney]

Alrightly then. You all have convinced me.

With two days remaining I will not risk a day without A:M... time to renew my subscription.

 

This is a good opportunity to test how long it takes to update.

Somebody time me!

[Fuchur]

Alrightly then. You all have convinced me.

With two days remaining I will not risk a day without A:M... time to renew my subscription.

 

This is a good opportunity to test how long it takes to update.

Somebody time me!

 

At most 10-15 mins if you ask me

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Rodney]

At most 10-15 mins if you ask me

 

Yup! Done.

 

I'm good to go for another year.

[robcat2075]

I'm good to go for another year.

 

 

And there was much rejoicing!

 

 

Nice ducks, Rodney!

[markw]

[strato]

My subscription is about to expire and I've begun to think of all of the reasons I should resubscribe.

While plunking down $79 for another year of A:M is really a no-brainer (of course I should)... maybe... just maybe... I should consider the reasons I have to resubscribe.

 

So... help me out here guys/gals.

Give me a reason (or ten) to resubscribe.

 

Actually You should buy about five, one for the office, one for home, one for the laptop, one for the undecided cousin and one just to keep Hash in business, until next Year...

[higginsdj]

My subscription is about to expire and I've begun to think of all of the reasons I should resubscribe.

While plunking down $79 for another year of A:M is really a no-brainer (of course I should)... maybe... just maybe... I should consider the reasons I have to resubscribe.

 

So... help me out here guys/gals.

Give me a reason (or ten) to resubscribe.

 

Actually You should buy about five, one for the office, one for home, one for the laptop, one for the undecided cousin and one just to keep Hash in business, until next Year...

For that many licenses you would be better off with the DVD....

[Rodney]

Actually You should buy about five, one for the office, one for home, one for the laptop, one for the undecided cousin and one just to keep Hash in business, until next Year...

 

If I were only a rich man...

 

I have not discounted the idea of eventually going into business and supplying all who work with me with a copy of A:M.

But it takes money to do that kind of thing. This ain't no charity.

For volume discounts I suppose I'd be haggling with Hash Inc to get the optimal deal.

 

I figure that won't be until the year 2020 so we've still got a few years.

 

For that many licenses you would be better off with the DVD....

 

It would take some doing to get me to go back to those platters.

Now if we were talking USB sticks or portable harddrives...

[Manuel]

For that many licenses you would be better off with the DVD....

 

Sorry, is there a DVD copy? I thought they weren't selling the software that way anymore...

[robcat2075]

For that many licenses you would be better off with the DVD....

 

Sorry, is there a DVD copy? I thought they weren't selling the software that way anymore...

 

You are correct. The old plan that used a CD as the Key is no longer available.