A:M Questions

[Tralfaz]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this stuff. If not, feel free to move it to the proper location.

 

I used to use A:M a number of years ago and moved on to polygon modeling (yes, I know polygon isn't a nice word around here). I want to get into doing some animations and am looking back at A:M again. I remember how easy it was to rig and weight a character was and especially to animate it.

 

So, my questions are:

 

1) In the software that I am currently using, I have the ability to move a point along an edge without having to guess where to place it. Does A:M have anything that would allow you to move a control point along the surface of a spline?

 

2) Also, in the software that I am using, it has a knife tool (which I use quite a bit, especially looping when cutting). Is there anything like that in A:M now where you can cut through a patch without messing up the geometry?

 

3) Does the dictionary still exist for lip syncing a character to dialogue in an audio track?

 

4) Man, it's been so long I just can't remember. It is possible to render in HD format and quality?

 

5) I think I remember reading about being able to import an OBJ model, then create patches directly over the polygons. What you are left with is an animateable patch model and you can delete the OBJ model. Am I correct on this?

 

6) I have an Intel I5 computer with 12GB RAM and a mid-range NVidia graphics card. Do you foresee any issues with performance in modeling complex scenes or rendering?

 

7) Are there any gotcha's that I am not thinking of or should be aware of if I come back to A:M?

 

Thanks in advance...

Al

[nemyax]

I think I remember reading about being able to import an OBJ model, then create patches directly over the polygons. What you are left with is an animateable patch model and you can delete the OBJ model. Am I correct on this?

You can now export patch models directly from Blender, complete with bones, CP groups, weights and UV maps (and soon, spline actions): https://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46932

You'll find it particularly useful if your polygon software happens to be Blender, but using Blender only for conversion is also a viable approach.

[largento]

Hey Al!

 

Good to see you back on the forums. I came across your B9 robot model just the other day ...and of course, you were kind enough to post a lot of Star Trek reference blueprints I made use of on Stalled Trek, for which I thank you!

 

I'm sure the technical folks will be able to answer your questions better than I. I do believe the lip sync still works and we have a newer plug-in that you can set to trigger a pose slider via a sound file. I've used it with my puppet characters to some success.

[Rodney]

Hey Al!

Many of your questions can be answered with a 'Yes, but...' which relates to the many differences between polygon approaches and spline patch modeling and animation. As you've grasped there are a lot of things you can do via import of OBJ (and as Nemyax adds... converting from other models) but there's not much of a better way to resolve those than to dive in and see what works best. Much will depend on what you plan to place in your scenes (as static objects) and what you expect to animate (or articulate).

 

 

Here's a rough attempt to answer your queries:

 

1) A:M has several tools that allow movement of Control Points on a surface. If the surface is in a cardinal direction this will be considerably more straightforward as keys can be held down in order to move any CP, shape or object in a given direction along a spline. Sliding CPs along a spline in any arbitrary direction... hmmmm... I think we can do that but I haven't used it in my workflow. In the past few years there have been several tools added that allow projection of CPs onto surfaces (or send them to specific locations) that may also fit the bill. As far as my workflow I'd say use of the 4 key to move a CP along a spline is likely the most common.

 

2) A:M has some very basic tools for this (such as the Cut Plane plugin) but the lack of density in most spline models which is usually of benefit can work against us in that regard. As such it can be hard to maintain curvature of a given spline. One approach to cutting models would be to use another program to do the cutting and then import that into A:M for placement or further refinement.

 

3) The Dopesheet still works for lipsync (and as has always been the case) can drive any poses. The dictionary can be amended/edited as desired.

 

4) I tend to work in low rez so I'm not the best to answer this one but in general you can render to as high a rez as your system/RAM will allow.

 

I will add that Netrender... which was separate software in the $500 range when you were using A:M... is now packaged with A:M so you can launch a variety of renders in various formats and have them all render simultaneously.

 

5) This 'retopology' tool is know as 'Snap to Surface' and can be used to place CPs/splines onto the surface of any prop or patch model. A Prop being in this case being any imported OBJ, STL, 3DS... and a few others).

 

6) I don't see any issues there but will defer to others with NVidia cards.

 

7) Yes, I'm sure there will be but the good news is that we'll work through them together one gotcha at a time.

 

You've been missed. It'll be great to have you back!

[robcat2075]

Welcome back, Al!

Hi,
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this stuff. If not, feel free to move it to the proper location.

I used to use A:M a number of years ago and moved on to polygon modeling (yes, I know polygon isn't a nice word around here). I want to get into doing some animations and am looking back at A:M again. I remember how easy it was to rig and weight a character was and especially to animate it.

Remember, that ease comes because it take many fewer CPs to make a shape in A:M than vertices in a polygon modeler.

So, my questions are:

1) In the software that I am currently using, I have the ability to move a point along an edge without having to guess where to place it. Does A:M have anything that would allow you to move a control point along the surface of a spline?

2) Also, in the software that I am using, it has a knife tool (which I use quite a bit, especially looping when cutting). Is there anything like that in A:M now where you can cut through a patch without messing up the geometry?

3) Does the dictionary still exist for lip syncing a character to dialogue in an audio track?

4) Man, it's been so long I just can't remember. It is possible to render in HD format and quality?

5) I think I remember reading about being able to import an OBJ model, then create patches directly over the polygons. What you are left with is an animateable patch model and you can delete the OBJ model. Am I correct on this?

6) I have an Intel I5 computer with 12GB RAM and a mid-range NVidia graphics card. Do you foresee any issues with performance in modeling complex scenes or rendering?

7) Are there any gotcha's that I am not thinking of or should be aware of if I come back to A:M?

Thanks in advance...
Al

1) Keyboard 4 will constrain a CP to the direction of the spline at the point it starts from. If the spline is curved you will change the shape of the curve as you drag it but I use this quite a bit to adust CPs in a mesh, none-the-less.

Also... 5 will constrain the CP to motion perpendicular to the original spline. 6 will constrain it to motion perpendicular to the surface.


2) the CutPlane plugin can do this in simpler situations. It can insert a spline ring (or unsplined CPs) at the intersection of the cutting plane with a mesh.

3) I think so?

4) You may define any res you want, limited only by your RAM and patience.

5) The Snap To Surface tool allows you to draw new splines on the surface of another shape as a guide. Informally called "retopolgy" on the forum.

6) That should be fine. That's way more than I have.

7) Besides the goat?

[Tralfaz]

Thanks for the quick response folks.

 

If I do come back to A:M, then I would most likely be giving up the polygon modeling. It's just that I have so many models that I have made and rigged right now, it would be kind of hard to say good bye to them. But, this might just be the way to go in order to do the animations that I want to. I suppose I could still use FaceGen and/or Poser to create human characters, then bring them into A:M, and use the Snap To Surface to recreate the model in A:M. I still suck at organic modeling.

 

I would imagine the renderer has improved from when I used it. Does it support things like sub surface scattering, ambient occlusion and global illumination?

 

Actually, is there a manual I can download which would probably answer a lot of my questions instead of bothering you folks?

[robcat2075]

Thanks for the quick response folks.

 

 

 

I would imagine the renderer has improved from when I used it. Does it support things like sub surface scattering, ambient occlusion and global illumination?

 

 

 

SSS yes

 

Two kinds of AO. Real AO and "screenspace AO" (faster)

 

We have "global ambiance" which can be driven by an HDRI map. There is some distinction between that and "global illumination"

[Fuchur]

1) Not exactly but there are different ways to work with that... Snap-To-Surface can help here too, the other shortcut-keys people mentioned are useful too and you can for instance just use the Stitch-Tool to insert a new point where you want it without changing the spline-curve.

 

2) As others have mentioned, there is the Cut-Plane-Tool... it can cut, add splinage, break at a given line, etc. It does work in many situations, if the circumstances are too hard for it, you still can just let it add CPs and connect them by hand. (which never fails)

 

3) Still there... others have answered that already...

 

4) A:M can render with presets till UHD format OR anything you can put in and you computer (mainly RAM) can handle. Rendering to EXR, TGA, PNG, and a few others can give you different features you may want or not (like HDR-Rendering, etc.)

 

5) Yes... you can import an OBJ-model as a prop (which will keep it as a polygonal model and will not be changeable at first) and than you can use retopolgy-tools (Snap-To-Surface) on it to remodel the shape with splines.

 

6) That should be well enough for even quite complex models and scenes...

 

7) Hm... can not think of anything right now, but I am sure there will be some . Ask for solutions and we will get rid of them together .

 

Till then: Welcome back to the world of A:M and the community .

See you

*Fuchur*

[itsjustme]

Actually, is there a manual I can download which would probably answer a lot of my questions instead of bothering you folks?

 

"The Art of Animation Master" and the "Technical Reference" are located here: http://www.hash.com/manuals-24-en

 

There are gaps in the information provided in those references because it has been a few years since they were put together...but the forum can fill whatever gaps exist.

 

Hope that helps.

[Tralfaz]

Thanks once again folks.

 

I've put in a request for a trial version and will check things out once I get the new version. I was checking my model folder and I still have all my old A:M projects I worked on. Very cool.

 

Thanks David. I found the two manuals and will go over them again. Also found the old exercise videos to help refresh my brain on how things work.

[largento]

A great resource if you want to dive into character modeling/rigging/animating is Barry Zundel's training videos, which are now available here for free.

[Tralfaz]

Thanks Largento. I will check them out. Installed my old A:M 14c on my PC tonight. I am running WIndows 7 and had a bit of a hard time finding the Visual Studio 2003 redistributable DLLs, but got it sorted out. Taking me a little while getting accustomed to things again. Will probably go through the exercises in The Art Of Animation:Master again. Still waiting to find out if I can get the trial version of the newest A:M. Until then, will keep up with my old software.

[robcat2075]

Hard to believe you've been gone since v14!

 

Anyway, the interface hasn't changed since then except for a few new buttons, so your v14 time should be well spent.