Admin Rodney Posted March 16, 2004 Admin Posted March 16, 2004 The Art of Animation:Master (Online) Please add your exerices to this topic and others will join in. The Art of Animation:Master is being completed on a continual basis in the New Users Forum. Meeting deadlines can be an important skill to master early on. The course is self paced but one month will be alloted in order to set a reasonable deadline for completion. The course can be completed in as little time as necessary or as much as is needed by each participant. If unable to complete the course in a month don't worry... We'll begin again 30 days later and you'll be ahead of the game! Note: You may want to download the videos first. All available Video Tutorials related to TAOA:M can be found on one page: The Art of Animation Master Video Tutorials Menu ANYONE CAN ANIMATE 1 - You're the Director 2 - A Chorus Line 3 - Move It 4 - It's a Pitch 5 - Take a Walk 6 - The Door's Stuck 7 - Can You Say That? MODELING TAKES TALENT 8 - Customized Car 9 - Flower Power Part I Part II 10 - FW-190 Fighter Part I Part II Part III 11 - Giraffe (No available video tutorial) 12 - Lip Poses 13 - Show Some Backbone(Adding a Skeleton) TECHNICAL DIRECTORS TRAINING 14 - Playing Marble (Materials) 15 - Eat My Dust(Volumetrics) 16 - Smoke, Wind, and Fire (Particles) (No available video tutorial - See Shaun Freeman's excellent Fire emitter tutorial though) 17 - Cosmic Bowling (Dynamics) 18 - Waving the Flag (Cloth) 19 - Flying South (Flocks) Additional information releted to TAOA:M will be collected in The 'Annotated' Art of Animation:Master. 'The annotated' attempts to expand TAOA:M with related links and information from a variety of resources. If you prefer to work with an electronic copy of TAOA:M both PDF and DOC formats of TAOA:M are available. Follow the 'Annotated' link above. Did you know you can get credit for completing the exercises in The Art of Animation:Master? You certainly can by way of a personalized certificate. If you wish to recieve a certificate for your efforts I'll need to know a little about you. Name: (As you want it to appear on the certificate) Exercises Completed: These should be posted in the New Users Forum but other arrangement can be made. Date Completed: (If you don't recall exact date... guess... but guess well ) Instructor: (If Any - This is for courses taught at fine institutions throughout the world) Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: (Optional but appreciated) Send information to rodney.baker@gmail.com. Standard Disclaimer: No endorsement by Hash Inc is intended nor should be implied. The value of certification is directly porportional to the experience gained by completing the exercises. DO NOT SEND CERTIFICATE RELATED EMAIL TO HASH INC. Send it to rodney.baker@gmail.com Certificate images are subject to change without notice. Here is a past example: Your moderator volunteers his time to aid in your enjoyment and usage of Animation:Master. There may be times where he cannot respond to your queries. But ask around... that's not very likely! Last but not least... Have Fun! Quote
Admin Rodney Posted March 17, 2004 Author Admin Posted March 17, 2004 ------------------------------------ The Art of Animation:Master Exercise 1: You're the Director ------------------------------------ An introduction to the Animation Master interface and basic navigation in a Choreography. Approximate time to complete: 20 Minutes Break out The Art of Animation Master manual and turn to page 15. Take a nice look at the picture on page 14 by Den Beauvais and realize you are now on your way to mastering the art of animation. Web/Online (6.6MB) Each exercise video can be downloaded as well: Download Exercise 1 Zip ( 6.34MB) Exercise 1: You're the director is primarily an exercise in familiarity with the A:M User interface. Keep the following questions in mind as you work through the exercises: What is the function of a Library? What is a Pose? How do Libraries and Poses relate to the concept of a Talent Pool? Here are some Exercise 1 Keekats as imported by some of our illustrious Alumni: Example by Dan Roberts Good Luck! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of Excercise 1 There is an introduction to Shortcut Keys. These keys can prove to be VERY useful so keep them handy. Z - Zoom Shift Z - Zoom fit M - Move T - Turn 7 - Default Render 8 - Wireframe Render 9 - Shaded Wireframe render 0 - Shaded and Wireframe render On the number pad: 0 - Bottom View 1 - Camera View 2 - Front View 4 - Left View 5 - Top View 6 - Right View 7 - Bird's Eye View 8 - Back View Here (via link from "The A.R.M.") is a more extensive list of Shortcut keys. If you don't want to use them now... that's fine... but remember they are there. They may be useful at a later date. A:M Keyboard Shortcuts *So, will anyone go on record and say they've completed Exercise 1? Quote
Admin Rodney Posted March 19, 2004 Author Admin Posted March 19, 2004 ------------------------------------- The Art of Animation:Master Exercise 2: Chorus Line ------------------------------------- Approx. time to complete: 20 Minutes This exercise is a quick one! It is comprised of an introduction to the basic concepts of Populating, Lighting, Actions, and Rendering. Turn to page 21 in The Art of Animation:Master and begin... Web/Online ( 5MB ) or Download Zip ( 4.5MB ) -------------------------------------- Experts in the Forum feel free to offer advice and suggestions at any time. For technical difficulties running this excercise an email to me at: rodney.baker@comcast.net would be appreciated. I'll compile a list of known problems and forward to Hash Inc. for resolution. -------------------------------------- Immediately following Exercise 2 is a discussion about Animation. This discussion begins on page 27 and ends on page 36. Topics discussed: Talent Pool Keys to Animating The 10 Animation Ingredients (updated for computers) -Pose to Pose -Anticipation and Overshoot -Follow through -Exaggeration -Timing -Balance and Weight -Secondary Action -Attitude -Staging -Squash and Stretch We'll look into each of these in depth! Before we do delve deeper, check out the excellent presentation on The History of Animation by Hash Inc's very own Ken Baer! Quote
pleavens Posted March 19, 2004 Posted March 19, 2004 My whole class did it, does that count? One observation for anyone doing the tutorials. We all forget that the models used are located on the CD. As there is nothing said about embedding the models into the project, many new users will find themselves staring at an hourglass (sometimes followed by their desktop) when they try to save out the work they've done, this is NO FUN and will ruin the positive experience gained from doing the tutorials. If you are using the data files from the cdrom be sure to embed them into your project before saving. Better yet, use the option (as of 10.5r) to install all the data files to your local drive, and have your libraries point to them there. But most of all, have fun doing these tutorials. There's a lot of great information presented that even some long term AM user's will be surprised by. Phil Quote
KBaer Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Remember that the exercises in the Art of Animation:Master book are based on the fundamentals of animation. So, as you learn the fundamentals of Animation:Master, you are also learning the fundamentals of animation in general. It's also a good time to start learning about the history of animation. I have noticed that other CG animation programs talk about "learning 3D" and not learning animation. It really doesn't matter if you know what the buttons do, if you don't know WHAT to do with them. And, you don't need an expensive degree to learn animation. The best way to learn is by doing. With Animation:Master, we give you all the tools you need to make films and tell stories. If you haven't visited the New Users Info page on the Hash web site, you should check it out. It will take you to several resources that will help you start animating. Quote
vf124 Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 So, will anyone go on record and say they've completed Exercise 1? I've completed the video... Quote
ChrisThom Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 If you'll give me a list of your students I'd be glad to get their certificates out! Hey! I did it some time ago. Can I get a certificate too? Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 4, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 4, 2004 Phillip, If you'll give me a list of your students I'd be glad to get their certificates out! Please let me know what exercises they completed so I can give them the appropriate credit. Thanks! Chris, Send the following information to rodney.baker@gmail.com : Name: (As you want it to appear on the certificate) Exercise Completed: Date Completed: (If you don't recall exact date... guess... but guess well ) Instructor: (If Any) Remarks: (Optional but appreciated) Any Exercise feedback, remarks or comments will be compiled and a feedback report may be sent to Hash Inc. Disclaimer: Certificates of completion are NOT officially sanctioned by Hash Inc. No endorsement by Hash Inc is intended nor should be implied. The value of certification is directly porportional to the experience gained by completing the exercise. DO NOT SEND CERTIFICATE RELATED EMAIL TO HASH INC. THEY MAY REVOKE MY FREEDOM TO ISSUE CERTIFICATION AT ANY TIME THEY SEE FIT. SO DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Send it to rodney.baker@gmail.com VF124, The same applies to you... You don't REALLY want your certificate to credit VF124 though... do you? Quote
vf124 Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 VF124, The same applies to you... You don't REALLY want your certificate to credit VF124 though... do you? Rodney, I emailed you... Quote
ChrisThom Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 Rodney, Do you have a screen grab of what the certificates look like? Quote
vf124 Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Just completed Exercise Two...currently I'm running AM on my Alu Powerbook 1.25 w/ a gig of ram & OSx 10.3.3...the problem I had is: 1. Upon drag & dropping my curser disappears. 2. It can be difficult to drop an Action onto the model when the curser disappears (i.e. when I drag the stage, etc into the chor window, it sorta goes behind the window...) Quote
vf124 Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Under the heading of Misc, there's the exercise titled "Constraints & Compensate Mode"...this has got to be the best...besides the demo video... Since I've not received my A:M 2004 yet (hint to the hash folks), I'm watching it for the 3rd time... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 8, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 8, 2004 I hate to admit this but... I don't think I've done this exercise!!! Downloading it now! Thanks for the tip! I'll email the certificates to you as soon as possible... that should be better than a screen grab. Anyone looking in... email me you information and I'll email the certificated out. Quote
vf124 Posted April 8, 2004 Posted April 8, 2004 Downloading it now! Currently doing Exercise 4 Can't wait to get to this one... Quote
vf124 Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 On page 20 of the manual, under Render, you have a color print of KeeKat. I've completed this exercise at least 3x (in both A:M 2004 & OSx Beta 4) & my KeeKat does not look like the one on pg. 20... My KeeKat projects have a sky behind them, not like the full color painting on pg. 20...why is this? Quote
vf124 Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 On pg. 25, the color photo of "Chorus Line" has all three characters filling the frame. Again, after completing this project at least 3x in A:M 2004 & OXs Beta 4, my final renderings have a Green "letterbox" type format going on...why is this? It's like my characters are far away...or the camera is not zoomed in? Thanks for any help... Quote
ChrisThom Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 The sky (background) color is determined by your camera's properties. Click on the camera in the PWS under objects (not the shortcut) and you can change it there to whatever color you like. I'm not sure what color they used to have the ground blend into the sky but I'm sure you can experiment and find a color that suits you. Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 9, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 9, 2004 vf, Without seeing a screenshot of what you see it is hard to tell. In an earlier Beta version I had an interesting render (quick render) that rendered out part shaded/part wireframe... this sounds a little like the problem you are experiencing. I would have thought that was cool If it had been the effect I wanted... subsequent updates made that problem go away. Make sure you have the most current update installed. There are several other things worthy of exploration to gain a better understanding of how A:M works even though they may not really address the lines you see. With that in mind, I present the following: 1. In the choreography under View make sure Camera View is selected other views. The other views are pretty much self explanatory. 2. The resolution you are rendering to will make a difference in what results in the final render... The letterbox format you mention might be a product of such a setting... 3. In the Project Workspace (PWS) under Camera Properties settings, just under the background color setting you find a setting for camera Focal Length. This setting is useful and can be animated for zooming in and out. Too much fun! If there is anyway you can post a screenshot... that might help to see what you see! Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 9, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 9, 2004 Earlier versions of A:M had different settings for default lighting within the choreography.... a little before that the ground plane wasn't there either... *It's always fun to forget to delete/hide the ground plane only to see it show up cutting your scene/characters in half in the choreography.... *sigh*.... old habits die hard. When the Art of Animation Master was created and KeeKat was rendered the default settings were not quite the same... your results will be a little different because of that. Quote
vf124 Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 Thanks Rodney, I will check these settings...I will also do screenshots for my next question... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 9, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 9, 2004 If everyone hasn't figured it out by now, I LOVE SCREENSHOTS! The vast majority of people do not even know that the PrtScr key has that ability ability. Remember also that holding the Alt Key down while pressing the PrtSc Key will capture the 'active' window. Try it... too much fun! For those that don't use it... go ahead... show your friends what you can do with your newfound power! They may even be impressed! *Now go... and use your power wisely! Quote
Sharky Posted April 10, 2004 Posted April 10, 2004 Following immediately after Exercise 2 is a discussion about Animation. This discussion begins on page 27 and ends on page 36. Topics discussed: Talent Pool Keys to Animating The 10 Animation Ingredients (updated for computers) -Pose to Pose -Anticipation and Overshoot -Follow through -Exaggeration -Timing -Balance and Weight -Secondary Action -Attidude -Staging -Squash and Stretch We'll look into each of these in depth! Before we do delve deeper, check out the excellent presentation on The History of Animation by Hash Inc's very own Ken Baer! Hi Rodney! When do you post the next topic? "The Animation" and main parts in depth! I'm waiting it so! Sharky Quote
vf124 Posted April 10, 2004 Posted April 10, 2004 If everyone hasn't figured it out by now, I LOVE SCREENSHOTS! How's this... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 10, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 10, 2004 Sharky, I was just waiting to see if anyone was paying attention! ;o) Thanks to your reply... maybe it is time to move on. vf, Nice screenshot... a bit too clean for me though! I am much, much more cluttered around my desktop. Quote
vf124 Posted April 10, 2004 Posted April 10, 2004 maybe it is time to move on. Like say Exercise 9? Or Exercise 7? I'm re-doing them both in OSx... vf, Nice screenshot... a bit too clean for me though! I am much, much more cluttered around my desktop. Thought you might enjoy that... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 10, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 10, 2004 I plan to put them all up in a little while.... Just trying to get a trickle of interest before the flood! Right now there is no easy way to keep up with the certificates... I'm finalizing that as we speak. For those awaiting certificates... a redesign/update was initiated as well. I hope the wait will be worth it to you. I expect that in exactly 4 1/2 days I will have time to post a few significant updates to the Exercise portion of The NUF. Hope everyone will join in the fun! Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 14, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 14, 2004 Beautiful render Dan! I recieved your email and your certificate of completion should go out soon. Looks like you are having fun! You are just exercising up a storm. Good Job! Bravo! If you care to share anything, comments or experiences along the wasy... please feel free. Got your email as well. Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 14, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 14, 2004 From Sharky: Hi Rodney! When do you post the next topic? "The Animation" and main parts in depth! I'm waiting it so! Success is not Rodney-centric folks! Please feel free to post and comment on related aspects of animation as it pertains to your experiences and (of course) the exercises themselves. Please don't wait for me to post before you feel free to point out something of value to others in the A:M Community. In the meantime check out Frank and Ollie's site. In particular look for their excellent breakdown titled: THE 12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION Now... on to successful animating! Quote
DanRoberts Posted April 14, 2004 Posted April 14, 2004 Beautiful render Dan! I recieved your email and your certificate of completion should go out soon. Looks like you are having fun! tx ... hehe ... well er ... only had to push a button or two the excercises are cool cuas there fast and kina give you a feel for the program ... hopefully the spline modelling will come ... kinda as easy Quote
vf124 Posted April 14, 2004 Posted April 14, 2004 Beautiful render Dan! I recieved your email and your certificate of completion should go out soon. Hmmm...hopefully, you've recieved (by now) ALL NINE of my Exercises so far... Quote
vf124 Posted April 14, 2004 Posted April 14, 2004 A bone for Rodney...Exercise 9...it took 3 tries Quote
vf124 Posted April 14, 2004 Posted April 14, 2004 Hey Rodney, does the desktop look familiar? You may have seen it before... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 14, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 14, 2004 VF, Nice Flower! The only thing that would make it look nicer is one of these emoticons " or or " decaled on the face of it...... but.... that's not part of the exercise I suppose... Make sure you save that flower for a future project.... okay? Maybe some flocking into a whole field of daisies.... Tomorrow for the certificate... okay? Tomorrow. Quote
vf124 Posted April 14, 2004 Posted April 14, 2004 ...decaled on the face of it... Hey, I just started learning about decals in Exercise 10...FW 190 Fighter...pg. 116, discusses decaling...all of three paragraphs In the manual, decaling should cover an entire chapter... Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 15, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 15, 2004 For those of you still waiting for your certificates... I have not forgot. Here is a greyscale mini-sneak preview. Still need to add the walking/running THOM around the borders. There are several other things I'd like to do but may save them for later certificates in TAoAM certificate series. If there is something, art, image, or other that you think is a 'must add' (or a must delete) please let me know. The design has not gone final and does have several variations at this point. The images owned by Hash Inc also have not been approved for release at his time. Folks, Please let me know what you want on YOUR certificate. In other words; if I gonna spend time sending these certificates out... they had BETTER be something people actually will appreciate getting! Thanks! Rodney Too small to see you say? Here's a link to a larger view: Certificate example *Please note: This IS NOT the final certificate. I'm told the final one is much more "purty". Quote
vf124 Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Folks, Please let me know what you want on YOUR certificate. Hi Rodney, that is nice looking...with all the talented masters in this forum, I'm sure you'll get some competition on the design & layout !!! Any hoo, on mine, I would like an A:M Trophy that's been in the sun way too long, maybe looking like it's melting & rusty A bullet hole or two...(being that I never expect to receive one)... Or maybe the "Thom" used where the SEAL would be...the "Thom" would be sitting on a big blue marble, with his head in his hands...thinking, thinking really hard... BTW, what program are you using for design? Quote
vf124 Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 On pg. 106 of "the Art of A:M" Manual, top right hand corner, it states "It is important to build the model to scale." After changing the ruler to feet, getting the rotoscope into the model window, my ruler disappears... Also in the video, the instructor goes to options > units> and sets the measurements to feet. All this I've done several times. The problem, once the rotoscope appears, the ruler disappears...how can I model w/o the ruler? Please help? I've tried Exercise 10 in both Classic 9 & OSx Beta...no luck running 10.3.3... Quote
ZachBG Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Unfortunately, this is a known and unfixable problem with the Classic version; it has to do with OpenGL problems that are unaddressable with the old cross-compiler, IIRC. However, it should be fixable in the OS X version, so be sure to send a report to Randy. Sorry I don't have better info for you. Zach Quote
vf124 Posted April 15, 2004 Posted April 15, 2004 Sorry I don't have better info for you. ZachBG, this is great info...I will just move on to Exercise 11 & yes I will send a report to Randy... Thank you, Sir...I now know it was NOT my learning curve !!!!!!!!!!!! Man, I've been struggling w/ this for two days now... Quote
heyvern Posted April 20, 2004 Posted April 20, 2004 Rodney! Good grief! Talk about above and beyond the call of duty! Not a noobie, but I still can appreciate a true fan of the BEST AND ONLY GREATEST 3d application available. Uh... I have a horrible confession.. In all the years I have used AM I have never done any of the tutorials.... I am so ashamed... I started them! I just never finished... Is it too late for me? Will I never know the joy of recieving a certificate? I have a spot picked out for it, next to all of the second and third place plaques from the image contest... Haven't gotten a first place yet... because I never did the tutorials! Vernon "Still a noobie at heart" Zehr Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 20, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 20, 2004 19 Apr 04 Dear Mr. Zehr, I recieved your letter dated 19 Apr 2004 which outlines your failure to complete the required exercises in a timely manner. This is unacceptable. Your immediate attention and action to correct this matter is required. You will acknowledge reciept of this letter and submit any evidence or matters of importance related to this matter in writing within 3 days of reciept of this notice. Failure to do so may result in more serious penalties up to but not including death. Aren't you glad that the law states that! You are hereby informed that your signature does not consitute an admission of guilt. However, completion of the exercises found in The Art of Animation:Master will greatly improve your chances of placing 1st place in the Animation:Master Animation and/or Image contest. You are also informed that you are eligible for fancy certificates too. _____________________ Vernon J. Zehr III _____________________ Certifying Official Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 20, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 20, 2004 Dan I see you. Yours is on the way... Thought you could post before me eh??? Quote
DanRoberts Posted April 20, 2004 Posted April 20, 2004 Dan I see you. Yours is on the way... Thought you could post before me eh??? hehe ... I was here ... didnt post though ... still have yet to do exercise 3 ... when its done Ill post a pic as usual EDIT: In the mean time ... Ill post a cute sketch (I find it kinda funny). Quote
heyvern Posted April 20, 2004 Posted April 20, 2004 Wow! ...up to but not including death... Tough teacher.... You know this has Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School" written all over it. Just so we can keep it all on a legal footing.... Vernon J. Zehr III, hereby affirms he will attempt to finally COMPLETE all the tutorials in the Art Of Animation Master in as timely a matter as possible what with all the other projects and paying work will allow in his busy schedule (shcedule should be pronounced the British way). Signed and dated April 20, 2004 Vernon "I'm serious!" Zehr Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 20, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 20, 2004 Dan, Nice pic... great story to go with it as well! I predict that you'll go far! Vern, Thanks! Glad we can release the lawyers and just get back to good 'ol splining! Keep me posted on your progress. Either private email or posting here will get the message through to me. Once I recieve your notification of completion your certificates will be one their way. Keep in mind that only the Exercise 1 certificate has gone final at this point. Once I get all Exercise 1 Certificates out. I'll finish the remaining certificates... For those that prefer not to post to the forum the email is: rodney.baker@comcast.net Thanks and have a great A:M day! Quote
Admin Rodney Posted April 22, 2004 Author Admin Posted April 22, 2004 I'm liking the way you (and VF) are rendering and posting your images. To my way of thinking if you ever want to compile them in one place or post them on a webpage.... you have them formatted and ready. Looks like it makes a fine avatar too! Thanks! I owe you three certificates... at least... Quote
vf124 Posted April 24, 2004 Posted April 24, 2004 I'm liking the way you (and VF) are rendering and posting your images. Hey Rodney, Here's Exercise 13, right I still owe you Exercise 11 & 12 However, since you didn't like my teardrop, here's boneless Thom... Quote
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