This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (16 messages)
Thanks, I was starting to suspect that the problem was related to the Project structure. I'll do some re-organising. This makes new interactions between characters developed under previous Projects rather hard work. Any plans to change the Project system in the next release?
Figure Substitution
Message #4045
Dear Hash or anybody I'm trying to do an animation of two dancing figures. I used the figure substitution procedure in the A.M. manual, that is, replacing a couple of dummy "Ghosts" with my chosen figures by editing the .fig file. Everything worked great, the new two-character Figure loaded in…
Rico, I didn't like being locked into the Master sudirectories, so I created a Project called "Out", set at the top level of the directory structure. So I select Out and all the directories are available to me. Does this help?
Dejan, I am a new A.M. user in Bedford, England. So far I like it.
Michael, It should be possible, but I suppose you would need to set some tolerance for the match between the polygon and spline surfaces, otherwise the computer would grind away for a long time trying to achieve convergence. The easiest thing to implement would be a manual selection of points…
Kevin, Thanks, I've got the primitives.
Steve, Looking forward to it!
This is really one for Hash. I do know that the SCULPT module exports DXF for use in other animation tools. ( The purists would probably be aghast at the thought of converting good spline models to nasty polygons.) Richard
Chad, Please feel free to butt in any time. The following are my personal views as an A.M.beginner. The Hash people will probably have something to say and they're usually proved right in the long run. I'm sure spline modellers are potentially much better than polygon-based tools, once you get…
Michael, Thanks for your reply. Basically I agree with everything you say. I suppose my frustration stems from the fact that I am more interested in directing action than in 3D modelling. Consider a live-action film director. He is an artist too and he doen't build his props from scratch,…
#Splines vs. Polys
Message #2698
I know that splines are the 3D animation wave of the future. I'm convinced! But the other thing that is making animation available to the masses (Martin Hash's theme) is the availability of lots of ready-made textures, 3D clip art etc., either freeware or commercial. The latter is where a…
#Ready Made Models
Message #2565
I have Animation Master (from Art Electric here in the UK) and was thinking of buying some ready made models for the boring props and stuff so I can concentrate on building characters. I noticed Viewpoint DataLabs offer their models in Playmation format (I suppose they mean SEG format) but…
It may make you feel better to know this. I have a really cheap UK 486 clone (Multiplex – ever heard of it? I think they went bust a while back). This has really bad connector workmanship and almost NOTHING fits it except the Animation Master dongle (blessings be upon…
I don't know if this is relevant but I've been having problems with the TEMPLATE feature in A:M SCULPTURE on my PC but I fixed it. Template is a brilliant idea in which you import an image to trace in 3D. Unfortunately it has trouble with 256-colour modes. I find…
More import formats for Animation Master would certainly make things easier, but they also need to import more intelligently. DXF imports are very awkward to work with at the moment because they are polygon-based and end up with too many control points. There needs to be a converter which skips…
A.M. UK Vendor?
Message #2191
I've more or less decided that Animation Master is the product I want, pending answers to a few remaining queries (see below). Is there a vendor here in the U.K? I kind of hope there's not as this usually means a big mark-up (just change the dollar signs to pounds).…