CompuServe Thread

Christopher, First of all, I would HIGHLY recommend the training tapes. They cover modeling and animation tips that not only show you how its done in A:M, but covering over into all 3D programs. This will be the best $55 you have every spent <G> ;). Stick with it, A:M is more powerful than people give it credit! Also, you will get good advice here on CIS, just ask! The best way I know how to learn a program is to have a self imposed project. Then ask question that have some detail so that others can jump in and help.<G> >>Ghosts (Why and how are they used?)<< As I understand it, the ghost is the point that will determine where your figure stands in the direction module. In other words, if you want your figure to follow path in direction, the part of your figure that follows the path is the ghost. This has some interesting possibilities, typically you would put a characters feet line up with the ghost, but you could put a character off to the side of your ghost and have the ghosts path (in direction) aline with another characters path, the two would follow each other perfectly! >> Environment creation (Creating world scenes. Mostly interested in mist, sky…etc.)<< Haven't dived into this yet, but the Balls & Blocks animation on the demo tapes has convincing clouds and sky, so it must be possible!<G> >> Cookiecut (What is this? The manual says how to do it, but not what it's for…) Again, haven't dived in deep enough to see the diffence between that and transparency mapping, but it does sound like a excellent feature that I will put to use in the near future! >> Enviroment maps (Is there a easier explanation for these?) The visual clue to a chrome object is what it reflects. By allowing you to map a picture to an object reduces the klutter of having to have objects on the stage, but out of the cameras view just so that objects in the cameras view can reflect the object. The assign environmental maps on an object by object is a feature not all 3D programs have. This can be very useful! Hope this helps! Jim Jonah

Boy Chris that's quite a list! Let's wait and see what other users have to say… BTW always feel free to call and chat about various topics if you desire. Steve, Hash Inc. Also is this the same Chris at Spectrum Holobyte?

Christopher, Making good landscapes is quite easy; make a grid, select points and pull them up and down to form hills and mountains. Use haze to add excellent distance effects. I've managed to get astonishingly photographic landscapes with remarkably few control points (by the way, the fewer control points you use, the faster your render time). I too have found the manuel frustrating; but calling them or leaving a message here will clear up most mysteries very quickly. Skin is tricky; what one must do is build a segment, then cut it up to get it to skin. The new two segments MUST have the same shape at the end where they match up. Good luck. Doug.