3D Animation Q/A

[Damelvin]

I felt like making this thread since we all have questions, or at least most of us, on how do one thing or the other in 3D Max. So for the first question: I would liked to know how add thickness to an object. Ex. say I wanted to make a trash can, just a cylinder that gets fatter towards the top the one you find in your bathroom or bedroom. Anyways I need to make the trashcan look like it thick and not just a round piece of paper. If you can picture, I was if you can help me or aim me and to get better description on what I want to do.

[Nuttyman54]

do you want to make it thick using materials or just modelling? For modelling, you can use the "Tube" standard primitive and then apply a taper modifier to it.

[Damelvin]

do you want to make it thick using materials or just modelling? For modelling, you can use the "Tube" standard primitive and then apply a taper modifier to it.

I would have no clue how to do with materails, but I will try that. Only problem now is taht my dad's computer is used as the server for 3ds max license so i cant access it till tom.

[Capt.ArD]

or you could just make the trash can like you would normally, and when you want to make it have thickness, apply the shell modifier to it. this also works onplanes for making sheets of glass, plywood, anything like that instead of using boxes.

[Brindza]

You can just make a cylinder shaped object and extrude the top face down into it shrinking or expanding the vertices to make it smaller at the bottom

[Amittt]

Ok, here is a problem i have already published...
I wanna export a robot that was built in pro desktop and import it with 3dsmax 8
When I import a .STL file it shows me a message:
"bla bla bla design1.stl is not a valid *.STL file"
This file was exported from autodesk pro desktop 8.0 in this way:
File --> export --> browse --> choosing the file --> save --> ok.
if you can help, pleaseeeee...

Ok, now I tried a diffrent file type: *.IGS
I exported it from pro desktop 8.0 in the same way and imported it in 3ds max.
A simple object like a square was imported perfectly to 3dsmax 8, but when I tried importing a complicated structure like a base of a robot (which was built from several other designs which were connected to one design) it didn't import nothing.
please, help.

Thanks a head, animation team, 1578.

[Damelvin]

You can just make a cylinder shaped object and extrude the top face down into it shrinking or expanding the vertices to make it smaller at the bottom

You mean edit poly the cylinder and then vertex extrude or polygon extrude? I have already tried polygon extrufe and it doesnt work right. Extruding the vertexes would work if there was an easy way to have the connect back to the original cylinder, anyway to do that?

[Brindza]

You mean edit poly the cylinder and then vertex extrude or polygon extrude? I have already tried polygon extrufe and it doesnt work right. Extruding the vertexes would work if there was an easy way to have the connect back to the original cylinder, anyway to do that?
I was talking about the extrude face feature.
3dsmax should have an option that allows you to select a face and then extrude it.
It will make another face with the same dimensions and connect the vertices of the 2 face with other faces.

[daniel.thyrso]

Well, it already has,
Build a box, apply edith mesh to it, press 4 then find the extrude button, right above the the bevel button......

[Damelvin]

tried it doesnt work there is a gap in between the extruded faces. Works for square surface but not round ones.

[animator1]

ok, i was wondering if i can put an animated character into a real life scene for our animation? is that possible? or does it have to be just animation and no rea life video?

[Capt.ArD]

yes. it's called video compositing. i'm not entirely sure how to do it, but you could prolly find a simple tutorial in max or online.

[BruceJ]

ok, i was wondering if i can put an animated character into a real life scene for our animation? is that possible? or does it have to be just animation and no rea life video?

Are you allowed to? Certainly!
Is it possible? Of course! :)

A simple method is to go to the Rendering menu and choose "Environment".

Set the environment map to open either a video file (AVI or MPeg) or a sequence of numbered images like JPGs or TGAs.

Now when you render the scene, the objects in the scene will appear in the foreground and the video you imported will be behind the objects.

If you need to do more complex things than that, then I would suggest using a program like Adobe Premiere or Adobe After Effects to combine your animated output from 3ds max and your video files.

[animator1]

yes, i already know how to do it. I was just wondering if it was aloud to be done. Thanks for the tip anyhow, even for other members.

[Corporat]

Ok, here is a problem i have already published...
I wanna export a robot that was built in pro desktop and import it with 3dsmax 8
When I import a .STL file it shows me a message:
"bla bla bla design1.stl is not a valid *.STL file"
This file was exported from autodesk pro desktop 8.0 in this way:
File --> export --> browse --> choosing the file --> save --> ok.
if you can help, pleaseeeee...

Ok, now I tried a diffrent file type: *.IGS
I exported it from pro desktop 8.0 in the same way and imported it in 3ds max.
A simple object like a square was imported perfectly to 3dsmax 8, but when I tried importing a complicated structure like a base of a robot (which was built from several other designs which were connected to one design) it didn't import nothing.
please, help.

Thanks a head, animation team, 1578.
you could try to export as an autoCAD file (or something else) and then from AutoCAD export as a 3ds file. Tell me if it works out.

[Nuttyman54]

you could try to export as an autoCAD file (or something else) and then from AutoCAD export as a 3ds file. Tell me if it works out.

I've found that AutoCAD's .3ds export doesn't work that well (Curves get pretty screwy), but that exporting as a .igs from AutoCAD and then importing THAT works quite nicely...odd but true

[Damelvin]

Well i finally got around to working on the trashcan again and when I made it using a tube, I can't figure out how to close the hole on the bottom of the tube any suggestions?

[Capt.ArD]

the easiest way to make a trashcan is to use a cylinder, delete the top, and adda shell modifier. shell just makes your 2-d objects have thickness.

if you have to do it with a tube, selcet the vetices on the inside edge of the end of your tube, like where the bottom will be, and scale them down until they are close enogh to weld into one vetex. that will give you issues, though. for the easiest solution, you should just go ahead and plug the bottom of the tube up with a cylinder.

[rowe]

if you have to do it with a tube, selcet the vetices on the inside edge of the end of your tube, like where the bottom will be, and scale them down until they are close enogh to weld into one vetex. that will give you issues, though. for the easiest solution, you should just go ahead and plug the bottom of the tube up with a cylinder.

Actually, the best way to plug the bottom of the tube would be to make a vertical segment in the tube, then convert to an editable poly. Using the vertex select tool, drag the vertex's for the middle segment down to just above the bottom (the height should be equal to the thicknes of the tube). Then delete the bottom inside poly's. And then cap the holes.

[Damelvin]

the easiest way to make a trashcan is to use a cylinder, delete the top, and adda shell modifier. shell just makes your 2-d objects have thickness.

if you have to do it with a tube, selcet the vetices on the inside edge of the end of your tube, like where the bottom will be, and scale them down until they are close enogh to weld into one vetex. that will give you issues, though. for the easiest solution, you should just go ahead and plug the bottom of the tube up with a cylinder.

I did the shell modifier one and it worked perfectly and easily. A little tinkering with mesh smooth and it looks great.

[Damelvin]

Trying to make a desk light and i just cant get it to look right any suggestions. Pic below:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/38/6e1173e4f47abc31b4566f8d3d8d2038.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/20287/picture-hosting/light.php)

[BuddyB309]

Trying to make a desk light and i just cant get it to look right any suggestions. Pic below:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/38/6e1173e4f47abc31b4566f8d3d8d2038.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/20287/picture-hosting/light.php)


Better base. make the base a tinny part of a hemisphered sphere. And make it white with an anisotropic specular.

[Damelvin]

Better base. make the base a tinny part of a hemisphered sphere. And make it white with an anisotropic specular.

I got teh hemispere but how do i do the anisotropic specular?

[BuddyB309]

I got teh hemispere but how do i do the anisotropic specular?

In the Material options Under shader basic Parameters change the tab that says Blinn to anisotropic.

[Nuttyman54]

I got teh hemispere but how do i do the anisotropic specular?

That's done with materials. If you're looking for a brushed metal look, try this tutorial (http://67.15.36.49/team/Tutorials/brushedmet/asberg_bmetal_01.asp)

[Damelvin]

I was trying to make the lamp look like this:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/16/3056a240e8ca973f43e6dbb7e7317116.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/21981/picture-hosting/img-0039.php)

But the base didnt come out well and I am not very good and cutting objects. I mess with the base some more. Also in teh picture how would i make those rings that wrap around the metal part of the light?

[BuddyB309]

I was trying to make the lamp look like this:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/16/3056a240e8ca973f43e6dbb7e7317116.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/21981/picture-hosting/img-0039.php)

But the base didnt come out well and I am not very good and cutting objects. I mess with the base some more. Also in teh picture how would i make those rings that wrap around the metal part of the light?

That is with a bump material. go to paint and make a picture with a single black line running horizontally through the picture then apply the bump map to the stand. Make sure to tile the bitmap so it will show up as multiple rings.

If you have any questions about the bump material look it up in users reference.

:)

[BuddyB309]

When I render through video post and add glow, my final video never shows the glowing particles even though I see it being added through the render window. Ive tried material ID and object ID it doesn't work. Any body got any other ways to make glowing fireworks?

[Damelvin]

Which is better editable poly or editable mesh? Whats the difference betweem the editables: poly mesh normals and patch? I always used editable poly to make models, but mabye i should try others.

[Damelvin]

I felt like making and xbox 360 just to have it in the animation as an easter egg.
Just wondering since I am just bitmaping a box with pictures of the xbox 360, how would I smooth the edges with effecting the pictures much. Also if I take off teh xbox 360 logo i should be ok and not get any trouble with microsoft?
Pic:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/08/c799d80fab4d9f9f4c5f33b7860da208.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/22823/picture-hosting/xbox-360-start.php)

[BuddyB309]

I felt like making and xbox 360 just to have it in the animation as an easter egg.
Just wondering since I am just bitmaping a box with pictures of the xbox 360, how would I smooth the edges with effecting the pictures much. Also if I take off teh xbox 360 logo i should be ok and not get any trouble with microsoft?
Pic:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/08/c799d80fab4d9f9f4c5f33b7860da208.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/22823/picture-hosting/xbox-360-start.php)

Instead of XBOX 360 why not put XBALL [YOUR TEAM #]?

[Capt.ArD]

I always use editable poly. i think there are certain editing features and options that differ between the mesh and poly, but i don't really know off the top of my head. try it out sometime.

to smooth the corners, you can chamfer the edges or start the model with a chamfered box (in the extended primitives section of the objects rollout). in photoshop you can edit the corners of the bitmaps to fit the rounded edges that you add to the box. make sure the edges are not TOO round, or it will look kinda dorky.

[ctshirk7]

im no good with aimation but our team uses 3d max and it seems pretty user-friendly..

[Damelvin]

I always use editable poly. i think there are certain editing features and options that differ between the mesh and poly, but i don't really know off the top of my head. try it out sometime.

to smooth the corners, you can chamfer the edges or start the model with a chamfered box (in the extended primitives section of the objects rollout). in photoshop you can edit the corners of the bitmaps to fit the rounded edges that you add to the box. make sure the edges are not TOO round, or it will look kinda dorky.

Not really good with photo shop so i don't how i would do that. Looks better though with the chaffered box.

[Cody Carey]

Try puting a mesh-smooth on it and ading a uvw modifier, try using the shrink wrap setting.

[Damelvin]

Been trying for a couple hours now to get all the pics to wrap around the box so it looks like an xbox 360, but when I try to fit one bitmap on one side of the box the other sides that I have modified get messed up, anyway to fix this. I tried appyling multiple uvw maps to the object and taht doesnt work.

edit*
Nevermind, I figured it now I wish I had a straight on picture of the sides and top of the xbox 360.

[Nuttyman54]

try using the UVW unwrap feature. there are tutorials in the book and online.

[Damelvin]

Well here is what I have done and probably stop till I get some good pictures of an xbox 360 sides and top:
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/ba/437a1ce9cc2acc9e64916c16946d5eba.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/37859/picture-hosting/xbox-360-needs-pics.php)
http://images2.pictiger.com/thumbs/5b/4ea58f895e06bafc44eba91f5c30c15b.th.jpg (http://server2.pictiger.com/img/37851/picture-hosting/xbox-needing-more-pics.php)

[Capt.ArD]

that looks fine, man. one last suggestion: take the same picutures you used for the textures and convert them to grayscale. then use them as bump maps. it will add a little more realistic that way. Other than that, it looks good.

[Mike Ciance]

our animation is going to take a while to render this year, and i want to network some computers together to share the job. can anybody tell me how i would go about doing this?

[Capt.ArD]

We have not yet been able to do a real "net render." theoretically, you have 1 computer run the autodesk backburner manager program, another runs the server program, and the rest run the client or node or whatever they call it program. the manager sends the scene data to the server, which splits up the data into bits, then send it off to the nodes to be rendered.

however, that is a bit tricky, and our school's network will not allow us to run the server program, or something.

the easy/ghetto way of doing this is to simply share the max scene file over your network. open it in each of your computers seperately. now you have 5 computers running independant of each other, all with the same scene loaded. then tell each computer to render a set of frames.

Computer 1- frames 1-50
Computer 2- 51-100
computer 3- 101-150
and so on...

now you have 20 little mini animations, which, when put together in a media program, form your final product.

inefficient and boring as you can get, but this is the most reliable way i can think of to render your stuff quickly.

[Damelvin]

Anyone here good at using garmet maker and cloth? I am trying to make a blanket that covers a bed but the corners don't look right. I want it to wrap around the bed and look the same in the corners as the sides, not sticking out.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/9c/0795bbad5ba1b13f4a8494e1b0e3039c.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/23329/picture-hosting/bed-cover.php)

[rowe]

the easy/ghetto way of doing this is to simply share the max scene file over your network. open it in each of your computers seperately. now you have 5 computers running independant of each other, all with the same scene loaded. then tell each computer to render a set of frames.

Computer 1- frames 1-50
Computer 2- 51-100
computer 3- 101-150
and so on...

now you have 20 little mini animations, which, when put together in a media program, form your final product.

inefficient and boring as you can get, but this is the most reliable way i can think of to render your stuff quickly.
To elaborate to this. Instead of output as movie files as suggested by Capt.ArD, you can make the output a .tga, .jpg, or .png sequence (.tga and .png should preserve transparency which can come in handy if you want to put effects behind your animation in post). What this does is it saves you animation as [filename][framenumber].[extention], then you can move all the files to the same folder and use a video editor to import the sequence. (I know this works in Adobe After Effects and it should work in others, just make sure it does before you spend the day rendering it.) The nice thing about .tga sequences is that they are uncompressed so then when you compress them in post, you get better quality than if you were to compress an already compressed video.

[Capt.ArD]

Anyone here good at using garmet maker and cloth? I am trying to make a blanket that covers a bed but the corners don't look right. I want it to wrap around the bed and look the same in the corners as the sides, not sticking out.


i actually think the corners make it more realistic.
i guess if you wanted it to fit the bed better, you can use a box with one side deleted, and is a *tiny* bit bigger than the bed itself. make sure your poly count is relatively high, then reactor it as a cloth so it drapes itself over the bed. then just take the hanging vertecies and tuck them under the "mattress." i think that's kinda what you wanted, lemme know if it is the right solution.
If you could make "hospital corners" that would be awesome!

@ rowe, yeah, that's another, better way of doing it, only it is more work and is more complicated. I actually intend on doing it that way, but use the method i described if i run out of time.

[Damelvin]

i actually think the corners make it more realistic.
i guess if you wanted it to fit the bed better, you can use a box with one side deleted, and is a *tiny* bit bigger than the bed itself. make sure your poly count is relatively high, then reactor it as a cloth so it drapes itself over the bed. then just take the hanging vertecies and tuck them under the "mattress." i think that's kinda what you wanted, lemme know if it is the right solution.
If you could make "hospital corners" that would be awesome!

@ rowe, yeah, that's another, better way of doing it, only it is more work and is more complicated. I actually intend on doing it that way, but use the method i described if i run out of time.

I'll try tucking them in sounds good, but I dont like using reactor, just cloth and garmet modifier since the tutorials and some vids from 3ds max use them.

[Capt.ArD]

Reactor isnt that hard you just need to sit down and learn it. the stuff it allows you to do is really sweet. I'll give anyone interested a rundown sometime if they want. Pm me about it.

[darkstar]

Anyone here?

[darkstar]

need help :(

[Damelvin]

Reactor isnt that hard you just need to sit down and learn it. the stuff it allows you to do is really sweet. I'll give anyone interested a rundown sometime if they want. Pm me about it.

Which one is better cloth or reactor cloth, I heard anything using reactor can shutdown the program do to error. If i got time later I definetly would mind you showing me some tips about reactor.

[Capt.ArD]

To be perfectly frank, i never learned cloth, only reactor cloth, so i don't know which is better.

Yes reactor can crash max, but only if you do no set up the reactor correctly. basically reactor is a physics engine like what some games have, only it is a lot more accurate. the accuracy therefore makes the program a lot more picky about how things are set up.

a good example is how objects interpolate. in a videogame, especially an older game, some objects can go through others. one example i remember is in Tomb raider you can lock Lara's butler in a freezer, and his hands and face stick through the door. If any object does that in reactor, it goes crazy for a while then crashes. it looks a lot like the objects exploded. so you always have to be careful not to have objects overlapping. other problems arise from all the vertices in an object being coplanar, low substeps (which will need to be explained better later on), or odd environment settings.

The overall product of a good reactor job is a very realistic and lifelike movement or arrangement. It's also really helpful for arranging things in a random manner. if you have a desk, papers are usually scattered all over, and pencils and things are lying all over. instead of taking the time to individually placing each object, you can just put them about 5 inches over the desk and let reactor make them fall down, landing in a random and realistic-looking mess. plenty of other uses, too. it's great fun.

wow long post :rolleyes:

[Damelvin]

To be perfectly frank, i never learned cloth, only reactor cloth, so i don't know which is better.

Yes reactor can crash max, but only if you do no set up the reactor correctly. basically reactor is a physics engine like what some games have, only it is a lot more accurate. the accuracy therefore makes the program a lot more picky about how things are set up.

a good example is how objects interpolate. in a videogame, especially an older game, some objects can go through others. one example i remember is in Tomb raider you can lock Lara's butler in a freezer, and his hands and face stick through the door. If any object does that in reactor, it goes crazy for a while then crashes. it looks a lot like the objects exploded. so you always have to be careful not to have objects overlapping. other problems arise from all the vertices in an object being coplanar, low substeps (which will need to be explained better later on), or odd environment settings.

The overall product of a good reactor job is a very realistic and lifelike movement or arrangement. It's also really helpful for arranging things in a random manner. if you have a desk, papers are usually scattered all over, and pencils and things are lying all over. instead of taking the time to individually placing each object, you can just put them about 5 inches over the desk and let reactor make them fall down, landing in a random and realistic-looking mess. plenty of other uses, too. it's great fun.

wow long post :rolleyes:

Some help would be nice on the bed cover since I can't get the corners to look like i want them too.

[Damelvin]

Saw a guide online on how to make simple valance/curtain and I was wondeering if waht I did could pass as a curtain or should I mess with cloth.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/8a/fcba9dd48688d8c129ca981a48e67b8a.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/25785/picture-hosting/curtain.php)

[Damelvin]

Just wondering why are mov and mpeg the only video formats taht can be used as bitmaps? It gives me teh slection of avi but wont let me apply it.

[BuddyB309]

Just wondering why are mov and mpeg the only video formats taht can be used as bitmaps? It gives me teh slection of avi but wont let me apply it.

It should Ive used Avi before, It might be the compressor that the avi is using.

[Capt.ArD]

I know I have used Avi before as well. I don't know why you couldn't.

for the bed cover, if you want to reactor it i can help, but i don't have a lot of time right now. basically, look at the left side of the screen on max ant there is a button called "create rigid body collection" click and drop the icon anywhere in the scene, doesn't matter where. do the same thing for the cloth body collection. select the rigid one again and look at the modify panel. there is a little box where you can add objects from the scene to the collection. add your matress-thing object to that list. click the "cloth" object and apply the "reactor cloth" modifier to it. then add that object to the cloth body collection. you'll want to make sure you cloth has plenty of faces, 20x20 is pretty good. there, now the sene is set up, get ready to reactor it.

select the utilities tab at the top right of the screen (looks like a hammer) and slick on the reactor button in the list that apperas. open the first and last rollouts (should be animaiton and properties) next, select the cloth object, and in the properties rollout set the mass to about 1 or 2. this makes gravity affect the cloth. DO NOT give the mattress any mass. if you do the mattress will just fall out of the scene whene it calculates the the movement. while you have the cloth selected, look for where you define the boundary of the object and click the "define as proxy mesh" or something button. then select the cloth as the corresponding mesh.
my instructions are not clear, but you should be able to muddle it out. i'll be on CD or Gaim tommorrow night if you need better help.

when that is all set up, you can click on the "preview animation" in the animation rollout that you opened earlier. when you do, it will disaplay a list telling you if there are any errors in the scene. hopefully you will only see one that says that the object density is low. ignore it. then you will see a window with an untextured version of your scene. press "p" to initiate the simulation. your cloth shuld fall straight onto the matress, then drape itself around it. if it looks unrealistic, you can raise the substeps by using the menu at the top of that window. substeps ar the number of physics calculations per second, the more, the better. when you are pleased with the arrangement of the cloth, you can click the "update max" button at the top, and it will change your scene to cloth in its draped form.

like i said, this is a very superficial tut., but i can help more later on. my AIM is captainard2000. ill be on tommorrow night.

[darkstar]

Hi people, i need help with my tem's animation video. Does anyone know how to change from one background to another one in an animation video? If I don't reply you soon just pm me please

[Damelvin]

You mean like in the middle of a scene? Like you want to change one color from black to white during the animation. I would just turn on auto key and on material editor change the material or bitmap at the frame you want it to change. That should work. I have to do taht in my animation as part of a transition between scenes.

[darkstar]

You mean like in the middle of a scene? Like you want to change one color from black to white during the animation. I would just turn on auto key and on material editor change the material or bitmap at the frame you want it to change. That should work. I have to do taht in my animation as part of a transition between scenes.Right, because at the start we have to have it black for part of the requirements, but I could not figure out how to change the image I want as the actually background in the animation, from the black one in the very begining.

[Capt.ArD]

Are you trying to make your animaton all in one go? If so, then yes, what damelvin said will work fine.

I could not figure out how to change the image I want as the actually background in the animation, from the black one in the very begining.
do you mean the 1 second of black at the beginning of the animation that is required? i wouldn't bother animating that, just use a movie editing program to add 1 second of black. most programs can do it.

BTW, is your signature image within size requirements? it takes up about half of my screen

[darkstar]

Are you trying to make your animaton all in one go? If so, then yes, what damelvin said will work fine.


do you mean the 1 second of black at the beginning of the animation that is required? i wouldn't bother animating that, just use a movie editing program to add 1 second of black. most programs can do it.

BTW, is your signature image within size requirements? it takes up about half of my screen
Actually it is five seconds with all that info. they want also. I'll try that material editor also though.

[darkstar]

Okay I am a bit lost with the material editor thing

[Capt.ArD]

I have never tried the material editor method, but i believe it works like this:

open the material editor, apply the texture you want as the original background (in your case, black) to whatever you are using as your background (a plane or something).

then at the bottom of the screen in max is the keyframe bar. turn on Auto key and move the slider to wherever you want the material to change. click the key button to set a keyframe there. then apply your new texture to the black background.

when you play it, it should change color at the keyframe you specified. Again, i have not actually done this, so it may not be correct. Damelvin may be able to help you better.

[darkstar]

Do you know how to apply an image with the material editor?

[Capt.ArD]

yes. open a new material in the material editor. now, in the rollout look for where it says "diffuse color" and has a color swatch next to it. next to the swatch is a little gray square (looks like a button with no text on it). click it.

in the new window that pops up, select "bitmap" from the top of the list of green thingys. it will then open a dialog box where you can specify which image you want to use as your texture.

tada! if you did it correctly, you will now have a mateial that looks like your picture repeated over and over again. you will need to adjust the tiling and offset of the bitmap in the material editor in order to get it to fit your object just right.

[darkstar]

yes. open a new material in the material editor. now, in the rollout look for where it says "diffuse color" and has a color swatch next to it. next to the swatch is a little gray square (looks like a button with no text on it). click it.

in the new window that pops up, select "bitmap" from the top of the list of green thingys. it will then open a dialog box where you can specify which image you want to use as your texture.

tada! if you did it correctly, you will now have a mateial that looks like your picture repeated over and over again. you will need to adjust the tiling and offset of the bitmap in the material editor in order to get it to fit your object just right.
Yeah, I am not seeing that difusse color button thing

[Capt.ArD]

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/3112/screenshot8un.th.png (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot8un.png)
it's right there. after you click on it, select bitmap, then load your image. have fun!

[darkstar]

And you make the background image apply how?

[Mr.Fraggs]

? click the diffuse button select bitmap and make sure after u select the bitmap it tiles right. then apply it to what ever. if you want you can apply it to a plane and use it as a background. you can also uv map it and then it looks good

[darkstar]

basically what i need is an image that you can load with viewport, but can change it.

[Capt.ArD]

if i understand you correctly, then you are trying to do one of the few things that cannot be keyframed, and therefore cannot be easily animated. you can use a video file as your background, or you can do it the simple way and just add the splash screen and 1 second of black in another program.

[darkstar]

That would explain it. Is there way to add a bitmap image with material editor as a whole background?

[Capt.ArD]

if you use a plane as your background, then yes. do it the way previously described.
if you want to use the actual viewport background, then no, you cant. sorry.

[Damelvin]

Using cloth reactor I came up with this for the bed cover but I still don't like the corner look. Any suggestions?
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/8e/d268f76403cc696ec8da920f278edf8e.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/52591/picture-hosting/seriously.php)
Also how would I make a model taht could look like its crumpled paper?

[darkstar]

Can you auto key the enivroment background by chance?

[darkstar]

Also do you guys now where to get the auto desk consent release forms at? Because i can not find them on that streamline site.

[Capt.ArD]

Also how would I make a model taht could look like its crumpled paper?

pretty simple. take a plane with about 8x8 segments and add a noise modifier. you will have to adjust the amplitude/frequecy of the noise to get the desired effect.

if you want a wad of crumpled paper, you can do it the same way, only with a lot more noise, and you can squish the vetices here and there to make it look more spherical. you can also use a sphere with a noise modifier and an opacity map, but that gets kinda wierd, and doesn't work too well.

@ darkstar, no you cannot keyframe the evnironment background to my knowledge. and to get the forms you have to download the streamline program. in the program you have to log in to the FIRST account. I don't know what the password or anything is right now. once in, the forms are in the file "2006 autodesk visualization entry" or something like that.

[darkstar]

Thank you very much for your help. By chance though does anyone about a free movie editting software that works good with quicktime filles?

[Damelvin]

Just download the trial version of adobe premier. Gets you 30 days, more time than you need, to put the animation together.

[darkstar]

where do you download it from?

[Damelvin]

Adobe.com at least the last time I check its on the company's website.

[Damelvin]

Well i am pretty much done with the bed and making a couple other models and then moving on to texturing and animating.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/95/84d2b87a71e011a5f7deee28fc04b095.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/62807/picture-hosting/bed-pretty-much.php)

[darkstar]

COOL, WHAT'S WITH THE BED AGAIN? :confused:

[Damelvin]

Well I have been working with cloth for a while and finally got it to look ok and since time is getting short I got to do other things. The textures won't be there in the actual animation there just fillers.

[Capt.ArD]

looks real good. i like how the edges of the sheet turned out, kinda like there is a crease or a fold there.

how did the paper turn out?

[Damelvin]

I only got teh bed down then had to study for some tests and work on projects. Ill finish the paper today and post tonight hopefully.

[darkstar]

Yay! My animation is almost done! :D

[Damelvin]

Since were getting closer to due dates for animation I felt like releasing a pic from my animation to ask for help on how to get a certain effect.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/b7/f53022a86a2d0bce23d2714d0dc3efb7.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/86946/picture-hosting/room-3.php)
I want to zoom in on teh computer and its turned off. I want the screen to have a small light source in the middle of the screen like it is just starting up, then flash or blink whiting out teh screen for a second and then it goes back to teh computer and it somehow opens and looks like a vortex or black taht would pulls the camera inside teh computer. If anyone can picture this and help me would be nice.

[Damelvin]

Also I made some trophies are team has earned so far.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/04/93e673614c8ad71782675136c68eba04.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/86999/picture-hosting/first-trophies.php)
cant get a glass look some of the parts of the trophy though.

[Damelvin]

On the entry form for the ava, the part taht talks about music. I have some non copyrighted songs that I didnt create but want to use. How would I write taht on the form?

[Capt.ArD]

for the entry form, there is a line on the the form where you write the name of the song and artist. be sure to include a copy of a paper that gives you permission to use copyrighted material with the forms.

for the glass, turn up the specular level and the glossiness of the material. that will help a lot.

for the screen thing, you can use a gif or an avi file as a moving texture for whatever happens on the screen. for a glow, use a omni light with the glow and ray lens effects on it. put it inside the monitor so it won't show, then pull it out whe you want the glow to show.

for the vortex, use a tube with a cool swierly texture on it, and hide it inside the monitor, only to expand it when the time comes for much vortex-pwning.

i had written a better tutorial on this, but my computer messed up on me, so if you need a better explaination, let me know an ill type it up again.

[darkstar]

Do you guys know how to export something from adobe preimere pro 2 to quicktime, with out the video looking super blury?

[Damelvin]

for the entry form, there is a line on the the form where you write the name of the song and artist. be sure to include a copy of a paper that gives you permission to use copyrighted material with the forms.

for the glass, turn up the specular level and the glossiness of the material. that will help a lot.

for the screen thing, you can use a gif or an avi file as a moving texture for whatever happens on the screen. for a glow, use a omni light with the glow and ray lens effects on it. put it inside the monitor so it won't show, then pull it out whe you want the glow to show.

for the vortex, use a tube with a cool swierly texture on it, and hide it inside the monitor, only to expand it when the time comes for much vortex-pwning.

i had written a better tutorial on this, but my computer messed up on me, so if you need a better explaination, let me know an ill type it up again.

What I meant for the music is how would I put non copyrighted songs in the paper work or should I jsut say it was created for my animation. THese songs are NOT COPYRIGHTED, so i shouldn't need any paper work.

Ill try that on teh glass.

I want the screen black then it glows in the middle, but then opens up or swirls towards teh center and opens into teh vortex anyway tyo get the swirl effect or a black hole effect?

Would there be an easy way to have alot of colors flashing or would I have to individual set the each light and color change?

[BuddyB309]

Do you guys know how to export something from adobe preimere pro 2 to quicktime, with out the video looking super blury?

render it at a large format like 740X680 or whatever the requirements are. when you save it as an avi file and click save, the little menu that pops up make sure to go under the tab and choose "no compression." that should do the trick.

[Capt.ArD]

What I meant for the music is how would I put non copyrighted songs in the paper work or should I jsut say it was created for my animation. THese songs are NOT COPYRIGHTED, so i shouldn't need any paper work.


k sorry, i saw that just after i posted. ur right, if it's not copyrighted, then it's fine. no worries.

so this vortex, is it within the screen, like an image, or does it come out of the screen? that is still unclear.

for the dot that begins to swirl, easiest way would be an avi texture. i actually can't think of a way to do it other than that. do you have flash to make a swirly thing with? sorry i can't help more than that.

[Damelvin]

k sorry, i saw that just after i posted. ur right, if it's not copyrighted, then it's fine. no worries.

so this vortex, is it within the screen, like an image, or does it come out of the screen? that is still unclear.

for the dot that begins to swirl, easiest way would be an avi texture. i actually can't think of a way to do it other than that. do you have flash to make a swirly thing with? sorry i can't help more than that.

Pretty much the picture I want to get acrross is the monitor is opening you to inside the computer or inside teh internet and its pulling you in. Then the vortex will take you a TRON looking place where are robot is. This all happens once the monitor screen fills up the whole viewpoint.

[Damelvin]

I am trying to add a material to a wall and a took a picture of my wall just to mess with and I noticed the little bumps in the wall are huge and I trying tiling it done and then I get this darken colored lines taht go through the picture. Anyway for these to go away or do I have to get a wider shot of the wall picture I took?

[darkstar]

Do you guys know how to add adio by chance?

[Capt.ArD]

I am trying to add a material to a wall and a took a picture of my wall just to mess with and I noticed the little bumps in the wall are huge and I trying tiling it done and then I get this darken colored lines taht go through the picture. Anyway for these to go away or do I have to get a wider shot of the wall picture I took?

sounds like you took a picture too close to the wall. the dark lines are probably unequal shadows in the picture. try retaking the picture with good direct lighting on it.

ok, if the monitor is going to fill up the whole screen before it starts moving, then just use a avi for a texture. no other effects necessary.

[darkstar]

I don't why, but each time i use adobe priemere pro 2 make a video the text i made in 3d max comes up blurry. Does anyone have any suggestions to clear up?

[Capt.ArD]

I don't know anything about adobe premier. sorry.

does anyone know if we can subit our animation only once per competition, or only once total. our team is registered to go to two competitions, so can i submit to both, or must i pick 1?

[darkstar]

I don't know anything about adobe premier. sorry.

does anyone know if we can subit our animation only once per competition, or only once total. our team is registered to go to two competitions, so can i submit to both, or must i pick 1?It's one video per team is what I understand, but you might want to post that on the question and answer system on the FIRST website.

[Damelvin]

I don't why, but each time i use adobe priemere pro 2 make a video the text i made in 3d max comes up blurry. Does anyone have any suggestions to clear up?

DO you mean like for your title part and your credit parts? Or actual models that are letters in the animation?

[xrabohrok]

How do I stop selecting a selection class? It just won't stop!

[BuddyB309]

I don't know anything about adobe premier. sorry.

does anyone know if we can subit our animation only once per competition, or only once total. our team is registered to go to two competitions, so can i submit to both, or must i pick 1?


You upload the video twice and put the same video into the two different competitions you are going to.

[BuddyB309]

I don't why, but each time i use adobe priemere pro 2 make a video the text i made in 3d max comes up blurry. Does anyone have any suggestions to clear up?


1 of two things if its is blurry in the viewing screen in the program when you are putting it together just hit enter.

If the final product looks blurry it is probably the way you set it up. Exporting it as uncompressed first and if that doesn't work try to set it up as a different layer.

[BuddyB309]

How do I stop selecting a selection class? It just won't stop!

Click the selection class tab on the main toolbar up at the top. select it to all.

[darkstar]

I love 3d studio max 8 so much

[animator1]

I was wondering if anyone knew how i could change a question mark, into an exclamation mark in 3ds max? is it using a modifier? is it even possible? if not i will just stick to my original plan.

[Tyr]

take a box, apply a bend modifier to make the '?' and then straighten it out so it forms a '!'

that's the only way I know...

[animator1]

The box thing didn't work.But what i was thinking of doing was using it with text.

[Capt.ArD]

make a question mark. then use the morpher modifier on it, set the preset thingy as a exclaimation point. as long as the two models have the same number of vertices you will be able to morph one into the other.

[animator1]

the preset thing? where is that?

[Damelvin]

Pretty much finishing texturing and this is probably the most tedious part and some books I still need to take pics but this is pretty much my bookshelf. I will be adding some dvds to teh bottom self no to leave it barren.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/6b/c29832c12638f3443c2b45b4aa6bfc6b.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/137319/picture-hosting/my-bookshelf.php)

[MiNT]

I was wondering if anyone knew how i could change a question mark, into an exclamation mark in 3ds max? is it using a modifier? is it even possible? if not i will just stick to my original plan.

This is actually a pretty easy thing to do with the morpher.

1) Use the text tool to make a ! and a ? - these are only for reference
2) trace one spline over the straight part of the exclamation point, and another spline over the curvy part of the question mark
3) make a box, cylinder, w/e, however thick you want your character to be. Then, make a clone of it - COPY, do NOT instance
4) convert it to editable poly. Select the top face and click 'extrude along spline' options box(under 'edit polygons')
5) pick your spline as the question mark curve, and set the segments to a high enough number that it looks smooth. Add any taper, rotation, etc that you'd like.
6) do the same for the other plane, except with the straight segment. Add taper, or whatever to stylize it abit, and make sure that the segments is equal to the number you used for the question mark. You can modify the models however you want, as long as their topology is the same.
7) select the question mark, and from the modifier list, select morpher. Go to channel parameters, click 'pick object from scene', and it'll add the exclamation pt as a target. Now you have a morph target that you can keyframe (play with the slider and watch it move back and forward between the two...) in the morph channel list.

note -morpher will only work on objects that have the same topology over the vertex indices, even if they have the same vertex count (afaik../) - because, vertex 312 moves to wherever vertex 312 might be in the target. Also its a linear move, so you may need an intermediate morph to smooth out the transition betweent the two.

For the period, just make it however and either constrain it to the question mark or edit poly modifier attach it on.

Hope this helps

[animator1]

2) trace one spline over the straight part of the exclamation point, and another spline over the curvy part of the question mark

what do you mean by the spline?
But wow, seems like the type of thing for an advanced user. But i will try it and see what i get.

P.S-only a beginner.

[MiNT]

Create->shapes->line

click points, right click to finish your spline. The vertex editing works mostly how you'd expect with the transform tools. Also you can select vertices, and convert them to different tangency types - bezier, bezier corner, smooth, corner - by right clicking in the viewport and selecting the type from the quad menu. I would go with bezier for this, since you can rotate and scale the tangency, and it has more control than 'smooth'.

Also you can animate the spline vertices, so you could just animate your spline vertices and set the spline to renderable. If you need more detail (ex,tapers,etc) on your text, then you can take a long, highly segmented box, do whatever you want to it, then use the pathdeform modifier on it with the animated spline.

[Capt.ArD]

nice, mint, that was exactly what i was thinking. i have been running short on time and nerves, so i never got to really explain what i meant very well.

nice bookshelf, damelvin. are the edges of the bookshelf champhered? champhering edges a TINY bit adds a bit of realism to things. scince no edge is perfectly square, champhering adds the effect of tiny dings/curves to your objects.

BTW, Orson Scott Card's Novels are awesome, saw some on your shelf. nice.

[(InsrtNameHere)]

Here, This guy needs some help with 3d Studios. If someone could help him, that would be nice.

[Damelvin]

I was wondering how you would make a light bulb look realistic and also cast light? Would a lume modifier or material work? .
http://images1.pictiger.com/thumbs/2f/263addb7611158a2c3db7c164a20cc2f.th.jpg (http://server1.pictiger.com/img/34391/animations-and-cartoons/lamp.php)

Crumpled paper:
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/f8/8d1033d2b6dd3413d7313191920e73f8.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/148319/picture-hosting/crumpled-paper.php)

[MiNT]

Did a quick test for a bulb, doesn't itself cast light, but the effect seems *ok*

The model itself is a mutilated box, bottom face missing, with a shell modifier on it to give it thickness.

Bulb glass material is:

Standard, blinn shading
Diffuse: Pure white
Opacity: Falloff perpindicular/parallel starting at ~.05 with a sharp curve up to 1 the right - meaning, the sides are not transparent.
Reflection: Raytrace, with a mapping the same as opacity
self illumination (when on) - Glow(lume) shader with very high yellow intensity
Specular set to 0

The thing inside is:
Standard, self illumination with Glow(lume) shader with very high intensity. Black in the diffuse channel.
Specular set to 0

i then put an omni light with inverse falloff, set the outer bound to fit the scene nicely, and turned the intensity up a bit. Then I excluded the bulb stuff from recieving light from the omni. (Off pic has a sun on) To turn it off, i just turn off the omni and switched off the self illumination channels.

Used Mental ray to render (pardon the low AA), auto levels + specular bloomed a bit in photoshop. raytrace depth was 6 for everything.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/9818/bulb4gq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Capt.ArD]

you can just make a bulb and turn up the self illumination, and if yu use radiosity or lighttracer, there is an option to turn the bulb into a light emitter.
alternatively, you can make an area omni, make it visible, and make it a sphere. I don't have max with me, but if you look in the MR omni optoins, look for a check box that says "make visible in renderer"

[animator1]

I'd like to thank MiNT for trying to help me with the question mark/exclamation mark morpher thing. But, as a beginner, this seems a little advanced. If you can think of a way for it to seem easier than great, but other than that, i will just figure a way around it i guess.

[BuddyB309]

I'd like to thank MiNT for trying to help me with the question mark/exclamation mark morpher thing. But, as a beginner, this seems a little advanced. If you can think of a way for it to seem easier than great, but other than that, i will just figure a way around it i guess.

bend modifer with lower or uper constraints

[Damelvin]

Well i tried and this is what I got now to just light the room right.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/85/a2ef661669752a42ba5706d66e875985.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/162394/picture-hosting/lights.php)

Now the room I am trying to get everything lighted without turning up teh intensity of the omni light. Can't get the mental ray shadows to work right so i wne t with raytrace and they work to teh most part and tehre is 3 omni lights in teh scene any thing need to be fixed Other wise its time to animate and render.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/ed/78557fe44292bd5f22b9e3647639c2ed.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/163276/picture-hosting/lighted-room.php)

[MiNT]

animator - here is a simple .max with (from left to right in the scene). Drag the time slider back and forward to see them change from question mark to a line.

www.majestic12.modnmod.com/crew101/MiNT/Q.max

1. A simple line, created with create->shape->line, and i clicked 5 times.
2. The same line. I went into vertex subobject mode, selected all the vertices, right clicked, and clicked 'Bezier' (its in the top left of the quad menu that comes up when you right click in the viewport). Now that they're bezier curves, you can rotate and scale them. When you rotate, the green handles come up showing the direction that the line goes through them - the tangent. You can use the manipulator just as you normally would to change the direction. Also, you can scale the point, which lessens the degree of the curve.
3. The reference question mark
4. The bezier question mark, with 'renderable' checked, 4 sides, adaptive interpolation.
5. Just a copy of (2)...
6. A segmented box with a pathdeform modifier, using (5). The box will 'morph' around whatever path it is using, in this case, the animated spline. I also animated the y scale so the line matched up.

To animate the splines, easily, just turn on AUTO KEY (next to the key button on the bottom). I started out by keying frame 0, which is the question form. Then I went to 100, and made all the points straight, and rotated their tangents vertical. After, I went to the intermediate points (frames 50 and 75 int his case) and just rotated/moved points around until the transition was decently smooth. Whenever you change something with auto key on, a keyframe is added automatically at whatever frame you are at.

[MiNT]

Well i tried and this is what I got now to just light the room right.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/85/a2ef661669752a42ba5706d66e875985.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/162394/picture-hosting/lights.php)

Now the room I am trying to get everything lighted without turning up teh intensity of the omni light. Can't get the mental ray shadows to work right so i wne t with raytrace and they work to teh most part and tehre is 3 omni lights in teh scene any thing need to be fixed Other wise its time to animate and render.
http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/ed/78557fe44292bd5f22b9e3647639c2ed.th.jpg (http://server3.pictiger.com/img/163276/picture-hosting/lighted-room.php)


Heh, was about to say add some shadows, but I see you were already all over that =] As for the dark areas, you can safely lighten them by making an omni, setting it to diffuse only (uncheck specular), and excluding everything but the object that needs to be lightened. Then just position it however you'd like, adjust brightness, etc. Also you could perhaps add an omni, with 'ambient only' checked, at a low intensity. Keep in mind it will add with your other lights, so be careful you don't get any blowout.

For your wood materials, I would add a bit of a specular component - not too high, and with some glossiness, assuming this would would be coated. The, select the outside edges, and give them a small chamfer - this will let the corners catch a small highlight that will add a lot of depth to the scene.

[animator1]

thanks for the file MiNT, but was it created in 3ds max 8 because i can't open it in 3ds max 7.

[MiNT]

Ah, didn't realize that you were working in 7. I'll make another copy in 7 once I finish up hw...(it'll be there friday for sure).

[animator1]

ok, thanks. sooner the better. hoping to upload saturday.

[Damelvin]

Heh, was about to say add some shadows, but I see you were already all over that =] As for the dark areas, you can safely lighten them by making an omni, setting it to diffuse only (uncheck specular), and excluding everything but the object that needs to be lightened. Then just position it however you'd like, adjust brightness, etc. Also you could perhaps add an omni, with 'ambient only' checked, at a low intensity. Keep in mind it will add with your other lights, so be careful you don't get any blowout.

For your wood materials, I would add a bit of a specular component - not too high, and with some glossiness, assuming this would would be coated. The, select the outside edges, and give them a small chamfer - this will let the corners catch a small highlight that will add a lot of depth to the scene.

I actually like teh shadow areas give it a little depth and I dont think I am going to do put lights in the shaded areas just exclude them from certain omnis. I will try waht you said about teh wood.

[MiNT]

updated for max7:

www.majestic12.modnmod.com/crew101/MiNT/Q.max

[darkstar]

Do you guys know if tou are allowed to edit the animation forms at all? :confused:

[Damelvin]

Nope because then it will change the date on when teh papers when they were posted on streamline, so taht will probably disqualify u. I dont know though but I highly doubt you can change them.

[darkstar]

alright thanks, because we were thinking of putting some music in, but now we are most likely not.

[Damelvin]

Just clearifying on rendering, if I have teh camera just moving and nothing else important or text I dont have to set up teh safe mode or is that just a guideline? I am going to render these into tga format and use premier to put together. And then from tehre do I compress it and format it to quicktime and dv-ntsc?

[BuddyB309]

Just clearifying on rendering, if I have teh camera just moving and nothing else important or text I dont have to set up teh safe mode or is that just a guideline? I am going to render these into tga format and use premier to put together. And then from tehre do I compress it and format it to quicktime and dv-ntsc?

Dont use permier it will turn out crappy. Download and use Avid free dv

[Damelvin]

Quick question had problem with this last year, how would I have a tire spin if its part of the robot and the whole robot is already rotated? I mean taht makes the wheel spin really weird. Any way to constarin it or make it spin in place?

[Capt.ArD]

ok, animate the wheel on it's own, before the robot is animated. then, link it to the robot, and then animate the robot.

if the robot is already animated, use the curve editor to adjust the rotation of the wheel. curve editor is accessed by a button at the top that looks like a graph with lines on it. you only want the wheel to have movement in one direction, so that means set all the graphs to 0, except for one.

[abroerman]

I've got a quick question...

In the rules, it goes about describing the 5 second slate that is to appear at the beginning of the animation. The bullet just after that states, "Credits may follow that still frame..."

I interpreted this as saying that the credits should go after the slate (not after the animation itself), but every other team I've seen has put the credits at the end. Can someone clear this up (and if I was wrong, what possible effect may this have on the judging process)?

Thanks and good luck teams,
-alex

[Capt.ArD]

i have never seen the credits go between the splash and the animation. the credits get cut out of ther animation at the competition, so i think they want it at the end. It's easier to cut the end off an animation than the middle.

[stevek]

I've got a quick question...

In the rules, it goes about describing the 5 second slate that is to appear at the beginning of the animation. The bullet just after that states, "Credits may follow that still frame..."

-alex

Unless they messed up in the wording- (i didn't double check) The still frame they are refering to for the credits to folow- is the Black still- Remember- they want slate- black-anim-black-credits.

[Damelvin]

Just wondering if someone can get me a video of scrolling numbers like in the matrix?

[Damelvin]

I guess no one could find one o well I just finsihing up everything. Mad though taht is looks really nice adn then since I was rushed teh end doesnt look good oh well 1 guy animating I think I did better than last year so whatever I probably post it later tonight.

[animator1]

um, i don't have a video of it, but you can use this .gif i found on the matrix website http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_img/code.gif of it, and in turn make it into a video. or even this screensaver (http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/dld/matrix.zip) (i'm sure you would know how to do that)

[Damelvin]

THats katakana and kanji. Thanks for help Ill look for a gif.

[animator1]

i've also found this, http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorial/3d-matrix-code-vision/10234 and this http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorial/3d-matrix-code-vision/10234 not sure how much this will help, but can't wait to see your animation. :D

[Tyr]

Can you have still images in your 5-second slate?

[animator1]

whoa, double post. oh well, i will say it again too i guess lol. yes, i know i do, and i have seen many teams have it. especially in past years too.

[darkstar]

Holy freaking A! My team has the only rookie animation entry for my regional! :D

[greenstriker]

Yeah, I have a question.

Are there any initiation files, or files we must fill out specifically for the animation that our team must submit for the competition?

Sorry, I was browsing all of the sites, and I couldn't find anything.

[BuddyB309]

Yeah, I have a question.

Are there any initiation files, or files we must fill out specifically for the animation that our team must submit for the competition?

Sorry, I was browsing all of the sites, and I couldn't find anything.

yeah there is a form online that you fill when you submit your animation.

[theanimator17]

I was wondering if when they sayIf your entry contains audio and it is not original audio, you must provide written consent from the legal copyright owner does that include any sound effects added? like, if i went to a website to find a sound effect for like footsteps, or a vehicle, or something like that, do I need to get permission or is that just music? I am thinking it is all audio in general, but I just want to make sure and wondering if anyone knew about that.

[3dfernando]

I think only copyrighted sound will need written permission. But i'm not sure...

Anyways, we are making our own sounds, just because it isn't very clear on the rules (well it's a bit amateur since nobody here knows anything about this =p)
G.L. =)

[Mazin]

IANYL, but anything you do not produce yourself is not your's to use. If the website where you got them from explicitly states that the sounds are freely available for use in your own productions and/or they are copylefted, then you are (probably) OK and do not need written consent.

If not, then don't use them.

[theanimator17]

Well, if i was to make my own sounds, how would i make a sound of say, a helicopter or something like that? That is something that would seem tough to make a sound for wouldn't it? or i guess i could record one myself if i get lucky and see one nearby.

[BuddyB309]

Well, if i was to make my own sounds, how would i make a sound of say, a helicopter or something like that? That is something that would seem tough to make a sound for wouldn't it? or i guess i could record one myself if i get lucky and see one nearby.

There is a lot of sounds you can do with your own body. Be creative. for example, the crushing bones sound you hear in the moive Jaws is actually cabbage being torn apart and cut with a knife.

[3DWolf]

We are using a map for our background (sky), and I was wondering if there was any way to modify that (such as darken it) over time. My partner and I cannot seem to find a way using keys or anything. I don't think it's possible. Anyone have any idea's?

[BuddyB309]

We are using a map for our background (sky), and I was wondering if there was any way to modify that (such as darken it) over time. My partner and I cannot seem to find a way using keys or anything. I don't think it's possible. Anyone have any idea's?

Okay what you need to do is make a sphere that covers the entire area so your scene is inside the sphere. Then import the bitmap into materials and give that material to the giant sphere. Make sure to check the "2-sided" otherwise the sphere wont show. In the bitmap parameters there is a graph that you can adjust to make the map darker. Also set the shere to 100 self illumination.

Or. you can scrap the sphere and keep the matiral and use the matirial as the background.

[3DWolf]

Okay what you need to do is make a sphere that covers the entire area so your scene is inside the sphere. Then import the bitmap into materials and give that material to the giant sphere. Make sure to check the "2-sided" otherwise the sphere wont show. In the bitmap parameters there is a graph that you can adjust to make the map darker. Also set the shere to 100 self illumination.

Or. you can scrap the sphere and keep the matiral and use the matirial as the background.

We were doing that for some other things, I didn't think about doing it that way. Where do I have to move the map file to get it to show as a material? Also, do I have to change it anyway? Because wouldn't it still be a 2d map?

[BuddyB309]

We were doing that for some other things, I didn't think about doing it that way. Where do I have to move the map file to get it to show as a material? Also, do I have to change it anyway? Because wouldn't it still be a 2d map?

alright, when you are in the evironment map adder window, on the left side of the window you should see material editor. Click on that and choose your material from there. I would suggests doing the giant sphere rout cause if your camera moves at all in your animation your sky will just say in one spot. If you do the sphere then the sky will move with your evironment. Although skylight wont work with the giant sphere.

But if you have problems with your lights you can exclude the sphere to the in the lights options.

[3dfernando]

With the environment and material editor windows open, drag the backgroound map from environ. window to any slot of material editor, and name it as an instance of the map. Now you can change the attributes of the background image via material editor. To darken it, just go to the last (output) rollout and change the Output amount/RGB offset sliders (with autokey on) until you are satisfied.

You can use a cylinder/sphere to make environment, but I don't recommend unless your camera rotates a lot, and unless your environment map is "really" appearing...

But the sphere trick has some disadvantages: If your camera rotates 360º, it will appear the "seam" that represents the start of the map... Unless your map is "tileable" =p .
And like buddy said, it doesn't allow skylight to light the scene. And you have to flip the sphere's normals (or apply a 2-sided material), otherwise it won't work.

[Mazin]

You don't need a giant sphere.

Put a map in the Environment slot as usual, and then animate the "Output level" in the map's properties. 1 is regular brightness. 0 is black.

Note, has not been tested in Max.

[3DWolf]

You don't need a giant sphere.

Put a map in the Environment slot as usual, and then animate the "Output level" in the map's properties. 1 is regular brightness. 0 is black.

Note, has not been tested in Max.

Oh hey! That worked very well! My team has been trying to figure that out for the past two weeks!
I guess that's what you get what your 3d team consists of a 2 year and a 1 year animator :ahh:

[Mazin]

Oh hey! That worked very well! My team has been trying to figure that out for the past two weeks!
I guess that's what you get what your 3d team consists of a 2 year and a 1 year animator :ahh:

I win :D

[BuddyB309]

I win :D

You do know this means war........

[gardener]

I have a question:

Can you integrate a animated gif picture or a video onto an object as the material?

[BuddyB309]

I have a question:

Can you integrate a animated gif picture or a video onto an object as the material?

Yup, This in done in the material editor (press "M") Instead of choosing a bitmap or a picture as a texture choose the video file instead. Make sure in the parameteres below you set the frame when the video starts playing and if it loops or pingpongs. And you dont have to have it just be diffuse. You can also use the moive file for the other maps as well.

[Mr.Fraggs]

hey all what time is it due for submission ? east coast time ?

[Kevin Thorp]

5:00 pm Pacific = 8:00 pm Eastern.

But I'll bet there will be gridlock on Autodesk's upload site as hundreds of teams try to upload massive video files at the same time.

[Morgan Gillespie]

That is exactly why we uploaded ours before. A smoking 249.75mb. Cutting it close cannot even describe it.

[legotech25]

That is exactly why we uploaded ours before. A smoking 249.75mb. Cutting it close cannot even describe it.


Question about file size... We tried rendering our animation, and it came out to 2 Gigabytes!!! how can we tone that down? is that a rendering problem and/or an animation problem?

background info... we have one character, sparse animation, and a slideshow of about 14 pictures in the background.

[Hyniora]

take a look on the number of frames you've put.... we had the same problem, but with 18GB... and 2.997 frames/s.... xD
hope it helped

[legotech25]

take a look on the number of frames you've put.... we had the same problem, but with 18GB... and 2.997 frames/s.... xD
hope it helped

what do you mean by number of frames?

[BuddyB309]

what do you mean by number of frames?

Okay things that can jack up size of the video:

1- size of the video: If your video is 4096x4096 is going to be a larger file size. Render if out in 740x480

2-type of video compression: Your enty should be a Quicktime file and should have the NSTC codec. An umcompressed avi is ungodly large.

3-frames per sec: make sure your frames per sec are either 30, 24, or 29.97. If you set your frames per second to 60, 120, or 129,382,483,384 its going to be larger than it needs too

4- length of video: sometimes a program will render out 2 hours of black. Make sure your video is only the size it needs to be. Play the whole thing. If the little slider is still moving after your video is done playing, Then you have unwanted time of blackness.

[legotech25]

Okay things that can jack up size of the video:

1- size of the video: If your video is 4096x4096 is going to be a larger file size. Render if out in 740x480

2-type of video compression: Your enty should be a Quicktime file and should have the NSTC codec. An umcompressed avi is ungodly large.

3-frames per sec: make sure your frames per sec are either 30, 24, or 29.97. If you set your frames per second to 60, 120, or 129,382,483,384 its going to be larger than it needs too

4- length of video: sometimes a program will render out 2 hours of black. Make sure your video is only the size it needs to be. Play the whole thing. If the little slider is still moving after your video is done playing, Then you have unwanted time of blackness.

Ok, we tried following all of these things, but it's still 2 gig. Is there anything else I can try? If not, we're fine with not submitting. (we had plenty of trouble coming up with a concept. The animation is cool, but there's no real point to it)

By the way, thanks for everyone's help :)

[team 2244]

HELP US ! ! !
We are from Free Access Evolution Team and we are having problems trying to upload the animation. We developed the animation with all the specifications provided in www.autodesk.com/firstbase, but the upload didn't run. So now, we are thinking of making a new site to put our animation there, so we could tell FIRST the password to enter on the site. What do you think of this? Do you think t's possible?

P L E A S E A N S W E R U S ! ! !

Pedro (#2244)

[team 2244]

HELP US ! ! !
We are from Free Access Evolution Team and we are having problems trying to upload the animation. We developed the animation with all the specifications provided in www.autodesk.com/firstbase, but the upload didn't run. So now, we are thinking of making a new site to put our animation there, so we could tell FIRST the password to enter on the site. What do you think of this? Do you think t's possible?

P L E A S E A N S W E R U S ! ! !

Pedro (#2244)

[rastermon]

HELP US ! ! !
We are from Free Access Evolution Team and we are having problems trying to upload the animation. We developed the animation with all the specifications provided in www.autodesk.com/firstbase, but the upload didn't run. So now, we are thinking of making a new site to put our animation there, so we could tell FIRST the password to enter on the site. What do you think of this? Do you think t's possible?

P L E A S E A N S W E R U S ! ! !

Pedro (#2244)

You could put it on your website, but who knows if it will get included on the DVD, or judged.. send the link to FIRST.
I assume a mentor - or someone with upload authority was trying to upload the movie? I had no problems last night.

Rob

[team 2244]

yes it was a mentor who was trying to upload, but we received the answer from autodesk and they told us to stay calm, and try to upload...xD

we are trying to stay calm...xD

Tamires(#2244)[Hyniora]

[legotech25]

ok, so we got turned the file size down quite a bit, but now we can't figure out how to put in audio while in 3ds max 8... can someone help us out? (again)?

[Setsanto]

Hey
Is it possible to insert a picture into 3ds as a sort of guide? Since our animation team consists of two rookies, namely me and another guy, and we are just getting the hang of the program, we're not planning on entering an animation, but as practice, im trying to model a fighter jet, and i found a top side and front view of an F14, which I really want to model, Problem is, its a bit difficult to do it correctly if I'm constantly flipping between the file and 3ds, so can I insert it tonto the background, so I can sort of extrude and stuff my box to make it look right?

~Nick/1334

[Theflexmaster]

Yeah that's pretty easy.

-First select a viewport you want to have it in
-Then hit alt+b and find the picture you want to use as the guide
-Finally click match bitmap, then click lock zoom/pan as long as you want the guide not to move.

Another way is to just use planes with textures on them. That's probably the best for your jet. It's best if you use blueprints to make the jet. So basically in your top viewport, make a plane with the top view picture on it. If you don't know how to do that, just go into the material editor and click on the diffuse map. From there select bitmap and find your top view picture. Repeat this process for the side picture just in another viewport.

-Good Luck!

[DinkyDogg]

That's one way to do it, but not my favorite. I usually make a material with a lambertian shader (or just set specularity and glossiness to 0), add the reference image as the diffuse map, copy it to the self illumination channel, hit the button for "view material in viewport", then apply it to a plane with the same aspect ratio as the image. That way you can move it around more easily. You can freeze it so that you wont select it by accident, but first you should go to the display tab and make sure that "Display frozen in gray" is unchecked.

Your way is probably easier, but I like the added flexibility this method gives me. If you do it this way, it also shows up in the renders unless you hide it.


EDIT - Doh! I only read the beginning of your post. The method I just outlined is the planes method you suggested. Good for blueprints and stuff, because you can match up the planes in the different orthographic viewports.

[Mazin]

Make sure to go into Customize > Preferences > Something about DirectX and set the maximum texture import size to the highest or "match as closely as possible."

[rastermon]

I was confused by Video Post... What apps did you all use to compose/ edit your animation. I rendered all frames as .tif , then used 3DMax Video Post to convert to a Quicktime. I could not add our audio track (.wav), so I ended up using iMove HD on the Mac - which degraded the quality significantly.
Last year we rendered directly to a .mov and had the audio imported in the 3DsMAx animation, and thus was recorded into the .mov.
This year I wanted flexibility, so I rendered as tif...
How'd you do it?

[Kevin Thorp]

I was confused by Video Post... What apps did you all use to compose/ edit your animation?

We've also tried Video Post, and found it awkward for editing multiple scenes, audio tracks, titling, etc.

Adobe Premiere Pro is probably the most popular high-end video editing program. But at $700-$800 it aint cheap. Even the educational version is pricey - $280-$350.

Then we discovered Adobe Premiere "Elements" does most of what it's big brother can do and only costs about $70. So we bought that and are very happy with the results. You can download a free trial at Adobe.com but it'll put their logo on the top right of all your output. :(

IMPORTANT: At first we were very disappointed in the quality of the .MOV when saved in DV-NTSC codec. Then I found out it had nothing to do with Adobe. It was a simple setting in the QuickTime Player. Under Preferences I checked "Use high quality video setting when available". Then our animation looked great!