Anim8or Community

wolfsong73: This is on purpose.  I thought it would be more useful to move around on the ground plane with the LMB, and up and down with the RMB.

Hiya, Steve.

Yeah, I noticed that. The RMB makes sense. But why would it be moving, with the LMB, along the Y axis if I have 'Z' locked, and vice versa? That's what's throwing me off.

If I have the Z button highlighted, shouldn't it be moving along the Z axis, and likewise along Y if I have the Y button highlighted?

Hello,

So, I've tried twice to post a message regarding a possible bug I'm experiencing with the move tool when specific axis are selected. I tried attaching a video clip the first time, and then the post disappeared. The second time I just tried linking it, and the post still disappeared.

Is there a problem with linking or attaching videos?

I've noticed most of 3d modeling programs have some problems. Maybe one has an amazing modeling tool, but rigging or animating is awful, and other has a nice rendering engine, but modeling tools suck.
Well, I can honestly say that's the reason I use and love an8. I'm pretty glad and happy with it, great modeling tools, easy and efficient rigging system, clean and very user-friendly interface. All it was missing was the IK tool, which is now in the making, and I'm freakin' excited about it. 
Maybe for the future some displacement maps added... and I think an8 is PERFECT
Right?

Well, I haven't done much with it yet, and I've lots to learn, but I'm certainly having fun with it so far! And, yeah, adding IK should be a huge boost for animation.

Beyond that, I'm sure there are other major features that could be implemented, or even QoL things. Something can always improve, after all. But, I do feel like, so far, AN8 seems to have a very solid and well thought-out foundation to build on.

Okay! So I've been doing some learning/experimenting with texturing and lighting.

I've decided that these specific canisters are going to be a learning project, not part of the actual full 'kitchen project' I plan to do. I was doing some searching online and found some canisters whose look and style I like a lot more. More curvy, and with a blue and gray earthenware look. I think they'll be more interesting to look at.

So! I did some renders, experimenting with the different settings, but am finding that I can't get the light very bright. At 100% (255, 255, 255), and up close to the jars, it's just not very bright. I also didn't see a multiplier, or any mention in the documentation (though I might have overlooked it) on how to increase the brightness. Is there a way to increase the brightness of the lights? It's a spotlight. Also just realized I'd forgotten to enable shadows for that shot. Whoops.

So, here's a render I did.. There's the base diffuse color, a spec map (which isn't very noticeable in this shot) and an environment map applied.

The render was done with Carrara which is similar to Anim8or in that it is a comprehensive modelling/animation/rendering package, however it's not free or open source.  Its modeller is kinda terrible to be honest, which is why I still prefer to build in Anim8or, however it has an excellent renderer that is able to make use of multi-threading and network-rendering.  If I engage both my i7 machines that's 16 threads of rendering power, which equals speed.  Since I'm mainly rendering HD1080 at 24 fps, speed is essential to maintain workflow.  While the sample image above could absolutely have been rendered with Anim8or (in fact, ART renders look nicer than Carrara's in my opinion) it would have taken many times longer to render (2-3 minutes per frame in Carrara, possibly 20-30 minutes or more in Anim8or depending on settings).

The bolded bit was exactly my experience with it. Cool program, uncomfortable modeling process.

Great vid! I watched it through while home on lunch :p.

Quote from: wolfsong73 on September 11, 2016, 01:43:49 pm

I just finally said "okay, enough" to a stint with another one, from a fairly well-known company, whose developers seem to place more importance on "doing everything differently", than on creating an intuitive and approachable app. Not going to name which, 'cause I don't want this to be a "this vs. that" type of post.

Hash Inc.?

Nope! Though I have worked with that in the past.

Neat program, and has a nice workflow. As it stands, I personally see A:M as a kind of "niche novelty app". It's cool, Hash patches are an interesting way of constructing objects, and can yield some nice results (which ultimately comes down to the person using it). But it's not fulfilling any needs that haven't already long been addressed, and far better supported, with sub-d's.

I've always thought their marketing point about "Hash Patches being more efficient than polygons" has been overstated - especially as computers' graphics capabilities have become so powerful.  IMO, if they ditched the spline/hash patch method of modeling, implemented sub-d's, but kept everything else the same, the program could probably blow up quite a bit, not to mention expand its compatibility, and viability in a pipeline, many times over.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear.  Rather than using layers, I just use multiple Objects.  An Object can contain any number of wireframes (meshes) and you can have any number of Objects within a project.  Objects can be named as required so could be a solution to your need of a 'backup' repository of your meshes.  I haven't used layers in Anim8or but from what I can gather their power is in their ability to be hidden, so background meshes can be hidden for improved clarity while working on foreground meshes.

Ah, gotcha.

At the moment, my plan is to move any lathe/extrusion profiles to layer 7, and keep that layer hidden. So I have the pieces handy, but out of the way unless/until I need them.

I'm also going to be using layers for my project, as it's definitely going to be useful to keep objects sorted by their use/importance in a scene.

You can create as many Objects as you need, and copy/paste wireframes from one to another.  Objects can be used however you want, I often set up one called 'Workbench' where lathing, extruding and point-editing takes place, 'Holding' as a temporary dump for objects being worked on, 'Construction' where various objects are put together, 'Backup' where wireframes are kept where I'm worried about messing them up, etc.  These can be permanent Objects for animating in Figure or Scene modes or temporary, for deletion once the project moves to the next stage.  Does that help?

So you can name the layers? Or is that an association you've set up for yourself, where each layer, 0 through 7, is for each of those things?  I've not seen any option to name layers while looking through the interface/menus.