CGTalk - www.animationmentor.com

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 05:34 PM

Well MayaKindaGuy,
I tried to watch the video, then i tried to open another window when the video was loading, and then the video was lost and it was not available in the messages, i had 2 more messages and not 3 as the beginning.After i made the tweaking for the connection properties, and now i can't login as the others...but we wait:)

Obinet

03-28-2005, 05:35 PM

Well guys - I was able to download Stu character. Great setup. But probably I shouldn't be able to do that yet?!? Don't worry - I won't tell that to anyone!

hideandfreak

03-28-2005, 05:35 PM

I am sure they will have it back up and running soon.

It was like trick or treating for candy and opening christmas presents all in one litte website, I just went nuts and started clicking everything, so its probably my fault.

Mesi

03-28-2005, 05:35 PM

Don't worry guys. This was to be expected with some 200 to 300 people trying to log in and watching the videos at the same time. Just give them some time...

Rikki

03-28-2005, 05:36 PM

On the plus side for mactards, most of the site seems to work fine in Safari! The only thing I've noticed that doesn't work is the scrollbar on the forums page.

SheepFactory

03-28-2005, 05:38 PM

on a side note kudos to the guys who designed the site , its the best laid out site I have ever seen , even before watching orientation everything was perfectly clear.

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 05:38 PM

screaming, dribbling people.

Have you been spying on me? ;)

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 05:39 PM

Now their server is down?

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 05:40 PM

ok it's here now:)

mayakindaguy

03-28-2005, 05:40 PM

Yup the site is sweeeeeeet, and let us not forget the boom chiggitty music in the background. lol.

coooooooooool.

mattmos

03-28-2005, 05:40 PM

akem

03-28-2005, 05:42 PM

After the intial euphoria of logging in and changing my settings, it now won't let me back.:sad:

From the few moments I was there it looked pretty damn neat.:thumbsup:

"Im locked out ..please let me in" -Akon... i mean Akem. :p

Modus

03-28-2005, 05:43 PM

Very nice site, though my eyes can't cope with the text at 1600 x 1200 - is there any way we can enlarge the flash viewing window to fit larger resolutions, or do I have to re-size my monitor display?

same here..the trick i found is using opera..there is a zoom function which is great !! try it
for the video classes its gonne be great :scream: you can zoom in like 300 % and even more !!

Parlo

03-28-2005, 05:44 PM

On the plus side for mactards, most of the site seems to work fine in Safari! The only thing I've noticed that doesn't work is the scrollbar on the forums page.

This is good news.... I'll keep my fingers crossed. It would be great if some of this experience could be had on my sofa via my laptop rather than all at my desk. :)

I did notice that the scrollbar on the forum felt odd in IE on a windows machine - it showed that there was more to scroll to when there wasn't. I spend a little while trying to move it before realising that I couldn't. Perhaps this is all part of the teething. Just idle speculation of course. The design is amazing.

RosieAM

03-28-2005, 05:46 PM

It's looking like we have a very temporary bug with a macromedia script. Everyone' here is right on top of it, and hopefully the site will be 100% functional in about a half an hour.

Just wanted to let y'all know in case you can't log in or the video stops abruptly.
We're very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!

Thanks,
Rosie

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 05:48 PM

I NEEEEED TO BE BACK INSIDE... Oh how they tease us! LOL :D

I am gonna be on that thing 24/7 I tell ya, it's the most awesome thing I have ever seen!!!

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 05:49 PM

I see we have a number of AM staff browsing! :thumbsup:

bentllama

03-28-2005, 05:50 PM

i cannot log in at all...both from work and home. nothing. nada. just a message saying "logging in - one second"

apparently 'one second' means 'never'. :)

animboom

03-28-2005, 05:50 PM

:thumbsup: Hang tight folks. I was assured we will be up and running in no time. There were some last minute upgrades that we are dealing out. Things should be fine very soon. Check back periodically. Sorry for any inconveniences. It will be sorted today. Thanks.

-BOOM

RosieAM

03-28-2005, 05:51 PM

I just posted something, but I don't see it...
ah well. I wanted to let you all know we're having a temporary problem with a macromedia script. We should be back up and running at full capacity within a half hour.

Thanks!

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 05:51 PM

Will AM release something live shortly?Or we can be away for a while?

swadepgh

03-28-2005, 05:53 PM

Oh the torture. It's like when you drop your ice cream cone on the sidewalk.

I am so excited that it is finally starting!!!

I will have to miss some of my metalsmithing class to make the Q&A this week but that's ok. Nothing is more important to me right now than learning as much as possible from the AM program.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Modus

03-28-2005, 05:53 PM

I would say ; Ms Rosie :) for answering ALL my emails during the registration process, you have been awesome ! :thumbsup:

bentllama

03-28-2005, 05:54 PM

damn. I don't mind calling customer support when it is Rosie's voice I hear.

;)

Very pleasant.

I guess in the meantime I will just go play with some xbox 2 stuff. lol.

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 05:55 PM

.....and Kelly:thumbsup:

bentllama

03-28-2005, 05:56 PM

I will have to miss some of my metalsmithing class to make the Q&A this week but that's ok. Nothing is more important to me right now than learning as much as possible from the AM program.

I am set to take possesion of my first house Wednesday at 9pm...and my Q&A with Navone is at 8:30pm on Wednesday...somehow I have to juggle a move and the first days of AM...fun stuff! :)

Marty15

03-28-2005, 05:56 PM

It is true, Without Rosie i would have gone mad. Thanks Rosie for keeping my sanity :thumbsup:

alexandrecollac

03-28-2005, 05:58 PM

Can´t log anymore, don´t know why. I´m taking a break every minute at work to try to log.

skelly6

03-28-2005, 05:59 PM

.....and Kelly:thumbsup:

ha ha ha - you caught me! :) I was just checkin' stuff out - you guys always get me so pumped up!

As for the site - it'll be up soon - we're making some really cool last-minute upgrades that couldn't be done over the weekend because of the Easter holiday... hang tight!

shawn ;)

Modus

03-28-2005, 06:01 PM

jason ? no comments about this incredible day ? :)

is there any other mentors here ?? shawn , if youre at work, call your co-workers such as Delio :bounce:

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 06:03 PM

oh, this waiting....
I waited till my coffee was ready so I could more fully savor the moment and thus missed the wee window of opportunity for a first gimpse of the site.
it does cause me a small amount of pain.
ow.
:banghead:

:cry:

SheepFactory

03-28-2005, 06:05 PM

ha ha ha - you caught me! :) I was just checkin' stuff out - you guys always get me so pumped up!

As for the site - it'll be up soon - we're making some really cool last-minute upgrades that couldn't be done over the weekend because of the Easter holiday... hang tight!

shawn ;)

Hey Shawn!

Got a brief glimpse of your posts in the forum man , we'll be over that forum like locusts when it launches :D

cant wait cant wait cant wait...

Modus

03-28-2005, 06:07 PM

btw...where's Carlos ???

Jeremy Hopkins

03-28-2005, 06:13 PM

What I saw looked really fantastic! Great job guys! I checked out the syllabus before logging out and it seems like it'll be a solid start to the program. Nice!

swadepgh

03-28-2005, 06:13 PM

I am set to take possesion of my first house Wednesday at 9pm...and my Q&A with Navone is at 8:30pm on Wednesday...somehow I have to juggle a move and the first days of AM...fun stuff! :)

Bent you are not alone. BUying a new house is so exciting! We just bought our first house last June and now due to new opportunities and job relocation we will be putting it on the market for sale in the next couple of weeks. So during the first quarter of AM I will be getting the house ready for sale, showing it, looking for a new house in California, and moving. I hope it all goes smoothly. Needless to say, the next few months will be even busier than I thought!

jschleifer

03-28-2005, 06:17 PM

skelly6

03-28-2005, 06:17 PM

Hey Shawn!

Got a brief glimpse of your posts in the forum man , we'll be over that forum like locusts when it launches :D

cant wait cant wait cant wait...

Hi Ali! Yeah, the forum will be really fun!

DonHuan

03-28-2005, 06:17 PM

I remember now my teachers at school when i was a young boy:), there were some good moments with them but some very nasty too:scream: .
I hope at the end of this journey we will have only pleasant memories, in this so live-virtual school!

3FnD

03-28-2005, 06:19 PM

Good morning/afternoon/evening/middle-of-the-freakin'-night everyone!

You when you have to wait for something and then anticipation builds and it's better than it would have been if you just got it right away? Same kinda thing here.

anyone who got in earlier have their cams on?

bentllama, congrats on the house. Hope the timing and all goes well! Good luck.

My Fault

03-28-2005, 06:20 PM

woah!

so I just got back from my snowboarding trip this weeknd to find 8 billion posts about AM. sweeet. :)

lookin forward to starting up!

(and I'm sure cgtalk is lookin forward to the lighter server load.. heh :)

-jas

Oooh, snowboarding. I went for the first time last year, though it more resembled snow falling, snow tripping, snow crashing... but it sure was fun. So do you hit the Tahoe area or some secret ninja snowboarding place?

AZL42

03-28-2005, 06:27 PM

We will be back up shortly.
Thank you for your patience.

Ooooh cool! They've given us a page we can F5!

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 06:27 PM

okay, site's down... perhaps this portends well for us!

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 06:29 PM

We will be back up shortly.
Thank you for your patience.

Ooooh cool! They've given us a page we can F5!

My F5 key is already in so much pain..... Ahhh well :D

Ejecta

03-28-2005, 06:43 PM

Obinet

03-28-2005, 06:45 PM

I know the site is gonna be up in no time but I have to put up this little clip of first problematic hour...

http://users.volja.net/obinet/animation/Stu_Dissapointment.avi

Good luck on browsing. I have to go now and prepare for a real thing.

Samo

p.s. I have to save it to see the animation... lol

Rikki

03-28-2005, 06:51 PM

Im really wanting to get an iSight for my mac but Im afraid it wont work with AM saying their site isnt that Mac freindly as of yet. I have my PC that I will be doing all my 3D school work on so I can get a Logitech for it but the iSights are sooo cool. :D

I'm going to be doing what I can to get the site (and iSight) to work on Mac. I'll let you know how I get on when the site's back :)

peanuckle

03-28-2005, 06:54 PM

Its the first day of school and of course I am feeling under the weather. I can't wait to get started though. Its going to be a fun time.

Tanner

jschleifer

03-28-2005, 07:23 PM

Oooh, snowboarding. I went for the first time last year, though it more resembled snow falling, snow tripping, snow crashing... but it sure was fun. So do you hit the Tahoe area or some secret ninja snowboarding place?

up in the tahoe area.. 'twas nice! a bit icy on sunday, and I'm crazy-sore now 'cuz I'm so friggin old :)

but it was good. now i've gotta get a new board for next season, cuz mine's about 6 years old.. (got an old k2 fatbob, which is GREAT in powder, but not so hot otherwise..)

Rikki

03-28-2005, 07:31 PM

Marty15

03-28-2005, 07:38 PM

I was so close to keeping my sanity, oh well, i suppose i could enjoy being mad for a little while - I gather it's quite liberating.

Ahh it's painful, so painful :D

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 07:45 PM

site is online guys!

Marty15

03-28-2005, 07:45 PM

On second thoughts i'll keep my sanity and go Wooohoo I'm in again :)

kevan

03-28-2005, 07:55 PM

up in the tahoe area.. 'twas nice! a bit icy on sunday, and I'm crazy-sore now 'cuz I'm so friggin old :)

it was very sad watching the poor old boy limping around. fortunately he's still in one piece, so his new AM tutees may yet benefit from his mighty animation brain-powers.

good luck to everyone involved in the AM adventure!

kevan

bentllama

03-28-2005, 07:56 PM

site is back up, but I am still getting "LOGGING IN - ONE SECOND"

:shrug:

what to do?

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 07:58 PM

oh, me too...
logging on, one second...
is anyone actually able to log on?

mayakindaguy

03-28-2005, 08:05 PM

I can log on right now, but my video doesn't buffer anymore :shrug:

Well, it did at first but i was trying to tweak the settings to optimize the buffering and...
I hope I didn't break it.

SheepFactory

03-28-2005, 08:10 PM

I am in and watching the Stu intro video just fine without a hiccup.

It works much faster compared to two hours ago so whatever they did worked fine :thumbsup:

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 08:12 PM

okay, I must be logging on wrong or something:shrug:

My Fault

03-28-2005, 08:15 PM

up in the tahoe area.. 'twas nice! a bit icy on sunday, and I'm crazy-sore now 'cuz I'm so friggin old :)

but it was good. now i've gotta get a new board for next season, cuz mine's about 6 years old.. (got an old k2 fatbob, which is GREAT in powder, but not so hot otherwise..)

Very cool. We did Northstar (which was a wee bit expensive) but finished up at Boreal. Boreal was great for us because we are total newbs and there were less people so we didn't accidentaly decapitate anyone when we crashed.... which was often. I was amazed just how exhausting snowboarding is. Perhaps I will try to animate one of my more impressive falls. Just need to learn a little more about soft body dynamics. Gotta get that belly jiggle when I hit the deck just right :scream:

mayakindaguy

03-28-2005, 08:16 PM

heh stupid me
i forgot that u have to disable and enable norton because it causes problems

Kenny_Rocks

03-28-2005, 08:23 PM

*sigh*

I've turned off ALL my web protection logged out then logged back in
and none of the videos work !!

:sad:

How long is it taking to buffer for you guys ?

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 08:33 PM

videos work, but it keeps catching up with the buffer and skipping.

i'm on a 2mb connection, so i have no idea wots up. still some teething problems you think?!?!

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 08:33 PM

alright, Im IN!!!:bounce:

turns out there was a problem with some of the characters I had used in my passoword
so Rosie took care of it for me and gave me a new one!!!

YAY!!!:buttrock:

Kenny_Rocks

03-28-2005, 08:36 PM

I dunno !??

I logged out and clicked on the front video
and it picks it up straight away..really quick..

but inside the videos for me at least are DEAD..

not a squeak..

:sad:

rab

03-28-2005, 08:41 PM

site is back up, but I am still getting "LOGGING IN - ONE SECOND"

:shrug:

what to do?

Uh, more xbox 2?

Thorse3D

03-28-2005, 08:44 PM

I've got some problems with the buffering of videos too. It starts to load, play during some seconds or a minute and suddenly stops

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 08:45 PM

I dunno !??

I logged out and clicked on the front video
and it picks it up straight away..really quick..

but inside the videos for me at least are DEAD..

not a squeak..

:sad:

I'm getting the exact same now dude!

Modus

03-28-2005, 08:50 PM

The videos are even not starting for me :sad:

mikefidelish

03-28-2005, 08:51 PM

same here , videos are not starting, it says buffering, that's it

3FnD

03-28-2005, 08:52 PM

yeah, vids seem to have stuck or something. they're not buffering anymore.

trying to check out other site stuff meantime.

SheepFactory

03-28-2005, 08:52 PM

yes the vids are dead again.

SheepFactory

03-28-2005, 08:54 PM

correction , the vids are back , faster than before.

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 09:05 PM

URGH!

Invalid Password... I don't remember changing anything! :shrug:

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 09:07 PM

oooh, I was viewing the guest lecture and then it just stopped and now none of my videos work!

Kenny_Rocks

03-28-2005, 09:09 PM

You Beauty !!

They're Finally Working for me !!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!

Time for a dance !!
You can't touch this !!

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/1218.gif

3FnD

03-28-2005, 09:12 PM

monster, I keep having to sign out and back in an it seems to reset "buffers" for flash or something. Then wait for the whole first part of the vid to rebuffer. They're probably gonna fix that.

Kenny_Rocks

03-28-2005, 09:15 PM

CUT the MC HAMMER !!

Videos are knackered again !!
:sad:

AT least I know now that it works on my pc and it's probably some technician
beavering away at the AM cave.. fine tuning..

* touch wood, rub rabbits foot, hold four leaf clover *

come on come on come on come on.

vanlicht

03-28-2005, 09:16 PM

yeh same here, i believe AM tech support guys are trying their best to fine-tune the interface, i can understand that, and afterall it's holiday of Easters that sectioned their work, that's totally reasonable. Oh, but i do hope thingies of this minor problems can be fixed before the live Q&A and Global Orientation video Conf, otherwise it'd be kinda odd that all of a sudden the vid interface freezes and nada.

And yeh, it's reaaaaally amazing since login the first time and see all those neaty-gritty interface and design. Just looks amazing, and even we can see the fellow students work and even their crits from the mentor? Wow, suddenly I feel the load of information is more profound than i actually expected!!! Brilliant.

Guiliguili

03-28-2005, 09:19 PM

Same problems here in Tahiti.
I can't see any video.
I try the orientation video : buffering a long time, then I got the beginning of the video. then the video stops and the buffering restart from the beginning....
I try the Maya basic.... a little more better until the middle of the video. Then nothing buffering stops and I can't even look at the beginning of this video...
And after nothing works on the website.

monstersauce

03-28-2005, 09:23 PM

thanks 3FnD,
it's workin' for me again : )

I just have to adjust my buffer settings now :P

3FnD

03-28-2005, 09:24 PM

OMG! Bobby just "stopped by" to say hi (via AM chat!) He apologized about the streaming trouble! they're working on it still.

Seems to be going fine for me now.

k

Magenta_

03-28-2005, 09:24 PM

I would say ; Ms Rosie :) for answering ALL my emails during the registration process, you have been awesome ! :thumbsup:

and Cecile and Luis :thumbsup:

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 09:26 PM

My password is invalid?!?! :cry:

What have I done to deserve this torture?!?! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :cry:

Ejecta

03-28-2005, 09:39 PM

Video still no worky for me.:scream:

Guiliguili

03-28-2005, 09:41 PM

Video not working for me too. No buffering

Thorse3D

03-28-2005, 09:48 PM

When i open the site with my IE 6.0 and click "chat" or "Who's online" in the forum it seems that everybody is offline but it works fine with my Firefox... The videos fails using IE and Firefox...

same for u ?

supergrover

03-28-2005, 09:56 PM

same here I'm afraid - Looks like some major teething problems. They did beta test this right?

LIGHTYEAR

03-28-2005, 09:57 PM

Yep, I get the same, I thought I was in there on my own. Havnt managed to watch any vids yet, all dead.

immerzeelpictures

03-28-2005, 10:00 PM

Logged in perfectly, but after logging out I can not get in again!?
request of login data came back with good username, but the password field was empty.

Cannot remember changing my password..

Let me IN AGAIN..... please.

Edit: Nevermind. Got in again.. Probably maintainance.

liquidik

03-28-2005, 10:19 PM

Ohh well, at least now I know that is something not related with my line (1.2 mbs DSL). Hope they work this out soon, the eric goldberg video just stopped in the middle (I was having a lot of rebuffering).
Everything seems great though..

Come on guys, you can do it we know !

animboom

03-28-2005, 10:20 PM

Hey, folks sorry for the vids problem. Macromedia gave us a bunk license and we had to restart it every 20 minutes. eeek! Sorry guys. We have an "Unlimited" license so things should be so mega fast that your head will spin. Haa haa. Enjoy!

-BOOM

Bentagon

03-28-2005, 10:27 PM

peanuckle

03-28-2005, 10:30 PM

vanlicht

03-28-2005, 10:38 PM

kinda unsure about the speed, like when i watch the orientation vids the buffer is fast, while jump to the maya for animator session the buffer speed drops into very poor state...is it because too much people watching it hence the rate drops or it's something wrong on mine side? or simply it's still testing and tuning?

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 10:55 PM

i get this too, anyone found a good setting yet?!

ReneAlex

03-28-2005, 11:05 PM

What about norton... I got Norton Internet security what are the settings for the firewall or wherever to set up??

I disable it to log in, but is a pain in the ass do it each time!

someone?

Guiliguili

03-28-2005, 11:06 PM

Nothing works for me.
I try to watch the orientation video.
First there is a buffering time. I notice that there is, on the time line of the windows, a small black line which shows the size of the buffer.
I have the settings recommended by the AM team. 10 10 and 30 30 (as I have a 512 KB/s connection)
When the buffer is full, the video starts and all restart to the beginning.
I change the settings to 200... just to check.
Now the black line is in the middle of the time line. The buffering starts and stops at the middle but no video
More, all the site is frozen

HELP:scream:

Jozvex

03-28-2005, 11:17 PM

I was able to view the first orientation video with perhaps 3 pauses for more buffering (I'm only on a 256k connection), then after I changed my settings from 10/10, 30/30 to 20/20, 60/60 and relogging, the videos have stopped working. It buffers to the black line and then does nothing.

On another strange note, my 'Location' information in my profile won't save. Everything else did.

Hehe, it'll all get fixed up eventually, I have no doubt!

:thumbsup:

mmkelly011881

03-28-2005, 11:17 PM

I'm in the same boat as Guiliguili... granted he's in the more tropical sunshiney Tahitian boat and im in the cold wintry upstate New York boat...

"i think we're gonna need a bigger boat"

gonna use this time to design a new avatar

ps... iexplorer is using up 50% of my CPU and 100 MB of Ram

Rikki

03-28-2005, 11:36 PM

I've managed to watch a few of the videos albeit with several pauses and rebuffers in the middle. Now I'm watching the Maya videos and it'll play for a bit then suddenly stop and jump back to the beginning. I'm giving up for tonight since the 15 minute buffer time each time I try to restart it is bugging me and I'm tired :)

[edit]Ah I see the support board on AM now, I'll post this there.

animboom

03-28-2005, 11:44 PM

Hey folks please take the internal problems to the AM forum support topic. Rikki it sounds like you have not adjusted your buffer settings in your profile area. Please go to the support topic and we'll explain how to get over your buffer issues. Thanks.

-BOOM

Kenny_Rocks

03-28-2005, 11:53 PM

Vyntax ... go to bed !

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/sleep/schla15.gif

Last one out of AM.com tonight don't forget to turn out the light..

night everyone.

Today ROCKED !

stewartjones

03-28-2005, 11:58 PM

Bed? Sleep? Never!!! Hee Hee!!!

bobbyc

03-29-2005, 12:09 AM

i must say.. this is quite entertaining :) been watching the action unfold all day while attempting to do work at my day job.

can't wait to attempt loggin in tonight when i get home... hopefully you guys will still be around here

SheepFactory

03-29-2005, 12:44 AM

I am loving the site more and more. It'll be pretty lively once we all start uploading our work and I cant wait to check out all the critiques!

Kimotion

03-29-2005, 12:59 AM

You know...there ARE still people on this forum who have NOT checked out the site yet!

I am just ready to leave my work and have to go to class. I'll probably be able to log in at around 10:50pm PST.

I think I would be the very last person to log in. Do I get a prize?

Hmm....very very tempted to just ditch class right now.

Rabid pitbull

03-29-2005, 01:05 AM

Wow! I just realized that I didn't no anything about true animation. After watching the guest speaker interview I am just so ready to jump into this and get some real work done. Learned so much about the little things you would not notice but are there to reinforce the movement of the character. Plus alot of inside techniques from animations we have all seen! Things that I would never have guessed.

Now on to the maya lessons!

SheepFactory

03-29-2005, 03:18 AM

Guys post all tech issues at the AM support forum , this thread is not the place to post that.

sallymander

03-29-2005, 03:24 AM

oik! I can't log in anymore!! I thought the not being able to log in bug was fixed?

darkefire

03-29-2005, 04:54 AM

hm... i logged in just fine. no problems whatsoever with IE6. of course, i logged in at around 5pm PST, and again now at 9pm PST. i dont have the hottest connection on earth, but after setting my buffers on 10, the buffing is more manageable.

i still cant update my "place" in my personal profile, but thats no big deal.

THERE IS SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE! its nuts! its gonna take me all week just to dig through it. and all you people posting a billion replies to this thread is not helping my productivity! i've been watching this thread so closely all these months, its like i cant get through the day without seeing every last reply. anyone else with me? is there counseling for such a dependence?

Jozvex

03-29-2005, 05:06 AM

There's definitely a lot of video to watch and the actual classes haven't even started yet! It does take a while to get your buffer settings working well. I'm on a 256k connection and I seem to have it working well on 150, which seems huge but I'd rather wait longer in order to have no rebuffering or only 1 rebuffer on the long videos.

Everything seems to be working 95% of the time for me now (touch wood!). Why is wood supposed to be lucky anyway???

Something I might suggest to them is adding the duration of the videos to the menu, because you might be expecting a short video and then find you have to stop halfway through because of a Q&A session or something! Also perhaps a clock on the main 'desktop' showing AM time, to save you having to time-convert to see how long it is until a scheduled event.

But wow! Everything's really cool and exciting!

Jeremy Hopkins

03-29-2005, 05:21 AM

Everything worked just fine for me and I'm using a Mac and safari. That Eric Goldberg interview was pure gold. I love the stuff about working at Richard William's studio. Can't wait till everyone's on board.

Rabid pitbull

03-29-2005, 05:25 AM

Ok well there isn't really a general chat section of the AM forums so I guess this is a good place to ask this one. I own a digital camera that also can record movies. The movies are small 320 x 240 at 20fps. Now of course the amount of fotage is limited by the memory. I currently have a 256m chip, it will store about 15 minutes. This should be more than enough for reference material. But my concern is in the frame rate and image size. Of course a dv camera would be 500 wide and 30fps, not huge image increase but definitly smoother video.

Do you think my lil digi camera could serve the purpose or not??

mathewprees

03-29-2005, 07:11 AM

Ok, maybe evryone is getting this same problem but while some people are having difficulty logging in and out, and watching videos on the AM site, it seems that I cant even get onto the site itself. It keeps saying that the site is unavailable and cannot find server etc. I've checked all my settings and they appear fine.

Anyone else having the same problem?

Cheers,

Mat.

Modus

03-29-2005, 08:05 AM

its gonna be unavailable for 3-4 minutes, the server has to restart, dont worry :)

olioli

03-29-2005, 08:12 AM

your'e using a mac...holy crap thats awesome :bounce:

I would like to try using my g5...cant wait :bounce:

bentllama

03-29-2005, 10:18 AM

oh yeah...i forgot...i have a blog too...temp blog since new site should be up soon...

woot.

Makomako

03-29-2005, 10:46 AM

Are those 3-4 minutes real minutes? or is it my computer that doesn't work properly?
I can't log in...

Rabid pitbull

03-29-2005, 01:38 PM

Well it is pretty much expected that some little tweaks will occur in the first week. Anyway all is well now, and overall my first days impressions of the site are FANTASTIC! This is going to be sooooooo much fun, already learning a ton!

Makomako

03-29-2005, 01:43 PM

No! all is not well now! i still can't log.. lol.. i'll mail Rosie.

stewartjones

03-29-2005, 02:32 PM

I'm guessing the CGTalk servers are a little more happy that Am has opened... We are all trashing the AM forums now! HAHA!

Modus

03-29-2005, 02:45 PM

I'm guessing the CGTalk servers are a little more happy that Am has opened... We are all trashing the AM forums now! HAHA!

dont say that, bentagon is gonna get crazy :twisted:

Mojo Rizen

03-29-2005, 04:16 PM

Great to see things are starting. It will be a few months before I can start the program.

I am confused, will AM run through a Mac or not. On the site it states you must use windows but now there is a post someone was in with a Mac.

AjaBogdanoff

03-29-2005, 04:21 PM

Currently, they only support Windows running IE. Some of us who prefer Macs are trying out the site with Safari, but it's at our own risk. If/when something goes wrong, brower-wise, it's not their problem.

I don't know about the other Mac users, but this is nothing new to me. I understand where they're coming from, and I don't mind putting up with a few glitches here and there.

And someday, maybe they will support Macs!

mattmos

03-29-2005, 04:21 PM

Well I don't think they can guarantee the site will work properly with a mac, but at the same time are trying to make it as mac-friendly as poss, providing maya mac models etc. On a PC Firefox also works as a browser, though not as smoothly as with IE.

Mojo Rizen

03-29-2005, 04:27 PM

Thanks for the info. I'm a Mac user and looking at picking up a PC laptop for the school if it doesn't support Mac.

As for Maya, they do list an offer for the software at a student rate. Does anyone know if that is for eaither a Windows or Mac verion of Maya.

AjaBogdanoff

03-29-2005, 04:32 PM

Either; journeyed offers both versions.

Bentagon

03-29-2005, 05:16 PM

dont say that, bentagon is gonna get crazy :twisted:Correction: even MORE crazy! I... want... in...! The next 6 months will be horror. I'll take that time to get a good grip of drawing again, while studying animation and doing some small animations myself...

I am sooo looking forward to september.

- Benjamin

hqgamer

03-29-2005, 05:16 PM

i wish i could enter the am forum :D

stewartjones

03-29-2005, 05:26 PM

Correction: even MORE crazy! I... want... in...! The next 6 months will be horror. I'll take that time to get a good grip of drawing again, while studying animation and doing some small animations myself...

I am sooo looking forward to september.

- Benjamin

Its still a little buggy at the moment, but im sure it will all be ironed out by the time you start dude... Oh.. did I tell you its awesome already?!?! :D hee hee!!!

agreenster

03-29-2005, 05:37 PM

... providing maya mac models etc. On a PC Firefox also works as a browser, though not as smoothly as with IE.

I dont think there IS such a thing? A .mb or .ma can be opened in any current version of Maya, Mac or PC.

At least, that's my experience. Im sure there is an exception somewhere...

However, I did just recently come across a mel script that wont run on my mac....hrmm

SheepFactory

03-29-2005, 05:40 PM

The AM forum is on its way to becoming the single coolest place for animators to hang out already! Already so many people posting their work and getting good critiques. :buttrock:

Kimotion

03-29-2005, 06:46 PM

OMG I didn't want to go to sleep last night because I wanted to keep browsing through the AM site!

It's just so awesome....just logging on you can just feel the vibe and the energy of all the other students.

I'd like to ask a question and post it here since I'm at work and don't have access to AM, and because I don't want to wait til tonight to post it on the AM forum:

Maybe it's been answered before on the Orientation video and the PDF, but I'd like to know if students are allowed to post NON-AM related animations on the PUBLIC REVIEW section of the workspace? I've noticed some students already had stuff there but they were of Stu, the AM rig.

I have so many animations I'd like critiqued....and to think there are 300 students, plus Mentors who'd see my stuff....it's just mindblowing!

SheepFactory

03-29-2005, 06:49 PM

Yes you can , thats what the public review section is for :)

Kimotion

03-29-2005, 06:57 PM

Yes you can , thats what the public review section is for :)

Thanks for the answer Sheep Factory!

Have you had a cigarette yet since Yesterday? :twisted:

mattmos

03-29-2005, 06:59 PM

I dont think there IS such a thing? A .mb or .ma can be opened in any current version of Maya, Mac or PC.

At least, that's my experience. Im sure there is an exception somewhere...

However, I did just recently come across a mel script that wont run on my mac....hrmm

Hmmm please excuse anything I say, bit tired and not entirely sure of my memory right now, best to ignore me completely :blush:

My Fault

03-29-2005, 07:06 PM

Hmmm please excuse anything I say, bit tired and not entirely sure of my memory right now, best to ignore me completely :blush:

Haha, I'm guessing there are a bunch of tired people running around this thread. As cool as I thought AM would be it has blown away my expectations. The level of excitement from all the animators was huge. I think the nickname BOOM can now be applied to all of them and not just mega ninja Bobby.

BTW, Sean Kelly in a wig... priceless! :scream:

mayakindaguy

03-29-2005, 07:12 PM

All I can say about the site and the staff is...

Simply Amazing!

The site, the students and the staff are all literally amazing. You could really already feel the energy out there even on the first day. Some of the mentors already started critiquing the work posted in the forum boards, and the staff was still up in the wee hours of the night responding to my terrible posts! :eek:

Again all I can say is...

Wow!

Bentagon

03-29-2005, 08:40 PM

Shawn Kelly in a wig? Show us! (if you can..)
I'm making up for missing out on this by watching the Aladdin and The Incredibles DVD's. Fortunately, they're awesome :D

Now you know what to do guys! Keep up this excitement for another 18 months, and after that another lifetime, and one day we'll get there, together!

kaBOOOM!

- Benjamin

agreenster

03-30-2005, 12:34 AM

I hear ya Ben...I'm not doing AM this semester and feel somewhat out of the club...

But lets just say that you can still become an awesome animator with all the "free" online critiques and boards, and practice practice practice...nothing is a substitute for that

tredeger

03-30-2005, 12:36 AM

I just realized I have plenty of clocks in my room set to my local time. So...

my computer's clock is now set to Pacific Standard Time. So I no longer have to worry about converting to the AM time listings.

BTW, tonight's Q&A (at 9:00) can be reached by going into the site and finding the "Live Q&A" section under "Community". It looks like it's set up for video broadcast on their end and text input on ours. That makes sense to me. See y'all there in 4.5 hrs.

cheers,
Jazz

clockwerkz

03-30-2005, 12:55 AM

Hey Bent, the site simply ROCKS. Wait until you see it in the fall. Very impressive stuff. They're still ironing out some kinks, but it's small potatos compared to the amount of stuff on there. The Maya videos are really cool, the Goldberg interview is very inspiring, as is the first class vid. Good stuff!!

But like Greenster said, keep practicing. The Keith Lango offer on his site is great.. I signed up for that too. Can never get enough instruction! Now it's a matter of practice, practice, and more practice!!

cW

mikefeil

03-30-2005, 01:10 AM

Don't worry ben. I'm probably going to do 3rd batch now too, instead of 2nd. My plan is read all my animation books I havent read so far, 10 second club and just make stuff that I think would be fun. See how far you can get without the ninja power of AM. Anyway if you wanna think of stuff to animate, and challenge each other just msn me..I'm pretty sure you got mine. Might be some fun.

3FnD

03-30-2005, 02:29 AM

not only will the school still be beyond cool for the next term, the next batch of mentees will benefit from any improvements as a result of our input now. I think that's already been said, but I'm saying it again! It's only gonna get better, which is silly because it's already so cool.

Really, I would have done well to wait, too, for various reasons, but I just couldn't! I just had/have to make it work! So thrilled to be a part of it all and hope all you "waiters" enjoy it just as much as we are. Be patient and keep practicing in the meantime!

peace

PixelTales

03-30-2005, 04:36 AM

Shawn Kelly in a wig? Show us! (if you can..)

No can do, the vid of Shawn is in the orientation videos, but don't worry you will be able to see this vid when you start up.

The site is so amazing, you are gonna die when you see it!

stewartjones

03-30-2005, 05:12 AM

These AM live chats are insane! :thumbsup:

Jozvex

03-30-2005, 05:34 AM

3 million people spamming the chat room was really slowing it down a lot, at least for me. But still, if they get everything running even 90% fine it's gonna be great!!

stewartjones

03-30-2005, 05:40 AM

i was really expecting a lot of glitches anyways.

only thing that is bugging me is the video issue! :banghead:

Rabid pitbull

03-30-2005, 05:42 AM

These AM live chats are insane! :thumbsup:

Yeah eye strain of a new kind, it was pretty cool and next one will be error free. This is the price of being first. We are pioneers for next generations... err something like that..

Definitly this is the most exciting class I have ever taken. Have you all looked through the syllabus, totally amazing what we will learn in the next few weeks. GEEKING!

darkefire

03-30-2005, 06:02 AM

im amazed at how much The Founders seem like people just like the rest of us. it makes this whole thing so much more real. i just wish they had an admin overseeing the chat room somehow. that was a disaster. i feel like we just lost 50 points for Griffindorf :)

EDIT: i just wanna make sure i dont come across as a negative ninny: Other than this one tiny little instance, which was more a result of all of us having too much fun rather than anything to do with the faculty itself, this school is still the most inspirational thing i have ever emarked upon in my creative life.

swadepgh

03-30-2005, 06:07 AM

While it was working it was super cool! I think once they get the glitches ironed out it will be great.

Animation Mentor really is fantastic!

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 06:22 AM

While it was working it was super cool! I think once they get the glitches ironed out it will be great.

Animation Mentor really is fantastic!

yeah.. i second that.

this is way super dooper cool, and its gonna get better once the assignments start tricklin' in.

you summer and fall peeps are gonna have a blast!

Jozvex

03-30-2005, 06:26 AM

I just wish they had an admin overseeing the chat room somehow. that was a disaster. i feel like we just lost 50 points for Griffindorf :)

I agree. Not trying to sound grumpy but... man! The tech support guy had to flood the channel just so people would notice! There were people just mashing keys even.....haha, paying $13k to mash random keys in a chatroom while pro animators are trying to talk to you.....seems a bit weird to me!

Meh, maybe I'm just tired!

andy_maxman

03-30-2005, 06:30 AM

I HATE YOU ALL!!! Stop making me so jealous :cry:
The Eric Goldberg video will still be there in Fall, right? Right?
I'm going MAAD! MAAAAAD! MAAAHAAHAAHAAAAD!
- Benjamin
PS: I do not hate you all, btw ;)

i don't know about fall....but it sure be there for the summer class........i wants 'emAll......'mmmyyyy preciousssss' ;-)

it finally happened.....i'm going slightly mad....

The next 6 months will be horror. I'll take that time to get a good grip of drawing again, while studying animation and doing some small animations myself...
- Benjamin
it's drawing for me too mate....never held a pencil before. bought a sketch book and have started with basic exercises.

and guys....please keep this place alive'n'kicking......it will be a big help to us new students.
cheers!

andy_maxman

03-30-2005, 11:48 AM

5 hours and not a soul around.
has everyone migrated?

so how is it all going now?

Bentagon

03-30-2005, 12:00 PM

Heehee, thanks for the support guys!

The site is so amazing, you are gonna die when you see it! If not earlier... already had two strokes :D

Btw, the DVD of The Incredibles just reminded me: John Lasseter, Brad Bird and the likes were all in the very first year of the CalArts character animation program... so we've got every right to be ambitious! :D

Btw2, just have to fill in about a dozen two or three word gaps in the interview with Bobby, and then I'm sending it off to him. So you can probably expect to read the whole thing in less than two days! YAAY! Sorry I kept you guys waiting for so long, but I promise you, it was worth the wait.

- Benjamin

mattmos

03-30-2005, 12:00 PM

*tumbleweed bounces across what used to be a thriving thread*

stewartjones

03-30-2005, 12:16 PM

It's definately died in here some, thats for sure!

I think everyone is away and getting sleep for the first time this week... Just been way too much excitement! :bounce: :D

Bentagon

03-30-2005, 12:21 PM

swadepgh and darkefire, check your pm's!

Now let's hope you're stilling hanging out here too...

- Benjamin

sternio

03-30-2005, 01:17 PM

No can do, the vid of Shawn is in the orientation videos, but don't worry you will be able to see this vid when you start up.

The site is so amazing, you are gonna die when you see it!

That was really funny cause it only showed him for a second at the beginning. I was like who is this kid rockin that troll lookin haircut?

AKS

03-30-2005, 01:44 PM

For all current/future AMer's in London:

I'm living in london and want to invite any other London AMer's who can to meet for dinner to one of my local pubs. We were thinking of going to the Winston Churchill around 7:30 on Wed the 6th of April. It's right around the corner from the Notting Hill Gate tube stop which is on the Central, District and Circle lines. If anyone is intersted in coming let me know (alison@fiercefire.com) and I'll give the restaurant a heads up on the number of people to expect and I can give you better directions. It's really good tai food, and if you don't like tai, well there's also beer. :) Hope to see some people there!

Oh, I'm also going to try to arrange something with a little more notice for people farther out from London so if you can't come on Wed.fear not there will be another.... whatever this is!

mattmos

03-30-2005, 01:58 PM

Hey Alison,
great idea! When were you thinking though monday or wednesday? bit confused :blush:
Can make it if it's a wednesday...
Matt

Rabid pitbull

03-30-2005, 02:05 PM

So Bentagon how is your little project going?? I hope that it is a success. :D

AKS

03-30-2005, 02:11 PM

Hey sorry yeah I kept posting and then remembering different conflicts I had going on. It's definitely going to be Wed 7:30 at the Winston Churchill. :) I'll send you a map to the place here in a bit.

Bentagon

03-30-2005, 02:18 PM

It's going pretty well, thank you :)

So how alive is it at the AM forums? Are there many people that didn't hang around here? Do you know why we havn't heard about Bobby etc being mentors?

btw: swadepgh, darkefire, Aja B., My Fault, AKS and agreenster: check your pm's

- Benjamin

AKS

03-30-2005, 02:22 PM

Hey, I just emailed you :) Things are going good over at the AM forums. The site is a bit cranky in places, but it's what you would expect for anything completely new. There's always going to be a few bumps in the road. I'm sure they will get it ironed out soon.

I don't think Bobby, Shawn and Carlos are mentoring themselves, I think they are overseeing the whole project and recording all the lectures, so they are pretty busy with that.

Bentagon

03-30-2005, 02:24 PM

Well, they are on the mentor list... well, maybe it's like I thought before, that they'll be mentoring for the acting classes or something like that.
Mailed you back, btw ;)

- Benjamin

My Fault

03-30-2005, 04:40 PM

Bentagon: I'm on it! That darned AM has had me so excited I've forgotten all the regular stuff I'm supposed to do. Why eat when you could be animating :)

sallymander

03-30-2005, 05:27 PM

So who's up for a Bay Area meet up???

-Sally

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 05:29 PM

My Fault

03-30-2005, 05:34 PM

Coolness. I will check with the wife and see if I can clear my schedule for next weekend.

And good gravy that was the fastest moving chat I have ever seen!

My Fault
aka
BrianNicolucci on AM

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 05:42 PM

hey sally did you see my msg's yesterday? probably not with the speed that chat is going :)

I am thinking next weekend? Is everyone ok with that? , i'll also msg the bay area people who are not at cgtalk from AM.

where ya all planning on meeting? i'm located in SSF, near SFO :)
are any of you guys planning on going to the SFSU event this sunday, april 3?

andre22uk

03-30-2005, 06:36 PM

Hey Alison,

I see you got the post up quickly. We just need to try and find if there are anymore people in London that can come along. Hopefully there will be some more replies..

Drew
Ani-maiter

Guiliguili

03-30-2005, 06:42 PM

Nobody want to have a meeting in Tahiti ?:thumbsup:

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 06:45 PM

I know a really good place in 5th and clement street called pera , nice food and athmosphere and very easy to get to. Its mediterranean food. Is everyone ok with next saturday?

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 06:47 PM

Nobody want to have a meeting in Tahiti ?:thumbsup:

I'd LOVE to have a meetup in Tahiti! If I can afford it.

monstersauce

03-30-2005, 06:50 PM

I am thinking next weekend? Is everyone ok with that? , i'll also msg the bay area people who are not at cgtalk from AM.

I think next weekend's okay with me for a bay area meetup!
but I, too, would prefer a tahiti meetup :D

andre22uk

03-30-2005, 06:52 PM

I know a really good place in 5th and clement street called pera , nice food and athmosphere and very easy to get to. Its mediterranean food. Is everyone ok with next saturday?

Ali, stop trying to promote the turkish doner kebab :)

swadepgh

03-30-2005, 06:58 PM

I am so jealous of all of you in the Bay Area. I am so anxious to move already.

I vote to have another SF area meetup in May/June once I am moved there so that I can join the fun too!

:bounce:

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 07:03 PM

Ali, stop trying to promote the turkish doner kebab :)

go eat your fish and chips :)

sallymander

03-30-2005, 07:27 PM

What message was it? I saw lotsa "YAAAY BAY AREA" messages, and I think a few ppl mentioned meet up but nothing got posted. I was gonna post this on the AM forum...but I couldn't figure out what section to put it under...Next week sounds good for me!

hey sally did you see my msg's yesterday? probably not with the speed that chat is going :)

I am thinking next weekend? Is everyone ok with that? , i'll also msg the bay area people who are not at cgtalk from AM.

My Fault

03-30-2005, 07:49 PM

Yeah, that sounds awesome Ali. Would you happen to know the nearest BART station to the restaurant?

Wonder if any of the AM gang will be in their offices over the weekend, I know they were encouraging us to stop by the headquarters in the orientation PDF.

BrianNicolucci

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 07:50 PM

I am so jealous of all of you in the Bay Area. I am so anxious to move already.

I vote to have another SF area meetup in May/June once I am moved there so that I can join the fun too!

:bounce:

Sure, any reason to have a meetup is great!

In addition to Pera (the only place where I had a chocolate chai), there's a Korean charcoal BBQ place around the corner called "Brothers." YUM!!! But it can get really crowded and smoky. The BBQ stuff is a bit on the pricy side, and that's the stuff everyone loves.

And if you are not a carnivore, there are plenty of not meat items but 8 times out of 10 they are really spicy.

Hey, also I've never eaten in North Beach other than "The Stinking Rose" 3 years ago when I was here on vacation. Anyone interested in goin to a place on North Beach? The Stinking Rose again is on the pricy side. But then again, what isn't in SF?

So I'm up for anything (Mediterranean, Korean, Italian, etc.) Just no Thai. I've eaten too much Thai. Oh, and no Mexican. Had too much Mexican here in SF. But I'd be down for any other non-Mexican Latin places.

Oh wait...anyone like Indian? They're not that expensive and I know some good restaurants on Polk Street (the non-Tenderloin area).

OK it's lunch time and I'm starving. Maybe that's why I'm suggesting all restaurants for a meetup. Why do I do this to myself.

OH! There's Hooters on Fisherman's Wharf. I've never been to a Hooters!

sallymander

03-30-2005, 07:52 PM

Yeah, can we plz go somewhere near public transportation for those of us who don't have access to cars? That would be AWESOME! (But i'm sure we all won't mind a ride for anyone who would like to offer)
I certainly don't mind getting a chance where AMHQ is.

Yeah, that sounds awesome Ali. Would you happen to know the nearest BART station to the restaurant?

Wonder if any of the AM gang will be in their offices over the weekend, I know they were encouraging us to stop by the headquarters in the orientation PDF.

BrianNicolucci

mgarward

03-30-2005, 07:55 PM

Curses! And here I am stuck on the East Coast for now! I guess I'll just have to move in about, oh, 18 months. :)

...any AM students in the DC/MD/VA area want to organize a meet-up somehow? :)

sallymander

03-30-2005, 07:58 PM

AACK! I'm going to be in DC on May 9th!!

Curses! And here I am stuck on the East Coast for now! I guess I'll just have to move in about, oh, 18 months. :)

...any AM students in the DC/MD/VA area want to organize a meet-up somehow? :)

My Fault

03-30-2005, 08:01 PM

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 08:03 PM

Yeah, can we plz go somewhere near public transportation for those of us who don't have access to cars? That would be AWESOME! (But i'm sure we all won't mind a ride for anyone who would like to offer)
I certainly don't mind getting a chance where AMHQ is.

Unfortunately there is no BART station close to the Richmond district where Pera is. You would have to get off BART on Powell and take 38 Geary Muni bus for about 20-30 minutes so it's not that bad. Maybe a bit uncomfortable.

OR, you can get off on Van Ness BART station, trek up the Tenderloin and find a Muni bus that goes west.

However, SOMA, Union Square and North Beach are close to BART and they're safe areas.

3FnD

03-30-2005, 08:10 PM

for those of us who don't have access to cars?

Rats! what about those of us who don't have access to San Francisco (without a 2hr drive from Sac)?

That would be sweet to visit AMHQ, say hey and doubly thank them all (again).

sallymander

03-30-2005, 08:20 PM

Urrgh, can we not go to Pera's then?
I live in Redwood City, which is 25 mins-walking to the Caltrain, and and nearly 2 hours to get off the bart to take the bus! That's going to be one painful trip.

Unfortunately there is no BART station close to the Richmond district where Pera is. You would have to get off BART on Powell and take 38 Geary Muni bus for about 20-30 minutes so it's not that bad. Maybe a bit uncomfortable.

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 08:27 PM

I know a really good place in 5th and clement street called pera , nice food and athmosphere and very easy to get to. Its mediterranean food. Is everyone ok with next saturday?

ooooh.. my old stomping grounds!
ever go to the bar fizzies or irelands32 on 4th and geary?
spent many drunken nights walkin around the richmond district after long nights in the AAC lab... good times, good times.

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 08:29 PM

Urrgh, can we not go to Pera's then?
I live in Redwood City, which is 25 mins-walking to the Caltrain, and and nearly 2 hours to get off the bart to take the bus! That's going to be one painful trip.

yeah, i'll be coming from south san francisco, i may caltrain it up too...
how about something near pacbell or (sbc) park ?

supergrover

03-30-2005, 08:43 PM

Mojo Rizen

03-30-2005, 08:47 PM

This has to be the most active thread on these boards.

While I’m trying to budget for AM I don’t use Maya, but considering that is what the models are supplied in I’m willing to learn. My questions is cost.

I know they have a student discount, but will the Maya Personal Learning Edition work with AM?

If anyone has an answer to this, or what the cost of Maya is through the education discount could you please let me know.

If they don’t want the price posted on the board, I’ll gladly send an e-mail to find out this info.

I’m looking to get a fairly accurate total cost in mind.

Thanks for the help.

My Fault

03-30-2005, 08:57 PM

Maya Complete is $275, Unlimited is $365. That is the pricing through JourneyEd (http://www.journeyed.com/)

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:00 PM

OK I'm not trying to be negative about this project as I badly want it to work but...

1. The video's aren't playing properly ( when they play at all )
2. The forum on AM is eyestrain inducing ( even at the recommended resolution )
3. Last nights live Q&A didn't quite work.

And still everyone is jumping around happy on the forums. What's up? Just signing up for this thing isn't going to make you an animator - you need guidance and a lot of hard work.
Here's hoping that things work out soon or else we'll be the highest paid beta testers yet - no wait! we'll be the highest paying beta testers yet.

This isn't to say that I don't have confidence in the crew at AM - I expect them to get things working eventually - I'm just hoping and praying that everything will be running OK for the first week proper ie. next week. I'm also amazed that no one is expressing disappointment in how things have worked out thus far.

hey supergrover, i understand where you're coming from. i am somewhat set back by the streaming issues too, but last night it was good to go... no bad hickups in the stream. i guess watching them at 2am PST helped. i'm up that late all the time anyhow.

The Q&A was weird, hella fast realtime typing in the chat window, and the video did konk out, but it was their first try, and on the AM forum, carlos mentioned they are working directly with macromedia to fix it. Tonight, when i have the Q&A with my mentor Charles, that will be the big test. Cause honestly, this is the real reason I joined this thing... direct communication with a mentor. I'll post the results after our meeting tonight.

hang in there man. after only 2.5 days, i'm still amazed that there is something like this being offered. i think this positive benefit outweighs the negatives so far.

sallymander

03-30-2005, 09:03 PM

Supergrover~
I think we all want it to work better, but a lot of us are still happy with what we got because we are getting something out of it.
I think all this depends on your personal expectations. I know that the 13 000 that I'm paying is not to learn Maya, and it's not even primarily to learn the foundations of animation. AnimationMentor is about getting out of the traditional academic nitch and getting that second opinion from someone actually in industry. More importantly, I think a lot of us paid that money for inspiration and for community. And for that inspiration, we are willing to put up with a lot. I first became interested in animation because I was inspired by the people, not the art.
People aren't thinking that signing up makes them animators, they're just inspired. Maybe you are expecting it to be something it's not.

OK I'm not trying to be negative about this project as I badly want it to work but...

1. The video's aren't playing properly ( when they play at all )
2. The forum on AM is eyestrain inducing ( even at the recommended resolution )
3. Last nights live Q&A didn't quite work.

And still everyone is jumping around happy on the forums. What's up? Just signing up for this thing isn't going to make you an animator - you need guidance and a lot of hard work.
Here's hoping that things work out soon or else we'll be the highest paid beta testers yet - no wait! we'll be the highest paying beta testers yet.

This isn't to say that I don't have confidence in the crew at AM - I expect them to get things working eventually - I'm just hoping and praying that everything will be running OK for the first week proper ie. next week. I'm also amazed that no one is expressing disappointment in how things have worked out thus far.

My Fault

03-30-2005, 09:05 PM

I'm also amazed that no one is expressing disappointment in how things have worked out thus far.

I can't speak for anyone else but having worked on the server side of numerous Internet companies I was expecting the normal issues that come up with trying to serve huge amounts of video and/or starting up a new site. Quite frankly I think the folks at AM are doing a fantastic job of getting things straightened out as quickly as they are. I also make sure to keep in mind that as disappointing as it may be at times for us to deal with the folks at AM are probably stressing way more about it. I can only imagine how many KitKats Bobby is going through as they try to get things flowing smoothly.

Try looking at it in a more positive light. Instead of thinking of the problems think about how much we as the first group are able to influence the workings of the site. We are making many suggestions to improve workflow that will eventually benefit all the future students. Keep the faith SuperGrover (man I love that name!) I am sure things will only get better each and every day! :thumbsup:

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:06 PM

Maya Complete is $275, Unlimited is $365. That is the pricing through JourneyEd (http://www.journeyed.com/)

werd! that's a 'steal' for a legit copy. i just received mine yesterday.
and you can get macromedia studio MX2004 for $199...
it's nice being a student again.

mgarward

03-30-2005, 09:13 PM

Well, yeah, I'm having some problems... I can't type Add Replies to people's pages, and the chat system has some weird stuff. But geez if it isn't the most complex piece of Flash coding I've ever seen! I'd expect something to go wrong! As for being the highest paying beta-testers... I got into the first ever session of what looks like it will an awesome learning experience. The price I pay for the honor of being in the first-ever session is that I am also a guinea pig. I'm a programmer... I understand computers simply don't work perfectly, and I'm willing to live with occasional glitches so I can get a taste of the pure distilled animating enthusiasm in there.:)

I guess I've been lucky so far in that the videos have only stopped mid-stream a couple of times. All I did was log out, shut down IE, restart, and I was good to go again. Just let them know what problems you're having. Be as detailed as possible when you report anything (OS, browser, flash version, net connection type and speed, what you clicked, what happened when you clicked it, what you ate for lunch...) so they can narrow down any issues as fast as possible. I'm sure they'll fix things as soon as they can and it's going to be worth every penny we paid. :)

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:16 PM

If we really want to break the bank we can go to Yank Sing for dim sum. Great food but good lord it's spensive!

Kimotion: Where is there good Indian food in San Fran? We have a killer place in Walnut Creek (Sargam's) and would love to find a great place to eat Indian in the city. I don't get there near as much as I'd like and am overwhelmed with all the food choices.

I went to Yank Sing TWICE!!! Once behind Market St. and another time at Embarcadero. Both have great atmosphere. It IS expensive because you just don't know when to stop picking at those when the lady drives by. I think they are supposed to be the first dim sum establishment in the US. I can't believe I didn't suggest it.

The best Indian places are in the Tenderloin. The one I love, Naan N Curry, moved to the deeper, more seedier part of the Tenderloin and I don't go there anymore.

On Polk St there are several and I can't remember their names!

Anyway, I just love tearing the naan bread, use them as gloves to pick up the curry chunks, and shoving them in your mouth, fingers covered in sauce. Mmmmm....

3FnD

03-30-2005, 09:17 PM

think about how much we as the first group are able to influence the workings of the site. We are making many suggestions to improve workflow that will eventually benefit all the future students.

my thoughts exactly.

we coulda figured there'd be lots of glitches, knowing nothing like this has ever been done before. how many messages do I remember reading of ppl who wanted to wait the first session out 'n see how it goes? we will all have crazy stories to tell about the "early days" of AM, we're trailblazers, pioneers exploring uncharted lands, excited for the adventure of it, and what we will learn from the classes and the experiences.

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:20 PM

2. The forum on AM is eyestrain inducing ( even at the recommended resolution )

Hey what's the recommended resolution? I might have missed that in one of our pdf instructions.

swadepgh

03-30-2005, 09:20 PM

I have to agree with mgarward. I am a flash programmer and that is a nice piece of flash. It is expected that any system with dynamic data and rich media will have bugs to be worked out. AnimationMentor is some of the richest "rich media" that I have seen. I bet they will work it out soon and things will flow pretty smoothly for the remainder of the term. I mean really just the sheer volume of animation that we will be uploading (250 students x 2+ animations per week) makes for a serious server load so some bumps along the way are to be expected.

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:21 PM

Hey what's the recommended resolution? I might have missed that in one of our pdf instructions.

recommended: 1152 x 864

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:24 PM

hey supergrover, i understand where you're coming from. i am somewhat set back by the streaming issues too, but last night it was good to go... no bad hickups in the stream. i guess watching them at 2am PST helped. i'm up that late all the time anyhow.

Hey, I still got those hickups. But I found that if you keep your stream level at 30 dsl/t1, and keep rebuffering when it stop, the rebuffering itself is a lot faster.

I still am not able to see all the Maya classes yet. The part when there were those montages of Bobby going, "AAAAAHHH" and "AAAHHHHH" and "OUUAAAAAAH" were the point when my stream would stop and I would be going, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGH!"

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:26 PM

ooooh.. my old stomping grounds!
ever go to the bar fizzies or irelands32 on 4th and geary?
spent many drunken nights walkin around the richmond district after long nights in the AAC lab... good times, good times.

Hey you are at AAC!? We emailed/private messaged before and I remember that you had a friend who did but dropped out. Obviously I've mistaken you for another person. But I know we communicated since your cgtalk name is very familiar.

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:28 PM

Hey you are at AAC!? We emailed/private messaged before and I remember that you had a friend who did but dropped out. Obviously I've mistaken you for another person. But I know we communicated since your cgtalk name is very familiar.

i was... back in 2001 when it was AAC ...
yeah, we chatted a bit when you were describing your 'feelings' for the school :)

btw, i dig your blog. hehe

clockwerkz

03-30-2005, 09:33 PM

Supergrover, I can only tell you the reasoning behind my positive upswing. See, I attended a school where everyone was negative, especially the faculty. It was such a drag; there was no positive vibe going at all. Now here, despite the problems, these guys still wield an enormous amount of positive energy. Yes, the forum text is extremely small.. the chat rooms are tiny, and the the video has had problems. My video problems haven't been all that bad, exept for that occassional hiccup. But from what I've seen, it's just awesome. The Maya foundation videos have been really interesting, and that first class session was very motivating. I'm sorry you haven't been able to watch that in it's entirety (sp?).

It's funny, because I feel like I'm slacking! LOL.. I look and see there are people already doing stuff with the stu model, and I'm here going what the heck?? Am I already falling behind?? Anyone else feel the same? Or is it just me getting serious ants in the pants over this whole thing?

cW

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:38 PM

It's funny, because I feel like I'm slacking! LOL.. I look and see there are people already doing stuff with the stu model, and I'm here going what the heck?? Am I already falling behind?? Anyone else feel the same? Or is it just me getting serious ants in the pants over this whole thing?

cW

i know right. walk cycles, poses in maya, acting tests.. geez! not even one class session with their mentors yet and already people are on the ground sprinting.

so far, i've downloaded stu, but have been doing thumbnail and sketch poses with ye ole pencil and paper. opened maya just to reference how the character stu looks.

also... been reading Illusion of Life chapters 1-3... soooo inspiring.

3FnD

03-30-2005, 09:42 PM

I look and see there are people already doing stuff with the stu model, and I'm here going what the heck?? Am I already falling behind?? Anyone else feel the same? Or is it just me getting serious ants in the pants over this whole thing?
nope, me too. But it's because maya was on backorder and just shipped Monday. I might not even see it until this Friday! So I guess I just have to practice drawing or something, watching the vids, etc. I've barely gone over the interface in maya so I got a lot of pre-learning to do before the assignments get extreme.

Hey, not speaking of community, should we should make a cgtalkers thread on the am forum? I find it's tough to find eveyone the campus being so huge and all. What you guys think?

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:43 PM

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 09:48 PM

Hey I have an idea.

With all this talk about a Bay area meetup...why don't we all just make a trip to Berekely!? Those in the southern part of the Bay can meet up (ie Embarcadero BART in SF) and we can all go together to Berekely using BART.

And we can storm the headquarters, kidnap them and head out to town with the rest of us!?

Seriously though...what would be a better AM meetup than at the AM headquarters itself! And I'm sure Berekely has some cool places to hang out at. Been there only once.

bobbyc

03-30-2005, 09:50 PM

Hey, not speaking of community, should we should make a cgtalkers thread on the am forum? I find it's tough to find eveyone the campus being so huge and all. What you guys think?

good idea... sometimes its hard navigating thru the AM forums... not as intuitive and quick as CG-Talk. anyone else feel a bit constrained on the AM forums?

sallymander

03-30-2005, 09:52 PM

Yeah, I really wished they didn't do the WHOLE thing in flash.

good idea... sometimes its hard navigating thru the AM forums... not as intuitive and quick as CG-Talk. anyone else feel a bit constrained on the AM forums?

My Fault

03-30-2005, 09:54 PM

And we can storm the headquarters, kidnap them and head out to town with the rest of us!?

Heheh, I like the way you think, though I think it would be impossible to kidnap any of the 3 ninjas as none of them ever seem to stop moving!

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 09:56 PM

Getting to pera is REAL easy.

When you are downtown san francisco , Just get on geary street (2\3 blocks walk from powell bart station) and take any of the 38 geary buses going towards fort miley or ocean beach. And get out at 6th avenue. its a block away from there on clement and 5th. I picked that place because its owned by friends so we'll be treated good , its cheap , great food for both vegetarians and carnivores and very easy to find location for all.

shall we say , next saturday around 3-4 pm? or would you guys prefer earlier\later?

Rikki

03-30-2005, 10:13 PM

clockwerkz

03-30-2005, 10:34 PM

Since posting that, I put my own pose up on my personal area. I'm sketching and doing poses until we get something else. I guess one can never do enough pose practice. :)

Hey Rikki, that's great that you got some feedback..I'm going to check your pose out now.

3FnD

03-30-2005, 10:43 PM

good idea... sometimes its hard navigating thru the AM forums... not as intuitive and quick as CG-Talk. anyone else feel a bit constrained on the AM forums?

okay, then the next question is where should it go? If someone beats me to it let me know where.

I think the am ui will evolve as they find out what works and doesn't. the chat window can't be minimzed and takes up a lot of space. It's one of the few things that can stay open while you cruise around.

As far as the vids, I've been pretty lucky so far. Xcept for the first day snafus, I made a minor tweak and they seem to run great now. The live QnA was great while it worked. my connection is very fast 8964 kbps down, 8739 kbps up (dslreports.com).

So is next saturday mostly for you bay area-ers, then?

sallymander

03-30-2005, 10:51 PM

Wait but next saturday are we talking about April 2 or April 9th? 'Cause Chris Hurt's Q&A is April 2nd.

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 10:57 PM

Wait but next saturday are we talking about April 2 or April 9th? 'Cause Chris Hurt's Q&A is April 2nd.

I think we're talkin the 9th

My Fault

03-30-2005, 11:01 PM

Wait but next saturday are we talking about April 2 or April 9th? 'Cause Chris Hurt's Q&A is April 2nd.

Oooh, I'm glad you asked that because I assumed that by saying "next" he meant the 9th. If not, I vote for the 9th :)

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 11:02 PM

april 9th for sure!

sallymander

03-30-2005, 11:10 PM

Sweet! count me in for the 9th!

My Fault

03-30-2005, 11:22 PM

Do you see me? ....because I am so there :scream:

Kimotion

03-30-2005, 11:26 PM

Sorry to post this question here because I can't get on AM since I'm at work...

Is there a way to get a whole page listing everyone in your group? For example, I want to see everyone in Mark Behm (the best) group and would like to know if I can see everyone's links and their workspaces.

I know there is a forum dedicated to each Mentor. If that's the best way, do the "Open Controls" for each poster link to his/her workspace? I can't remember if it does that.

Thanks!

3FnD

03-30-2005, 11:28 PM

Kimo, no, there is a Profile button but it only brings up a text-only profile.

3FnD

03-30-2005, 11:48 PM

There's a CGTalk Mentees thread started on AM under 3DAnimation. I think many mentees post here at CGTalk, so I don't think it excludes anybody. And certainly the plan is not to abandon our friends here who haven't started AM yet. Just another place to connect and post stuff.

SheepFactory

03-30-2005, 11:49 PM

cool if there is a thread there i'd rather carry this conersation there. the only reason i didnt post there is because i couldnt see a general discussions type forum.

Bentagon

03-30-2005, 11:52 PM

Look... they're already talking about abandoning us... right... before... page 300 :cry::cry:

- Benjamin

SheepFactory

03-31-2005, 12:15 AM

awww!

of course not Ben! we'll still come here time to time and tell you guys how much fun we are having :p

baenca00

03-31-2005, 12:32 AM

awww!
of course not Ben! we'll still come here time to time and tell you guys how much fun we are having :p

Actually, many of us are checking both forums. For the most part to get feedback on how the whole thing is going. We are trying to make this thing the best we can, and we can't do it ourselves. But instead, in hearing students and non-students, we are getting great feedback to both fix kinks, to troubleshoot or to get new great ideas to implement our site, so that the education through it is even better.

So we'll be sure to be around here.
A little GREAT community has been formed here, and not only is inspiring for us building the site, but for anyone wanting to get into animation.

Carlos.

Kimotion

03-31-2005, 12:37 AM

Let's close this thread then.

Hahaha, early April Fools.

Disclaimer for people in other cultures who are unfamiliar with April Fools: On April 1, it is tradition in the US and some Western countries to play jokes and fool eachother all for self-gratification.

Bentagon

03-31-2005, 01:04 AM

Well, originally April Fools was only about tricking people into going places without any real reason, so you can laugh while they're gone, and even harder when they get back with that look on their face of "why oh why hadn't I seen that coming" or just the good ol' "I hate you" :D

I believe it had something to do with the saint of that day or something, might be wrong about that though. Anyways, originally it was just that, but it has broadend, because people stopped fulfilling any requests on April 1st :p

- Benjamin

darkefire

03-31-2005, 01:04 AM

im all for a BayArea AM meet on the 9th! most of you kids seem like a tightly knit bunch down there already, i'd love to get "jumped in" to the crew if you'll have me.http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/blush.gif

Im also down for car-pooling with any of my fellow Sac-based AM'ers. PM me if you're interested (yes, i own a car).

I for one cant check AM from work, so i frequent this forum as usual (even though i can log in to post at work. frikkin firewalls!! what do they expect me to do? WORK all day??).

One thing i would like to know, is there anything we SHOULDNT be posting in a public forum? in order to protect AM's integrity?

EDIT: WOOT! page 300!!http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/bouncy.gif

bobbyc

03-31-2005, 01:06 AM

SheepFactory

03-31-2005, 01:09 AM

Yes the reason i suggested carrying the Am meetup discussion to AM is because there are lots of students there who are not a member of cgtalk or hang out at this thread. I did not imply this thread should be closed or forgotten or anything.

3FnD

03-31-2005, 01:46 AM

cool kenny...

i just noticed a new category under "classroom" labeled STUDENT GATHERINGS.
its empty though.

Yeah, though I didn't mean the CGTalk Mentees thing to be only about gatherings. And yes, to reiterate, the point is not to stop posting here, but just a convenient spot (that wasn't there right until I made the Mentees one! darnit) on AM for CGTalk familiars, and hell, anyone else.

No one mentioned if your thing on the 9th is a Bay Area locals thing, so darkefire & I are having our own...actually many of the mentors have agreed to come up here to Sacramento on the 9th. Hehehe. Sorry.:sad:

kenshi

03-31-2005, 02:36 AM

maybe spring term is cheaper than subsequent terms because they foresaw this kind of thing happening? i'm not bummed or scared. the "3 amigos" appear to be such an honest bunch that are really, really dedicated to our success.

Magenta_

03-31-2005, 04:13 AM

I cant log into aniamtionmentor´s site!!! it says i´m an invalid user...is anybody else having this same trouble?

Jozvex

03-31-2005, 04:23 AM

Magenta, trying clearing your browsers cache. That's something the AM guys suggested for that problem. I'm assuming you've logged into it ok before haven't you? I think you have, if not it could be you need the latest version of Flash.

andy_maxman

03-31-2005, 05:14 AM

Kimotion: Where is there good Indian food in San Fran? We have a killer place in Walnut Creek (Sargam's) and would love to find a great place to eat Indian in the city.

The best Indian places are in the Tenderloin. The one I love, Naan N Curry, moved to the deeper, more seedier part of the Tenderloin and I don't go there anymore.

Anyway, I just love tearing the naan bread, use them as gloves to pick up the curry chunks, and shoving them in your mouth, fingers covered in sauce. Mmmmm....

wow! i had no idea Indian food had a following in the west. Feels so very nice.

I feel you guys must holdiay out here in India sometime. It is a very colurful place all over and is very diversified in culture through out the country. And Rajasthan (that's my native place) is one place you guys must visit. I'm already drooling with the thought of playing host to you guys.

If it's available you guys must try out 'Rajma-Rice' or 'Shahi Rajma' . It tastes best when served steaming hot. mmmmm.......

http://www.handibazaar.com/products/_images/srd.jpg

Guiliguili

03-31-2005, 05:25 AM

Hi all the alleneck's

Are you able to log in Animationmentor for the Q&A session ? (new address : http://dev.animationmentor.com/
Now I can't access.

bobbyc

03-31-2005, 05:26 AM

support directed us to a different address.

all was good for about 45 minutes. charles introduced himself, and started answering our questions.

then video and sound crapped out.

text chat worked tough... and some of the other students in the class transcribed the notes. really cool of them to do that.

even though they are still working out the kinks, i still feel positive this is a very very amazing experience.

here are some of the notes ...

- he worked on the simpsons as an intern.. went back to cal arts.. then got an internship at ILM

- worked specifically on yoda and the hulk

- there is a difference between motivation and inspiration (he loves watching bad movies)

- works about 55 to 60 hours a week, now during crunch time... finishing up on War of the Worlds ... but usually works 45 to 50 hours a week. he likes being efficient during the hours at work.

- he approaches his animation by building up... start small then build up.

- his transition from 2d to 3d was amazing... took about 3 weeks to get into the groove of the 3d tools.

- he doesnt like to act out stuff.. cause he admits he's not an actor. if he struggles with a piece, he asks other people to help him out. (collaboration!)

yeah.. it was a very basic Q and A... just to get to know each other.

can't wait for the crits to begin.

- b

bobbyc

03-31-2005, 05:28 AM

Hi all the alleneck's

Are you able to log in Animationmentor for the Q&A session ? (new address : http://dev.animationmentor.com/
Now I can't access.

hey guiliguili .. hmmm... it just let out.... check the AM forums under My Mentor.

did ya get the email regarding the time change?

Guiliguili

03-31-2005, 05:35 AM

Thanks Bobby C for the translation.
I was in the chat with video and audio and after 45 mn the chat window froze.
I have to reboot the computer and then I can't log in.... I lean the cache...
I can't.
Tomorrow will be a new day :)

Guiliguili

03-31-2005, 05:39 AM

I receive a mail regarding the time change.
I am a little sad because I have to decide tomorrow if I keep the DSL 512 kb/s or not.
And until now I can't see any video. So it's difficult to make a decision.
To keep or not to keep taht is the question...

swadepgh

03-31-2005, 06:00 AM

Guilli you should keep it even though it is expensive. It will really make things so much better for you to be able to watch what others post and critique it. I have Cable modem and the video has worked pretty well so far. I can't imagine trying to watch any of them at dialup speeds.

Just my two cents but I think you will get more out of the program if you get to watch more animations and video critiques. Faster speed = more time to watch others' critiques. :)