Feature Requests

#21

You gotta embrace the few things there are about AM that really rock.

#22

I thought I was paying AM a complement. . .

:-/

From experience, the workflow in Animation Master is its strongest asset. Its just all the other little things that look good on the back of a box that tarnish that amazing foundation.

Does that sound better?

#23

No disrespect to you Billy. I have a lot of respect for you and eggington. It seems that so many posts always takes a dig at AM. They say something nice then turn around and slam AM for something else. Thats all.

#24

I think thats due to the very nature of AM. It is full of so many contradictions. What other package allows for multiple rigs to be created with ease and dropped on to a character at any time? What other application allows direct mesh level animation at ANY time, in almost ANY mode. What other application allows the artist to work in one single environment right from the beginning to the end.

But on top of that. . . is there an animation package out there with a worse renderer? Is there a package out there that is less stable? Are there companies out there that treat their users in a worse way?

The contradictions are mind blowingly frustrating. And history has proven that if people are un-willing to openly talk about it. . . then nothing changes.

I am VERY excited about the future of AM. Way more so than a few months back when this forum first started. But I’m not going to hold back now just when things are starting to change. Nore do I think anyone here should or for that matter. I believe my reasons are justified, but if you don’t agree with me, than I want YOU to call me a ranting loonie and back that up with evidence to prove me otherwise.

To me. . . thats what this forum is all about.

#25

Marking Menus. These rock so much i cannot express it.
A hotbox would be nice too, and since max and maya rip each other all the time i dont see that as much of a problem.

Dolly. I only have 8.5 but i dont remeber having a dolly function and since the perspective gets messed up if you zoom in perspective mode this is critical.

Are the constrain to axis back? In 8.5 you can use 1,2,3 to hold a selection to xyz axis and move. I dont like the transform widget that you have to call up to do this otherwise.

Layers. Being able to group objects and hide/wireframe, whatever them without doing it on an individual basis.

Modeling: the rebuilding patches/textures maps takes an irritatingly long time when working with high patch count models.

#26

AM’s workflow does rock, especially with all of the keyboard shortcuts. Everything’s right there, like you’re using one tool for everything, or at least like they’re all right in front of you on the work desk, instead of having to pick up a toolbox, open it, unfold the hidden compartment, pull out the tool, etc., as it seems in some apps (like Truespace, or Wings 3D.)

Layers. Being able to group objects and hide/wireframe, whatever them without doing it on an individual basis.

I don’t think so. That just makes it more restrictive–you can’t edit all or a combination of the layers at the same time. With AM 10, you can select groups from the list and hit either “hide” (or H) or “lock”, and get the same effect with far more versatility.

#27

Yet another reason to spring for an upgrade. Dang it, i dont have the money.

Tho i have to say, things could be more compact. That find and unfold the hidden compartment can get bad, but once you know where things are, getting back the wasted real estate is nice. What is key is getting those menus back quickly. Hence marking menus.

I went back to AM recently and immediately got irritated by the navigation. I realize this is a personal issue as i used to be very comfortable with it, but something like wings3d were you can change the navigation method to suit your preferences/accustomization would be nice.
Personally, Mayas implimention is my favorite. Just hold down alt and you can use the mouse to do any of the required moves.

#28

Originally posted by Goon
Personally, Mayas implimention is my favorite. Just hold down alt and you can use the mouse to do any of the required moves.

There is something similar in A:M if you have a wheel-mouse (where the wheel also acts as a button), although it’s not well documented. Check out my post over here…

#29

The ability to enable toon rendering on a per-object basis. I can do a couple of passes and then composite to get that effect now… but sometimes it would be so handy to do it all at once.

#30

My AM wish list:

  1. Better overall stability period - backed up by Hash employing some full time animators to quadruple check every damn update, before they put it out, rather than relying on free beta testing from their paying customers. How many times has one bug been fixed only to introduce three others. Hire more programmers as necessary to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time, i’ve been using AM since v5.0 and only one really solid release 8.5p+ in all that time, i wish Hash would hire some new blood - i like so many things about AM but not Hash’s cheapo half arsed approach…

  2. Update the renderer - even the 10.5 version cant hold a candle to say C4D or Lightwave in terms of quality and speed.
    Even budget apps like Cararra have far better renderers.

  3. Ditch cloth,fur, flocking and concentrate on adding new modelling, rendering and animation features and stability - some kind of feedback prior to a crash or the usual dissapearing act would be useful to provide debugging info if indeed we are left to do it.

  4. Sub division like surfaces.

#31

  1. multiple gizmos to place layers of cylinder/projection/spire/cubic mapping. There is none at all right now.

  2. knife tool like the one in Lightwave. I simply :love: it. Or an Edge Loop tool would be the greatest feature ever to come into this application!!!

  3. stability! stability! stability! :thumbsdow becourse AM freeze my different computers I have used over and over again since verion 7.0 and still do. I don’t realy need more features… I need stability!!!

  4. The ability to handle more complex characters at a reasonable speed.

#32

a turn edge type command, say click on one spline side of the control point click on the desired other spline and connect the two without having to detach and reconnect all of them.

#33

when i copy and paste Groups, theyre materials will copy, too!
Is it not a fundamental feature?

where’s the function hold [STRG] and Drag&Drop Shortcuts?
In V.9 the Shortcut not will be move. The Shortcut was copied and paste. So you must not go high up in the Projekttree to the Materialtree when you use a Material. You can simply copy it from another Group where you used again.

#34

I’d like to see some sort of constraint that allows the wheels on a car to move on a surface like a real cars wheels do. I know about using PI and stride length to fake it, even creating action files and looping or repeating that action I know about all that, I’d like to see something more real-world. After the constraint is applied, when you move the vehicle the wheels ought to move even to the slightest degree according to the position of the vehicle. If Hash could pull that off, I believe that would be a first for any animation package.

#35

Originally posted by nerrazzi
I’d like to see some sort of constraint that allows the wheels on a car to move on a surface like a real cars wheels do. I know about using PI and stride length to fake it, even creating action files and looping or repeating that action I know about all that, I’d like to see something more real-world. After the constraint is applied, when you move the vehicle the wheels ought to move even to the slightest degree according to the position of the vehicle. If Hash could pull that off, I believe that would be a first for any animation package.

I think this would be possible with expressions in v10 (and perhaps v9.5…can’t recall when expressions were added). All you need to do is convert the distance the vehicle moves in a given direction into a certain degree of wheel rotation based on the circumference of the tire. However, for totally accurate simulation – i.e., where the wheels would properly respond to turns as well as straight movement – it’d be tricky because in a turn, each wheel rotates a different amount depending on…well, several factors.

From what I can see, it’s not a matter of Hash pulling it off, but some clever user pulling it off. :slight_smile:

#36

Stability. That’s obvious. I think they’ve gotten better at that over the year. I love the interface, Smart Skin, Constraints, IK, Pose Sliders, the new smoother renderer, Channels editor, and a lot of other great new features. It’s one of the best “Animation” programs on the planet.

The Thing I think that sucks about A:M: (and I know I will offend most of you. no way around that) is Modeling… I’m sorry but Hash patches look terrible in my opinion. Lumpy, bumpy, creased, crap. There are exceptions of course. I have seen some very good models made with meticulous patience. It can be very difficult though.

I absolutely love Subdivision Surfaces. I’ve been using them for years and I have yet to find an object or surfacing situation that was difficult to create. I can not say that for Hash patched at all. If Martin really wanted to kick ass (and we all know he doesn’t want to do that ;-)) he could integrate a new Sub-D “like” geometry type.

I’ve heard his arguments against Polys and Nurbs and for the most part he is right… Polys are to dense, Nurbs… Give me a break! What a pile of overly complex crap that only works in certain situations and not at all in others. Don’t get me started on Nurbs!

…But not when it comes to Sub-D Surfaces. He used to say that the problem with B-Spline surfaces (very similar to Sub-Ds’) was that you couldn’t grab the actual surface and instead had to manipulate a control hull around the object. Well, that’s correct. It creates a sort of disconnected feeling that so I can understand his point on that. It’s one of the reasons I love the Sub-D’s in LightWave’s modeler… You can actually grab and manipulate the patch intersections! So, If LW can do it, I don’t see why Martin can’t.

I can see a really simple modeler based on Sub-D’s that had a way to select whole patches and edges, Extrude, Slice, create edge loops, symmetry… And that’s about it. Oh, and a way to convert Polygon models to the new Sub-D’ish format. Wouldn’t that be great?!! Man, that would rock my world!

That’s all I have to say. Sorry for offending you all. Thanks,

-=GB=-

#37

I’d like 2 simple developments…

  1. An ability to select a spline and then have it’s length worked out by my computer.
    I’d never have to sit worrying about working out how long a path is for stride length etc. Yes I can use math, but 9 out of 10 of us bought computers because they do math 10000 times faster & more accurately than I ever will. (and I’m getting older and losing brain-cells by the day.!)
    I still remember the sheer disbelief when I first read “work out the spline length for stride length then input in PWS”

  2. Linked to that (if it’s too hard for my computer to work out a spline’s length) get AM’s import/export measurements more like the real world.
    Yes it means many of us would then model in AM and export DXF or OBJ models but many of us already are.! AM would then take it’s rightful place in more studios as I could model in AM and import or export to other apps knowing my measurement system is the same as my colleagues.
    Going back to the stride length point though, I could select a spline, copy and paste into another application that would give me an accurate length if AM can’t measure my spline for me- but AM needs to export at similar model measurements that nearly all the other apps on my computers do.

#38

hoochoochoochoo,

Try right clicking the spline and selecting “measure spline lenght”.

#39

If I am endevering to do some mechanical or archietectural modelling in AM (or anything involving lots of copied sections attached to each other), I often find myself connecting a whole load of dangling splines up together. It is like making a patchwork quilt.

It would be a great time-saver if there was an option to connect all the CPs that are not connected. They could connect to the closest non-connected CP or the first non-connected CP that is found that is within a certain distance.

If it were also possible to have each section copy with poses then I would be in heaven.

#40

hey John is that a new feature in v10? Don’t know if after all my criticism AM would let me upgrade to the new version…:stuck_out_tongue:

Maybe your request would be answered by the copy/flip/attach button? I remember sometimes there was an issue with duoble splines at the seam but workarounds where posted on the AMList long ago. I’m still on 8.5 though so likely out-of-date…