scott8933

The first thing you should always say to yourself before launching into a Dante project is "am I positive I couldn't do this with Particular?" Then the second thing you should say to yourself is "hey, let's try it with Particular anyway, just to be sure." If the answer is still "no" and you insist on doing it in 3D, you should immediately call your doctor and make sure your script for xanax is filled, because you're going to need it. Seriously - Dante was a terrific tool in its day but Particular and ParticleIllusion have matured so much, you're really just beating yourself up trying to do it in-camera and not in post.

Polytrans converted files attached. You might have to reattach textures to the models. MER300-M_converted.zip Mer300sl_converted.zip

ATV, How do you mean? The bones come over from Maya with the rig intact? Or you get an animated skin with no bones? If the second one, does this mean you can't reanimate within EI? I Guess I'm not following your workflow.

Hi Nutley, Is it possible that its a .max that someone renamed? Or maybe a .zip? Polytrans has an auto-recognize mode that will try everything to open it. The Max workflow and plugin for p/t is one of the most actively maintained by Okino, so as Ian says - if p/t doesn't open it then the file has a problem.

It would more likely be the Disney marketing people, or the trailer place I was subcontracted with - but I doubt they'd care too much since the main trailer is now out, its not like any big secret is out of the bag. I may animate this when I get some spare time. Would make a nice piece for the reel, though I don't think I'd get as crazy with it as I would if it were the real thing. However - I could consider it 'spec' work, since the TV part of the campaign is still coming up... you never know, might still see the light of day!

No story behind this one, and I may have to pull it, but I figure this forum is off the path far enough that nobody will bust me on it. Hope you all like. Would have REALLY loved to animate this one, I'd planned to use some RealFlow stuff in there somewhere. But for now, this was my favorite style frame of the bunch (this was one of 34 I submitted to the client): click for high res version You can see the version that "won" over at Apple Trailers. It was Imaginary Forces' fine workmanship - so competition on this was stiff.

I'd chime in as well as a dongle advocate. I was pretty livid when a coworker ripped off my Primatte install number (which I had just spent $400 to update) and promptly put it on his laptop running a pirated version of AE. Strangely, Red Giant didn't even care. But I think EIAS would. Also, this reminds me what an enormous pain in the ass it is to have to reinstall the Adobe stuff after a system reinstall. First I have Microsoft trying to extort yet another license for XP out of me (I've probably bought 4-6 at full price over the years), then the Adobe license manages to see just enough of its former self, so that it neither installs properly OR licenses properly - leaving half my apps in limbo, where depending on the whim of the system sometimes AE/PS/Ill just decide not to run. My FormZ dongle once broke and had to be replaced, but other than that I know that I'll be able to install and run my apps that need keys - regardless of the state of my system or internet access.

formZ 6.6, sometimes LightWave, sometimes Maya or Max. Depends on where the source model came from. I try to avoid building my own models but dealing with TurboSquid stuff can be a real headache sometimes. It means always having to translate out of some format. If a model needs touch-up or alteration, I'll usually go into formZ for that, since that's the modeler I'm most familiar with and I like its precision. Like EIAS: same interface after all these years. Sometimes after a reinstall, f/Z's icons revert back to their default 'color' mode, and I'm always completely lost. I can't use it unless the palettes are in the b+w mode from f/Z circa 2.0! Plus I've got an extensive batch of hotkeys defined, all loosely derived from either LightWave, Illustrator, or my own faulty logic, example, 'T' brings up "translate" (Lightwave), but "." brings up the Hand (me), and "-"/"=" increments in or out (Illustrator). That sure makes for fun keyboard hunting in Maya.