Attached Link: http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/

Thanks I foudn frame grabber software and a video camera or webcam work pretty good. I have used a webcam for the quick tests i did so far i will upgrade to a digital video camera and direct feed. Monkey Jam seems pretty good so far for a open source frame grabber.

Attached Link: http://setuptab.com/index.php

I bought a copy of the basic version. Odd Ithing is that I was a messiah user for a few years just have otehr priorities now so I wan tto have the latest but I have nto doen a lot of computer animation for quite soem time. Messiah has a great renderer and shader language too.

My cousing gave me a Linux box that is sort of a trashcan special. Older computer with weak vid card but surfs the net pretty good.(1.8Ghz duron single core)  I should have my machine back up and runnign this week.

Attached Link: http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/amazing-art-of-frank-r-paul

No outline yet I have a vague plan on bringing some classic science fition paintings to life. I love the covers from the 20's ad 30's by Frank R. Paul. Still have nto moved in and I am dealing with a dead PC so a few minor setbacks.

Attached Link: http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/index.h

Well Max has quite a few animation tools to use.  I presonally would reccomend PMG Messiah for animation it is one of the most intuitive animation programs out there.

Well I will have more room than I have in the past but I think I soudl try to keep it small and use some digital backdrops etc to get more out of it. I do look forward to doing more practical projects and doing work I can touch and feel.

I imagine it can be hard on your back. WEll I am in the process of moving to a new home and wan tto get into that when i get there because I will have extra space. I want to get away from the PC onc ein a while too and do all those other things associated with stop motion from sculpting to making scenery etc.

You could do a double render to get the heat ripples a distance render so you can pick out hte right parts and a regular render. To get a better abmient light I use a lighting rig of around 64 lights in a sphere configuration over the scene with very low level and no falloff.  Old tricks.

I have not done any modeling with imported illustrator files so i can't help there. But i do use a lot of imported pictures as templates using image planes. I convert to BMP before I use them. Bryce imports a lot of formats OBJ seems to work best wings can export as an OBJ. It is nto MOI or Rhino so you will have to get used to it but wings does what it does well. A lot of Maya tutorials you can do in wings too.

Attached Link: http://wings3d.com/

Quote - Dann-O, £5.40 a gallon is low? Where do you live?

As for having a mispent youth, and blaming my educators for my failings in the labour market, I beg to differ. 
Having a section of society ignorant is in the interests on not only corporations, but religeous organisations and the military.

     I am going by the CNN link which puts gas at $5.79 a gallon. Remember I am not going by imperial gallons. (US gallons are 3.78L) While it is substantially more than what I pay it is less than I thought it would be. In Britain there is less need for low petrol prices due to shorter distances to travel and better mass transit system.

    As far as how you feel about my other comments I did not name anyone by name. If you feel offended I apologize. I just know that educators are not in some sort of cabal that makes grand decisions on who goes forth who does not. They are clueless and just try to do their job. Some fail miserably others do well.

     Often where conspiracy theories fall apart is that they often credit certain groups of really knowing what they are doing and being more like a James Bond villain than the clueless chumps that they are.

     Interesting thread it went off the tracks a bit into a stream of consciousness. I tend not to credit educators with nefarious intentions but blame it more on a sort of anti intellectual culture that runs through a lot of working class people. it is a defense mechanism to console oneself for a misspent youth. It then goes on to the next generation through the parents in a viscous cycle. Now the British school system could very well be different with long running class distinctions that some feel need to be preserved.

     While I feel corporations are not actively seeking out to make the general public ignorant it is in their best interests because those who are less intellectually inclined are more easily swayed by something shiny.

     Back to the original topic I am surprised the price of petrol is so low in Britiain. i thought it would be more on the order of 8$ a gallon.