Those are sweet render times!

Yes, DS and Bryce are certainly capable.

One thing to keep in mind with rendering is you will need a lot of patience even with fast systems - a separate machine for rendering is a real time-saver if it's available. If you're not going for photorealism like Avatar or the Final Fantasy movie, then you may see significant time savings.

Learn all you can, test test test, and make sure to plan well in the pre-production stage.

Congrats and break a leg!

Thanks Deecey, I'll be looking forward to these.

I'd like to see:

Beginner:

• I'm not a beginner, but I am still using Poser 6 and have gotten a lot of mileage out of it. But I know I'll be going to Poser 2010 when it's available. Maybe some type of short-n-sweet to get users up to speed that may be upgrading from such an older version?
• Content / runtime management - for example how to deal with multiple runtimes so as to optimize speed and memory management. Would be awesome if there were specifics for filmmakers. :)

Intermediate/Advanced:

• Maybe a step-by-step on how to animate hair? :)
• using videos as backgrounds (and any greenscreen tips - I made some greenscreen and bluescreen backgrounds for DVD and HD resolution if you'd like to have them)
• animated materials
• batch rendering of movies or stills
• comparison of screen colors vs. print colors vs. video colors and how to get good results across all these mediums
• And definitely second cyberscape's request on render farm & hardware info.

Thanks!

My only tip is probably go for a beverage or lunch while the install runs - they seem to last forever. :)

I installed Production Premium on a pretty beefy core 2 duo machine at work, and it was about a 4-5 hour process.

Thanks all, yeah, it's going to be a while before I get one - they aren't cheap! Glad I downloaded the manual, because it helped me determine I need to do a little bit of a system upgrade first. So to anyone considering one, download all the docs from the Wacom site so you know what's involved.

I'll be getting some more mileage out of my tablet for now. :)

Thanks folks. Doing some more investigating tonight and leaning towards a hardware issue. Luckily I've still got warranty coverage. Photoshop is doing the same exact thing, and my graphics tablet also just stops working intermittently. System also just ignored my attempts at shutting down earlier and I had to use the power button to turn it off.

I think I'll name it HAL. :)

Going to reformat and reinstall first just to make sure there's not any software conflicts.

Warning: verbose. :)

I finally saw it the other night in 3d (non-IMAX) and then went right next door to the IMAX to go
through it again on the bigger screen.

Sure, most of us knew how the story was going to play out. Even so I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

I hope I'm not offending here, but most of us on this forum are not of low or even average IQ, so most of the time we need something that challenges our brain, complexities in our entertainment.

This is a story the average person can get into, it's an escape where they don't have to THINK hard about what it means, which is what makes box office smashes. And that's not to say it's stupid or for made for morons - just that it's simple in the story structure; it sets up the conflicts and then resolves them to the intended audience's satisfaction. Notice that they don't go into the science too deeply. Personally, I'd have liked those moments to be a bit more in-depth.

If Cameron didn't know how to make movies the masses can enjoy, he'd be asking if we want fries with that during the day and we'd all probably be talking to him on this forum in the evenings. It doesn't matter how "deep" or "unique" a story is - if an audience can't relate to it, it will fail. Unfortunately the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Studios can only survive on small or no sales for so long. Avatar succeeds because people relate to it at the same time they're amazed by the visuals, no matter if the story has been done to death or not.

There are very, very few truly original stories out there anymore anyway.

Like it or not, Cameron's redefined scifi filmmaking for the next few years at least and other major studios are going to be jumping all over his new camera system and we'll see a glut of 3d movies. The good ones will rise to the top and the bad ones will also ultimately show their true colors.

I'll probably go see Avatar another 3 or 4 times on the big screen just to enjoy the eye candy
again and to geek out on the CG details of the amazing environments. And to look for AgentSmith in the credits since there are SO many names at the end.

I dare any of us to do something one-tenth as good. I'm with ice-boy, even if you aren't into the aliens or the story, see it for the experience.

And by the way - I'm waiting for the simulation rides they'll have at Universal or Disney... ;)

Man, awesome. Can't wait to see it.

Same here, I've been able to go back and forth using layered .psd files without issues.

A trick to use CS4 Brushes in CS3: in CS4, paint each brush on its own layer. Open that .psd file in CS3, and then define a brush preset for each layer, one at a time. It can be tedious, but is a workaround. I just did this between CS4 and Photoshop 6 for a small brush set I made in CS4, worked fine.

It depends on the model. I've had decent luck with it when using simpler models, but getting V3 and a complex outfit and props into it does make it sluggish.

i also had some issues with the selection tool, but were fixed by updating video card drivers (or disabling the advanced OpenGL GPU features).

FYI, here's the performance guide for CS4 from Adobe:

Windows: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404439.html

Mac: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404440.html

Dream Theater is an awesome band. I've been into them since around '92. "Under A Glass Moon" is one of the hardest guitar solos I've ever tried to learn. My band used to cover Pull Me Under and Take the Time off that album. I'm also a big fan of Triumph.

Nightwish is one of my favorite 3 bands (in close running with Queensryche and Celldweller) - my friend Chris turned me onto them about 9 years ago. I like the early stuff, but I also like the new singer, I think she fits in well with how they've evolved. In fact I'm listening to that album (Dark Passion Play) right now. Do any of you folks listen to Lacuna Coil or Echoes of Eternity? Two other great bands.

FYI - have you seen Gina Pitkanen's paintings of Nightwish (with former singer Taarja)? Awesome. I think they were either here or at RDNA gallery a few years back, but I can't find them now.

OT - I played guitar for a while in the 90's with Canada's Thor, and we covered "Court of the Crimson King" on his Thunderstruck album in '98. I played keyboards and guitar on it. I don't know if it's still in print, but if you're a fan of old-school prog, you might like it. :)

Universal Texture Convertor V1, Particles 2, and MK Particles, PowerDials, and Radiosity scripts are a few I can't live without. (still on Poser 6 here)

Caro's free light set and Merchant utilities are a must-have as well (you can get them here, but I don't recall if it's for Renderosity merchants only - anyone know for sure?)

Ockham's Python scripts - gotta have 'em. :)

SkinShader is another one I use all the time, and RDNA's HDRI lights.

Attached Link: http://www.posertrax.com

I have many free sound effects, loops, and music files at my Posertrax site which can be used royalty-free. Just click on Freebies and there they are. :)

Hope this helps in your search!
--Donnie

Thanks bobby and lisa! I'm slowly getting back on a regular update schedule, so will have more soon.

--Donnie

Comic Tools Products, now Exclusively at Renderosity:
My Renderosity Store

Posertrax
Music & Sound FX
www.posertrax.com - free loops, sound effects, and more

Dark Ambience Complete - 27 Royalty-Free Music Trax in WAV format for films, games, animation, web

Argh...$995...I don't need it that bad, just playing around at this point, but maybe when the price comes down and I'm doing more than experimenting.

Thanks for the info folks!
--Donnie

Comic Tools Products, now Exclusively at Renderosity:
My Renderosity Store

Posertrax
Music & Sound FX
for animation, games, web
www.posertrax.com

tantarus, what is BodyPaint? I thought CS4 Extended had the ability to paint on a model built-in. I just got CS3 a little over a year ago, but I regret not getting the Extended version. I wasn't going to upgrade until I saw that you could paint on models in CS4E - but does that require BP?

Comic Tools Products, now Exclusively at Renderosity:
My Renderosity Store

Posertrax
Music & Sound FX
for animation, games, web
www.posertrax.com