Diolma...

Well spotted. That's exactly what it was.  I've never used that feature, and in fact had forgotten what the icon was for!  I can only assume I must have clicked it by accident while doing other things (seems unlikely, but I can't think of any other explanation!)

Anyway, that was the problem.

Thanks!

Hi,

No, that doesn't seem to be it either - I've just checked, and none of them are locked.  In all respects, those cameras are acting as if 'animate' was unchecked in their properties box, but that's not the case.

I'd love to know what's going on here - I still haven't ruled out the possibility that I'm overlooking something simple and obvious .  But now that I know that it's confined to this one file, I'm happier about the situation.

Thanks, PhilC.

I've been doing a few tests.  A reboot doesn't fix the problem, but thankfully it's confined to this one file (and its derivitives).  When I start a new file, I can animate all the cameras - but something must have got messed up in this one as the posing, dolly, face and hand cams all refuse to keyframe.

I'm using the main camera for just about everything as a workaround.  It's a minor inconvenience, but I'm relieved that it's a problem with this file, rather than with Poser!

Thanks again.

Cad é mar atá tú a Mhicheál,

As another relative newbie, I'm finding the following very helpful.

There's a graded classroom tutorial book at:
 http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55205

and there's also a great graded series of video tuts here:
http://ocw.tufts.edu/Content/28/supplementarymaterial/366743

If you check back through the links, you'll find that the vid tuts are part of a bigger 3D modeling course that includes PDF docs of lessons, and a couple of projects.

I came to it thinking it might be good 'for a free program', and I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that it's BETTER than some software that costs 100's of dollars.

I've enclosed a pic of my first Blender objects. I think I'm making slow progress, but if I tell you that my ultimate ambition is to model, rig, and animate my own characters, you'll see that I still have a long, LONG way to go.

Still, I'm beginning to think it could be a fun journey.

Morph

Thanks Haloedrain.

It would be a nice feature.  Mind you, at the speed I'm moving along the Blender learning curve, they'll probably have released version 5.42 by the time I've mastered even the basics!!!

I'm not finding this an easy program to learn.  I've been trying to get some modeling skills by making basic household items.  You would not believe how long it took me to figure out how to do something as basic as a teaspoon!

Still, it's an amazing piece of software, and I'm determined to get to grips with it.

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply, Silgrin.

As usual, I was doing something very stupid.  I'm beginning to think I shouldn't be allowed to play with grownup software!

In this case, I was appending 'mesh' rather than 'object.'   I've got it working now.

However, I have another question...

I've made a knife with 4 parts - blade, hilt, handle, and pommel at the end.  By parenting the other three bits to the 'hilt', I can use the hilt to move the whole thing around, which is good.

But is there any way I can join the bits together so that if I move any part of the knife, it will all move as a unit?  I know I could use 'join', but then I lose the textures of the individual pieces.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Morph

Awk. Problem solved.

I AM SO STUPID!!!!   Somehow, I managed to get my windforce and my flag in two different layers!

Thanks again!

Morph

Thanks for the reply.

Darn, I was hoping I'd forgotten something, because now I don't know why it won't work!

I've tried the wind strength all the way up to 50, but without results - the flag just falls around the flagpole.

I'll have a look at your blend file and see if I can find anything different from mine.

Thanks again!

Morph

Thanks for the useful tip... which also made me realise that if I wasn't so lazy, all I have to do is walk into the next room, run Blender on the PC there, then get the .blend file via network  from the main machine,  and set it rendering  - while I go back to work on the main machine again!

Morph

I just want to add my thanks to those who drew attention to this 'one year licence' thingie.

I was >this close< to buying it, but now I feel I've had a narrow escape!  Thanks!

And dynamic bones, like in Animation Master. That would be SO cool for us animators.

Yes, those vid tutorials are absolutely wonderful.

Why don't you go ahead and start then, Morphy? :)<< Well, being shy & retiring & all, I don't like to appear in a group and start throwing my weight around :) Also, I'm pretty tied up trying to produce the last 5 pages of a Christmas comic strip (with Poser), so the deadline is pretty tight. But once I get that out of the way, yeah, even if nobody else wants to join in, I might start posting a message every week or two saying: "I'm going to try to make a (whatever) this week - anybody else wanna play?" But it will probably have to wait until after Christmas!

Amapi was one of the 'Paid for' apps I've tried in recent years. I must admit I liked the interface, but I found the program crashed more often than I would have liked. I also found that the upgrade prices got (for me) prohibitively expensive. One of the nice things about Blender is that it's not a continual drain on the ol' finances, trying to stay current. I suppose the basic interface question is, when you get used to it, how rapid/speedy does it make your workflow? I'm beginning to suspect that with Blender, the 'when you get used to it' may take a little longer, but that when you get a grip on it, it's really second to none. On the matter of 'weekly (or whatever) challenge, I would definitely love to give it a go. My particular problem is my total lack of skill and talent!! At present I'm still slogging through the manual and the tutorials. But I think it would be super if once every week or so, one of us noobs would say, why doen't we try to make a (whatever) this week, and us other noobs would say, Ok, let's go!