Animation = frustration
Ugh - So I have made the decision last night that after I finish Longing for Home, I'm giving up on Hash Animation:Master.
This was a hard and painful dissension since I've used the program for 10+ years now and I do like it very much, mostly for it's actual animation tools. I have a fondness for limited pallets and tool sets, using skills more than tools to get the job done. There have been great things done with A:M so it's not like it's not capable of reaching that level of existence.
But...
A:M has suffered a lot these past couple of years. Most of it self induced. The program itself is easy "cracked". So much so that it's impossible to sell in the Asian markets due to all the illegal downloads. The bottom "consumer" end of 3D market has also had it's feet kicked out from under it by Blender, an open source 3D program. Combine that with a company attitude (most imposed on it by it's owner) that it *won't* compete with the high end programs because professional artists are "all ass-holes". You end up with a company that has purposefully chained itself into a death spiral.
I've also been really fighting the tools the more complected I try to get with my productions. If it's just a single, simple character or two it's fine. But as I try to get more complicated with what I'm trying to achieve, all hell breaks loose. We're talking full on screaming hissy-fits at Micca. Yes, animation should make you think hard about what your doing. That's much different than sending your stress level though the roof in frustration.
Don't get me wrong - there are some really good people working on that program. They recently did a new particle engine. There fur and hair have come a long ways. So has there cloth. They now have a 3rd party 3D pain program plug in that looks pretty decent too. I, unfortunately, have not had the luxury of trying new versions past v13.
All that, however, does not help the fact I'm seeing less and less high-end work coming out of Hash users. Hell, I'm seeing less and less Hash users all together. The less of a user pool, the less knowledge floating around to learn from. In the end I feel like the company won't be around for much longer. I'm starting to feel like I need to jump ship before the run gets pulled out from under me.
But where do I go from here? The current consumer end is in love with Blender. After working three months in it I really want to drop kick the UI on it's head and shoot my computer. Not really an option. My preferred platform would be Maya at this point, along with some plug-ins and other programs to get my up to date. This would cost me about the same as buying a new car.
I just don't know what to do any more, short of just not trying to do any animation anymore.
Pardon me, I need to slink off and cry.
This was a hard and painful dissension since I've used the program for 10+ years now and I do like it very much, mostly for it's actual animation tools. I have a fondness for limited pallets and tool sets, using skills more than tools to get the job done. There have been great things done with A:M so it's not like it's not capable of reaching that level of existence.
But...
A:M has suffered a lot these past couple of years. Most of it self induced. The program itself is easy "cracked". So much so that it's impossible to sell in the Asian markets due to all the illegal downloads. The bottom "consumer" end of 3D market has also had it's feet kicked out from under it by Blender, an open source 3D program. Combine that with a company attitude (most imposed on it by it's owner) that it *won't* compete with the high end programs because professional artists are "all ass-holes". You end up with a company that has purposefully chained itself into a death spiral.
I've also been really fighting the tools the more complected I try to get with my productions. If it's just a single, simple character or two it's fine. But as I try to get more complicated with what I'm trying to achieve, all hell breaks loose. We're talking full on screaming hissy-fits at Micca. Yes, animation should make you think hard about what your doing. That's much different than sending your stress level though the roof in frustration.
Don't get me wrong - there are some really good people working on that program. They recently did a new particle engine. There fur and hair have come a long ways. So has there cloth. They now have a 3rd party 3D pain program plug in that looks pretty decent too. I, unfortunately, have not had the luxury of trying new versions past v13.
All that, however, does not help the fact I'm seeing less and less high-end work coming out of Hash users. Hell, I'm seeing less and less Hash users all together. The less of a user pool, the less knowledge floating around to learn from. In the end I feel like the company won't be around for much longer. I'm starting to feel like I need to jump ship before the run gets pulled out from under me.
But where do I go from here? The current consumer end is in love with Blender. After working three months in it I really want to drop kick the UI on it's head and shoot my computer. Not really an option. My preferred platform would be Maya at this point, along with some plug-ins and other programs to get my up to date. This would cost me about the same as buying a new car.
I just don't know what to do any more, short of just not trying to do any animation anymore.
Pardon me, I need to slink off and cry.