It's definitely a 2 banana problem.

I've made a lot of progress so far today. All three clams are in their proper positions, opening and closing in the right direction, and not looking too bad. They still need a lot of cleanup to cover gaps and holes in the 3D meshes, but the basic system is in place.

You'd think I would know better at my age, but I made the mistake of not taking the clams seriously enough. Since I have always had a basic plan on how to do them, I didn't really attack the project with full-force. My mind was really on the new fish models/movement, and I was hoping to just get the clams out of the way first. Next time I'll remember that splitting my focus never works, and usually ends up taking twice as long.

Then definitely 3 bananas, not two, wouldn't you say? ;)

Yes, if a chimp was doing the job, it would be a three-banana problem. But he'd have an advantage in probably never having seen an actual clam, so he'd be likely to accept a much lower level of quality :)

Or lower level of banana. You don't want to put that banana too high up. Chimps aren't very tall. :p

And talking of stir-crazy, that takes us back to the soup, doesn't it? :D

I knew I'd regret my post. ;) I always do.

Yes we have no Bananas Today...

Sorry couldn't resist. Must be the melting snow making me goofy. :lol:

How is the progress with the clams going?

I suspect Jim took a week end off from work... or he is working so hard he didin't even think of updating... :)
clams clams clams... sounds almost like the monty python sketch on spam... :p

I've been working on the clams 18 hours a day. Got one done.

I'll take it :)

Sorry, they come in a set of 3.

So we're looking at another 36 hours if you don't stop to eat or go to the bathroom?

Your forgetting getting multimonitor support working properly :(

Cool, then the last 2 should be easier.

Jav 400,

Whats the problem with multi monitor support. I have the beta runing fine on a Matrox Parhillia Triple head and on a Nivida 5500 .

He's talking about getting the clams to show up on multimonitors.

If anyone remembers, when Jim animated the fans and the sea fingers there were problems with the animations on multi-monitor setups. That was with each item being on the extreme end of the tank. With the clams being pretty much in the middle they will be crossing the DMZ frequently. ;)

Each monitor requres its own Render Unit, with separate copies of all the models, textures, fonts, etc. The animation loops try to time everything so that roughly the same thing appears to be happening on each monitor, but they are really not connected at all. So, just because the clams show up and work on one monitor doesn't mean they will appear on other monitors unless I specifically create and animate them on that Render Unit.

Will we soon be able to see a preview?

Soon....If only Cliff would stop asking Jim for music enhancements:D

They are not ready for a preview yet.

The perfect "enhancement" already exists, = press the M key! :p ... And I've researched, provided, and tested, the solution, = change the file type. :)

..... Yes by all means get on with the Clams. :TU: ..... (After all. Who needs Muzak? ;))

Jim, How are the clams coming along?
Thanks!

Still having trouble making them look real.

I'm glad you have such high standards with your work Jim, always pays off in the end.

How about coming up with a little video of the clams in action?

Perhaps we can offer our opinions.

yeh, sounds a great idea!

Sadly, there is nothing more disgusting to look at than a half done clam. In days of old it was necessary to de gauss ones monitor after looking at such an image...:)

Yes, there's nothing worse than a half-baked clam.

Anyway, there's no use spending a day creating a video of something that's not finished, when I could just spend the time finishing it. If I could hit on just the right textures, they could be done in an hour.

checks back in one hour ... hmm

sniff! sniff! ... is that chowder I smell... ;)

Nope... it is the smoke of burning textures

Yep, 10,000 rejected textures make quite a fire in the trashcan.

If you eliminate all the textures that don't work, eventually you find the one that will. We patiently await your success. And it will happen!

Of the three clams, I have one texture whcich I would consider a C+, one C, and one D-. Day after day I try experiments, and it starts to look pretty good to me. Then I'll go away for a while, and when I come back, it looks ridiculously cartoonish.

Perhaps... time to put it to the testers. :) As Confucius probable said at one time or another.."A cook is never satisfied with his clams"

Well I could take a look at the texture and twiddle with it. But I know you'd never use it. ;)

Apparently it's the 1/4 cup white wine that makes the difference....

I don't know, maybe Jim has the sequence wrong and is having the wine before the clams....................... ;)