Hi-

In this new 'feature forum' we are going to explore the A:M Track utility/program by putting it thru it's paces...

What is A:M Track?

A:M Track is a part of ZignTrack, a facial motion capture program. A:M Track has less features of Zign Track, but has an easy export to Animation:Master (Any Version) via either bones or poses. ZignTrack and A:M Track were developed by Luuk Steitner who is very active right here on the A:M Forums, and who I hope will help me out when I wander 'astray' ...like I do.


Does A:M Track come with Animation:Master?

No. A:M Track is a stand-alone program that outputs Animation:Master action files that you apply to your characters facial rig. It is available for purchase ($99) in 2 places, linked below:

Zign Creations website
- http://www.zigncreations.com/amtrack.html
Hash website
- http://www.hash.com/store/index.php?main_p...8f4b6212e8e28e2

Can I see some samples of what A:M Track does?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TTR0JrocsI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPtK43YD3ko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pkI8bEXwac...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiNJZ55X4eM...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKAcpl_K4o
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2333881642963879389

Do I need A:M Track?

That is what this forum is going to help you qualify. A good animator should still know the lipsynch process, and you will need have a general knowledge of the following disciplines:

-point activated Motion Capture and BVH
-A:M poses and actions
-A:M rigging, bones and weights
-Camera shooting, lighting and equipment, sound recording digitizing, file formats and transferring.
-Writing and acting will help as well!
-A:M Track captures facial nuances and motion, the rest of the body will need be animated as well.

A:M Track would prove invaluable on 'long-form animations'- or dialogue heavy animations... where convincing human actions need be applied to a 3D cartoon face. In this forum, I will demonstrate the process of taking an A:M character thru the A:M Track process... something which I have only just recently performed myself for the 1st time, so we will be learning together! Please be patient while I prepare my material, and as always- Martin will be prodding me along.

Matt Campbell, aka John Bigboote