Feel free to send me an e-mail regarding Studio
cory(at)mechanixdesigns(dot)com
--
Cory McConnell, AICE
wrote in message news:5129983@discussion.autodesk.com...
Bill, my assumption at this point is that Studio is unsuitable for my needs,
and that an IPN file will work better, but I appreciate your reply. I'll see
if I can scan and supply some of the photographic storyboards created by the
shop foreman, but they're on big pieces of cardboard right now.
Some thoughts in response to yours:
The lack of documentation is a big handicap to me (especially the lack of
printed--or even printable--documentation). Online help files don't serve
the same purpose. However, I figured out, eventually, that Studio is for
showing things moving along their constraints, and the word "animation"
doesn't really apply in its usual sense. So I think in large part, I've been
trying to get a dog to bark like a cat.
I haven't tried using a wrapper assembly, but the removal of constraints
won't quite accomplish what I need.
Some background that might help clarify my needs: I'm the graphic design
department here, and in addition to Quark/Illustrator/Photoshop, I have a
film/video/audio background, so my client figures I can do this for them,
and they can get my film/video skills at Quark/Illustrator prices (which is
fine by me). However, I'm not the one making the models, and I'm not an
Inventor guy in the first place. (And I was a victim of the Inventor-to-Viz
plugin that didn't work, so I've admittedly got a chip on my shoulder
regarding Autodesk in the first place.)
I assume I need constraints so that I have the basic information of "Where
does this part go?" at hand. However, that puts me into dilemma territory:
Without the constraints, I can move the parts but don't know where to put
them, and with them, I know where to put them but can't move them there.
Suppressing them as needed is a possible--if awkward--solution, but then I
bump into the fact that I can't alter their paths,so they often move through
each other in physically impossible and visually confusing ways.
Controlling the start position of a component in Assembly makes sense for
the needs of a mechanical designer (i.e., showing the gears turning and the
parts moving), but is awkward for what I'm trying to do. I want to tell the
program that at THIS keyframe, the part is HERE, and that THAT keyframe,
it's THERE. Again, the lack of documentation made it a very frustrating
experience, trying to figure out exactly what the hell was being edited when
I right-clicked a track in the Action Editor and chose EDIT. My assumptions
got in the way: I assumed the existence of a keyframe on a track meant that
keyframe contained something. But it doesn't. That being the case, I'd
suggest not showing a white box on the left of the blue bar, as it's
visually misleading. Just show the blue bar starting, and then show it
ending in a box on the right.
I'd also appreciate a chart or something that shows me what Studio does, as
opposed to the IPN and MAX options.
Which brings me back to something I've brought up twice already:
DOCUMENTATION!
The online help files are not helpful unless you already know the
program--at least, that's my experience. I NEED A MANUAL! I'll print PDFs
if I have to, but... NO manual AT ALL? What is this, Customer Depreciation
Day?
If my experience with other companies holds true here, you already know a
manual is a necessity, but your management decided to leave it out in order
to save money. So I'm not yelling at you guys who do the actual work, and
who pop up in the forums and help people--but yes, I'm definitely yelling at
management, so please feel free to forward this up the chain. Software--ANY
software, even software less complex than this--needs manuals, and the
decision to omit them is evidence of a profound lack of customer care.
Manuals are not mere niceties.
I hope you take this as I intended it, which is not a slap in your face at
all; I really appreciate your taking the time to respond, and look forward
to continuing the discussion--hopefully in a way that lets me get this
project done as efficiently as possible.