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I thought it was more a way of life!
I thought this is what life is!
I'd also just like to add that:
I like Daz Studio as a wonderful assistant app for my Carrara workflow - especially the Content Creation Tools.
It could easily go the other way around:
Carrara can handle having a LOT of content brought into it - with some simple good house-keeping methods it's absolutely amazing how much we can throw into a scene.
Carrara has a really nice, built-in atmosphere/outdoor lighting system (Realistic Sky Editor) along with simple to use, yet powerful Terrain and Plant modeler/editor tools
So it's really easy to quicky build a nice 360 degree scene, plop in a spherical camera, and make your own dome images for use in Daz Studio's Iray panel, as I've done here as a quick example/tests (these were all done using the above Carrara-to-Daz Studio workflow - rendered in Iray)
The spherical camera sounds interesting as I have been playing around with skyboxes created from 6-photos rendered in DAZ Studio. Have been longing for a spherical camera for DAZ Studio which should be coming sometime soon once the new nVidia stuff gets worked out. Looking forward to working with the spherical camera in Carrara!
BTW, is there a way to create stereo spherical images for google cardboard and the other HMDs?
Yes. For use in Daz Studio's Iray dome, as well as Carrara's Background Map field, we need to render at 2 to 1, 8,000 x 4,000 being very popular because it's about as low as we can go without having much for pixelation problems, and it renders fairly fast compared to making them larger.
Essentially, if you know how to combine exposure shots to create HDR images, Carrara's spherical camera is the tool to use.
Those files are all meant as an in-Carrara learning example of how to build such scenes, even though the sky holds no limit in Carrara.
This is a render using a background map I made using some background details (the buildings) from mmoir's BMF Landscapes kit for Carrara - then I'm still using those buildings in the scene that has them as the spherical background. The result is a nice, deep city look - and it requires a lot less resources since most of the city is an embedded map - even though Carara truly can handle all of the geometry in it at once.
That would be a question for Sad. She's really into all of that stuff - and is good at it. I'm still fighting to find time for other things... but I do want to eventually figure out how I can include these types of things into my workflow. VR is here... I want to eventually get with the program!
I can't really comment on the current version of DS, my one try was a very early version that was frustrating. From what I've read, DS has limited animation features. For me, Carrara has everything I need for short animations, especially using Poser format content which is linked directly in Carrara's browser, and which is widely available (my collection is embarrassingly massive). Here is a short (1 minute) animation that some people liked, all Carrara with Poser content:
I love all of your works, Steve! This one certainly reminds me of somebody I've lived inside of my entire life! ;)
Totally Agree!!
Thanks, Dartanbeck. Another person who finds toys inspiring is John Lasseter, the Pixar genius. He was doing amazing animations way back, like this 1986 short "Luxo Junior" (we were using 386 chips starting in 1986, running MS-DOS 3.2):
Luxo Jr was a landmark animation!
My first renders were with the dos command line program POV (Persistance Of Vision) downloaded from some BBS.....now that is OLD!
So Cool!
Although I had very few computer skills back then, I do still own one of the first color (8 color capability!) laptops, from Zenith!
It came with DOS and 4mb RAM, but now it sports 8mb RAM and Win95 mobile!
Just turn it on and wait... and wait... and wait! LOL
Indeed. I recall reading that Lasseter was an animator (2D, necessarily) at Disney and snuck over to watch the filming of "Tron", with its CGI (1982). He decided that the computer was maybe a good animation tool ... which got him fired. Best thing that ever happened for him and all of us, not just animators but audiences, Steve Jobs, John Ratzenberger, ....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter
I bought Carrara for the $22. Would have been nice to get it for $11 - but the bundles gave me some things I wanted and it would have cost me as much or more to buy them separately.
I've opened up Carrara and loaded a scene and started a render... but I really don't get it. That is the awesome thing about DAZ3D - the tutorials that come with it are so clear and intuitive and introduce you quickly to the basic concepts of modeling, posing, rendering... for free. Clearly, that is why DAZ focuses on DAZ 3D - it is the gateway into 3D rendering for new users.
Is there anything like that for Carrara - a series of tutorials that build, logically, from the ground up and assuming no prior experience at all?
DAZ used to have it very obvious. Try these for starters ►►► Carrara Information Manual ◄◄◄ by Dartanbeck and Modeling Objects in Carrara - Q&A - Come One and All by myself. Dartanbeck has a lot of useful links that are very helpful for all things Carrara... I have fewer links since mine are Modeling related. Both have links to other threads for what you want as well as DAZ pay tutorials and free videos on YouTube. If you find anything which either one does not mention post a link to the thread or post... I know I'll appreciate it for mine and can't believe that Dartanbeck would mind either.
A the risk of self promotion, my own set of video tutorials sounds like the closest fit to what you are asking for:
http://www.daz3d.com/carrara-8-5-tutorial-video-11-5-hours-long-instant-digital-download
This is frequently on sale if the full price seems a bit rich to you. Also the first few chapters can be viewed here for free:
http://www.infiniteskills.com/training/learning-carrara-8.html
This may be anough to get you started. Carrara is a lot more powerful than DS in that there are lots of features that DS does not do - modelling, replication, dynamic hair, etc, but you don't need to take this on all at once, just as you need to.
I bought both of the video sets Phil mentioned when they were on sale over the weekend, plus the realism one, and can't recommend what I've seen of it all so far highly enough. Even at sale price the lot of them together were a stretch for what's left of this month's budget, but I have already struck quite a few things off my wishlist after seeing how easy it would be to produce these things and more in Carrara, so I consider it to be money well spent. I'm learning loads here and having great fun doing it too.
Thanks for your kind words - so glad you are getting a lot out if them!
Astracadia, Well spent indeed! I'd be alot further along had I bought all 3 long ago. They are worth their weight in gold... I'am constantly referring back to them whenever I get stuck.
PhilW...
Thank you, I'll check it out. I am looking for something free to get me started and to see if I am interested enough in Cararra and its features to start investing anything in it. Again, I think this is where DAZ Studio gets it right - I've been resisting 3D modeling for almost 20 years now... and giving away DS along with excellent introductory tutorials is what finally got me to explore it. I'll puruse your sample tutorials and see if those are enough to help me decide if I want to invest more into learning the application. Thanks in advanced for making some of the tutorials available without cost. It is very helpful when content creators help us learn or grow our own libraries without breaking the bank. ;)
The introduction video alone, watching what your course offers - got me pretty excited about Cararra's potential. I don't have $100 for the course right now - but if it goes on sale... I think your self-promotion was completely appropriate - this is EXACTLY that kind of tutorial I am looking for.
Is Cararra alone enough to make/create merchant content for DAZ Studio? Could I learn how to make custom content in Cararra that I could then package, market and sell for DS 4.x? Ideally, I'd like to turn this into something that makes me a little money, instead of bleeding it from me. :)
The tool definitly can (see for instance TangoAlpha's shop).
Now, the learning curve to get to that level is something to consider, whatever the tool. But it's a pleasant challenge.
Yes ,. Carrara has modelling tools to allow you to create your own items.
this was a quick test when genesis 2 was released,. some time ago....
you can export as OBJ,. import into DS and use the Transfer utility (in DS) to auto-add the rigging.
Or, you could use Carrara to create your own Figure/character, clothes,.texture it, rig it ,. then animate, and render it,... all within Carrara. no need for DS
Instead of looking at Carrara as something where there is a set of "Steps" to create an image,.
Look at it as a multi function tool which you can use in multiple ways,. including , load a premade figure, apply premade poses,. render. the same as DS.
this PDF zip may help get you started.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7907045/Carrara_first_steps.zip
It sure is If you are up to it, there is no "bleeding edge" modeling tools in Carrara, they been there for some time now, but, they will do (it might take longer then with Hexagon, for example), UV's are the most painstaking part though, UV unwrapping was added much later in the game and done sloppy IMO, I only use them if I need some final UV correction because Carrara ocassionally messes up UV mapping on OBJ meshes import (strangely enough not on FBX format).
If you are tight with money, it's worth checking out Blender, it's free and it has amazing UV unwrapping tool (and modeling as well), unless you are put off by it's unortodox workflow and interface...
I never considered selling any of my stuff here or anywhere else, but lately I'm having more free time, who knows, maybe one of these days I will have my store here too
Don't worry about the price being so high... it is well worth it but I waited much too long before catching it on sale. You are absolutly correct Phil's video is "EXACTLY" what you are looking for. In the meantime there are plenty of YouTube videos... most are mentioned in the thread by Dartanbeck and some in my thread mentioned earlier. I just entered "carrara 8.5 pro tutorials" in YouTube search... the very first on that popped up was Carrara 8.5 Pro - FirstLook and don't forget Carrara 8.5 First Look 2 both by Dartanbeck. Yet another is What is Carrara basic tutorial which is a very good intro. For a modeling intro I like Carrara Vertex Modeling Tutorial Part 1 and Carrara Vertex Modeling Tutorial Part 2 by DimensionT since these are very good intros into modeling. There are many other YouTube videos... note that some assume that you already know how to use Carrara first... if you get stuck in a rut just post in the Carrara Discussion... there are very helpful folks here. Oh... forgot to mention... add a folder with your Browser to store the links to... it's always helpful to refer back to them... I have too often forgotten one important step in how to do something.
As 3DAGE said you can model for Studio in Carrara. That includes props, models of say a lamp, table, barrel, building, ships/boats, clothing and the list goes on and on... ohhhh... even figures. These models can also be used in other 3D programs when saved properly.
Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm playing around with Phil's videos while in the application and already getting a better idea of how it works and how to manipulate it. Haven't really even done a single test render yet... but, 2 months ago, I would have said the same thing about DAZ 3D.
I find the frustrating thing about DAZ 3D is that I want to create my own art - not JUST pose other people's art. I see the potential that is possible if you invest the time in learning not just how to create rendered poses, but to create content too. In the way-gone past I created custom levels for Duke 3D and other early 3D game mods... so... I'm not put off by the challenge of learning something complex in a 3D environment.
Making money would be nice - but also, there are just sometimes things that you can't find, in the content markets (DAZ, Renderosity, Evilinnocence...) or the Freebie Sites like ShareCG either. When all else fails - I'd like to have the ability to create my own object as a last resort. :) Sounds like Carrara is a little more powerful than DAZ in this regard - but maybe a lot more complex to learn too.
I hear ya, Donovan!
While Carrara can have a lot to learn about, you'll see yourself getting to grips with it (for free) fairly quickly - especially if you bring your issues into these forums and get answers. This forum has really been pretty fast and very friendly - which helps immensely!
I know you're getting a LOT of advice aleady, so I'll just add one thing: a good place to know is this thread:
Learning Carrara and need some help?
It can help lead you to many other places to find help and/or inspiration! ;)
Oh.. and:
Welcome to CARRARA!!!!
Donovan, I think you have made a wise choice. Don't forget what FifthElement pointed out about Hexagon and Blender... it's always nice to have more tools in your toolbox even if you seldom use them.
Don't put off learning to model to the last minute you need something. Modeling in Carrara is funnnnn!
This morning I was looking at the new thingy (I forget what it's called, it's 4.30 am here) that's in the store for creating terrains/landscapes in DS, together with various addons apparently essential for full functionality. I thought that there wasn't one example I saw that couldn't be recreated in Carrara, so I toddled off to Carrara and made myself a landscape very similar to one of those I'd seen (only I thought the texture was better!). While I was there, I made myself a rowing boat. I'm not sure why, because I've got at least two already that I could have added to the scene. I think I just did it because I could :) I also added a not-particularly-good fountain. This was more down to my lack of skill than there being anything wrong with the tools - the one I would have made in DS would have been no better - if I'd ever have got round to forking over for the DS iray particle generator (and more 'essential' addons). After that, I managed to recreate a few of the DS gemstone shaders from a set that I have wishlisted. I'll probably end up buying these anyway since I need them all soon for a commercial project, but it's good to know that there's money to be saved in that department when I get a bit more proficient with Carrara.
When I was done, I was marvelling about the sheer length and breadth of the program when I discovered that the little 'hair' icon led to an entire 'hair-making' room. I've never really got on with Look At My Hair and so I can't compare there, but I do know that Carrara hair tools easily rival Garibaldi, except that I've found Carrara hair to be a bit easier to manipulate.
Hmm... was Carrara worth the $11 or $22 that was being asked for it in the weekend sales? Probably... ;)