PC+ sale here now, any must-buys for Cararra? The Wrap-up and unfinished business

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  • And if you just want to experiment with a Gen 7 base character, they are $1.80 apiece.  Just select one complete BYOB, and you can add as many Gen 7's as you want for that price.

    Thanks to kyoto kid for that tip!

  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588
    edited November 2016

    And for those of you who were wanting those V4 RDNA bundles from a couple of days ago, Bast and Ishtar, they are back!

    http://www.daz3d.com/ishtar-bundle-for-v4

    http://www.daz3d.com/bundle-bast-for-v4

    Each bundle shows up as $1.80 in my cart.

    Post edited by UnifiedBrain on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    FYI:  I have found a way to dissable the catagory boxes ability to scroll and also to disable them entirely in order to display more products on sale. Unfortunately this needs to be done each time the window is refreshed.

    If anyone is interested just click in the catagory box area and choose "inspect element" to delete, temporarily, different code lines in the html.  I use Firefox and have not tried it with other browsers.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332

    And for those of you who were wanting those V4 RDNA bundles from a couple of days ago, Bast and Ishtar, they are back!

    http://www.daz3d.com/ishtar-bundle-for-v4

    http://www.daz3d.com/bundle-bast-for-v4

    Each bundle shows up as $1.80 in my cart.

    Of course... because I have no budget! Argh!!! LOL

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332
    edited November 2016

    Okay, this thread (and the "How many pages do you have" thread)  has got me thinking about all of the content I've bought over the years. I always thought that I had a clear memory of when I've first stepped into Carrara. And it's pretty similar to what I've thought. 

    I've just decided to enter my Product Library and run the sort by Purchase Date backwards.

    Wow... the stuff I thought was vital back then! It's amazing what "Unknowing" does to one's shopping habits - and how long it takes for these habits to evolve... to change. 

    For example, back then I was really gung-ho for Millennium Environment and other billboard-style items, like X-Frogs' billboards they've put out. Generation 4 was still fairly new and support products were in full force for most of my Carrara career. Since buying Carrara I've almost completely ignore Generation 3 and earlier.

    So much of this content I still see amost every time I use Carrara! It's amazing to see how 'clear' of an idea I've had for what I wanted to do, right from the start - but then I see all of this stuff that I bought, wondering what would work best in Carrara, back when I still wasn't sure how to get Millennium Environmment working properly. I kept collecting more and more cool texture sets for that! I've said it before... Millennium Environment really is cool! yeah... we really don't need it in Carrara. It almost feels funny using it in Vast Carrara. But seeing these kits that I bought for it... I can't wait to pull it out again and play with it some more!

    There are so very few addons for it that I don't have, I really think I should watch for those to go on sale and work at completing that collection! 

    Amazing seeing Major Cache... why don't I have him in any renders? All of the cool bundles I've picked up over the years.

    What's more, it's truly wonderful how well these Free Mega Bundles from this sale have fed my collection in such a spirit that feeds what I was doing back then! So cool!

    Back then we didn't have petipet. But Daz3d was never shy on having excellent models to pick from. They've stated strong and have been so ever since. 

    In the major splitting of Daz3d, we've lost some real friends. I miss them. Nerd3D was one of those whom I'd always loved collecting from.

    Other great PA's I've started collecting right from the start include Ringo Monfort and Kibarreto. Serge and Valandar, Ravenhair and Jack Tomalin, Laurie S, Lisa B, Goldtassel, April YSH, Stonemason... the list continues - not just naming names from once-in-a-while purchases, but folks that I followed. There are a lot more, and I'm still following them. Eventually more and more Carrara-specific artists hit the list, then I started grabbing some Bryce content - thinking that I was going to have some fun with that, just to continue a bit of a conversation I was having with David Brinnen for a short while there.

    It's amazing how many porducts I've looked at already in this stroll through memory lane - yet there's still a  l o n g  way to go! Wow... all of those folks here whom have three times the product pages I have and more - some much, much more!!! 

    I have so much content that I almost never feel needy anymore. But I do know that I'm not done yet - having a lot of collecting to do still to get my catalog up to where I'll need it to be to sustain what I'm wanting to do. 

    It makes me really glad that vehicles, scenery and most props don't rely upon which generation of figure we're using. I remember waiting for Generation 4's clothing and hair collections to get bigger - more variety. There's a lot there, yet there's a lot missing. Poor Genesis 1 didn't get a very long run of support products before Genesis 2 came along - and now Genesis 3 is getting a lot of support. I'm glad to see that artists are making Genesis 1 and 2 products as well - some are even making their hair products fit Generation 4 as well - fitting from V4 and M4 through all three versions of Genesis... that's cool to see!

    Anyways... thanks for running this thread, Unified Brain! It's a lot of fun to think about all of this!

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332

    Sorry that a lot of that doesn't have much to do with Platinum Club in the usual sense, but this sale, while being a PC+ sale, has gone vastly beyond what I've normally seen as PC, except Membership benefits have kind of helped my entire life here at Daz3d. Platinum Club Yearly Membership was one of my first major purchases - and I've been a happy club member ever since!

    So that's how I see this all relating to this whole topic. "Must-Buy" has a different meaning for us all!

  • is ok Dart climax over, now time for basking in the afterglow enjoying your vape, then roll over go to sleep.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332
    edited November 2016
    ToeJam said:

    is ok Dart climax over, now time for basking in the afterglow enjoying your vape, then roll over go to sleep.

    Yes! I got almost three full pages of free goodies in that sale! Saweet!!!

    Too bad the Catch-up didn't include the Free mega bundle give-aways. Somehow I missed one of them - #3 I think. Bummer. Still walked away with an awful lot of great stuff during tough financial times though! Happy=me!

    Playing with all of these goodies is going to be a LOT of fun!!!

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332
    edited November 2016

    Had a few minutes before bed - built this from the content tab, loaded some of the many incredible maps into channels, put in some simple, efficient lighting, saved... this scene rendered in 18 seconds with the native photorealistic render engine on my crappy little laptop.

    Ravenhart has truly done a beautiful job with these Marcoor sets. I really like them!

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    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332
    edited November 2016

    Back when I first got these marcoor pieces, I've built this one - the control room with corridor. The above scene uses the Marcoor Corridor and the Marcoor Corridor 2, then I used Fenric's Tree Duplicate to make six more copies of the first corridor, one for each door opening of Corridor 2, and one to extend the first corridor for a longer entrance to the scene.

    Really cool, instead of having separate domains for glowing things, Ravenhart has created glow masks - so one shader can control a whole lot of mesh! Very efficient, if you ask me! I love this, and I love the ship it all goes with!

    Marcoor Control Cam1a.jpg
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    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    i grabbed another dp shader set.  the 3rd one in 2nd row looks milkchocolatey

  • I added to my HowieFarkes collection and got the Country Lane 2 bundle, with Country Lane 2 and Autumnia! Maybe someday soon I'll actually have characters running around in these beautiful scenes!

    --MW

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332

    I added to my HowieFarkes collection and got the Country Lane 2 bundle, with Country Lane 2 and Autumnia! Maybe someday soon I'll actually have characters running around in these beautiful scenes!

    --MW

    Fantastic, aren't they? I love Howie Farkes Scenes! Love 'em!!!

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    In addition to just using them, have a look at how Howie puts them together, you can learn a lot from that guy!

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    +1. Howie's sets inspired me to try making my own (plus they look so darned good!)

    I love the cluttered appearance of the Marcoor sets (although all those sharp edges and dangly cables would be death traps in practice. But hey, we all like armoured bikinis, so . . . wink). Never tried scifi . . .

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    But hey, we all like armoured bikinis, so . . . 

    They never suited me to be honest...

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    I was thinking more in the watching than the wearing . . .wink

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I was thinking more in the watching than the wearing . . .wink

    Ah, now he says...

  • PhilW said:

    I was thinking more in the watching than the wearing . . .wink

    Ah, now he says...

    well you better upload a selfie then Phil cheeky

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I am sure it would better on you!

  • A pic or it didn't happen.smiley

  • More information on new free shaders coming soon...

  • PhilW said:

    I am sure it would better on you!

    you could not be more wrong 

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    Yup, that's me to a tee!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332
    PhilW said:

    Yup, that's me to a tee!

    ...and now for the Armour Bikini! Do it, man... Do It!!!

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    edited November 2016

    But it would look something like this!  Not a good look...

    MaleSFBikini.jpg
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    Post edited by PhilW on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,332

    Oh man... I just had to look... now how am I going to unsee what has been seen?

    Just kidding. Seriously... it's a good look! I think you should keep it! :)

  • This better not be one of the tutorials.

    devil

  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588
    edited November 2016

    Okay, this thread (and the "How many pages do you have" thread)  has got me thinking about all of the content I've bought over the years. I always thought that I had a clear memory of when I've first stepped into Carrara. And it's pretty similar to what I've thought. 

    Great trip down memory lane, Dart.  I'm listening and learning.

    I've just decided to enter my Product Library and run the sort by Purchase Date backwards.

    I did the same thing.  I look forward to seeing how that old stuff retextures in Carrara.

    Anyways... thanks for running this thread, Unified Brain! It's a lot of fun to think about all of this!

    My pleasure.  I'm glad that someone got value from this other than me.smiley

    Post edited by UnifiedBrain on
  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588
    edited November 2016

    As the PC+ sale fades into the background (and the withdrawal symptoms recede) I decided to review all of your valuable feedback here, to see what I gained as a person new to Carrara.

    In this thread, I was presented with -

    1.  - who the main Carrara artists are, and what kind of products they bring to the table.  Because of this information, I now own several Carrara-specific products.  True, most of them were cheaper during the PA sale, but the PC sale prices were good enough.  Besides, if I'm in this for the long haul, it seems only logical to pay a few bucks extra and support Carrara PA's.

    THANK YOU!

    2.  - a HUGE perspective you all offered on Poser and other content which works - or doesn't - in Carrara - from rock and grass products, all the way to petipet!  It was incredibly valuable just eavesdropping on your casual conversations, which filled in a lot of my gaps in understanding.

    THANK YOU!

    3.  - advice on using various Carrara features such as surface replicators, target helpers, the duplicate function, keyboard shortcuts, using hair to make grass and terrain to make rocks - a lot of it was over my head at the time, but I am slowly catching up.  However, your sheer enthusiasm told me something, even if I didn't immediately grasp the details.

    THANK YOU!

     4.  - information on shaders.  I asked an innocent question on specific shaders, and was given the much bigger picture.  I now look forward to learning how to create my own.

    But until then - and this was totally unexpected - because of helpful meanderings in the thread, I ended up downloading about 500 free Carrara shaders!  That was just stupid.  And there is more to come.  I have contacted Rebecca DeCarlo and Kirk Saavedra.   Both are making their complete shader products available to the Carrara community.  This should happen within the next few days.

    THANK YOU!

    I also learned some things for which I can give no thanks (except for your helpful feedback).  It's a small point, but I wish that Carrara contained some simple rock and grass models.  Of more importance, I discovered that Daz offers almost no content - so-called "Daz Originals" - specifically built for Carrara - less than 20 items!  Whatever the reason for the shortage, I was shocked and disappointed.

    C'mon, Daz.sad

    But this post can't end on a downer, as I am more hopeful now than ever before.  I am approaching Carrara from the newbie perspective that Carrara often seems unfriendly to Daz Studio users who are used to certain basic functions, and I want to help improve that situation with the goal  of bringing more Studio users on board.  There are a lot of Studio users, and helping them more easily move to Carrara as full or part-time users makes sense to me.  Maybe this idea is weak or wrong, but it is a way that I can contribute, rather than merely complaining about the status quo. 

    Of course, I first need to better understand Carrara.  My progress has been slow.  However, I am encouraged that a few Carrara folks here have reported on their own struggles with Studio, and have said that Carrara is likely not harder, but just different. 

    I like that idea.  Different I can do.

    All the incredible PC shopping deals aside, for me this thread started out with a larger hope that differences could be overcome, and with the possibility that moving towards Carrara really does make more sense in the long run.  Your thoughtful and passionate responses have gone a long way to convincing me.

    THANK YOU!

     

     

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