Carrara Needs and Wants

wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
edited December 2015 in Product Suggestions

Creation of a Crash Report for Carrara, like DS has ,which would include *what* happened which might point to why the crash happened.This would help the developers figure out what could be done to fix problems.

In addition to this I would like a Crash Handler which would recover from minor and known problems which cause Carrara to crash. Examples creating crashs are trying to load a G3 figure as is and creating ArchiTools structures. I mention the latter 2 examples because DAZ is aware of them and are working on a G3 fix which we can look forward to soon. Hopefully the ArchTools fix is included also.

Post edited by wgdjohn on

Comments

  • It will read

     

    an error has occured ..... Line 1, 2, 3, 4, .......... cheeky

     

    yeah many would like thisyes hope they can do it

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Autosave. That would be handy too - then when (not if) Carrara crashes, you'd stand a chance of getting something back.

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234

    It will read

     

    an error has occured ..... Line 1, 2, 3, 4, .......... cheeky

     

    yeah many would like thisyes hope they can do it

    Or ...

    http://www.filecritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Windows-10-Update-Something-Happened-e1438617131148.jpg

    surprise

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    would like a kyboard sortcut in the assembly room to toggle "keep proportion" that is on the render tab.

     

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    MistyMist said:

    would like a kyboard sortcut in the assembly room to toggle "keep proportion" that is on the render tab.

    Preferences itself needs updating for creating "User" keyboard shorcuts linked to anything in it's menus which lack a shortcut. After all a good many other programs have this feature.

    Where is a "render tab" in the Assembly room?

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    the checkbox i want to toggle is on the render tab.
     it locks the production frame ratio in the assembly room.
     i want to toggle from assy room so i dont have to keep going to render tab to lock/unlock production frame ratio

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    sound effects.  

    wish rara had some sounds like footsteps, could key in animation for collisions

    sounds for like wrench tapping engine lock, key in animation on collisions

    ssounds for water, ocean primitive. 

    sounds of fireplace for volumetric fire

    sounds for particle emitter, hitting surfaces.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    MistyMist said:

    the checkbox i want to toggle is on the render tab.
     it locks the production frame ratio in the assembly room.
     i want to toggle from assy room so i dont have to keep going to render tab to lock/unlock production frame ratio

    I find "lock production frame" under the "View" menu in Carrara 8.5 Pro but it has no keyboard shortcut and must be selected manually via dropdown menu. The "render tab" and it's checkbox seems to be elusive to me. Note that Carrara 6 Pro does not have the "lock production frame" undre "View". Couldn't find it easily so didn't spend as much time looking since it may not even exist elsewhere.

  • It's been said before but... 3D Conexion Space Mouse support.

    Also, export to DAZ like Hexagon has.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Also, export to DAZ like Hexagon has.

    I 2nd that. I don't even see a *direct* export to Hexagon. That would at least be a work around for some things.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited January 2016

    Additional NEEDS for Carrara:

    * Better/Faster "Smart Content" Loading including a busy indicator until it loads. As it is now when the "Smart Content" browser tab is selected it appears as if nothing is happening. Before knowing better it is easy to crash or go into a "Carrara (Not Responding) mode if the "Smart Content" tab is selected and then other tabs are selected when nothing seems to happen. Everything else works quickly and has no need for an "indicator" that it is loading.

    * A new update to ArchiTools which will not crash Carrara 8.5 Pro. As it works now a building can be created but as soon as it's done and sent to the Assembly Room comes the crash.

    * Incremental updates even for minor changes and even for improvement to a single feature. Anything to let folks know that Carrara is being worked on , showing progress.

    * Testing for a new Generation before it's release to make sure it works in Carrara, Bryce or any DAZ program.

    * An update to "Tips". I happened to read one tonight which is entirely ?wrong? or outdated. It states "Quick Tour - Try the Carrara Quick Tour on the content CD", pic is attached. I would think that this would have been included with Carrara 8.5 and Pro and that it should be a menu command under "Help". Since I usually don't pay attention to the "Tips" I've no idea how outdated the others may be and should have turned them off long ago. Note I have the Quick Tour on backup and looked at it quite a few years ago.

    * A complete Carrara 8.5 Pro "Help" PDF manual that would load rather than the Carrara 7 PDF. Or at least in a HTML file which is not web based. An alternative would be a current PDF or HTML file to download complete listing the changes from one version to another. I do have the tiny Carrara 8 Basic Guide.pdf. I even have a printed Manual for Carrara 4, imagine that a manual in print that you can carry with you without lugging a laptop around. :)  I mention this for myself to refer to and for new users especially.

    * A way to change what file Carrara looks at when "Help" is selected. Perhaps this could be done in "Preferences".

    QuickTour.png
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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234
    wgdjohn said:

    * A complete Carrara 8.5 Pro "Help" PDF manual that would load rather than the Carrara 7 PDF. 

    That sounds like a good idea.  wink

  • thierrymaurelthierrymaurel Posts: 11
    edited January 2016

    I hope the capacity to follow movements on video with targets and after create a camera able to follow the real movement of the real camera. Like for blender in fact
    For compositing, It's necessary.

    Or able to translate camera mouvement, lights, to After effect. Convert the postions of target carrara to null object ? That we'll be truly helpfull for good compositing.

    Other : camera mapping and not an extra plug-in in the shader. A real capacity to project picture on low, low objects and be ultra-realistic. That's very fast ant very speed for our computer. Good for hight illustration and  profesionnal animation. Very simple also.

    Post edited by thierrymaurel on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited January 2016

    Autosave. That would be handy too - then when (not if) Carrara crashes, you'd stand a chance of getting something back.

    +1
    Auto Save would also need to have a few additional features...
    a) Settings for *how often* to Auto Save
    b) Incremental Auto Save(s) so you're sure to get back to a usable saved file.
    c) A limit on the Incremental Auto Saves before which it would start overwriting an of them, from the 1st one of course.
    d) An eraser or way to easily delete the Auto Saves. This could be accomplished by simply setting Auto Save to 0, selecting OK then turning Auto Save back on.
    Note: Auto Save should be located in Preferences under General or Application if/when incorporated.

    For now I save early and as often as I think to in every program. Never know when a crash may happen or something else causing loss of my work.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited January 2016

    I hope the capacity to follow movements on video with targets and after create a camera able to follow the real movement of the real camera. Like for blender in fact
    For compositing, It's necessary. [cut wgd]

    I may understand this wrong but just created an empty spline object axis then a director's camera setting it to point at the spline, making it the target, which it does fine.  Works with an object too and I'm sure that you already know this. I first created positioned the object at different positions in a short animation. Afterwards rewound the animation, hid the object and played it again. The director's camera follows the hidden object fine. Perhaps by "real camera" you mean a hand held camera in which case you can add another modifier "Shake". Then again I may not understand that you mean actuall video and not animation. I'm not yet familiar with Blender and do not have After Effects.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,204
    edited January 2016

    Maybe that pricey SynthEyes plugin or that one Casual uses Voodoo I think it is.

    I assume this is for matchmoving

     

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited March 2016

    Camera orientation: When adding a camera it would be a lot better and save some time to orient correctly upon loading any, conical, isometric or spherical. I would save a few steps in rotating/positioning if it loaded in an upright position and pointing toward the x or y position or even the corner of the Assembly room box. Another alternative would be to load it at the same orientation as the "Directors" or "Camera 1". Nearly anything would be better than with the lens pointing downward This is minor but a nuisance.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited April 2016

    More feature suggestions:

    Calling Fenric  The original suggestion and comments are on page 1.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited June 2016

    For Camera Orientation defaut loading thought I'd include a visual pic showing what I would like to start with. Note that it wouldn't need to sit above the plane but load similar to this instead of pointing downward, also I changed the axis which is not necessary and placed the camera on a pane object just to show the bottom of the camera sitting on it. Pay no attention to Y rotation which should be at 0 and YZ center which is ok at 0 for both.

     

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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,204

    There are a few reasons that is not desirable but the option dialogue like in DAZ studio would not hurt.

    Ie Default or current directors camera

    most software load cameras at 0,0,0 and its needed if dragging to a heirachy such as a figures head (which you hide obviously) for firstperson view etc.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    I may have been a bit unclear so I've included pics of the default Camera position and one that I only rotated and nothing else. Later I experimented and turned off Lock Hot point and set Center YZ to 0 then turned Lock Hot point back on again. That totals 2 rotation steps and 4 more steps to place it at 0,0,0. Just the rotation is 2 steps that shouldn't be necessary... the Camera should point into the scene and not straight down.

    Tell me why you would want to drag the camera to any part of the figure's hierarchy?  I can understand wanting to drag the camera to the height of the head and then move it back for a head shot.

    Camera_def.png
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    Camera_rot.png
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  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Requesters Need more options: This is especially true in the Model Room and refer to Create/Insert3D.

    • They do not remember any sizes/options typed in even monemts ago. Too often I need to delete a created object and start all over again having to remember myself what I typed in before and change all the defaults to what I want.
    • They need more options for Segmentation and Divisions. IE; It would be nice to have different Segmentations for the top and yet another for the sides.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    Carrara PA content auto recognization: Presently Carrara 8.5 Pro will automatically set up most Carrara PA content to be accessed easily via the Carrara's Browser. Unfortunatly this is not the case for everything. It does get installed into Carrara's program folder correctly but too often I will have add it's folder manually before I can access it.

    • Carrara needs to recognize in it's browser as good as DAZ Studio 4.9 and earlier does. Without the need to set up folders manually when they are installed in Carrara's program folder.
    • I have found this is a problem for some shaders, scenes and objects. Plug-ins do not have a problem with this.
    • Presently if you buy something and install it... make sure it is listed in the repective browser tab. If not then it will need it's folder manually added.

    Below are Dartanbeck's instructions with pic for adding folders.

    "To Add folders and/or new Runtimes, etc., to your Browser in Carrara, use this little Icon - the File/Folder Menu icon in the proper tab, and choose Add Folder or Add Runtime"

    Adding Folders to Carrara (pic goes here)

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited December 2016

    More suggestions for making Carrara better.

    Info Button:

    • The requester which displays "info" is not AFAIK resizable.  I used it the other day to see what details would be displayed for DAZ content. It did show the path, or rather part of the path. Unfortunatly there was no way I could find to get the entire path, it's rather long.  Clicking on the path does nothing... I was hoping that I'd be able to scroll the text displayed in order to find exactly where it was located.
    • It would be very helpful if "info" displayed more than just the name of the shader, object etc.  This is probably more a request to PAs to enter their information, PA name in as well as if, in the case of shaders, whether they are Procedural so that one would know whether it uses texture maps. I've noticed that some "info" requesters list nothing while others list, at the bottom, the name of the shader which in all that I remember seeing are the same as the name of the shader.

    In the Vertex Modeler: Ease of Use and Time saving suggestions

    • Changing rotations manually could use an adjustable display GUI like in the Assemble Room. This would save time should anyone rotate the wrong axis requiring the rotation to be "un-done" and tried again.  The scale tool updates well as it goes along.
    • The "Deform" tool works nothing like it does in the Assemble Room. It could use a preview of what is being done to make it easier to use.
    • It would be great to have a warning requester when any "Model" tools are used that will change, ruin, any Shading Domains or names given to any Polygons etc. I believe that Extract Along does not harm the Shading Domain while either Extract Around or "bevel" does.

     I need to start documenting things as they are encountered.

    Happy Holidays to All!

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohn said:

    More suggestions for making Carrara better.

    Info Button:

    • The requester which displays "info" is not AFAIK resizable.  I used it the other day to see what details would be displayed for DAZ content. It did show the path, or rather part of the path. Unfortunatly there was no way I could find to get the entire path, it's rather long.  Clicking on the path does nothing... I was hoping that I'd be able to scroll the text displayed in order to find exactly where it was located.
    • It would be very helpful if "info" displayed more than just the name of the shader, object etc.  This is probably more a request to PAs to enter their information, PA name in as well as if, in the case of shaders, whether they are Procedural so that one would know whether it uses texture maps. I've noticed that some "info" requesters list nothing while others list, at the bottom, the name of the shader which in all that I remember seeing are the same as the name of the shader.

    In the Vertex Modeler: Ease of Use and Time saving suggestions

    • Changing rotations manually could use an adjustable display GUI like in the Assemble Room. This would save time should anyone rotate the wrong axis requiring the rotation to be "un-done" and tried again.  The scale tool updates well as it goes along.
    • The "Deform" tool works nothing like it does in the Assemble Room. It could use a preview of what is being done to make it easier to use.
    • It would be great to have a warning requester when any "Model" tools are used that will change, ruin, any Shading Domains or names given to any Polygons etc. I believe that Extract Along does not harm the Shading Domain while either Extract Around or "bevel" does.

     I need to start documenting things as they are encountered.

    Happy Holidays to All!

    Maybe a new version release before anything else

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Hah... I'll be sleeping on Christmas Eve night and Visions of Sugar Plums and Carrara Upgrades will be Dancing In My Head. :)

  • ZyloxZylox Posts: 787
    wgdjohn said:

    Hah... I'll be sleeping on Christmas Eve night and Visions of Sugar Plums and Carrara Upgrades will be Dancing In My Head. :)

    Yes, I am eagerly waiting for Carrara 9, which was promised to us by winter...it is still 2013, right?

    The most important thing for me is full support for Genesis 3.

  • well I just had my first genesis 3 to genesis clone autofit conversion that failed miserably as a saved D|S subset in Carrara.

    got a heap of errors and stuff missing/

    previous ones not too bad.

    It all loaded not too badly induvidually as support assets on genesis but obviously relies on smoothing collision so lots of pokethrough,

    was Arki's eagleguard outfits.

    so yeah looks like my workarounds getting less successfull too .....

     

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited December 2016

    So I'm in the Vertex modeler again. Hey... what's so unusual about that?  :)

    A nuisance to me is anytime I use "Construct/insert 3D" is that anytime I enter settings and then need to re-enter the settings when I entered anything not intended the process has to be started all over from beginning in the dialog box.  Below are what/how it should behave.

    Construct/insert 3D dialog suggestions:

    • Any setting entered should be remembered by the dialog for each object... Sphere, Cube, Cone, Cylinder etc.  This would sure make life easier when needing to create the object again when a wrong setting has been made.
    • There would then need to be a "default" button for setting the dialog back to it's original settings in order to start from scratch as it now does every time. Again any setting change should then be remembered afterwards.
    • A helpful "option" would be a preview of the object created. This would show the default object for any dialog and change as settings were made.
    • There could be a button or check box to toggle any of the above options on/off.
    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Still more feature(s) that Carrara'a Vertex Modeler could use.

    • A Hexagon user, perhaps now modeling in Carrara, just pointed out that there is no Freeze or Lock feature in the VM.
    • UV Map/UnWrap needs improvement. Many use other programs because of this.
    • Need to keep abreast of features that other modelers have which Carrara either lacks or needs improvement(s) to.
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