Learning Carrara and Need some Help?

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  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    wgdjohn said:

    I thought that Directory Opus died with Amigas, LOL.  After googling, I was shocked to see it still going strong.  I had it on an Amiga 4000 back in the day when men were men, and toasters were toasters. (you had to be there, not worth explaining)

    In the earlier/mid nineties I've had Directory Opus on nearly all my different Amiga computers, the only one I don't still have is an Amiga 600. My Amiga computers are not dead but many are retired. I have 2 Amigas next two my Windoze machine. I use my Amiga 4060 tower often to create graficFX that PaintShop pro can't duplicate... haven't tried in PS but it would likely be a costly add on effect. Oh I use ImageFX for the Amiga and have written quite a few Arexx script programs... one is for drawing any size or number and colors can be set to same of random for 5 pointed stars... others create different borders around a pic and one is designed to re-create a PS effect that places a lattice overlay on an image... I further modified the program to do a lot of different type lattice overlays. I have a VideoToaster and Lightwave by Newtek on my Amiga 4000 desktop model... need to move it to a faster one which have faster accelerated processors.

    See what you've done... now I'm babbling. :)

    Still using Amigas?!! I'm impressed, I retired mine many moons ago.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    edited October 2016

    Are they now entirely a thing of the past? (Amigas)

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    edited October 2016

    Dart - I flagged it to watch it - and then found you'd deleted it. Maybe you should split into 2 parts and re-post? Also maybe look at doing some editing (all my tutorial videos are edited to get rid of all the mistakes, pauses, MMMMs, etc!). It's clear that there was some useful stuff in there.

    Post edited by PhilW on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    edited October 2016
    wgdjohn said:

     

    The Good the Bad and the Questions: Also a few possible suggestions.  I agree with a lot that UnifiedBrain said Earlier.

    A:  One of the first things I noticed is that the text/selections you made were very tiny and fuzzy. Thinking that I either need new glasses or to rest my eyes I chose the latter first. It's now been a few days and I'm now rested. I've watched your video and others to compare their quality, fuzzy/clarity. For some reason yours is a bit less clear than others in seeing what the names are that you chose. Perhaps this is the format that YouTube requires of videos and/or the compression type for the videos. Some videos will zoom in to show text selections more clearly.  A good example using zooming is Carrara Multi-Channel Mixer Tutorial  by Age of Armor, Cripeman often uses zooming also when needed. An alternative might be to show a smaller image of the selection(s) made, where you made them and add in post. Yeah... I know... more work and would take longer to do. :\

    B:  Geez... the length.  I'm not sure that you could divide it into 2 or more videos. If possible that would be great... finish a shorter one and move on to the next. Your Carrara Walk Through: Shaders - Pt1 was only 15 minutes and had kewl intro and end very short anims. My suggestions for where/how to possibly divide the video are "Finding and Adding Textures to a Figure", "Changing the Shaders" and "Adding Folders for Shaders". The latter could also show an example to do the same for Objects and point out that the same can be done for scenes etc. and cover refreshing Carrara to recognize the change.

    C:  Shortening the video suggestions: I noticed that you fumbled around a few times looking for a folder, where to place a shader in the figure's shader tree also in repetition ie: add a few shaders different locations for the figure/character's skin. Oh yeah... you did spend a lot of time renaming each shader and had to look for what shading area you'd missed, like the nails.  BTW: It is good to fumble once to show to the viewer that nobody's perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

    D:  I would have been great if you'd shown the before and after shader changes in different render windows.

    E:  Repeated rehearsal of the tutorial might have helped. Might also be handy to make a few nitty notes and stick them around computer screen to remind you not to forget anything. Another method would be to record the whole thing at once... anytime you took too long to find something etc... just repeat it then later cut/splice it together eliminating those places. I reviewed  a few different programs at our Amiga club meetings... once I didn't practice what I wanted to show the members... that was a huge mistake... I fumbled around terribly even though I'd know the program well and used it a lot... what made it worse was that I'm not good at speaking to a crowd... my review seemed to spiral downward as my fear and embarrassment increased. My User Help SIG meetings were much better since I only showed things to a much smaller group.

    F:  Why did you even bother to mention having problems with Windows 10?? Since you were using Window 7 why mention it??  The mention of that was not needed since it did not apply.

    G:  Did you mention Shading Domains?  It would have been helpful to point out that different parts of a figure, prop etc. get assigned different names for specific shaders. I know... you did mention the muti colored ball indicating this but I don't recall you saying specifically "Shading Domains"... perhaps I missed it.

    H.  I got the overall sense that the video might have been rushed to get done due to the sudden influx of new Carrara users in this past year or more due to the lowered sale prices.

    Enough Already... my critique etc. is done!  I hope something above might help and not offend you.... goodness knows that I've learned a lot from you and many others more Carrara literate than I.  Oh yes... thanks for that kewl tip of dragging the default shader out of the way and leaving it open... that alone will save me a lot of time.

    I will be watching your video a few more times, probably more,... twice twernt enough for me.

    Yeah... I know all of that. I didn't have time to script the lesson plan out or hire AoA or Cripeman or Phil to act it out and record it professionally. I was just doing what I always do... babble away to my friends hoping to help them past their troubles.

    No idea what "Text" you're talking about.

    Great suggestion about splitting the various tasks into separate videos. I'll try that.

    D: Yeah, I was going to do a 'Before and After" thing, but I accidentally hit Ctrl + R instead of going into the render room and hitting "Render in New Window"! LOL  Sorry about that!

    E: Good ideas! Yeah... I need to check on Amazon and E-Bay see if anybody's got some free time for sale! LOL

    F: Windows 10? I mentioned it because I cannot 'see' the folder I was talking about needing to know where it is in Windows 10. Didn't you hear what I said about it? In Win 7 it's right there... but not in Win 10.

    G: Shading Domains and Material Zones are synonymous. Yes. I have the viewer Consolidate Duplicate Shaders several times and mentioned that several material zones share the same shader. I also mentioned that we may drag shaders directly into individual Material Zones.

    H: Yes. I didn't think that I could get this done for another several weeks - I saw a touch of time and went for it - but it ended up taking my whole day - into the night (started at 7AM - had a break in the early evening, then finished in little spurts when i'd excuse myself throughout the night). My family was less than pleased with me - but they understood.

    I hope something above might help and not offend you...

    Well, we all have our own opinions. I watched it through the day after I put it up and was very happy that it totally explained how to tweak shaders that don't work into simple ones that do work in a very easy-to-understand fashion, and then how to use some of the goodies that come with Carrara to add great, more complex shaders to Any figure... Any... complete with displacement and subsurface scattering. The next one would have gone into details on how to tweak those higher-end settings, which teaches us how to build them up from scratch, without the need for 'borrowing' from the browser.

    So since there really wasn't a single positive comment in that whole thing... I guess I did feel a little offended - or perhaps unappreciated for all of the time I've put in to helping folks without asking for anything in return. But that's life.

    Here's what that video was actually all about.

    I saw another user having a hard time with shaders and tried to help him out 'on-the-fly' - no rehersing, no planning... just me showing how they might fix the shaders is all.

    But don't worry about it... I deleted the darned thing, and edited the post which linked to it with instructions on how to deal with Genesis, Genesis 2, and other purchased content using Carrara.

     

    For further Professional Education - Buy Phil's wonderful tutorials

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    edited October 2016
    PhilW said:

    Dart - I flagged it to watch it - and then found you'd deleted it. Maybe you should split into 2 parts and re-post? Also maybe look at doing some editing (all my tutorial videos are edited to get rid of all the mistakes, pauses, MMMMs, etc!). It's clear that there was some useful stuff in there.

    I'm planning to do all of that. This was just like my others... unplanned, quick (all day) run through the troubles of a new user. rather than having them wait for me to Master something professional for free... I just pointed them to a way out of their conundrum is all.

    Sorry to go all crazy... it takes a lot of time to write, record, catalog, render, edit, illustrate, etc., not to mention going through and making sure that our advice even works - and sometimes lack of appreciation can get the best of me. I'll be better after I get some sleep! Ahhhhh!

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    Dart,  I apolgize for picking your very helpful video apart and only meant to help. I've gone back and deleted my post since I got a bit carried away at times in trying to point a few too many things out. I'll keep it bookmarked in hopes that it magically reappears. Your video was very helpful and will be missed by myself and others.

    Nearly missed it... you asked "So I take it that an Amiga has its own OS?".  Yes it does. The Amiga, AFAIK, is still the only computer which has TRUE Muli-tasking via its hardware chips. Windows emulates multi-tasking through software.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    wgdjohn said:

    Dart,  I apolgize for picking your very helpful video apart and only meant to help. I've gone back and deleted my post since I got a bit carried away at times in trying to point a few too many things out. I'll keep it bookmarked in hopes that it magically reappears. Your video was very helpful and will be missed by myself and others.

    Nearly missed it... you asked "So I take it that an Amiga has its own OS?".  Yes it does. The Amiga, AFAIK, is still the only computer which has TRUE Muli-tasking via its hardware chips. Windows emulates multi-tasking through software.

    Wow. So that's why they look like a little scifi city inside, eh? So cool! I Googled it and had a quick browse!

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I used to love the Amiga OS, so straight forward and useful, and far better than Windows of the same period IMHO.  Goes to show that the best solution is not always the one which gets mass adoption (I know there are many other examples too!).

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    PhilW said:

    I used to love the Amiga OS, so straight forward and useful, and far better than Windows of the same period IMHO.  Goes to show that the best solution is not always the one which gets mass adoption (I know there are many other examples too!).

    Great pun, Sir!!!

    Guess what?

    I now have the Dynamic Cloth and Hair thing, and the Carrara Bridge for it!!! I guess I'm going to be the one asking questions now!!! LOL

     

  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588
    edited October 2016

    Are they now entirely a thing of the past? (Amigas)

    For all intents and purposes, the answer is yes.  An innovative machine for its time, but I like to look forward, so I don't miss it at all.  I sold my gear last year, and that was probably about 10 years too late.  Then again, I sold it easily, and even had multiple bids from Europe.  There are still plenty of Amiga fanatics out there.

    Post edited by UnifiedBrain on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    I enjoyed my Amigas while I had them, although it was a little odd having different screen resolutions in different parts of the world (we kind of got used to American software just stopping 3/4 of the way down the screen).

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    Treant is very sad. He'd gone to watch a new video about how to tune up his saders to make him look better.  Sadly it was no longer there. :(  Oh...of course, remembering a post by an inconsiderate user. Thinking to himself... "I hope he is proud of himself... he has done the entire Carrara community a huge injustice."

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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • wgdjohn said:

    The Amiga, AFAIK, is still the only computer which has TRUE Muli-tasking via its hardware chips. Windows emulates multi-tasking through software.

    Windows kernel does preemptive multitasking since NT I think (just like Amiga OS one used to do on one single CPU (?)), I believe that every multicore CPU is capable of true multitasking, I could be wrong, it happend before, lol smiley

    I used to own them all: C64, Amiga 500 alongside Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum (my personal favorite, even had Sinclair calculator, lol), IBM OS/2 and Apple IIc angel

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549

    I once had a Coleco-Vision Adam. The entire computer was housed in the printer, which typed at a whopping 32 words/minute! Tuck Tuck Tuck, it went as it rattled the walls of all apartments in the building!

    It had one of my favorite computer games I've ever played, though... had to have the cassette tape in the drive to run it! I don't remember the name of the game, but it was an wonderful space ship shooter - nothing else ever compared for a non-gamer like myself.

    The word processor was cool too!

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    I'm just starting to play with manual posing in Carrara and adjusting applied pose presets. I ran into a problem the other day... when I adjusted the preset manually I got the figure into a wacky look... limbs when aflying. Sadly Undo, CTRL+Z, didn't return the figue to the pose preset... it changed nothing. Have you any idea of what went wrong or how I could easily repair the pose preset without applying it again?

    Manual posing Undo works for. However it is a bit harder than DS simply because I'm not used to this in Carrara, yet. Is there a "fastrack" to learning posing in Carrara?

    TIA

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,165
    edited October 2016

    ​Hi wgdjohn

    What figure?  What pose preset?  What adjustment did you make?

    I can't reproduce your problem.  Here, I loaded a default G2M.  I conformed some clothes. 

    I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked a pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I did "undo" and the figure returned to default.

    Again, I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked the same pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I selected the forearm in the hiearchy.  I used the rotate tool to straighten the forearm.  I did "undo" and the forearm returned to the bent pose of the pose preset.  I did "undo" again and the figure returned to default.

    Note - if you select the 2nd G2M level you can go to the top menu and choose ANIMATION : ZERO : ZERO FIGURE POSE to return to default pose.

     

     

    wgdjohn said:

    I'm just starting to play with manual posing in Carrara and adjusting applied pose presets. I ran into a problem the other day... when I adjusted the preset manually I got the figure into a wacky look... limbs when aflying. Sadly Undo, CTRL+Z, didn't return the figue to the pose preset... it changed nothing. Have you any idea of what went wrong or how I could easily repair the pose preset without applying it again?

    Manual posing Undo works for. However it is a bit harder than DS simply because I'm not used to this in Carrara, yet. Is there a "fastrack" to learning posing in Carrara?

    TIA

     

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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    diomede,  Thanks.  The Figure was G2F Base, I don't remember which pose but this is the one I ended up using for a statue shown hear in the "Marriage" WIP.  I did get it to work with a few adjustments to toes of one foot poking through the base or floor... the other foot did/does not set quite flat on the surface, heal and front are a bit off bun not that noticable unless looking very close.

    Should I always use Rotate instead of Move xyz? I may have tried the latter the first time which went all wacky... both legs moved at once and in somewhat diiff direrctions and bends.

    Is there a way to find out what pose was used after it is added?  Other than going and finding it again.

    Is it important to load hair, clothing etc in the T pose before the figure is posed?

    If you wish I'll wade through my enormous collect of poses and figure out which I used above. I'm not sure that is the one I had the problems with. I've a lot from I13 but it/both could have been from another PA.  I don't think it was for G3 since I did not get a requester... I believe the one used is G2 specific.

    As stated earlier... I'm new to posing in Carrara... cept for moving objects around. :)

     

    diomede said:

    ​Hi wgdjohn

    What figure?  What pose preset?  What adjustment did you make?

    I can't reproduce your problem.  Here, I loaded a default G2M.  I conformed some clothes. 

    I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked a pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I did "undo" and the figure returned to default.

    Again, I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked the same pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I selected the forearm in the hiearchy.  I used the rotate tool to straighten the forearm.  I did "undo" and the forearm returned to the bent pose of the pose preset.  I did "undo" again and the figure returned to default.

    Note - if you select the 2nd G2M level you can go to the top menu and choose ANIMATION : ZERO : ZERO FIGURE POSE to return to default pose.

    wgdjohn said:

    I'm just starting to play with manual posing in Carrara and adjusting applied pose presets. I ran into a problem the other day... when I adjusted the preset manually I got the figure into a wacky look... limbs when aflying. Sadly Undo, CTRL+Z, didn't return the figue to the pose preset... it changed nothing. Have you any idea of what went wrong or how I could easily repair the pose preset without applying it again?

    Manual posing Undo works for. However it is a bit harder than DS simply because I'm not used to this in Carrara, yet. Is there a "fastrack" to learning posing in Carrara?

    TIA

     

     

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,165
    edited October 2016

    When bending a bone at the joint, use rotate.

    Depending on IK chains (inverse kinematics), you can take a hand or a foot and place it where you want and the rest of the limbs will try to adjust for it.  You probably had an IK chain translate too extremely and get all strange, but I have no way to be sure.

    I recommend that you select bones and rotate.  However, here is an old primer on inverse kinematics.if you want to select hands or feet and use translate.

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/pub/tutorials/poser/poser-posing04

    EDIT: the link is in terms of Poser, but the concepts are the same.

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,165

    from the link

    Step 5 - A Body in Motion

    IK for hands can be used to pose the entire body very easily. With IK on for both hands, they will stay in place when the hips are moved. For instance, to make Michael do a chin-up on a bar, position the bar and pose the figure grasping it. Turn off IK for the feet, select the hip and move it up along the Y-axis. The hands will continue to grip the bar as the body moves up and the arms bend. Rotate the body forward at the hips to simulate the swing of a body rising like that. If you select the body and move it up, the body and hands will both rise.

    If IK is only turned on for one hand, it will stay in place while the other hand moves with the body. See the samples of Mike doing a chin-up with both hands and just the right hand.

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,165
    edited October 2016

    No, it is not important to load hair and cloths first although I usually do.  But screenshots need to comply with the forum TOS.  No, don't bother tracking down the specific pose set.  In the future, might want to use the rotate tool for bending thighs, shoulders, twisting necks,etc. 

     

     

    wgdjohn said:

    Is it important to load hair, clothing etc in the T pose before the figure is posed?

    If you wish I'll wade through my enormous collect of poses and figure out which I used above. I'm not sure that is the one I had the problems with. I've a lot from I13 but it/both could have been from another PA.  I don't think it was for G3 since I did not get a requester... I believe the one used is G2 specific.

     

    diomede said:

    ​Hi wgdjohn

    What figure?  What pose preset?  What adjustment did you make?

    I can't reproduce your problem.  Here, I loaded a default G2M.  I conformed some clothes. 

    I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked a pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I did "undo" and the figure returned to default.

    Again, I selected the 2nd G2M level and double clicked the same pose preset.  The figure adopted the pose.  I selected the forearm in the hiearchy.  I used the rotate tool to straighten the forearm.  I did "undo" and the forearm returned to the bent pose of the pose preset.  I did "undo" again and the figure returned to default.

    Note - if you select the 2nd G2M level you can go to the top menu and choose ANIMATION : ZERO : ZERO FIGURE POSE to return to default pose.

    wgdjohn said:

    I'm just starting to play with manual posing in Carrara and adjusting applied pose presets. I ran into a problem the other day... when I adjusted the preset manually I got the figure into a wacky look... limbs when aflying. Sadly Undo, CTRL+Z, didn't return the figue to the pose preset... it changed nothing. Have you any idea of what went wrong or how I could easily repair the pose preset without applying it again?

    Manual posing Undo works for. However it is a bit harder than DS simply because I'm not used to this in Carrara, yet. Is there a "fastrack" to learning posing in Carrara?

    TIA

     

     

     

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

    diomede,  Please let me no if does not conform to TOS and I'll do a wireframe instead to replace the pic(s), I think the statue might be there in 2 stages.  Where can I view the TOS?... I've looked all over.  I was going by what I've seen else where on Forums as well as products like Sculptural Genesis Ultra Fun Kit.

  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588
    edited October 2016
    diomede said:
     

    Note - if you select the 2nd G2M level you can go to the top menu and choose ANIMATION : ZERO : ZERO FIGURE POSE to return to default pose.

     

    I just tried that out, and it works perfectly.  VERY nice to know, thanks!  I've had a pose go wonky several times as well, and the undo command in Carrara, unlike in Studio, often DOES NOT fix it - which is pretty unsettling for the new Carrara user.

    Another one of my core questions answered.smiley  Remembering that I need to select the second level before this works, is the only drawback.  Don't have all these levels in Studio.

    Post edited by UnifiedBrain on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    The top level is a group level with just the figure in it.  I think that it can safely be removed (drag the figure out of the group and then select it and press the delete key) but it can be useful sometimes when you want to move the figure or to group clothing or other props with the figure.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    I have a few questions... it's only been this past year that I've purchased anything that didn't auto install and be recognized by Carrara. I have bought DCG shaders which I install manually... they are recognized when I start Carrara again.

    Pic 1 shows a product that did not install and be available when I next opened Carrara which I do not run while installing content.

    Pic 2 shows a requester that I get when installing some things.  It asks what I want to install or rather "add folder". I've always chosen the first thing on it's list first... if I then try to add another choice from the requester menu, a different selection, *nothing happens"... what's up with that? Do I need to put it elsewhere?  Where?

    Pic 3 shows one "Texture" folder highlighted.  While textures are located there I've also found "filename".cbr files in that directory.  What do I do to remedy this?  I'm sure that some if not all files in "Textures" are referenced by a .car scene file so haven't messed with this folder, except to use "add folder" for some where I place in shaders.  What should I do? Perhaps I should add the entire Textures folder.

    A few folders for Shaders do not show to have anything in them in the Carrara Browser under Shaders.  These are ones that I added and suspect that they are used only by different Editors... 3DPaint, Volumetric Clouds etc. I'll need to remove/delete those with the Browser's "File Folder menu", black circle at far right upper browser corner, done... they no longer show up.

    FYI:  I use Carrara 8.5.1.19 and install nearly everything via DIM.

    Kinda ridiculous... how long I've owned Carrara and how much I've yet to learn.  Now I finally take the time to study it further.

     

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    Post edited by wgdjohn on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549

    Wow... that is one dizzying post to try and figure out what it is that you're asking. Yikes.

    First of all, you're showing a product that was installed to your Carrara install directory, so you need to add that folder to the appropriate tab in your browser - so I was going to explain that, but the next image shows that you know how.

    Second, are they shaders? Are they Greyscale shaders? Are they color-specific? Are they displacement shaders?

    If it's just a Shaders pack - made for texturing objects to a certain look, it's likey the top choice.

    Third, I don't think there are any shaders in that folder you're showing. That's where Marcello (GKDantas) stores the textures to be use WITH his shaders. So you just add the folder which holds the shaders. In this case: Program Files > Daz 3d > Carrara 8.5 > Presets > Shaders > Rocks Shaders

    ======================================================

    TIP: To prevent myself having to do this for each individual shaders pack I buy, I just add the whole Shaders folder to my browser's Shader tab. I do the same for Objects and Scenes.

    So at the bottom of my Scenes tab I have a Scenes folder, which includes everything in the Scenes tab (above the folder) as well as anything that another author might have added - there are a few. At the bottom of Objects, I have an Objects folder, and so on.

    The downside to that is that these folders also include all of the categories above the folder as well. But I like that a LOT more than accidentally not having folders added.

    Hope this helps.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549
    edited October 2016

    If it seems like I get grumpy from time to time it's largely due to:

    • My job puts me in terrible pain - and the doctors say that the pain causes my brain to release chemicals which make me grumpy
    • I spend a LOT of time (years even) trying to provide help to those who need it. Lately it seems fun to disrespect those trying to provide the answers.

    I'll try hard to return gleefully ASAP - for those whom might have enjoyed to see the rest of what I had planned for this cool thread, I apologize... it's just not navigable anymore.

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • @Dartanbeck 

    Your input and guidance has been helpful and positive and given me a lot of encouragement. If you're feeling unappreciated for your efforts in helping noobs to learn Cararra, let me assue you, your help is very valuable. 

    Thanks for all the help and direction you've provided. I hope you don't give up now. You're a great product evangelist for Carrara. 

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Hi John,.

    I ran into a problem the other day... when I adjusted the preset manually I got the figure into a wacky look... limbs when aflying. Sadly Undo, CTRL+Z, didn't return the figue to the pose preset... it changed nothing

    When you apply a pose preset, are you turning limits Off. in the little optons box.

    that will cause the joint limits to be ignored,. and allow you to deform the figure beyond it's limits

    leave limits on,. or,. you can turn the limits on and off using the little (constraints) icon in the top of the screen area, just below the top toolbar,.

    Posing in carrara should be as easy as anything else,.  but with carrara there are some diferences.

    The figure rig for genesis and G2 is different from most poser / daz figures,. it has more bones,.

    In carrara,. the issue of moving on foot and the other foot moves randomly (same with arms)

    can be fixed quite simply, by applying a couple of modifiers to the Thigh's and upper arms.

    Faba created a little set of "easy to apply"  fixes,. available on her ShareCG site.

    Select each upper leg,. go to modifiers,. add an IK terminator

    do the same for the upper arms,.

    The IK teminator stops any movement passing to other bones.

    you should now be able to move and rotate bones easily

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,549

    @Dartanbeck 

    Your input and guidance has been helpful and positive and given me a lot of encouragement. If you're feeling unappreciated for your efforts in helping noobs to learn Cararra, let me assue you, your help is very valuable. 

    Thanks for all the help and direction you've provided. I hope you don't give up now. You're a great product evangelist for Carrara. 

    Thanks! I appreciate that! :)

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    edited October 2016

    Wow... that is one dizzying post to try and figure out what it is that you're asking. Yikes.

    Dizzying explains my situation perfect... that's me trying to figure out why some products don't show up. Sorry I didn't first explain that I knew how to add folders... my bad.  Phil's videos showed me how... but not until watching your videos did I fully understand a great deal more.

    Second, are they shaders? Are they Greyscale shaders? Are they color-specific? Are they displacement shaders?
    If it's just a Shaders pack - made for texturing objects to a certain look, it's likey the top choice.

    I would guess that they are shaders.. in most circumstances... this would explain why the first choice is the best choice in most circumstances. Any shader, ??, should reference it's other files... greyscale, color or displacement elements if they are used within the shader main shader.  Doh... what a goof I am too often.

    Third, I don't think there are any shaders in that folder you're showing. That's where Marcello (GKDantas) stores the textures to be use WITH his shaders. So you just add the folder which holds the shaders. In this case: Program Files > Daz 3d > Carrara 8.5 > Presets > Shaders > Rocks Shaders

    You were of course correct... I'd bought Marcello's 3DPaint brushes only to discover that I also needed his shader pkg to use with it...  had to wait until later to buy the shaders, which I wanted.

    TIP: To prevent myself having to do this for each individual shaders pack I buy, I just add the whole Shaders folder to my browser's Shader tab. I do the same for Objects and Scenes.

    So at the bottom of my Scenes tab I have a Scenes folder, which includes everything in the Scenes tab (above the folder) as well as anything that another author might have added - there are a few. At the bottom of Objects, I have an Objects folder, and so on.

    The downside to that is that these folders also include all of the categories above the folder as well. But I like that a LOT more than accidentally not having folders added.

    Very Kewl tip you've suggested... I'd thought about that but figured, as you say, a lot of things are duplicated in both.

    Question/Suggestion?:   I wonder if all the folders could be removed and then add the main folder ie; Scenes, Shaders etc. could be added to each tab so that everything is only there once???   Have you tried that?  No don't rush off and try that unless you get overly ambitious... it may cause problems... better off to have the stuff listed twice. I'm only asking before I run off an try something stupid.

    Hope this helps.

    Of couse it does.  BTW: You're products always automagically appear in Carrara... even better they are listed alphabetically. Kewl.

    [from your next post]

    If it seems like I get grumpy from time to time it's largely due to:

    • My job puts me in terrible pain - and the doctors say that the pain causes my brain to release chemicals which make me grumpy
    • I spend a LOT of time (years even) trying to provide help to those who need it. Lately it seems fun to disrespect those trying to provide the answers.

    I'll try hard to return gleefully ASAP - for those whom might have enjoyed to see the rest of what I had planned for this cool thread, I apologize... it's just not navigable anymore.

    I hope that your previous post didn't seem grumpy to you... It Was Not.  If you ever seem grumpy to me I'll suggest you join The Seven Dwarf's. :)

    You're "Leaning Carrara and Need some help" thead is absolutely Cool!  Dartanbeck Rocks! ... in many ways.

    Post edited by wgdjohn on
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