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Have to admit, when I read this I laughed. Dude, you've got a severe case of Carrara-Optimist syndrome.
Based on your symptoms, there doesn't appear to be a cure, which is fortunate for us new folks.
So, I tried out the surface replicator function as you outlined, and it was pretty easy to get started. I ended up not using it on my latest project, because I wanted my plants in very specific locations, and it was just easier to drag them there.
But down the road - yeah!
Travelers grass and plant products are useful for replicating. Several are in that build your own bundle offer. http://www.daz3d.com/byob-1
Pretty good deal, IMHO
Great Studio vs Carrara perspective there, thanks!
OK, I'm kind comparing this to the camera view and perspective view in Studio, where perspective view is like Directors camera (and I use it a lot). I still haven't got onto this habit in Carrara, because I apparently cannot render from Directors camera (but I can render from perspective view fine in Studio). I really like to move around the scene and render from different angles, and for that I use camera 1 in Carrara. So am I right about not being able to render in Directors camera, or wrong?
Actually figured that one out myself, shock of shocks.
A lot of good stuff - probably too much to remember it all, but good to hear.
I must admit to being somewhat lost here. In Studio, there is generally a Scale slider, and then three separate x,y, and z sliders. In Carrara, the scale tool on the left sometimes acts like a proportional tool, and sometimes like an xyz tool. I haven't figured out why it changes at this point. I also didn't know about the motion panel- thanks (I think)!
This part I actually already heard elsewhere, so I'm good.
Very much. Your posts are always welcome!
Thanks for pointing it out! It's nice to know that such a resource exists when I'm ready. But this weekend, I need to look at Phil's beginning tutorials. I promised myself that last week, but got side-tracked doing some guy's very nice shader tutorial.
Thanks for the affirmation! I bought a bunch of them a couple of days ago. Already used one, and it does look pretty good. There are new Travelers items today, including some rocks and underwater plants. Would you recommend them as well?
I love placing my own plants (and other things) by hand as well!
So I have to ask... do you know about Edit > Duplicate (Ctrl + d)?
Just in case you don't, check this out!
Select an item you want a whole bunch of (or even just one more) and hit Ctrl + d, now move it to where you want the new one, rotate it, scale it, whatever, now hit Ctrl + d again, and that same move, rotate, scale will now be repeated onto the next new one!
This makes for a great way to do symmetrical duplication, but I use it for all kinds of things.
To Break the Spell of the next duplicate repeating the stored actions, just undo (Ctrl + z) once. Now duplicate again to start a fresh set of stored actions! Selecting something else and coming back also works for breaking the spell.
So I'll often duplicate a few things to make a cluster, then select that cluster and Group them (Ctrl + g) and then duplicate that group.
I can't help it!
I have years of experience of coming into this forum and asking: So what software should I get to do this?
Then having 3dage coming in and saying - you already own Carrara... use it!
After a while, we learn to be optimistic about Carrara. And the more Carrara we learn, the more we realize that Carrara makes it easy for us to figure out how to use any of its bazillion tools! ;)
Wow! I just got a few of his things and... yes! He's got some really fun pieces that work great, look great, and are fun to use!
I just got his Platez Volume 1 (along with a pile of others) and, though I haven't tried them yet, they look Really cool! Theres a LOT of presets in there!
I made this video using his Scatters - Bats - but instead of using the Scatters figure (whose wings don't flap - but has wonderful Scatter morphs for stills) I used the single bat props, which has some nice morphs ;)
nice atmosphere dart
looking forward to using this stuff and similar etc with the new carrara dynamic cloth plugin and Philemo's bridge
just for fun of course :)
http://www.daz3d.com/chip-dynamic-ghost
Wow! I get to start collecting Poser-style dynamic clothing and suff! Yaaaay! Thanks for reminding me!
Do you have Chip and/or Cookie? If so... do you like them? Silly question... what's not to like, right? I've been kicking around the idea of adding some toon-style figures to my collection. Generations, Cookie and Chip, Star, etc., It all started after I saw Lady Littlefox's super wonderful unicorn figure. Then I saw that there are a Lot more cool toon/anime figures! I'm really glad to have RDNA here!
I bought it anyways... being free and all! ;)
These dynamic cloth items can often be easily rescaled or otherwise reshaped to fit pretty much any figure. Textures can also be chnaged, making them quite versatile ;)
yes it;s a fire sale of course ;) winners are us. I'm not sure if I have chip or cookie to be honest.
I like though that we can use their cloths on v4 etc by using the cloth plugin - opens up so many new horizons
Sooo Many!!! Killer manual too! Really gets into things!
Really isn't the right thread for this discussion, but when did that ever bother anyone?
The director's camera doesn't render (although you can do spot renders with it active), otherwise it behaves pretty much as Perspective View in DS. However what you can do if it turns out to be the view you want to render, is, create a new camera or duplicate an existing one ("Camera 1" or whatever) and make it the active view. Then from the camera selection menu (this is the popup menu you get from clicking on the camera name in the top left of the 3DVew window) select Set Position To -> Director's Camera. Now you can render.
Don't forget you also need to set the render camera in the Render->Output tab (many's the time I've set up a view and then rendered something different!)
What tango Alpha said . :)
You can use the "area render tool" on the left,. to render any area of your screen irrespective of the camera you're using.
You can Save and Load camera "positions" from the camera menu,. So,..
If you're moving around with the Directors camera,. you find a good position,. you can save that camera position,. Change camera to Camera1, and Load that saved position.
so, you can switch between camera's and have the exact same positions.
Thanks for the responses. Sometimes spot render is fine, but I actually like to use control-R most of the time. And I like to do this on the fly, so stopping and creating or duplicating a camera is an extra interruption in my workflow.
As always, I am comparing the ease of use between basic functions in Studio and Carrara. Unless I am still missing something, I think that Studio has an edge here - at least for me.
I need to ask this again.
Do the Traverels rocks look good in Carrara? You guys said yes to the vegetation. Are the rocks also OK?
An example - http://www.daz3d.com/traveler-s-naturals-rocks-volume-5
Please, no rock tutorials right now.
I don't know about the rocks but some of Traveler's plants are billboards rather than full 3D models, so just be careful that you know what you are getting.
Right - as everyone else has said... but my BIG reason for trying to remain in the Director's camera as I work towards setting up my scene and posing my figures is for this:
The Director's Camera Does Not Add to the Undo Buffer!!!
I love using Crtl + Z to undo. I also zoom using my mouse wheel a lot. Undoing mouse wheel zooms can take up the whole undo buffer if we do a lot of it.
Don't get me wrong, though. I use the Director's camera also to "Set Position To" and select my rendering cameras to check their view - even though the Director's view is a bit more zoomed in that our screen view from an actual render cam.
So I also spend the time to set up a great render view with Camera 1, then I'll select that camera, and duplicate it (Ctrl + D) and look through it and set it up for an entirely different angle of the scene. I'll often do this at least one more time per scene, but most of my scenes have at least four rendering cameras set up in them - eve if I don't actually render all of them.
here's some ease of use thingies
1) in preferences assign your number keys to your views eg number 4 becomes left view
2) assign number 3 to director's camera
2a) assign the number 0 as your 'view selected object key'
3) get Fenric's plug in that let's you assign keys to selecting 'next' and 'previous' in the instances list. I use ',' and ',' keys.
The way my keyboard is arranged is so my right hand is hovering over all the most relevant keys..
4) Right click on a bunch of overlapping objects in the assembly room gives you a drop down list of what your curser is on - so you can select the correct object/bone etc
5) use space bar to pan
and alt key to rotate around selected object
6) as dart suggests, always use your director's camera when working
regarding the Rocks product,.
The product page says it has three texture maps,. so these are props,. with shaders,. as such they should work well in any 3D program,. given that every 3D pogram is slightly different and every render engine, lighting system and shader system requires some slight adjustments to get the best out of any texture/shaders for that program or render engine.
That said,. these are not complex models,. or textures/shaders.
If you think they look good in the promo/sales page,. and you can aford it,. why not get it,. Daz3d have a 30 day return policy.
if not,. you could easily create your own rocks and shaders in carrara,. if you have a camera, photograph some stone/rock textures and apply those to your own models.
or use carrara's shader room to create some rocky shaders.
As always, thanks for your feedback. I haven't done it yet, but I know that you can create grass and rocks in Carrara. I was just wondering about this specific product. And the price was so cheap, it wasn't even a factor.
I am still flying somewhat blind here, not knowing exactly what works well in Carrara. Just a lack experience, hence the mundane questions which will undoubtedly resolve themselves over time.
Still, why are there no grass or rock objects in Carrara itself? There is plenty of content, including mountains and trees, and hundreds of other items in various categories. It seems strange to me that something so basic as grass and rocks are missing.
I am not familiar with the term "billboards," but I suspect that you mean 2D objects that look like cardboard popups. If so, you are correct, as the first Travelers plant I loaded was exactly that! But, if rotated correctly, it still did the job.
Ha! That was an interesting read. Your approach seemed very efficient. I assume that you don't use a mouse? In my case, the mouse is permanently attached to my right hand.
I use the left hand for things like control-Z and control-R. Maybe I could program some of those things you mentioned on the left side of the keyboard.
Thanks for the tips!
I also use the mouse wheel. I noticed this undo problem early-on, but couldn't figure out why it was happening. In your first tutorial I took you mentioned it, and then I understood. Soon after, I radically increased the size of my undo buffer.
I will try using the directors camera in the way that you guys have mentioned. Still feels real awkward though.
Finally got to try it today. Just GREAT!
They can be effective (particularly in the background) and are low on system resources (hence their use), but I just wanted people to be aware to check so that they didn't think they were buying one thing (full 3D models) and end up with something else. I think the descriptions make it clear if you are aware and looking out for it.
Carrara has a thing called a Splat which acts as a 2D billboard which automatically always faces the camera, so you never get a side / distorted view of the object. You can also use the Point At modifier to achieve the same thing.
There are some grass and rock products that are for Carrara.
http://www.daz3d.com/stone-boulder-pack
http://www.daz3d.com/replicator-grass-pack
Or, you can make your own. Options are good.
.
It's actually a good question,.
there are other ways to make the effect of grass or rocks,. either using shaders, or simple objects,. such as a sphere primitive, with a noise modifier applied to it, or an icosohedron added to a particle emitter.,. or just a particle emitter, set to emit particles over your ground surface.
you can use replicators,. or surface replicators,. or a particle system,. to create objects on any surface.
Carrara has a Plant generator, and a tall blade of grass isn't much different to a small thin branchless tree.
Creating a 3D model of grass normally means that you're making a lot of individual blades of grass.
the more objects you add to any program,. the longer it takes to process that,.
That's why replicating (virtual copies) of a single object,.to create hudreds of thousands of virtual copies of that object,. makes a lot of sense.
Dynamic hair can also be used to create grass
so in short,. there are other ways to create grass or rocks in carrara
this is an image i made a while ago,. using dynamic Hair in carrara to create grass.