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Comments
Yeah, that Rock pack by Traveler really rocks! I... I mean it looks really good! LOL
All of those older Traveler's products work well in Carrara. I haven't tried his new TerraDome made for Iray yet - don't really need something like that in Carrara, but that doesn't mean anything. When it comes down to it, we don't need any purchased content - but that's my favorite thing to use!
Why doesn't Carrara have Rocks and Grass? Well... mine does! I bought Howie Farkes' Stoney Creek bundle almost right away, and it has rocks and grass in the browser for us ;)
Mmoir's BMF Landscape pack for Carrara's main foreground element uses dynamic hair as grass, like what 3dage is mentioning above. Mmoir has some really fine Carrara products! I'm collecting his entire store.
Yeah, and you kind of dodged it.
The rest of my statement was "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."
It's very neat that we can make rock and grass items - and your example is terrific - but the absence of native content at this most basic level is the most glaring lack I've discovered in Carrara up to this point. All of the other built-in Carrara content is nice, but I would trade a bunch of it for a few rocks and small clumps of vegetation.
And I look forward to the day when I know enough to do that. But in the meantime...
It was so bad I laughed.
I know my questions probably seem mundane, but many thanks for the straight answer.
OK, then. So, why does Carrara contain ANY content? After all, we can simply do what they do in Studio, and buy stuff (unless we learn how to make it).
I thought that one of the strengths of Carrara was that it was packed with content, and self-sufficient right out of the box. And, so it is, which is great for a newbie like myself. I've been playing with the content, and ALL of it seems surprisingly useful. But I was irked when I couldn't find simple grass and rocks.
Does Studio come with Rocks? Grass? If so... everything (almost) that comes with DS should work in Carrara, except for lights and materials, etc.,
Personally, I'm glad it includes content. I'm a Content user.
I think that everybody (Everybody) comes to Carrara with a different vision - even if only slightly. Some buy it so they can build everything themselves. Not me.
The "content" in carrara is supplied as both "something to get you going" and as "examples" of "how to" for modelling,. shader creation, scene building, that's the point of having the built in "Wizard" options,. for scenes, shaders, terrains etc.
you can select from premade stuff to begin with,. or edit those premade things as you advance,. or make your own once you see how easy it can be to do so.
any program needs to be easy to get into, learn, and then discover what you can do with all the tools.
supplying content with your application,. makes sense for a company who's core business is selling people content.
Most people dowload daz studio because of the Free price,.. but also because it comes with a bunch of starter content.
It has to be bundled with content,. because it can't do anything without content.
it's bundled with a limited set of starter stuff to encourage people to buy more.
Carrara is bundled with models made in Carrara,. Shaders made in Carrara,. Scenes made in Carrara, plants, terrains all examples of objects or things You can CREATE in Carrara.
Not things you need to buy.
Most 3D suites,. come with some example shaders, and some textures, but on the whole,. No content. nothing.
The expectation is on the user to want to learn this,. since they've made a serious financial investment in software, they should be prepared to make a serious effort to make that investment pay for itself.
You bought a serious program, now learn how to do stuff.
That's what you get for several grand. and none of your daz3d stuff will work natively in it,. and the interface and menu options would be more like a foreign language compared to the completely fool proof layout of DS.
You keep mentioning that replicators or other functions like dynamic hair are too complex for you,
Have you tried them,. ?
You really should experiment with carrara's features. it's really not complex,. its more time consuming to load in a daz figure and pose it,. than it is to add a replicator, or grow dynamic hair, and those are some of the tools which really make a HUGE difference for building scenes and being creative.
if this stuff was complicated, or difficult to use,. nobody would.
Regarding camera's and views,. have you tried using the split views at the top of the screen,.
Quad view can give you views of your scene from all main planes (XYZ) plus a camera or directors cam view.
you can change any of these views to be any view you need.
Sell a man a fish, he can feed his familly for a day,.
never teach him how to fish,... just keep selling him fish.
as Dart mentioned,. there's a Howie farkes scene which is part of carrara content,. "Snow scene",. and is an example of the plant generator, to encourage exploration and experimentation.
explore and experiment,. learn something new.
Speaking of Howie Farkes... I just grabbed a few items in the PC+ Catch-up Sale. Badlands by Dartanbeck, Parthenon Club by TangoAlpha and of course Country Lane SuperBundle by Howie Farkes, all of which are for Carrara. Oh... had to buy a $3 G3 long dress... perhaps I can modify that to use on earlier generations.
Some very good tips from Andy and Dart here... learn from them every time I read their posts. Thanks guys... think I'll go model a clump of grass. :)
Now i get it ...
That's why there is no tutorials for begginers included with Carrara when you buy it
I think the first thing I modelled in Carrara was a rock.
Wonder if Wendy saw that Andy rigged FifthElements kewl cat?
yes, will look later as my attempt was rather lame, busy rendering right now.
All of your favorite vendors for Carrara-specific items are on sale. Some of my favorites include
http://www.daz3d.com/dartanbeck
http://www.daz3d.com/dimensiontheory#
http://www.daz3d.com/fenric
http://www.daz3d.com/gkdantas
http://www.daz3d.com/holyforest
http://www.daz3d.com/howiefarkes
http://www.daz3d.com/inagoni
http://www.daz3d.com/infinite-skills-inc
http://www.daz3d.com/livia-zita
http://www.daz3d.com/mmoir
http://www.daz3d.com/naomi
http://www.daz3d.com/philw
http://www.daz3d.com/richard-szydelko
http://www.daz3d.com/ringomonfort
http://www.daz3d.com/tangoalpha
http://www.daz3d.com/tim-payne
apologies to anyone I missed
You guys protest too much.
My only point was that it appears totally illogical to me to include so much content with Carrara, only to leave out fundamental stuff like grass and rocks. That was it. I know I can buy or create those items, but that is not the point I was making.
No rocks or grass with Studio, to the best of my knowledge. But again, my point was very specific. I have no problem with the idea of either buying or making content.
Me too!
Me either, although I very much plan on exploring the content creation features of Carrara in the near future.
I totally agree. Which is why I'm so puzzled that Carrara does not include examples - which I can create - of grass and rocks. There are trees. There are even presets for hair. To not include grass and rocks makes no sense, from my newbie perspective.
You misunderstand. I am entering into Carrara by comparing it apples to apples with Studio. It isn't a matter of modeling being too complex or beyond my capabilities, or that I am complaining that it is too hard. In the realm of finding content, loading content, posing content, and rendering content, I want to know how the two programs compare. Most people claim that Studio is superior in those areas. I want to discover for myself if that is indeed true.
Sorry if I have not been clear enough regarding my intent. I choose to NOT use the higher modeling functions of Carrara at this time. It's a matter of timing, as I want to get better at basic functions. But will I eventually be doing stuff like animation? You better believe it!!! I already have two animation projects in waiting.
My conservative approach may sound overly limiting to you. I can only hope that my particular agenda proves itself worthy to you in time. Your input is very important to me. I have great respect for the pros on this forum.
I understand your perspective, and share it to a degree. Otherwise, I wouldn't be getting involved with Carrara.
I'm poking around and learning new stuff almost every day, mostly regarding the basic functions I have already mentioned. Plus, I've started Phil's free intro tutorials, which have clarified basic functions as well.
You are quite right, no rocks or grass seems an odd omission. But we are where we are, and at least there are some good ones easily available, and it is not difficult to create your own. Glad you are finding the tutorials useful!
Yeah... I think my first model was a rock too! ;)
...and it was not a good rock either. Now I can make good rocks, though! LOL
Nope. DS doesn't have any rocks and grass. That's why I asked.
Don't worry... I won't pay attention anymore! LOL
UnifiedBrain, Here is a link to a cool video by DimensionT - Creating Polygonal Grass Segments With Carrara PT.1 - Shows how *very* easy grass is, duplicating it and forming a grass clump... and you will learn a few things about vertex modeling, not a great deal but a some. Note that there is a Part 2 that should load afterwards. There are of couse many ways to model grass... this looks easiest to me... but then I've not tried dynamic hair editor.
[Added] Part 2 goes into replicators and shaders for the grass.
Hi Unified brain :)
I get it,. and in that realm or loading and posing premade 3D content, then Studio probably win's,. if there's anything to win.
Daz Studio is a program written and developed by the company which sells the content for people to use in it,. so , if it wasn't "easier" to use than Carrara, a program which was not originally written and developed by Daz,. that would be surprising.
The fact that Carrara can load poser/daz figures , and work with them in the same way, and arguably "just as well" as those two programs,. should be the surprising thing.
Not all 3D programs can load those models and allow you to work with them in the same way.
In the realm of rendering,. that's a bit of a tougher comparison.
Carrara has a faster default render engine than DS's 3Delight,. and (in my own brief tests) the Iray engine is slower than Octane for Carrara.
your system may be better or different, and your results would be different.
the rendring technology and all 3d technology is constantly developing, and changing. faster, better, easier.
I don't think that the speed or quality of the images rendered in either DS or Carrara is a big issue,. they can both be used to produce high quality renders.
If you prefer working with content in DS,. that's fine, you don't need to suddenly stop using DS just because you now have Carrara.
I use DS occasionaly to do some things ,. many Carrara users here use DS regularly to do stuff,. most of us also use a bunch of other 3D and 2D programs to do things that they excell at, and carrara either doesn't do well, or doesn't have.
But,. I still use Carrara as my main 3D Software ,. not because it can use content,. but because it can Also use content.
it's just one thing that it can do.
So, its less about deciding which software to stick with, to load and use content,. it's more about, what using other 3D software can do to expand your creative horizons.
Apples to apples would be Poser and DS,. as those two programs are built from the ground up to load and use pre-made content.
Carrara would be more comparable to Lightwave, Blender, Cinema4D, 3D Max, Maya etc. as those are all full 3D suites.
Bryce is comparable with Vue, Terragen, etc , as those are primarilly landscape an environment creation tools.
Comparisons of the same functions in different applications are fine, many programs excell at one or two particular areas.
I guess I'm just trying to encourage you to do what your currently doing,. explore carrara, explore all of it,. rather than trying to see it as a direct comparison
hope that makes some sense :)
Except, you are quoting me out of context. The apples to apples thing, and the weird lack of rocks thing, are two separate issues.
Created and rendered in Carrara, only using content that came with Carrara 8.5.
No postwork.
and I must add DAZ content is becoming increasingly incompatiable with Carrara, TG for the RDNA Poser stuff!!!!!!!
Carrara should come with a lot of things IMO but that is up to DAZ and frankly I don't think they give a damn.
Bryce users are feeling the love too no doubt
just good thing we have a vertex modeller that does not freeze up like Hexagon as well as other modellers.
I am becoming more inclined to model my own things lately and Carrara is fantastic for that.
Yeah... I'm like a kid in a candy store! I still have a big list of legacy Daz3d models that I want - and along comes a whole new pile of generation 4 goodness!
I've tried a couple of newer DUF-only products that work well. But just scenery props, so I don't need to dial anything. They load slow at first - then I optimize the shaders and save a CAR version to my browser.
I don't know... I like the selection of goods that Daz3d gives us when we buy Carrara. It's all decent stuff - and it's stuff that would otherwise cost a lot more than Carrara itself. But I almost feel like I'm in a minority (at least on the forums) on the subject of Carrara's Native content, which I feel is an invaluable browser full of very useful content.
I love the various simple models that come in the Objects tab along with all of the cool example scenes in the Scenes tab. I mean... we get scenery examples of interiors using Global Illumination, we get three-point lighting and other popular photo-studio style lighting technique examples, magnificent outdoors examples, clouds, modifiers, the Basic Plants (Object Tab) category has some really nice examples and the Skies category... okay I can go on and on.
While I don't often use these things dirtectly in my finished work, checking these things out over the years have taught me loads of useful ways to set up stuff in Carrara.
The animation category has a really cool little rigged figure with target helper assisted Inverse Kinematics. I love that thing! Need an airplane? Yeah.. that's happened to me. I wasn't expecting to be able to grab an actual model number example of military aircraft... that was just a bonus! I just needed a simple fighter jet of any ol' type.
Many of the object tab models are made entirely differently than how I usually model - a lot can be learned from these things - and PhilW shows us in his latest course how we can take these super-simple objects and make them look incredibly real!
But it is well know that I LOVE Carrara - and will always be here to defend it. So I'd like to add that "I" am just me. Carrara is perfect for Me, but I'm only me.
============================
3dage did a beautiful explanation above of how we can use many different applications to realize our CG needs - and made some great points on how DS is made for its Daz3d content. I completely agree except that - to me, Carrara is actually easier, even though I have to go through more steps. I keep adding to my content library so that I have what I need when I need it. But once I open something from my library that I want to use, I optimize it for Carrara and save it to my Browser - so it's always ready when I need it.
For some crazy reason, Carrara lets me just keep adding stuff to realize my stages for my animations. So of my scenes have a LOT of content added - and I usually don't go through the super-efficient methods of stripping it down to a lightweight optimized state, like our friend Sci Fi Funk does - though I should. Point is... I don't need to. Carrara lets me do it - and still render nice and fast.
I really enjoy the new Daz Studio. It has some beautiful tools - and the way it works for content creation is truly amazing. They've done a beautiful job. So I like to use Daz Studio as more of a workshop for making stuff work with one another - though I very seldom need to use it so far. I've just tested it and saw how nicely it all works. But most of my content works just fine as-is... well... after I've tweaked the shaders.
You are always doing super-wonderful, amazing things with Carrara. Well... I love how you know how to always pick the right tool for the right job - according to your workflow... and you've truly blown my mind in the process!
I'll never forget how you've just started taking static objects and making them work as conforming clothes for figures within Carrara - then maybe export them to iClone to render in some magnificent scene! I've been following you (and others) from my very first steps into Carrara - and follow with wide-open, amazed and intrigued eyes! ;)
LOL.... love it
+1
Me too!!!
I did a Genesis version of Brian with Carrara hair,
I was obsessed with his cute pageboy style trying to emulate it myself with much blowdrying as a teen but a lost cause with curly hair!!!
Actually, I am betting the opposite. Or at least betting that the differences are not that great. But I won't know this for sure until I have spent a lot of time doing those things in Carrara. For example, I probably spent 10 hours last week just practicing finding Daz content in Carrara. And I still don't fully understand what I am doing, or even the best questions to ask. But I'll get there.
It seems logical. Then again, sometimes things are merely different, and not that much harder - assuming the proper instructions are given.
I totally agree. Plus, it's a great shock to me to be looking favorably at Poser content.
I used to avoid it like the plague. A very nice side benefit.
I am no expert on 3D programs. but I have heard many others say exactly the same thing.
Thanks for saying that. My experience is that getting opinions in this forum about Carrara's render engine is like pulling teeth.
Your model for usage mirrors my own feelings. I prefer a home base for most of my work as well. I prefer NOT flipping back and forth, unless absolutely necessary.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is where you still don't get where I am coming from. And it is because I haven't given the full explanation, other than on another thread which you probably never read.
I'll start a new thread next week and give the full story. But the gist of it is, I believe that people may come to Carrara to expand their horizons, but they typically don't stay long because the interface seems too unfriendly. My goal is to help make the transition from Studio to Carrara easier,and attract more Studio users, thereby putting more pressure on Daz to keep the program alive. Pretty grandiose, I know. Some will even say that my analysis is just plain wrong. We shall see.
I love encouragement! Thank you for taking the time to do so. I only hope that you now know that direct comparisons between Studio and Carrara are just a first stage for me, with a very definite purpose.
You'll just have to go for the Steve Priest look! :)
Steve ROCKS!!! "...and the man in the back was ready to crack and his eyes are as red as the sun!" Amazing how much singing he did!
Nobody looks like Brian did though... 'cept for Brian, himself! I recognized him right away!!! Cool stuff!
Really?
Carrara's native Photorealistic (default) render engine is my favorite render engine of anything I've ever tried. It's so easy to just set it up for either speed or for automatic realism (which may take longer - or not depending on the scene) along with a good amount of variances in between.
For example, if you know what an Occlusion Sandwich is, Carrara automatically sandwiches the occlusion pass for us - but we may also ask it to give us the oclusion pass individually as well. (This is a technique for getting indirect lighting like precision in a speedier way than using full indirect lighting)
I'm sorry that you're having difficulties. I can be hard to tell whether you're asking a question or making a nasty remark sometimes.
I great way to get the precise teaching you're missing is to create a new thread whose title is a specific question, then give as much details about your question in the first post of that thread.
When someone responds, answer back as to whether that helped or not - if you understand it or not. Try to not insult them if they ask for more information - they're usually (especially 3DAGE - but everybody else too) trying to help you solve your problem. It's amazing how quickly we can all learn together here.
UnifiedBrain - just to pick up on a couple of points, you mentioned that DS users find the Carrara interface unfriendly, I don't think it is at all, it's just that it is different from DS and therefore feels unfamiliar. If you want an unfriendly interface, try using Blender! But in the end, it comes down to what you are familiar with. As a mainly Carrara user, I still feel a bit lost when using DS sometimes, and I am sure that is the case in the reverse direction. Once you get used to it, both programs can browse, load, pose and render pretty smoothly (with the obvious exceptions of Genesis 3 etc).
The other one I wanted to pick up on is Carrara's native renderer - I have always found it to be very fast and very capable. It is set up for speed rather than quality though, harking back to when computers were a lot less powerful than they are now. But with a few adjustments, it can produce some very realistic renders with still acceptable render times - this is largely what my "Realism Rendering" tutorial title is all about, and in many circumstances it can rival the output of iRay and other physically based renderers. And it supports (out of the box) things like Carrara's hair and replicators that allow hugely complex scenes to be rendered very efficiently. I have attached an example character loaded and rendered with Carrara's native engine and with Carrara hair added (in this case my Paige Hair product).