Project Dogwaffle Howler
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Man!
This Video Playlist of Puppy Ray examples is so cool! I love how they use those motion depth maps and filters on them and such. I have only dabbled in Puppy Ray - I could see that one's imagination could utilize these tools to great effect - as you can see in these videos.
And here's a playlist that shows what it looks like when you change some of the parameters in Puppy Ray.
Here is a complete list of new features in the new version 9.
At the top of the page are links to a four part series of "What's new?" videos for Howler 9.
(images are from the newsletter)
Hi,
PD Howler 8.2 Home Edition:
"Daniel Ritchie of Project Dogwaffle and Phillip Staiger of TheBest3d.com Releases New Learning Edition of Howler™ Digital Painting and Editing Software New Version Allows Non Commercial use for free"
Link: http://www.thebest3d.com/howler/download/home-edition/index.html
rk.
Also, with the release of Aartform's Curvy 3D 3.0 I would feel remiss if I didn't inform you all of this amazing deal that gets you Curvy 3D, Project Dogwaffle Pro: Howler, AnyFX for Dogwaffle, by Pixelan, and a lot more, for only $59 USD through The Cool Creative Bundle!
Each of the offerings are earlier releases, bringing the cost low. But each of the companies (I know at least Dogwaffle and Curvy as well as Genetica, anyways) offer discounts to upgrade. This gives us an excellent chance to try out all of these different, unique tools and decide from there if we wish to explore them further, into their latest editions.
That's how I've found Curvy 3d in the first place, and got my feet wet into Genetica - both really great tools.
Curvy 3d goes about 3d modeling from an entirely different perspective - making it easier and easier for you - the less you know about the usual methods of 3d modeling. I say this because, instead of starting with a simple cube and extruding new faces onto the mesh to form the final shape, in Curvy 3d you draw curves, as if drawing onto a piece of paper. Curvy 3d takes your curve and gives it substance. Further curves drawn further change the shape. Here is a great rundown of Curvy 3d - the version that comes with the Cool Creative Bundle. Check out the videos on the page to see more about how this neat tool works. The new version, here at DAZ 3D, Aartform Curvy 3D 3.0 offers some cool images on models made in the new version. Looks like fun!
If you scroll down the right side of this page, you'll see links to what Philip has to say about each of the offerings found in the bundle. A very helpful site, Link removed TheBest3d, Philip is obviously enthusiastic towards helping each of us find ways to get what we want out of this ever expanding field of CG. Thank you Philip Staiger!
He is also very motivated to helping some of these smaller software developers get seen by those whom might have a particular need for what they make - so it all comes round, full circle. If it wasn't for his dynamic enthusiasm and helpful advice, I probably wouldn't have Howler or Curvy 3d or Genetica, amongst many other things. So I hope that these guys thank him as well!
The 3rd batch of free sticker brushes for Howler is out.
http://www.thebest3d.com/howler/download/free-brushes-3d-stickers-by-Michel-Agullo/index3.html
Not sure if we can post these things but if we can ---------
Commercial link removed
Seems like these guys are having a nice 50 percent sale for thanksgiving weekend. (expires dec 1 2013) If you are or have been on the fence like me about this unique and powerful tool ----- this might be just the thing to get me into howling. I see lots of opportunities to use this with Carrara and other uses for sure. And I love how much this thing get develops. That is awesome indeed.
Rich
Wow. Talk about a wealth of active development...
Bravo to Dan Ritchie on his remarkable ability to add even more exciting features to this great software!
And now available to MAC users? Really cool!
I am so happy to have finally taken the step into buying Howler. It really is an excellent addition to my CG toolbox. Of course, if you don't need to paint onto and into video files, the Artist edition, which is even less than Howlers already low price, is everything that Pro: Howler is, but without the 'Animation' menu. Some of my favorite non-animation tools include (but there's so much more):
Transforming my mouse or stylus into real art media - from globby oils to delicate watercolor; a number 5H crisp pencil to a fat charcoal stick, not to mention the fact that it is completely set up around the idea of making your own brushes in the easiest way I've ever seen.
The ability to paint in alpha, which is incredibly useful for getting super detailed with selections.
Using anything you want as a colors pallet. From a photo to a bunch of colors smeared onto a plane. Then there's the plethora of color pickers to choose from. It's all so very natural - especially if you're used to painting with real paints.
Blue screen, green screen, magic pink and drop magenta for compositing layers. Yet there's a lot more ways of combining, too. Dogwaffle is a bit different than what I've been accustomed to when it comes to layers. This is a welcomed challenge for me.
Filters, filters and more filters. It's simply amazing how much versatility these things provide.
Symmetry, smoothing, pressure sensitivity... even if you don't have a tablet, you can 'mock' sensitivity!
We can draw a shape. If we get it right, undo it to clear what we've drawn. Now you can replay that stroke using many different tools. This can be used for animating a brush stamp along consecutive frames or used to make overlapping strokes on a still, and a whole lot more. Works great for outlining shapes with any sort of effect you wish. Then you can come back and repeat the stroke again with a white brush (or whatever background) to hollow the center out again... well... that's a really, really basic rundown of how this function can help.
For animation work, we can create sprite sheets and convert them to sequenced image animations or avi. You can even convert avi to sequenced and the reverse. You can filter across each frame individually or across the entire sequence. Use animation files as a selection. Several methods of time stretch - depending on how you need the outcome. Key frame in changes to anything in the animation using any filter or the above mentioned stroke repeater, text, effects, whatever you want. Dan Ritchie does a great demonstration video on how he made his cartoon horse animation - where the entire works was done directly within Howler.
All sorts of effects from animated (or non, for stills) lens flares, light rays, mystic or evil effects... this whole operation is set up by an effects creation expert (Dan Ritchie) for creating effects - so the possibilities are totally endless. Really cool, too, is the fact that, if you're trying to get something done, and haven't found your solution, you can ask Philip and/or Dan directly and they help you. Very personal towards their customers and their ultimate satisfaction, these two are amazing.
The Daily Dose and all of the video tutorials that followed in that tradition are definitely one of the best teaching tools I've seen so far from the staff to the customer. Free on YouTube for anyone. I watched quite a few of them before buying. Then I was convinced. Watching Phil demonstrate the software in front of my eyes like that really helps to instill methods of working within the application for many techniques. Of course you'll enjoy finding new ways of doing things too! But these videos really help to get you started - and Phil is always willing to make a new one if more clarity is needed.
And, like I point out in the first post in this thread, here are where you can find these videos:
► Dogwaffle Tutorials at The Best 3d.com
this is the Tutorials section of Phil's site
► My Playlists of his YouTube tutorials
this is a playlist I've made with a table of contents for each to help myself find exactly the tutorial I'm looking for. Although the title of each video does help to explain the main context of the video, you'll find that you learn a lot more as well. I watch these to help when I want to do something particular, and I'm not being successful. Sometimes I'll have to watch through several to find exactly what I need to know. Eventually, I get used to knowing what information is found in each title - but there's so many of them, sometimes I just have to start a playlist and watch through a bunch of them. But I like that. Philip is a very fun teacher, and Dan pokes in now and then with a video of his own ;)
Oh... right. I haven't even mentioned the cool 3d features from previous editions nor the new Puppy Ray (ray trace render engine).
I get carried away when trying to think of my favorite things in Howler. There are simply so many things that it does - and for such a low price. Hmnpf!
It's awesome!
I don't understand "Commercial link removed"... Could somebody explain me ?
Perhaps if you could tell us who we can find the link ourselves :)
I don't understand "Commercial link removed"... Could somebody explain me ?
Commercial link removed means that a link to a Commercial product that is not sold in the Daz 3D store was removed, as per the DAZ 3D ToS regarding Off Site Commercial Advertising, (Bullet points 1&2 in the Commercial Advertising section). The ToS can be reviewed by clicking the link at the bottom of every page on the site.
It is not very sympathetic nor very commercial, especially for a software which can be only complementary to Carrara and Studio…
DUDU ---- it just the rules. No big deal . Every place has certain ways of doing things. its their site their rules. I have no issues with that. I did not know so I respectfully apologize for trying ---.
. And hey its not like folks cannot figure where to go. Smiles.
Rich
google PD Howler 9.0 (Fly in the ointment) thanksgiving
And what about this: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28614/ ?
Well,
just wanted to say I purchased PD howler today and will start my adventure with it. hope others got to get the deal if they wished to. Its a little different but that is why I like it --and the fact the developers push out new stuff all the time.
rich
He, Rich !
"Pushes something" on the Carrarator's site, it's more interesting !
Congratulations Rich!
I say it like that because I bought it due to it being so different as well - and I'm enjoying it more and more. It's become my virtual art room which houses all of my paints, pencils, charcoals, conte, etching tools, and all of my other fun things I collect to do art with. So that got you Howler or Artist 9? Version 9 is cool, and it comes with a free update for the up and coming 9.1, which is really looking cool!
Dan has been optimizing the Puppy Ray ray trace engine to work better and much faster using your GPU of your graphics card, as well as the CPU performance. He's really quite the genius, you know. Knowing what the needs are - speed being one of them - and he truly listens to what Dogwaffle users want.
Check this out: A few more goodies to look forward to in Howler 9.1
Dan's Blog is also fun to keep an eye on ;)
2 Dogwaffle & Carrara tutorials were in the latest newsletter.
http://youtu.be/oJcwjah555k
http://youtu.be/e3LXDZYcCTc
Also the RC3 patch came out for 9.1 a while back.
Wow!
Howler 9.1 was just released at DAZ 3D at only $62.27... Such a steal!!!
What IS Howler?
Follow the above link, and check out the "What's Included & Features" tab
This whole thread is about Howler, the Pro version of Project Dogwaffle. And it doesn't even begin to illustrate how incredible this tool suite has become!
Howler 9.1 has really come a long way. 9.0 brought to us Puppy Ray, a Dogwaffling Ray Trace Render engine for use with height maps, sky backgrounds, and textures right within Dogwaffle. Sort of like the 3D Designer, which is still included, but this bad-boy has global illumination, more power of setting up the colors and appearances, and... it now has a fully GPU version that renders as you adjust according to your settings! There are now two PuppyRay to choose from: CPU and GPU, depending upon your needs.
Project Dogwaffle is a digital painting tool, transforming your mouse or tablet into art tools that you may be used to in the hands-on art world. Like a thick oil paint on a wide brush, or a 5H pencil, for a very small example - as Dogwaffle is most unlimited in how you can paint. Being a brush-centric application, the brush, itself, holds the key to many ways of working within your art. It can shoot particles, using 3d space to help you manipulate what ends up on the canvas! Particles are entirely limitless all by themselves, but like nearly everything in Dogwaffle, you get a large selection of presets to choose from. The particles brush is also quite expansive. So to make it easier, Dan has included several tabs of presets which use similar aspects of the use of particles. For example, "Orbicles" is where you go for particle brushes that mostly work with the image you have loaded. Rather than 'adding new' color, the particles quickly grab and absorb a pixel which gets released back onto the canvas on its return trip, where it grabs a new one as it paints down what it had picked up. Of course, you don't even need to know any of that... you just grab the brush and paint with it. You can also use these to add color, too. The way Dogwaffle uses brush settings is really quite a handy way of manipulating what happens when you dab or stroke.
Many, many types of brush already available and yet you can always save your favorites as well. And the above short doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.
You may open an image from your computer, any image, as a brush and paint with it. Knowing that, you can easily use and create an unlimited supply of custom brushes. "Store and Manage" under the brush menu will give you a new control panel on your screen specifically for the current brush at that time. So now you can switch to something else and then simply click on the panel you've just made to grab that brush again - which is really handy. You may also load more than one image into the same brush making what is called an animated brush. An animated brush can work in several ways. By default, as you stroke along with your brush, the images contained within will cycles according to the steps smoothness of your brush.
Foliage Brushes are another type of particles brush that can 'grow' foliage from a single stroke. Some of the presets will follow the direction of your stroke, others only use the first dab and just grow on their own. Anything like that can be changed in the panel for new, custom settings. It's amazing how many presets are included.
Far beyond brushes, Howler includes many effects and features towards optimizing animations and video!
Motion prediction module helps big time when video footage is needed for a composite - and you'd like to add your own special effects before or after doing so. Howler works well with avi as well as sequenced images animations. This sort of thing is fantastic for working with Carrara animation footage. But you also have hand-drawn cartoon-style animation power as well, to work with. Howler has the ability to create and use sprite sheets. You can create an animation from a sprite sheet and vice versa.
Effects like motion blur, adding snow or rain, mystic vision (one of many ways to add very specific god rays), color grading optimizations, focus control, pretty much anything you need to apply to a clip you can add with Howler. And it does it really fast.
Rotoscoping works like a charm. The curve tool, as if it isn't handy enough just being what it is, includes a rotoscoping menu. Can we say... "Rock On!"
=======================================================================================================
Here is a short list of what's new in 9.1:
GPU accelerated ray tracing: Puppy Ray GPU
New free transform tool
New options for alpha channel selections
New line, rectangle, and circle options
New crop tool
New interactive font picker
New icon set, color schemes, and light on dark color schemes
More options available on the context strip for quicker access
New fill panel
New options for plasma nois, including seamless mode and more
Speed improvements
GUI improvements and bug fixes
Also, Dan has done some impressive new work on the interface appearance and functionality.
All in all, Howler is exactly the sort of app I would expect from a broadcast special effects artist, like Dan Ritchie, but a whole lot more as well. This baby has quickly become one of my favorite reasons to turn on my computer.
Of course for me, I always have to have the latest and greatest. As a matter of fact, I watch diligently for it! However, like Carrara, older versions are incredibly powerful, great tools. And, if you're 'on-the-fence' about trying it, buying previous versions are an even less expensive way to get Howling!
Wow! $62.27... For Howler 9.1... is a beautiful thing.
Just a quick example of how quickly Howler works for correcting renders that would otherwise get tossed in the trash.
In the first image below, you can see how I didn't notice that the tree trunk (circled in red) isn't planted into the ground all the way. This can be a very common occurrence when using replicators to place objects.
In the second image, I have a few pieces of screen shot to show what I've done in Howler to correct the problem, which goes as follows:
Using the new (in Howler 9.1) Free Transform tool, I set the width to the trunk of the tree, and the scew angle to match the slope of the terrain. This will make the selection I need, except that the edges would be too sharp - something would certainly look amiss. So I then use the selection menu to add a Guassian Blur to the selection. This adds a blend to the alpha selection within Dogwaffle. Alpha in Dogwaffle (Howler and Artist editions) is very powerful in helping you to obtain just the results you need - where you need them.
Now that I've added a Guassian Blur (a falloff of the perimeter of the selection) I use the Brush menu to "Use Selected as Brush", another powerful Dogwaffle feature. Now I have the image of the tree trunk with a scewed and softened angle in my brush. Make sure opacity is cranked to full (255), and dab down once to fix the tree trunk.
Similarly if this was an animation that took hours to render, I could use the curve tool to make a selection where I want to paint using that new brush. If the camera movement isn't too wild, the motion prediction module may even be able to track the trunk for me. But often my camera movements or whatever needs to be fixed will be moving too quickly, so I simply keyframe in my own changes to the selection where ever I need to to get the curve tool selection to follow the trunk - which is quite easy to do, and Philip has several wonderful videos on the subject. I believe that Dan has a few in there too.
Speaking of the curve tool, the third image shows how I've outlined my character with the tool and you'll notice that I deliberately kept a small distance from her edges and applied a Gaussian Blur to the selection. I've used this selection and inverted it to add some blur to the rest of the image to simulate motion. In the fourth image you'll see the results - in this case, I've picked the "Zoom" blur, but there are many, many different effects to choose from. I've also done a quick bit of color enhancing.
Howler is a Carrara user's friend ;)
We have started a few new tutorials for beginning exploration of Howler 9.1 which is now available at Daz. If you're totally new to Dogwaffle, look for Painting 101, Painting 102, etc... in our pdhowler channel on youtube.
Here's one just added, on pigment lifting and paper textures in your brush.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff3SVk0IfD4
Happy painting!
The latest Newsletter is out, with 11 new tutorials, including some with Carrara.
Also, if you already use Photoshop and are looking for ways to use Howler with PS, or are just new to Howler, here's a free demo online next week that might interest you:
Next Photoshop Users Group Live on-line Meeting:
The Photoshop Users Group presents: "PD Howler & Photoshop in Action". A free presentation by Philip Staiger on Thursday, February 27th from 6:30 - 8:30pm. All are invited.
Being part of a the Dogwaffle project created by Dan Ritchie, PD Howler is an effects program that you might want to consider for using along side Photoshop.
For more details as well as to register for this event please go to https://photoshopuser.eventbrite.com.
Excellent! I'm registered and looking forward to attending this meeting.
I agree that this is not a replacement for the image editors in your life, but rather an amazing (and incredibly fun!) enhancement to it. Still, I keep finding myself learning new ways to bypass my standard editor and being more artistic with what I was planning to do using Howler instead.
Thanks for sharing - see you there ;)
I saw this on the LightWave Users Group on Facebook. Is this being streamed over the internet or is in-person only at the user group meeting?
If it is streamed, I'll sign up for it. I'm curious about the tool.
Yup. Internet.
C'mon, Gars Man... we can sit together!
For those whom may be new here and might not know who Philip Staiger is, have a quick look at Dogawaffle's Newsletter # 75 and check out some of the great tutorial videos listed there. Philip is often the person conducting the lecture - when it isn't Dan, himself. Most often, it's Philip - and he is an excellent speaker.
Want more?
Here is the official Tutorials Page at theBest3d, and I have also made some playlists HERE, which has not been updated with the latest videos - so always check their official YouTube channel for the latest. Or better yet, sign up for their newsletter! :)
I signed up anyway. Save a spot for me Dart - we can get some beers afterward.
I signed up anyway. Save a spot for me Dart - we can get some beers afterward.I hope they have IPA! :)
I need to drag you to Canada so we can drink Alexander Keith's IPA. From Nova Scotia. It's one of my favourites!
Sorry about this, I moved this post to the next page. 8-/