Want to model Hair and close etc.
Michele
Posts: 48
I recently bought the Carrara 8.5 pro product. Mainly so I can model clothing, hair, monsters and such. But I have had trouble navigating the program. I understand how to open the model room and have even successfully opened up the carrara hair cap and even genesis, but when I try to use the tools to model Hair or horns, the tool only works once if it works at all. I guess the best way to describe this is I am having trouble modifying the polygons to sculpt the desired shape, to create new morphs and custom content.
Comments
Hi, welcome to Carrara.
Here are a few general suggestions, with occasional reference to hair.
1) At the top of the forum, you will see a sticky thread entitled "►►► Carrara Information Manual ◄◄◄ " You will find a lot of useful information, including an index of tutorials found here http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/15970/#233895
2) Speaking of tutorials, a very generous Carrara user who goes by Cripeman has made a large number of free youtube tutorials for a variety of Carrara tools and functions. In the information manual linked above, you will find some free Cripeman tutorials for Carrara hair, including Guide Hair Styling, Shader Hair Styling, and Razor Stubble / Hair Domains. I also recommend that you do a more general web search for Carrara tutorials on youtube, including for hair, because Cripeman is not the only generous Carrara user.
3) And here are some more tutorials gathered by Fractaldimensia.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8V9-txK8F4MTGo1ZmZucmZ2Wmc/edit
4) If you are interested in more formal Carrara tutorial series for sale, our very own PhilW has a a wonderful series through Infinite Skills that you can buy in the Daz store, I believe. A company called VTC has a tutorial series by Mark Bremmer.
5) There is a pdf tutorial for creating fur with the Carrara hair function by Holly, and we'll see if someone can track down the link.
6) I admit that hair is one of my weaker Carrara skills, but if no one chimes in with more specifics, I will provide a few screen captures to get you started.
7) For myself, I have bought used handbooks on amazon for older versions of Carrara (versions 3 and 5). Obviously, they don't cover more recent updates, but I find them a useful reference for basic functions. Not everyone sees it that way, and I would only recommend this if the used versions are very cheap.
Check out the free Cripeman tutorials on youtube and keep asking questions here.
Can't wait to see what you come up with.
You will some discussion of hair in the following thread. Scroll down to the posts by Silene. Hope it helps.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45361/P45
Do you mean prop hair/figure hair which is a vertex object with morphs and such, or dynamic hair which can use simulations?
I will take several posts to show how to make custom content for genesis and genesis 2. Unfortunately, I will be showing you backwards because I already have a post that explains how to take something that has already been modeled in Carrara to fit genesis and convert it to a conforming figure. I will show that process in this post, then use a second post to sketch out some basic vertex modeling starters.
First, the second part (sorry), converting a Carrara-made model to genesis content - see this thread, post #13 - go to the thread for screenshots.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45361/
Here is how I make custom clothing for the genesis 2 figures for use in Carrara.
For this example,
- I loaded the default genesis 2 female in Carrara.
- I used vertex modeling in the assembly room to create an envelope for the G2F figure.
- I created shader domains and uvmaps to correspond to pants, shirt, shoes, gloves, etc.
- I saved the base for later use.
- I edited the envelope to make a simple superheroine suit.
- I rescaled the suit to 1.042%
- I exported the suit as an obj with the Poser style format checked.
- In Studio, I loaded the default G2F. I imported my exported supersuit and made sure that it fit over the G2F
- I used the transfer utility in Studio to convert the supersuit to a figure. Source is the G2F, target is the obj.
- I used save as wearable preset.
- In Carrara, I updated the wearable preset folder in the browser and loaded the converted supersuit.
- In Carrara, I used fit to to apply the supersuit to the G2F.
- I morphed the G2F and applied a pose. The supersuit matched the morph and pose automatically.
The saved envelope mesh can be easily adapted in the future.
Thank you :-) This was very informative. I do plan on purchasing the training video here on daz in the near future, but for now I am just trying out the program and seeing what I can figure out. I will definitely check out, you tube again with a less specific search. :-)
I think though right now my biggest hurtle is understanding the tools and accessing them properly.
Making low-poly shorts for genesis - this won't be elegant, but it will work for a first effort. Plus, pants are not the easiest so maybe there is a sense of accomplishment despite oversimplification.
- load genesis from the people folder in My Daz3d Library
- from top menu, use Insert : Vertex object
- the screen will move to the modeling room.
- From the top menu, choose Construct : Insert 3D : Cube
- a menu will pop up asking how many divisions you want, accept the default of 1.
- a red cube appears in the modeling room. Red means the faces (polygons) are currenty selected. Click in the grid (but outside the cube) to deselect the current selection (turns grey).
**** Before we do anything else, note the location of the "undo" function. From the top menu, see EDIT : UNDO, or you can press control Z (command Z on a Mac) ****
- most of the vertex modeling tools run along the top of the menu.
- along the right side you will find menus for mode, selection tools, move, etc. This right side is called the properties tray.
- SELECTION - use your cursor and left-click on a point to select a corner point of the cube. It will turn red and three arrows will appear pointing along the x, y, and z axes. You can move points by using the cursor to pull and push the arrows, or by using the numbers in the "move" area of the properties tray (right side). Like other modeling programs, you can select a line or a polygon rather than just a point. You can select multiple regions by holding down the shift key while selecting, or by clicking the paint-brush-looking-thing on the bottom of the left side menu. Above that paint-brush looking thing are other selection tools (lasso and box) that are also used to select multiple regions. There are more selection methods ( a + and - key, forexample), but lets move on.
- SYMMETRY - only after at least one point is selected will you be given the option of using symmetry. In the middle of the properties tray, once anything is selected, the word symmetry will appear with a small empty box below it. Left-click the box to insert a checkmark and symmetry will be turned on. You will be given a choice of axes to the right, leave it as the default X. A green box will appear around the middle of the cube.
- ADD 3 POINTS - From thetop menu, left-click on the add-point icon. It looks like a line running through a box with a plus sign in it. It is the icon fifth from the left. Hover (but do not click yet) your cursor over the lines of the cube. You will see a fraction appear next to your cursor. Something like 1/4 or 1/3 or 1/2. That is because by default the add point has the constrain position option checked. See properties tray on right side after you click the add point icon. Now, hover your cursor over a horizonal line until you see the 1/3 choice and left-click to add a point to the line. Because we have symmetry on, Carrara will also add a mirror point on the other side of the green line. Now move your cursor to the next horizontal line and add anther point at 1/3. Carrara will automatically link the two points with a new line (another option checked in the properties tray on the right). Repeat for a third point to the next line. You may have to rotate your view using the camera controls on the left side (there are hot-keys but we can only cover so much here). The cube should now have two sets of lines dividing it on three face (polygons).
- LINK POINTS ON BACK FACE - Left-click on the selection tool (it looks like an arrow pointing up and to the left at the top of the menu on left-hand side). Left click on the grid away from the cube to deselect everything. Our new lines only cover 3 faces of the cube. We want to join the last point that we made with the first point that we made. With the arrow tool active, left click on the last point that you added. Hold down the shift key, and left click on the first point that you added. They should both be bright red, and their two mirror points should both be a darker shade of red. From the top menu, choose MODEL : LINK. Note, you could have used the link tool, or used hot keys, but again, we are only covering so much here.
- PULL THE BOTTOM LINE CLOSER TO THE MIDDLE - The cube should now be divided into thirds. We want a narrow crotch and wide leg holes. Use the camera controls (left side) so you can see the bottom of the cube. Hover your cursor over one of the bottom middle lines and left-click to select it. The two end points should turn red and the line should turn yellow. The three arrows should appear. Left click on the red arrow point (x axis) and drag the line closer to the middle of the cube, still holding down the left-click. Do not go all the way to the middle.
- EXTRUDE LEFT PANT HOLE (Right will be mirrored) - The cube should now look like it has a V-ish front. Again, left click anywhere away from the cube to make sure that nothing is selected (everything is gray, nothing is red or yellow). Hover your cursor over the bottom left square of the cube and left click to select it. On the top menu, left click on the dynamic extrusion tool (it looks like a vase under the "t" in the word construct). On the righthand side, in the properties tray, you will see options for the extrusion mode, such as linking the polygons, snapping to grid, manual offset, etc. For now, leave the default settings. OK, with the dynamic extrusion tool selected (it should glow a little on the top menu), left click and hold/drag on the selected left pant polygon and drag it down. You may have to experiment a little to get the feel for how it comes down vertical compared to making it wider or narrower (remember undo!). It should be mirrored on the other side
- DELETE THE LEFT LEG HOLE (Right will be mirrored) - The bottom face of your left leg hole should be red (selected) and the right side should have a darker red. If not, use the selection key (that arrow at the top of the left side) and left click the bottom face of the leg. Use your keyboard delete key to remove this face. The right side should also be deleted with symmetry.
- DELETE THE TORSO HOLE - use the selection keys to highlight and delete the top polygons.
- TESSELATE (SUBDIVIDE) - from the top menu, use EDIT : SELECT ALL or you can use the hot key control A. The entire model should turn red. Now, from the top menu, use MODEL : TESSELATE :MID EDGE TO CENTER . The model should now be broken down into more polygons.
- SMOOTH EDGES - make sure the whole model is selected. Choose MODEL : SMOOTH EDGES and accept the default "all." The lines will change colores from blue to gray as the edges of the pants go from being creased to being smooth.
- RETURN TO ASSEMBLY ROOM - If you look in the upper right of the screen, you will see a menu with a hand, a wrench, a pencil, a paintbrush, and a piece of film. Click the hand to return to the assembly room. You should see the genesis character and a giant gray pair of blocky shorts. The shorts should be selected, which you can confirm in the bottom right where the "vertex object" should be hghlighted yellow. If vertex object is not yellow, left click the vertex object in bottom right to select it.
- ENABLE VERTEX MODELING IN THE ASSEMBLY ROOM - In the upper left, under the words File, Edit,..., you should see a wrench next to a hand. Left click on the wrench. the vertex modeling room tools should now appear even though you are still in the assembly room and Genesis is still visible. ** NOTE - make sure the vertex object is STILL selected. If it isn't yellow in bottom right, select it. **
- SCALE TO APPROXIMATE SIZE - make sure whole vertex model is selected. Use the scale tool (below the arrow selection tool at the top of the left side) to reduce the scale of the pants to roughly fit genesis. The leg hole will be wrong and the square waist is screwy. Don't worry about it yet. Just get an approximate fit.
- ADJUST LEFT LEG HOLE - Making sure symmetry is active, select the two polygons that are the inside front of the left leg hole. (remember can hold down shift key for multiple selection). Now, hold down shift and re-click the the front three vertexes (points) of the selected polygons to deselect them. This will result in the middle vertical line of the left leg remaining selected (and mirrored with symmetry). Use the arrows to pull theline toward the middle until the left leg goes through the hole. The right side will be mirrored.
- REPEAT FOR OTHER AREAS - Even though we have used only the simplest tools, you can use the selection tools, deselect, move, and scale to get a very rough fit of the shorts to genesis in a crude way. With symmetry on, move points and lines for a crude fit.
- PAUSE AND ADMIRE - then name and save! - OK hopefully, you have moved some points around and gotten your model to roughly fit genesis, but frankly it looks yucky, doesn't it? No, considering how few points there are, that looks awesome! Admire it for just one second. Hopefully, you have been saving often. We want this version with its own name so we can return to it later as the basis for other projects.
- SMOOTH AND ADJUST - Select any point. On the right hand side, in the middle, you will see the word "smooth" with an empty place next to it. Left click to select smooth. The model will now become more rounded. Chances are, it will be better in some places, but that in others the genesis figure will poke through the model. With symmetry on, select and move the points again so that there is no poke through. When finished, under "smooth", click "convert" and Carrara will add points to the model matching where it had been smoothed.
- DOUBLE CHECK PANTS AND EXIT MODELER - Do a quick double check to make sure the pants look the way you want. Then click on the hand again (upper left) to exit the vertex modeler and return to generic assembly room activities.
- RENAME VERTEX OBJECT - In the properties tray, if you haven't done it already, rename the vertex object to something meaningful like "Pants Base Genesis", and click
- ADD PANTS TO OUR OBJECT BROWSER - Your content browser is the bottom tray. If you pull the handle up and click on the tab for browser in the left, you will see tabs for scenes, objects, shaders, etc. Use your cursor to click and drag the pants object from the properties tray (lower right) to an appropriate folder in the objects tab of the browser tray.
- FOLLOW PROCEDURES TO TURN A CARRARA OBJECT TO A GENESIS CONFORMING PANTS - higher up in this thread (post number 4), there is a post that explains how to export a carrara object then import it to Daz Studio, use the transfer utility, and convert the pants for use.
OK, so that is a very low-poly and crude example of modeling a set of pants. Carrara has a lot more tools to make life easier. Furthermore, this does not touch upon anything that would texture the model, such as uvmapping or creating shading domains. Nor does this touch upon adding accessories like a belt or buttons. However, I hope it shows that at the end of the day, it is not hard to create custom content for Genesis or Genesis 2 in Carrara.
You should be able to get good introductions to many tools if you watch the Cripeman tutorials. And, if you choose, you can get an organized step-by-step approach from either PhilW or Mark Bremmer. If you are focused on vertex modeling in Carrara, you might also want to check out tutorials by Mike Moir.
Hope it helps.
:cheese: Yes this is all very helpful. :coolsmile: I already subscribed to cripeman's you tube channel. I really appreciate all your help. I plan on trying out the shorts walk through you gave me here very soon. Are you on Deviant art too? I am on DA. My name there is Nevaeh2076, I have a gallery of all my daz creations and other works of art I have done. It took me about three months to get adept with daz.
Welcome aboard, Nevaeh2076. You have a beautiful gallery. I especially like the jewelry pieces. Because Carrara is so versatile, different artists use it in different ways for their workflow. Some people continue to use Studio to position models and render, others prefer Carrara's render engine. Some people use Hexagon for modeling and use Carrara for environments. Some people use Bryce for environments, but use Carrara for modeling in the assembly room. Some people use Poser or Marvelous Designer for draping. It varies a lot, but Carrara can do it all, or it can integrate with other programs. I encourage you to visit the render thread and the monthly challenge threads.
render thread
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/43528/
this months challenge
WIPs
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/47148/
Entries
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/47729/
Thanks for the recap on the clothes tut, Dio!
Welcome Gwydyons!
I first had DS and Poser (didn't get on with Poser very well) and like you was able to catch onto DS fairly quickly. It's more "out-of-the box" user friendly. Carrara is more fussy-- but you can do incredibly fussy wonderful complicated things with it which is why I love it. But it's a challenge and I soon realised I would never be a competent all-around user in the same time as DS. It's been a year and a half and am still constantly challenged. And I'm working with stills, not animation!
PhilW's tut package isn't cheap but it makes so much sense that it's worth every single penny. His lovely northern England accent helps, too! ;) The other tuts, generously created for free, are fantastic as well. Hats off to Dartanbeck, a super PA and others for organising Carrara resources and useful threads at the top of the forum as stickies.
Also, IMHO... it's useful to understand that DAZ did not create Carrara. It was a previously engineered product that they acquired. Knowing that explains why we have so many workarounds, among other issues, as they attempt to wrestle it into compatibility with each new release that has come over the years. So as DAZ comes up with new products for DS, they have to make it work with Carrara... and that's not always a smooth operation.
At the link below is a History of Carrara through release 8 as researched and set out by RingoMonfort, a DAZ artist with great products, especially Carrara shaders. It also includes contributions by Carrara veterans who you will come to know and appreciate. They are too numerous to name, but you will learn wonderful things from all of them. And we are also lucky that the DAZ Carrara published artists participate here so if you have a question or an issue with a Carrara PA product, they are here for you.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27130/
Ringo made an excellent point about what Carrara should "be" in this post in that thread: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27130/P60/#658670
I liked your DA gallery, so jump into Carrara and have some fun, but be patient... and share your art here on WIPs, Let It Rip section. We all learn a lot from those as well as from the Monthly Challenges.
:cheese: SileneUK
Thanks for the recap on the clothes tut, Dio!
Welcome Gwydyons!
I first had DS and Poser (didn't get on with Poser very well) and like you was able to catch onto DS fairly quickly. It's more "out-of-the box" user friendly. Carrara is more fussy-- but you can do incredibly fussy wonderful complicated things with it which is why I love it. But it's a challenge and I soon realised I would never be a competent all-around user in the same time as DS. It's been a year and a half and am still constantly challenged. And I'm working with stills, not animation!
PhilW's tut package isn't cheap but it makes so much sense that it's worth every single penny. His lovely northern England accent helps, too! ;) The other tuts, generously created for free, are fantastic as well. Hats off to Dartanbeck, a super PA and others for organising Carrara resources and useful threads at the top of the forum as stickies.
Also, IMHO... it's useful to understand that DAZ did not create Carrara. It was a previously engineered product that they acquired. Knowing that explains why we have so many workarounds, among other issues, as they attempt to wrestle it into compatibility with each new release that has come over the years. So as DAZ comes up with new products for DS, they have to make it work with Carrara... and that's not always a smooth operation.
At the link below is a History of Carrara through release 8 as researched and set out by RingoMonfort, a DAZ artist with great products, especially Carrara shaders. It also includes contributions by Carrara veterans who you will come to know and appreciate. They are too numerous to name, but you will learn wonderful things from all of them. And we are also lucky that the DAZ Carrara published artists participate here so if you have a question or an issue with a Carrara PA product, they are here for you.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27130/
Ringo made an excellent point about what Carrara should "be" in this post in that thread: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/27130/P60/#658670
I liked your DA gallery, so jump into Carrara and have some fun, but be patient... and share your art here on WIPs, Let It Rip section. We all learn a lot from those as well as from the Monthly Challenges.
:cheese: SileneUK
I don't think I could have said it better Silene!
I finally got to sit down and try my hand at modeling those shorts. I managed to get them in to a boxy version of shorts, but seemed to miss a step on how to shape them better for actual wear on a model. But I made them :cheese:
Glad you had some success! Don't be afraid to post some screen shots of your problems. A picture speaks a thousand words, which saves on a crap-load of typing!
;-)
Did you enable smoothing to get rid of the boxiness? You can make a cube into a sphere with enough smoothing.
Hi Gwydyons,
Don't get discouraged. There is more than one way to model in Carrara. After a while, you will find the tools that you are most comfortable with. The pants were an example of box modeling. It is often used with the extrude tool. There are also approaches that rely more on polylines.
Here are a couple of free youtube tutorials that explain some of the vertex modeling tools.
part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPh72xHjFD0&list=UUIlDGlOOUShZBSQiRJnDQeg
part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3uKJJsXAto
Hope it helps.
Yes, but I think what happened is that I didn't shape them to the model, and I couldn't seem to figure out how to bring in the waist or legs in to a more recognizable pant shape. I added more vertex/polygons to the piece, now I was able to smooth it but it was still a box with leg holes and the waste opening. Any ideas on what I missed? :) I am gonna scour over the tutorial again to day to see what I missed. :)
:-) No worries, I am not the least bit discouraged. I am very determined to learn this stuff. As my husband puts it when I set my mind to something I hang on to it, till I accomplish my goal. I love making 3d art and I have goals to become an expert and do this professionally making movies with my husband and for fun too. :-)
Perhaps it is the Genesis figure in the way. Here are a couple of posts to show the basic steps of modeling yucky pants without the figure as reference. This will be an example of box modeling. In the assembly room, I inserted a vertex object. In the vertex modeling room, I made note of the basic menus.
** basic operations - start with cube, add points, use symmetry, select and extrude, smooth and convert
So, really need to know where to find the starting cube, where the add point tool is, how the extrude tool works, and how smooth and convert work.
Here are some more screenshots
and here is the genesis 2 female in the default Aiko 6 shape and textures wearing a crude set of pants, shirt, and socks.
If you intend to delve deeply in the Carrara vertex modeler, I highly, highly, highly recommend the vertex modeling tutorial by Mmoir.
http://www.daz3d.com/carrara-modeling-tutorials
I love PhilW and Mark Bremmer to death, and their series are great resources for all of the things that can be done with Carrara. You should get PhilW, today, if you haven't already. But, I think even PhilW would agree that vertex modeling is just one aspect of his tutorial series and that he does not go into as much detail as he might if he was focused solely on vertex modeling. Same is true for Cripeman and the other free tutorials. They have great value, but not as much as Mmoir's on the narrow subject of vertex modeling because Mmoir's tutorial is truly focused on vertex modeling.
What I have shown you is very crude. It was just to get you started.
In the meantime, continue to ask questions here and folks will try to be helpful. And as Evilproducer mentioned, it is usually helpful to provide screenshots and be as specific as possible about what is not working the way you thought it would.
I think the Europeans are going to bed and the Americans are voting, so I might as well ramble a little more. Maybe the real modelers will chime in with more preferred methods. In any case, I will start a new couple of posts to show how to use polylines, fill polygon, and add thickness to get started. (might need pro version)
Preview summary
1) Render out a reference image of figure being clothed
2) Load image in vertex modeler background and use polyline tool to outline pants to fit reference image
3) Use fill polygon to ill the polyline
4) Link some convenient vertexes in the legs and waist
5) Use add thickness to turn the 2D fill to a 3d object
6) Use manipulator tools to fit the pants (roughly) to reference figure
7) Enable smoothing
8) Use manipulator tools to fit eliminate poke through
9) Use "convert" to transform smoothed object to one with more vertexes
10) Adjust further as desired
Great stuff diomede! Thanks for taking the time to do that. I should also mention, that Soft Select is very helpful as well when you need to push and pull polygons around.
Start Carrara and enter the assembly room.
Load Genesis from your content library to default position
Move camera 1 so it has a straight front view of Genesis
(note - could repeat for left view and top view)
Click film icon upper right to enter the render room
Make sure camera 1 is the chosen render camera.
Render and save a straight pic of genesis
Oh, hey, EP! I thought I was the only one hanging out in the forum tonight. Here are a couple more steps for this method.
- return to the assembly room where genesis is. Insert a new vertex object.
- in the properties tray (right side), find the global tab. Left click it.
- click the box to "enable" the front/back reference, and then click the tab to the right to upload the reference image you saved
- the render does NOT appear in the director's camera. You have to change to the front camera
- you can also enable and upload reference images for the left/right and top/bottom if you created some for those cameras
- find and click the polyline tool on the top menu. It sort of looks like an "N".
- using Front camera, with the polyline tool active, begin adding points to draw pants around the genesis reference image
- I find it convenient to limit the added points to the grid lines, but that is not a necessary approach
- When you have completely outlined your pants return to the first point, click again to enclose, then hit to complete the polyline.
- Repeating this instruction for emphasis, hit whenever you are done adding points to a polyline.
- Click Model : Fill Polygon to fill the polyline shape that you drew (the keyboard shortcut is control-F)
- Return to the assembly room.
- Make sure your vertex object is still selected, then click the wrench in upper left to model in the assembly room
Because I didn't take the time to make sure my reference image matched the assembly room, the pants are the wrong size and are in the wrong position. No problem. Just use the manipulation tools to move the 2D pants just in front of genesis and rescale to fit.
- the 2D pants should be just in front of genesis.
- Use either the link tool or the Model : Link command to create horizontal lines in the pants
- Use the add point tool to create a vertical line from the crotch to the top of the waist.
- Use Model : Add Thickness to turn the 2D pants into 3D pants.
- Use select all and the manipulation tools to move the 3D pants over the genesis figure
- continue to use the manipulator tools to move lines, points, and polygons so they have a rough fit to genesis
- select and delete the waist hole and the leg holes
- with a point selected, see the model tab in the properties tray and check "smooth"
- the rough pants will become more smooth, but there will likely be some poke through
- continue to use the manipulator tools to move points and lines to eliminate poke through
- confirm that you have eliminated the poke through
- use the "convert" function in the properties tray under "smooth". Points will be added and smooth will end.
(Note - using smooth / convert often will increase the number of polygons very quickly so use this approach primarily for this rough beginning)
- return to the normal assembly room and the pants will be the default color.
- save the pants to your object browser as the basis for future projects.
** My own preference is for box modeling with extrude and extract along, but it is good to know multiple ways to accomplish similar tasks.
- Then there is the whole issue of uvmapping, creating shading domains, etc.