DAZ Content "Supported' Alternative to Carrara??

LinkRS

Hello Everyone,

I switched from DAZ Studio to Carrara with the release of Carrara 8.5.  I am very fond of this program, and am greatly disheartned to see that DAZ seems to be abandoning us.  I have (and still purchase) the majority of my content from DAZ, and have almost 30 GBs that I don't want to become usless.  I understand that my older content will not suddenly stop working, and that I can continue to use Carrara, the issue is witht he new content.  I don't reaally consider DAZ Studio an alterntative to Carrara.  Are there any other options that will preserve my collection of DAZ content, or do you think that DAZ is going to either update Carrara 8.5 or perhaps release a new version soon to support Genesis 3?  Thanks for your thoughts :-)

Rich S.

JoeMamma2000

LinkRS said:

..... or do you think that DAZ is going to either update Carrara 8.5 or perhaps release a new version soon to support Genesis 3?  Thanks for your thoughts :-)

Rich S.

Not sure exactly what you're asking. Presumably, like you say, your existing content will still work as long as Carrara still runs.

As far as new stuff, like G3, etc., I can only give my opinion based upon my views of DAZ's performance in the last 5 years.

Will DAZ update 8.5 or release a new version soon to support G3?

Who knows? But my guess is, even in the best scenario, they might release a new beta of 8.5+ which only/mostly addresses the G3 stuff, and rely on customers to hammer out the problems. And based on past experience, it will probably be a very long running beta.

IMO, however, a more likely scenario is that they will continue to neglect Carrara, and instead focus their resources on their new gaming-related and content ventures, as well as D|S.

Bottom line, DAZ has given no indication, whatsoever, in the last 5 years that they intend to continue developing Carrara, or when a new version will happen. If ever. 

Roygee

If you are wondering whatever else you can use to render G3F - she looks great in Blender, using MCJ's plugin to send a scene over as .obj.  She can even be animated in Blender using Collada.

LinkRS

Hi JoeMamma2000 and Roygee,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions :-).  I realized after I posted this, that it might be construed as trolling, which is not my intention at all.  I am a huge fan of Carrara, and have been using it exclusivley for almost 2 years now.  I saw it as the "real" version of DAZ Studio, as it has a superior renderer, tools, and is actually a modeling program.  I also like the abiltiy to create realistic hair in Carrara (which I still have yet to master).  I have thought about tryign the FBX export/import into Carrara, but from what I understand, I would lose the abilty to tweak the shaders in Carrara, which is one of the best features of Carrara.  I have tenativley thought about checking out Blender, but thougth I would not be able to use my DAZ Content.  I am going to have to look into the MCJ Plugin, and Collada. 

I am still hoping that DAZ fixes Genesis 3 in Carrara, as it seems they have also excluded Poser users this time as well, and I can't imagine that will last long.  In theory, if it works in Poser, we should be able to get it to work in Carrara.  Thanks again!

Rich S.

Dartanbeck

I'm hoping too. I'm even hoping that Genesis 1 and 2 usage within Carara will be improved as well. Here's my take on your question:

No. LOL

To me, there's no place like home, and home = Carrara. Period. But that's "me".

Like you, after biting the bullet and trying it out, getting used to how to get around, tweak my content shaders to work, etc., I've just grown to enjoy this program more than any other software I've ever run on any computer. It just fills me with joy, even if I have to figure out a way to work around some sort of headache situation. 

I've come to really like my new Rosie character that I've made using Genesis 2 Female, Vicky 6, Girl 6, Josie 6, Gia 6, and a few other special morph packs that I bought from DAZ. But it just seems that my V4 Rosie character is so much easier to work with, that I'm not sure that I'll officially make the switch unless development resumes. It kind of bugs me a bit that there has only been one update to Carrara since the official release of 8.5, but trying very hard to be an anti-nay-sayer, I try not to gripe. Still not wanting to join the Negativity fan-club, I'm going to try to learn from all of this and put a halt on my Genesis/Genesis 2 content purchases until I see a more active development cycle resume for Carrara, and keep myself from buying into Genesis 3 at all... again... unless I see some work being done.

Luckily for me, I've worked long and hard with C8 Pro and the Generation 4 figures and have saved up a lot of the cast of characters that I'll be needing down the road. Also, my production needs were very much created around using Generation 4 figures and Predatron's LoRez figures as background people - some even have slightly larger roles as well. More good news being the fact that many good artists are still making new stuff for V4 and M4 and their counterparts, like A4, H4, F4, G4, and so on. As far as today is concerned, I still think that there is a steep learning curve or something that is keeping Genesis support items from being able to work as nicely as Generation 4 content in the way of included open/close and movement morphs, etc., I only say this because most things don't come with those morphs included any more - at least not to the extent as some of the Generation 4 products. Perhaps it's the shape-changing? Either way, I have been finding that previous generation to be more beneficial to me in many ways, which I like, because they work so much better in Carrara. 

So now I'll be picking and choosing my content purchases around things that come with a Poser version - not DSON for Poser, but Poser CR2 figure, and not things that rely upon the later features of actual "Poser Figure" that came out after Poser 7. These things (so far) just work so much more smoothly (for me, anyways) in many regards within Carrara. Basically, I'll be basing my content purchasing habits around what I know I can use in Carrara because That's what I choose to use! :) Period.

That way if the day ever comes where Carrara does go completely off the market, I won't find myself screwed. That would just be the day when most of my online purchasing habits would disappear forever.

Dartanbeck

If you are wondering whatever else you can use to render G3F - she looks great in Blender, using MCJ's plugin to send a scene over as .obj.  She can even be animated in Blender using Collada.

 For that matter, once she's in OBJ format, she'll also work in Carrara - at least for a render.

Diomede

Yes, obj works for Carrara.  Similarly, the Collada format can also get a genesis 3 female into Carrara. There is a thread on it somewhere in which Stezza/Wongo illustrates (if the pics are still there).

Steve K

"So now I'll be picking and choosing my content purchases around things that come with a Poser version - not DSON for Poser, but Poser CR2 figure ... These things (so far) just work so much more smoothly (for me, anyways) in many regards within Carrara. Basically, I'll be basing my content purchasing habits around what I know I can use in Carrara because That's what I choose to use! :) Period."

I've been doing exactly that for a long time.  I think I have enough high quality Poser format content to last several lifetimes.  Plus, looking at all the websites that supply Poser format content, there is no shortage of products to choose from, including new stuff.  I'm sorry to see some of my favorite PA's like Stonemason abandon the Poser format, but I'm sure they have thier reasons.  And I have mine.

de3an

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a problem with using Poser format characters that are made for the newer versions of Poser, in Carrara? Something about the weightpainting for joints being different in the new Poser, such that they won't pose properly in Carrara now.

DustRider

de3an said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a problem with using Poser format characters that are made for the newer versions of Poser, in Carrara? Something about the weightpainting for joints being different in the new Poser, such that they won't pose properly in Carrara now.

Yes, there are issues with trying to use any of the newer Poser figures that use weight mapping (Poser 9+). Fenric has a free plugin that helps with the conversion, but it typically will require some work to get things working as they should. Other than the typical shader issues, all Poser props "should" work, as should most V4 content.

LinkRS

Howdy Folks,

Thanks to everyone who has commentd thus far.  Today, I tried a quick experiment with the COLLADA format, and exported Victoria 7 using DAZ Studio.  I do not have time to delve into it completely, but it seemd to work!  All of the bones seem to have generic names, but I can manipulate it using the tools in Carrara.  The shaders can also be manipulated, but I expect that will be a manual process.  It is a way forward.  This seems to be a better option than just exportign as OBJ, as you can't maniplate it that way. 

Rich S.

LinkRS

Howdy Everyone,

I submitted a ticket to DAZ about the Victoria 7 support, and this is the response I got:

Hi Richard,

Okay I was able to recreate the crash.

I am going to submit this to our bug tracker.

We will let you know when this is fixed.

Thank you,

Mariah

Which is a different response than others have reported. Not sure if it means anything though....

Rich S.