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I did finally get the DragonQueen armour working on G2F as an obj export /re-import into studio using transfer utility to rig using the clone shape and saving as support asset, not by autofitting and saving as support asset, that screwed the UV mapping.
I did finally get the DragonQueen armour working on G2F as an obj export /re-import into studio using transfer utility to rig using the clone shape and saving as support asset, not by autofitting and saving as support asset, that screwed the UV mapping.
If I would voice my opinion in this thread, it would be deleted.
Inventing, programming and maintaining DRM costs a lot, so DAZ wont drop it just for fun and because some people complaining. Now they want to know, if they manage to push it down our throat or not and if it is worth the cost to integrate it. This process will probably take several months, then they will check the return-on-investment and will keep or drop it.
DRM is all about money, so I vote with my money (and I spent unfortunately more than you in the last year).
Yup, they have convinced me.
Well, to be perfectly honest, I doubt there are enough Carrara users compared to the hoard of DS only users to change the direction DAZ is going with regard to Carrara. But I thought I would point people to the main thread so we could at least voice our concerns and be heard. IMHO that is the only way DAZ will keep Carrara in their own discussions is if they realize there is an active community of Carrara users who also buy content designed primarily for use in DS.
I am still hopeful that we see Genesis 3 integration into Carrara, and looking forward to it. However given the recent events, and the way Carrara has been more or less ignored by DAZ for quite some time now, I honestly don't see much comming from DAZ for future figure or content support with regard to new DS formats.
I hate to say it, but I have been seriously evaluating my options moving forward. IMVHO, we will not see any new features in Carrara other than Genesis 3 support, or any real fixes to current problems/bugs. As many here have noted, this doesn't make Carrara bad or unusable. It does however make it a stagnant product in a very dynamic and fast moving field. It does what it does, and that won't change. But I don't see any improvements for dynamics, the internal render engine (not a huge deal with the Octane plugin), modeling, or any of the other areas where minor improvements would make Carrara so much better (not that it isn't quite good as is).
Unfortunately moving to something other than Carrara will require some compromises. DS is getting quite good, but is still lacking many of Carrara features. I had hopes that Smith Micro would actually add more features to Poser, but Poser11 is a bit of a disappointment for me (for crying out loud, it's 2016, and they STILL don't have instancing in Poser - and their new native figures were once again less than optimal .... fubared ..... out of the box). iClone looks interesting, but it seem to be missing a few things as well. Haven't really looked seriously into Morph3D and Unity, but again it would seem as if the work flow there might be a bit less than optimal unless you wanted to create a game. As far as other full featured commercial software, they are all quite expensive. I do have access to educational versions of Autodesk Products for at least the next 3 years, but renting the commercial version of Maya can get quite pricey ($1470 a year). Blender is actually looking better all the time, the price can't be beat, and the feature set is awesome.
Right now I'm definitely not ditching Carrara, because it still has a lot of life left in it (especially with Octane). But I can see the handwriting on the wall, and will probably begin investing more time in DS to see if I can use it, with a few external tools to do everything I like/want to do with Carrara. I'm also leaning toward either begining to seriously learn Maya or Blender, to see if there is a realistic way to use the content I already have in either one of these. The biggest benefit with Blender would be the huge reduction in costs (would probably buy very little, if any new content), and the ability to use Linux (not that I'm a big Linux user, but it does reduce overall costs).
Anyway, just thinking out loud here as I come to the realization that Carrara will most likely remain in it's current state, except for the possible addition of Genesis 3 support.
Just for grins, and to lighten the mood, I thought I'd attach an early test sample of walk cycle video I've been working on with Carrara and the Octane plugin (don't know if I'll ever finish it
)
Edit: Darn, it looks like animated gifs don't work on the new forum? OK, finally got it posted
I maintain a backup library of all Daz Install Mgr installed purchases (IM0000 zip, dsx files). Up to now I presume the content was in the un-encrypted format.
What I'm concerned about are the Daz "updates"... the ones that periodically come out to replace the older product versions.
Are those updates going to be encrypted now? If so... my purchase library will soon become obsolete for Carrara .
- Don
My concern is the same as Don's. I am afraid to update anything.
EDIT: nice walk cycle, btw. Use this as a reference? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJlqMdsAfM Have to wait about half way in.
It's getting harder to purchase anything new from any content store these days as most stuff is rigged in Daz Studio and it just f'up Carrara... and the latest poser products crap out also..
so really encrypted stuff is least of the worries for the Carrara user till Daz get their ar$e into gear and update the product they are still selling in the store.
Thanks, and thanks! It's a walk cycle from SKamotion. I'm slowly working on tweaking the small things for more natural movements and to improve it a bit (also a bit less bounce). It's hard to see in the version posted, but thanks to "flexions", it has muscle movement as well (which also need some minor tweaking).
thanks for the headsup on the no encryption thread
DIM can't deliver encrypted files, so if it's an update in DIM it won't be encrypted.
Blender user here.
...and getting better and better with time. If you do not already to do so, follow BlenderArtists forums and you will see awesomness being build under your eyes. For example, check this thread about impressive improvements of the OpenGL preview which is quite likely to end into trunk.
Be very, very, very (and another very) careful of jumping on anything AutoDesk. They are going subscription, so you would end up with a scheme that makes current DAZ DRM look positively benign.
I hear that DAZ Platinum Subscription is quite alive and kicking
Indeed! I've been using Autodesk products (CAD and GIS) professionally for years (since 1989 IIRC - I actually have an old copy of 3DS Max 3 or 4 floating around the house somewhere), so I am well aware of their policies and practices. I don't like the subscription model, because if you drop it you loose all access to the software. But the trade off is that the cost of entry is much lower. I just know that I can get a fully rigged Genesis 2 or 3 figure easily into Maya, not so sure about Blender. Plus, as long as I am affiliated with an educational institution, I can get the full Creative Suite from Autodesk free (for personal/educational use - not commercial).
Thanks FixMyPCMike. I went over to the "No encrypted for me" thread in the commons. I think this covers my immediate concerns..
DAZ_Steve said there...
You can get any scene from Studio to Blender, with the shaders set up for Cycles (unbiased) using MCJ's plugin, which exports as .obj. Rigged is done via dae, but that comes in without shaders - you have to transfer the shaders from an MCJ export, which takes a couple of seconds. Clothed figures are possible, but very fiddly - each clothing item has it's own armature you have to get rid of - simple, but pretty fidly.
Some folk say Daz could make a killing by getting the dae export fixed so that rigged, clothed, textured figures could be made easily accessible to the many hundreds of thousands of Blender users, but I don't know. Blender users don't seem to have much use for realistic humans. The very few renders you see of this genre are normally home-made.
Here's me fooling about with g3f - render took 6 seconds:) Iray took 4min30seconds!
That could change a lot if easy transfer of Daz figures were enabled for Blender users. If they could use them natively in Blender, it would be a game changer.
Quite possibly open up a whole new market, or expand the market for those who'd like to use a free unbiased renderer:)
BTW, I was wrong about the textures - the Collada export brings in textures that are useable in the Blender internal render - as good as Carrara's, but, like all unbiased renderers, they need to be redone for Cycles.
Just been having a bit of an experiment - exported a clothed G3F from Studio using Collada, imported to Blender, stripped out the surplus skeletons (not as difficult as what I first thought), exported out as FBX, imported to Carrara 8.1 and got a fully workable model! Would need to redo the bones constraints and you wouldn't have the JCM's, but good enough for stills renders.
The shaders had to be rebuilt - not too difficult because the Collada export collects them in a file.
All Daz would need to do for the short term is get the Collada exporter sorted so that the skeletons get combined - there is a function for that, but it doesn't seem to work and we would have a workable G3 in Carrara.
And glad of that I am. Still... I wonder what DIM's life expentancy is??
[ WGD stumbles off after repeated stab wounds from Fixmypcmike ]
I'd like to hear how this all works out. Let all know if the G3 mod is more poseable than V4.
*sigh* Well, I've been using Carrara less and less because of the DazContent it doesn't support (and no, it still doesn't fully support Genesis 2 figures, gen 3 causes it to crash) I'm sorry.. but we are made to wait for years before they support their new figures and it sounds like the wait is just going to get longer. I'll go back to using Poser Pro and Vue Infinite but I hope they begin putting enough resources into Carrara to support the rest of you.
Boojum the brown bunny
Wow, time flies when your having fun.. and I'm getting my versions mixed up. Genesis 2 is pretty much working, it's Genesis 3 that just kills everything and has for 6 months now. Ah well.
Boojum the brown bunny
Edited
Did they ever get the HD figures working?
How easy was that...
I did a clean yearly install of my machine WinX and installed via DiM Daz Studio 4.9, only because so that smart content will work in Carrara ect..
Now with this encryption kafuffle I thought I'd try out the new freebie ( the wish something or other ) which is encrypted to see if I can get it into Carrara.
First off I started DS which I don't do often, but it shouldn't be that hard and to prove it I shall do it without any helps or tips from the forum or help menus.
DS opened up fine.... then for the next 30 minutes I tried to find the log in button.... OK close DS and back to the store for a moment to purchase the encrypted freebie, maybe that will make something show up..
Open DS after purchase of freebie.... no friggin button in site, keep looking... searc thru the menus and found a log on... ok do that.... now what?
I have purchased the freebie but where and how do I get it?
Ok.. getting frustrated now..... hang on... let's check the Smart Content tab... oh look.... a button.. so I pressed it... what now
how do I find the content... this is friggin ridiculous
let's do a search... here are some more unobtrusive tabs down the bottom... wonder what they do..
The store.... why is it showing me stuff from the store when all I want is the encrypted freebie... Foxtrot Mike!
Ok.. maybe do a search for the product... oh.. look there it is.. and an install button... only been an hour to find it,..
Press the button and it says downloading 1...2...3......15 items of a sh!t load... then nothing.... what's happened.. did it install... where is it... complete blank!
Hangon.. my PC is slowing down.... can't browse the internets! forum is wiped out...
Foxtrot great!
Shut down DS restart PC and go to my item list here at Daz to download there... frig me .... it's over 400MB in size..
Needless to say I didn't bother.... DS is useless and Daz can shove it's encryption down a crab hole..
Most useless, uninformative piece of software I have ever used... apart from a program some chic wrote back in 1984 in GWBasic during programming class... that was terrible..
Maybe she is now programming for Daz.
so now that freebie will sit in DazSpace for a long time to come.
Yesterday I noticed "Make a Wish Props" in my PC+ Freebie list. I was miffed since it was it was encrypted which I don't care for so ignored it. I just checked today and it had been removed only to find it available to all... good grief. Still don't want it! The reason for the file size is that it's material presets are IRAY Only which are quite large compared to 3Delight. I know this because I purchased an IRAY shader pkg which approached 700mb.
I found your DS 4.9 experience quite amusing and much like my own even with DS 4.8.
It has a pile of normal maps displacement and specular with alternatives so yeah
I need to sign in because my configuration has changed nearly every other time too
For static props like the Make a Wish freebie, the Daz to Hexagon to Carrara process works. Note, I am in Studio 4.9.
Opened Daz Studio and it prompts me whether I want to work ofline or I want to sign in to my Daz account. To get encrypted to Carrara, I signed in.
Opened the smart content pane in Studio.
There is a files tab and a products tab. I clicked the products tab.
There are 2 panels - the upper right shows your content and has tabs for all, installed, available, updates, pending. If you "bought" the freebie in the Daz website, then it will show up here in the all or available tab. If you haven't bought it yet, you can look in the lower panel under the store tab. Search for make a wish props.
To install, select in the appropriate panel above and double click. This may take a while depending on your download speed as there are many files. The download status bar was somewere on the lower left, I believe.
Once installed, you should be able to find it normally in Daz Studio. I found it under M for make a wsh props in the smart content files section.
I loaded the carpet in Studio. I selected the carpet in the scene.
I used File : send to Hexagon.
Hexagon opens with the carpet opened. I immediately used "save as" for the carpet and saved it in Carrara .car format (a save option in Hexagon).
I repeated for one of the lamps, which I had applied a green preset to in Studio.
I started Carrara. I opened the carpet and the lamp natively from the .car files that I had passed through Hexagon.
Textures appear correct as these things go. As I said, this should work reasonably well for static props. A rigged figure like conforming clothes would probably not work this way, I think.
Are you using the beta that was just released to fix this issue?