I have a question, I think I asked this before but not sure it was ever answered. In Carrara is it not possible to actually place textures exactly where you want them? What I mean is, is it possible to shift a texture on an object and resize the texture? If I create a texture map or import a previously created texture, am I limited to how Carrara thinks it should be placed with regards to location and scale? This feature is in most every 3-D program I have used. Makes it very simple to animate textures. Just change the textures position over time. Realistic water can be created like this by just animating a bump maps position moving up through a surface. Also it is very nice to be able to position textures to get them exactly where you want them. Working with layers on the polygon is really not what I am talking about. Besides that is way too much work just to move a texture on the surface of the model. If I import a texture of a marble tiled floor and I dont like the way it lines up with regard to the walls, am I forced to either remodel the object or change the walls so they line up with the texture how I like? If the texture map window had numeric entries for location and scale as well as rotation it would be a lot better. Perhaps I am missing something though. Also, every parameter should have this. Not necessarily the Smart Functions, but the texture map and all the noise functions to name a few should have this feature. Is this not possible in Carrara? If so, this is a very serious limitation which is unexplainable. This program has so many cool features and some really advanced ones too. Could something this basic be missing? Im not a programmer, but I would think with all the advanced things Carrara does and does very well that something as basic as this would be easy for their programmers to implement.

We do have a product call Real UV, included with Shader Ops, that basically adds projection mapping based on real world sizes. For example you can tell it that this texture is 48" by 48", that it starts at X=20" and Y=16", and that it projects in the XY plane. You can download the demo at

Carrara 3.0
PC
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c3/shaderops.zip
Mac OS9
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c3/shaderopsos9.sit
Mac OSX
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c3/shaderopsosx.sit

Carrara 2.1
PC
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c2/shaderops.zip
Mac OS9
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c2/shaderopsos9.sit
Mac OSX
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/c2/shaderopsosx.sit

Carrara 1.1
PC
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/shaderops.zip
Mac
http://digitalcarversguild.com/downloads/shaderops.sit

It will be locked to the default values, but it will give you an idea of whether or not it will solve your problem.

Regards,
Eric Winemiller
Digital Carvers Guild
3D plug-ins for Carrara
http://digitalcarversguild.com

Thanks Eric. I know this may sound bad, but I dont understand why it is necessary to purchase a plugin to do something that is basic in most other apps. I realize Carrara is not a Power app, but it has GI, Caustics, Bones, Plant generator. It does these things and does them very well. Why something as basic as texture placement is not addressed I dont understand. I think if other Carrara users were able to see how useful being able to place textures can be, they too would be asking these same questions. The texture dialog does allow you to rotate the texture, but only in 90 degree increments. The example I cited before is a good example of the value of this feaure. If you place a procedural on an object and then you change its position, you can animate this change. The only way I see to do this now is to move the object through World Coordinates. Which changes its location within the scene, which is hardly useful. Having said that, I will take a look at your plugin tonight when I get in from work. Sounds like it might do what I need. Thanks for taking the time to respond here and to my personal message. Donnie

I see that Shader Ops is included in the PowerPack. I will try the demo tonight and see ho it goes. I was planning to purchase the PowerPack anyway. Also, just wanted to say that I think your prices are very reasonable for what it appears your many plugins are capable of doing. Hats off to you for that. Donnie

I am not certain if this is exactly what you mean, but you can name areas comprised of vertices (shader domain), with in the vertex modeler. You can also use the UV mapping tool with in the same modeler for extra control of the texture.

Yeah I have worked with the shading domains which do come in handy. What I am talking about is actually much simpler than that. Insert a plane in the scene. Now apply a texture map. Notice that it automatically scales the texture to the object. The texture always assumes the size of the object, no matter how big it gets. With texture transformation controls it would be easy to place the texture in the upper left corner of the cube or the lower corner, etc. You have complete control of the size and location of the texture. If you had a company logo rendered on a background(not a great example). Lets say you want to apply it to a cube with the logo centered on the face of the cube. But then afer importing you decide you dont like the size of the text with relation to the BG. So what do you do? Right now, it appears the only option is to regenerate the texture with the text larger. It would be and is much easier to just scale the texture on the face of the cube, so long as you dont get larger than the original texture resolution in screen units. Now the text is larger, but still clear, because we didnt exceed the original texture resolution. Layers will allow this, but it is a lot more work than just going to the texture button within the shader and specifying location or scale. Hope that explanation was clearer. It really is a great time saver. Why have to think that far ahead when it comes to texturing. If I make a floor, I shouldnt have to worry if the texture I imported matches it perfectly. The tile pattern (imported) should line up with the wall I create, but if it doesnt I shouldnt have to remodel things or go into the modeler at all. I should be able to reduce the scale or increase the scale of the texture until they match up. Also, hope this doesnt come off as sounding me sounding really upset. I am just at a loss that a program that does so many things I like very well, doesnt do the most basic of texture operations. I hope that ShaderOps can solve the problem or Eovia decides to add this functionality someday. Donnie

I have been only using Carrara for so long I probably have not experience what you describe in any software that I have actually used. Like you said Layers will allow this, but I have to agree with you that it is a lot more work than it should be. I remember having to mess with that particular feature for a while until I finally achieved what I was looking for.

Donnie, Be glad you didn't begin with Carrara 1.0 back when it came, you would of lost your mind.. It didn't work.

Even with layers you still cant scale a texture from what I can tell. So in the example of the cube, if your texture was smaller than you wanted it to be, you would need to scale the object up, which is not desirable in most cases. Or you would need to redesign the texture, which is a waste of time. I always make a point of modeling to scale, makes things easier when positioning and animating. However, I dont want to have to figure the exact size of a texture I need before modeling or generating textures. Even most game editors have provisions for setting the scale, rotation, and positioning of a texture on an object. This is fundamental and it baffles me there is not an option anywhere within Carrara for this. Again, the only reason I am so surprised at this is because at this point in Carrara's life it seems to be a quickly maturing application with some big time features for the money and very nice output. I am really impressed with many of the features, this coming from a Lightwave user of several years. I guess I can put this in the wishlist for 3.5. kaom, I actually was an Infini-D user up until version 4.5. I was a beta tester for version 4.0. Which was terrible. The speed was horrendous compared to version 3.5. Myself and many of the other beta testers for the Windows version (I had just switched) told Meta about this, they did not listen. This was shortly after the transition to MetaTools, before it became MetaCreations if I recall. When Specular had it, it was by no means a powerhouse, but it worked as advertised. I left ship and went to Lightwave for a few years. Still using it, but I find some of the features in Carrara intriuging to say the least. The plant generator is top quality for the cost. Carrara is from my understanding a mix of ID and RayDream. So I share your pain with regards to version 1.0. I have done beta testing for several companies over the years. How Carrara 1.0 made it past the beta testers is beyond me. But when it comes to money and getting something out the door. It sometimes happens. At any rate, this is turning into a long thread. Thanks to all who replied with suggestions. Hopefully this is something that I can solve with ShaderOps or Eovia listens and implements this at some time. It is a huge time saver. Cheers, Donnie

The attached image gives a better example of what I am talking about. The image is mapped to the front of a cube. Lets say I want the image to be smaller on the cube. How do I do that? With a layer and then resize the layer? It is much simpler to have a control for the size of the texture, rather than having to actually go in and resize the layer. Besides there maybe another texture I want on that layer and I may want the layer to be that size, so again I have to resize the texture externally to make it work. This is a very simple example, the possibilities are endless when you have control over the translation of the texture. Ok, this is the last I will harp on this. Just seems strange that something that, like I said is included with even basic 3D game editors is not present in Carrara. Donnie

Oops. Well I figured out one part of the problem. Seems texture rotation and translation "IS" possible. You have to apply it as a Parametric Mapping. Then you have access to the rotation and traslation controls. That solves a big part of the problem I was having. Only thing left is to figure out how to control the scale of the texture. If I can figure that out, everything will be alright in the world. :-) Thanks again to everyone who replied. Donnie

Ok, one more correction. Using the rectangle layer it is possible to adjust the rectangle area from within the shading interface. You dont need to apply a rectangle layer within the modeler. Just set it to rectangle within the shader, then play with the settings for top and left (numeric) and viola. This controls the scale of the texture. Allows easy downsizing and placement. Sorry to everyone it I seemed upset. But the manual is very vague. In fact most of the manual has references that say for more info on such and such feature please refer to page #..., usually its the page you are on. Anyway, thanks for the patience, goes to show that sometimes a solution is right in front of you, just need to dig a little. It will still take more effort than it does in Lightwave, but after working with it a little it is much easier now. Hope this might help someone out there, maybe not though, seems I was the only who was having trouble with this. Donnie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=350162

I had that same problem when I started with Carrara. As a heads up tip. When the need arises for this technique and it will arise soon and ofter, check out this link on how to do transparent layers, like letting you apply a decal with just lettering, it's a great help, and it will save you the trouble of figuring out how to do it. Check out this link!!!

Cool!! Thanks. Actually the transparent layers part I had figured out already, after reading a thread recently about transparency with regard to plants. That thread is very informative though. I will have to save it.

I'm glad you explored some of that for us. The only place I remembered seeing scaling was in the tiling function, and that was in whole-number increments! A little off the subject, but there is still significant "place-holder" text in the manual, particulary around lighting and render options; "To adjust the brightness: Adjust the brightness slider as desired." (pg. 317) "To specify that the texture map be interpolated: Select the Interpolate check box, to specify that the texture map be interpolated." (pg. 317) "Brightness sets the light's brightness." (pg. 367) "Casts Shadows makes the light cast shadows." (pg. 367) In many places this is one of the better manuals, but it is a shame the documentation isn't better especially around the newer functions.

Have to agree with you there. Its also like they use some automated program to create the manual. There are many places like I mentioned that make a reference to a certain page for more info. Then you look down and you see you are already on that page. Now that I have found a way to work with textures the way I am used to I still say it would be a good idea if they moved some translation controls to each functions' options box. It is possible with the way I described above, but it would be much simpler to put options near the function. This would also allow different textures or functions to have different rotations from each other within the same same shader. You can do that now, but you have to add another Parametric shader to do it which makes the Shader Tree that much more "busy" when it could be done easier. But, I am glad to see it can be done. Now I am just about ready to dig in and do some work with the program. I have a project coming up for a local car dealer. Unfortunately, they always have stupid commercials. I am sure it will be silly. Just once I would love for this particular client to approach me and ask for something stylish and classy. The last time I had to hit a guy in the head with a golfball and then put stars floating around his head. For winter I had to map his face onto a snowman and then he was run over by one of the vehicles from the ad. So, as you can tell from those silly examples it wont be anything major, but it will be the first thing I have used Carrara for, so it should be interesting. This one will have a graduation theme, but the studio hasnt finished writing it yet, so I dont know what all I will need to create yet. Donnie

Donnie, when you are editing a shader, and are adjusting the position and size of a layer, you can use the nudge trick to help make it easier, just click in the numerical box and then hold down ALT key, not sure what key on Mac. You amy already know this, and the nudge trick work in all numerical boxes in Carrara.

Thanks again Kaom. Now that you mention it, I believe I read that in the manual the other night. I actually get to spend some time tonight with it. Thanks. Donnie