Something i hadnt thought about until i ask Daz about it...but their figures are basically just OBJ files with JPG textures...so im guessing we really dont need to buy Poser to use the figures...unless you want the dynamic hair thing... i havent tried it yet, but has anyone taken the the figure in and tried reapplying the texture in C..was wondering if the end result was the same...

It works as long as the OBJ model is a good one and the textures and bump maps are included with matching filenames so it's easy for us to apply them using Carrara without much guesswork.

so the only thing we'd need Poser for would be if we wanted to create our own hair on the figure?

If you know how to get or make human models (and also know how to pose them) without using Poser, then you don't need Poser. But Poser 5 is cheap now and so is Shade 7. And they're fun to use along with everything else we have.

Now that we have multi-morph and a decent IK built in (according to the pre-release stuff at least), it makes sense to rig in Carrara. Poser is a nice cheap purpose-built software. I would never go to it for rendering or modelling, but it does do the one thing pretty well. I recall exporting several things I did in Ray Dream because it was just simpler and cleaner to rig and pose them in Poser and use the output from there. These days I'm on the make-stuff-for-the-poser-users bandwagon so I haven't given the rigging within Carrara much thought. I've used boning as a way to customize shapes and generate morph targets, though.

When you buy figures from DAZ, they come already setup for Poser. Aside from having to rig the figure from scratch, you also won't be able to use any of the morph targets that come with the figure, so you'll have to make those from scratch. too. Also, some of the characters here or at DAZ are simply modifications of the existing figure (so and so for Vicki, so-and-so for mike, etc.) You won't be able to use them without Poser, even if you have the original figure. You also won't be ale to conform clothing to the figures. The advantages of Poser extend beyond dynamic hair and dynamic cloth.

good point Brainmuffin...thought there may have been a bit more to it..unless someone comes up with a plug in for C that would conform clothing....hmmmmm..lol Shonner - how is Shade? in your opinion is it better than Amapi or? Id seen it, but dang, seems like every one is coming out with a modeling software these days..lol..

Shade pro is more of the same, but a great renderer. I still prefer modo and ZBrush for modeling though.

ZBrush was kinda fun..id downloaded the trial and was going to buy it before it went to the neww version but couldnt afford it...im hoping to get an academic discount... Modo ive never heard of...who makes it?

http://www.luxology.com

If cost-concious, the you can use DAZ Studio. It has most of the advantages of Poser 4, with the additional benefit of being free. Then you could export your scene as obj file and bring into C. Just a thought.

Yeah, that would at least let you use poser figures for still images....

There's also Grouper, which I think is still free, that creates OBJ files from Poser files. See http://www.castironflamingo.com/tutorial/poser2cs2/ for a sample render in Carrara.

Message edited on: 09/16/2004 21:52