I would very much like to create an image that uses an effect similar to wax melting, or running fluid (not for animations). If anyone has any ideas as to how this can be done in Carrara, your help would be greatly appreciated =)

Im trying to be very general, just to get any ideas how to do this.........

Melt a car on a highway for instance..........

Melt a human, and have them drip from a cup slightly turned just to spill out a smidgin...............

Follow?

Morphing software (2D) does this fairly easily one shape to another.

Drops of  wax are not that hard, it depends on a proper shader and knowing the refraction value of  wax.  One can even do raindrops or water drops if refraction, reflection, transparency values are paid heed.

I would try hiding a metabal inside the human and have it drip out, at the same time shrink or use a shader to simulate shrinking of the human. So the metabal drips out as the object it hides shrinks. Maybe?

I try to avoid postwork like its a plague, outside of distance blurs, I prefer all output be direct from the scene...

I was thinking fluid alone can be done w/ metaballs, but im also trying to avoid having to need a particle emitter... But an object melting......... not "melting", but having already "melted"... Even if i use metalballs, they couldnt take the shape of the object, and that wouldnt distort the target object, giving the appearance it already melted, Im thinking?!?

I might have to install my old amorphium 1, maybe i can distort the object and bring it in into carrara already distorted, since Im not animating the process............

I just dont think something like that is in that program...

Keep your fingers crossed for me, Im going to check, thanks for the info guys =)

The magnet tool used to create morphs in vertex room would allow for some "pushed" and "melted" looking figures...

Quote - I try to avoid postwork like its a plague, outside of distance blurs, I prefer all output be direct from the scene...

Can I ask what is your reasoning behind this?

I kind of think of an image or animation directly out of the render room as only half finished.

wayne k

guam usa

When you have Photoshop CS3 Extended, postwork in an essential part of image making!

Anyone who does not take any Carrara image into, at least, Levels, in say Photoshop, is really missing out on the best you can get out of your Carrara work.

Thats "just me"... Color manipulation should be done (im my personal opinion) through the shaders/material settings, not post work. I do print my images and I do calibrate my monitor, and I get out of the scene exactly what I want... I may run an image through a levels adjustment or play w/ the brightness/contrast controls, but thats for printing sake only, and only to get the print to match what I produce and see onscreen.

Ive never considered my work only "half finished"...

OK. But really, it is vertually impossible to predict the qualityof the end result in a 3D render.

Rather than waste all that time readjusting and, still, not having a good end result , even in a time consuming new render, a few seconds in P/Shop and the (Shadow/Highlight---for example!) and "Bingo!"

I am not really understanding the "why" of it, but everyone has their own ideas of how things should be done.
There is a whole industry build up around applications to take on post production.
Multi-pass rendering is an option in most 3D applications for just that reason.
wayne k
guam usa

By the time I adjust my shaders/materials, lights and atmosphere, I do get good end result, Ive never had a problem w/ that... Nor complaints?!?

But Im trying to get some dripping objects going on here :P We could "argue" all day and nite about which method is better, knowing damn well its ALL about the method that suits US best =)

However, I want to actually morph/distort the 3d object, having it react or interact (if thats at all possible) w/ the other scene elements... To give the appearance of a thick, melting fluid...

Can we take a sphere, and have it melt alongsidfe the edge of a slopped terrain?!? How would one do lava? Ketchup? A candle Burning? A pumping heart dripping blood.... In someones hand... Blood rushing down their arm...........

Am I expecting too much maybe =)

Metaballs with a particle emitter -

Particle emitter would probably be your best bet. Start with the "mud flow" or "simple water" preset and begin tweeking. Chucker

Quote - > Quote - I try to avoid postwork like its a plague, outside of distance blurs, I prefer all output be direct from the scene...

 

Can I ask what is your reasoning behind this?

I kind of think of an image or animation directly out of the render room as only half finished.

 

wayne k

guam usa

I go back and forth on this myself.  Initially, I used a lot of filters and post work, but found it time consuming.  I also noticed that a lot of (overly?) serious 3D artists take the purist attittude and see post work almost as an amateurs's coverup of lacking modeling skills or using the wrong software for the task.  Since I actually enjoy post working, I've taken to occasionally tweaking a render by hand though I'm more likely to run them through a VirtuaDub filter chain to get a certain look and leaving all but the most unacceptable artifacts or imperfections alone.  Animation is a different story, it just has to look right coming out as I'm not going to take the time to hand re-touch potentially 1000s of frames.  3D is a medium, and with all media you'll find those who want to keep it pure and those who want to mix it liberally with other media.

I was impressed to see a condensation effect on glass achieved in Carrara by using the replicator in the shading domain.  Not that I understand how to do that yet, as I've just gotten Carrara 6, but it seems like it is entirely possible to link a metaball emitter to a shading domain to create a material that sweats.  One way to have something melt is to have it shrink while a puddle forms.  I'd convert the object to a single mesh, with no interior detail.  Then I'd try to create a morph target that was this object with all of it's polys pushed inward, and edges softened.  In all honesty, I'd probably export an obj to Wings (which I'm having a hard time moving away from) and use "tighten" in vertice mode to soften the model (it averages out edge lengths) being careful not to alther the object in any destructive way (adding/deleting polys).  I'd import this in as a morph for the original mesh and apply a shader that would emit metaballs which would ideally drip and flow from the object as it morphs to it's softer smaller shape.  You might actually have to create a seperate puddle and morph it also, as I believe metaballs need to disappear over time to avoid consuming all your available resources.

Replicator in the shading domain?!? Please show me a link to this, Id very much like to see this condensation on glass technique =)

"an amateurs's coverup of lacking modeling skills"... Lighting and shading/setting up materials added on to that and bingo... Dont get me wrong, Ive seen some nice postworked stuff, the emphasis being on how the artist can bring a painterly effect to the background, and add highlights and shadows to the main figure or object, but I do NOT want to go through a cycle of xenofex and eyecandy filters... Not even for lightning............ Thats the kind of postwork that should be avoided... But thats just me, if others are into that, whatever floats their boat.

Im pretty much sold that Id have to warp/distort the object, followed by a metaball setup for the "drippage". So long as the shaders for the object and metaballs are the same, it should give the appearance of being a solid, distorted object. Havent tried yet, but Im thinking itll work for my needs... Regardless, you dont (I dont) want to postwork dripping blood or a melting candle in a 3d scene.

I thank you all for your advice and input =)