I've seen and used software with the axis both ways, so it really isn't an issue. I don't find the Carrara VM as friendly as Ray Dream's. The keyboard shortcuts just aren't as easy and some are missing, but the speed and the built in multiple views make up for it. I also use trueSpace and Light Wave and for pure old fashion polygon building, I prefer Carrara. There are some things the other packages do easier(I always do bevels in trueSpace), but overall I find Carrara's vertex modeler to be pretty good. Here is a work in progress I did in the vertex modeler. I've got a fresher version, but nothing rendered right now. It took me about 10 hours total and it was the first time I modeled an entire body. And here is a creature I did for a 3D Creature Workshop tutorial in Ray Dream's mesh form modeler which is very similiar. Rendered with Toon! of course. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

I bought the Kodak DC280 a couple of months ago. I've been very happy with it. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Another thing to try is turning off Light Smart Sampling on your Renderer settings. I've seen that do what you describe. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

FM, Here's a couple things you can try: You could do two things with the lips. Seperate it so that Toon! knows it's something different and draws the outline, or draw the outline as part of your texture. For the nose and the hands, you may be able to make them stand out more against the main part of the mesh by working with the Distance Threshold and the Distance Line Width settings. These settings will make Toon! draw a line if pixels near it are farther away from the camera even if they are on the same object. As for vector, I don't want to promise anything yet, I'm still in the very early exploratory stages, but there MIGHT be Flash output in the next version of Toon! Good Luck, Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

That's the best way if you want a global environment map. If you want a different map on each object, Carrara doesn't really support it. You have to fake it or do different renders and put it together in post production. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

In the reflection channel, it will just control how reflective the object is, not look like it is reflecting. Try mixing it with your base color in the color channel. Here's a sample Good Luck, Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Daf, You'd probably have a lot more luck modeling this kind of thing in the spline modeler. Here's a picture I did a couple of years ago, everything done in what was the RD free form modeler. The walls are extruded up from the floor. I'd leave out the sections where there are windows and then create a second free form object. The second object will extrude to the bottom of the window, and then again from the top of the window to the ceiling. This was handy because I could group windows and then change the height of a dozen windows with one click and drag. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

I take it that glare refers to the reflective qualities of >the image, and not the expression on her face. (!) Look for our upcoming Carrara extensions: Grimace, Snarl, and Smile. :) Truly fantastic image Rudolf! Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

It's good to see safe sex touted in our 3D scenes. Too many times I see depictions of unsafe sex in our renderings. What kind of message is that for the children!!! Looks great Dave. Did you see Holly Daggers' candles in the DCG User Gallery? She used elevation in the glow channel to fake the thinning and glow through the top of the candles. Very cool touch. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

I've offered to help out Dave, even gone as far as setting up a pristine machine with no extensions. I wasn't able to recreate the problem with the pristine machine or my own complete mess machine, but I don't have exact recreation steps. I've asked him to send me the obj file and try it again with a fresh scene, hopefully we can find the steps to recreate the problem. Shader Pack 1 is installed to the CarraraExt directory and once you delete the Carrara folder it's gone, so even if it was the culprit, it's long gone from Dave's machine and wouldn't be causing the problems Dave is still seeing. It doesn't use anything outside the Ext directory and if it's not in the Ext directory Carrara doesn't load or activate it. Right now I suspect the obj file he is trying to import is corrupted or has something in it Carrara doesn't understand. I've had problems with obj export and import in the past too. I didn't see Dave's exact symptoms, I didn't get the duplicate the selected item problem, but I did see objects that Carrara wouldn't draw and if you tried to render them it would barf. In those cases I had to go back to a previous save. In many of those cases, if I opened fresh and went through my steps again it would work fine so it was probably some problem that happened over time and/or use. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Aeryk71, Here it is Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

I didn't have any problems with my serial. Send an email to Brian he'll get it straightened out. He also checks this forum pretty regularly. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Oh yeah, caustics. To really do those, it needs to be incorporated into the renderer. You've got to trace from the light sources forward, creating lighting maps. And then do a normal render on top of it. Not up to writing one of those yet. Of course with a gel and a well placed spot, they can be faked very well in Carrara. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Marque, All of our current extensions, except Toon! and Anything Glows are freeware. This includes the Tube and Shape lights, all the shaders, and the soon to be released postrender filter Glare. Glare was a filter I did for RD that allows you to do blooms and super highlights. It's been done for Carrara for a while, but I've been so busy getting Anything Glows out the door I haven't had time to release it. Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extensions http://digitalcarversguild.com

Dave, Don't forget to try popping the Bricks and Tile into the bump channel. They can produce a bump that matches the color channel. Enjoy, Eric Winemiller Digital Carvers Guild Freeware and commercial 3D extension http://digitalcarversguild.com