Thanks for the recommendation, 0oseven. I agree with the quality of Mark's tutorial skills from some excerpts I've seen (here at Renderosity for Poser and I think there were some sample Carrara ones I saw a while back just as I was trying Carrara for the first time).

While not wishing to start any debate on Poser/Carrara (partly because I like them both) I do find that I seem to get better results in animating characters in Poser. It may be down to such very simple differences as Poser having a default timeline of thirty frames (1 second, I think) while Carrara has four seconds default. Someone like me comes along, arranges a pose and moves along the timeline (taking a guess at how far to move) to make the next pose. Somehow I always make a better job of it in Poser's thirty frames but, of course, the remedy is simple for doing the same in Carrara.

The other default of Poser of having both feet locked in IK helps me too. This restraint prevents the figure losing position unless I want it to. In the DAZ forums I've had help on how to set this up in Carrara. So, again, the remedy is there. But selecting body parts seems easier to me using Poser because the outline of the body part gets highlighted on selection. I get frustrated in Carrara trying to select bones whether directly or by using the Scene tab. Often I select a limb in the scene tab and then lose the selection (or select another body part) when I try to move the Gizmo. Poser is - for me - far less finicky in that respect and the Parameters are easier to get to if I want to use them. For Carrara I've heard of the ERC plugin which is probably a brilliant answer to this and there is also the right-click pop-up menu for selecting body-parts.

Another reason I may find animating easier in Poser as opposed to Carrara is that, in Carrara I'm usually working with a figure in a whole scene, whereas in Poser I usually just try animating a figure in an empty place just for fun. Having to relate a figure's movements to the props of a scene is obviously more complex.

One feature I had hopes of from Poser was BVH export - to create motions in Poser and bring them onto different figures in Carrara - but I always seem to make a mess of this. I guess reading the manual on this point would help!

Hope I haven't waffled too much. And I don't mean to sound off in any way against Carrara - I'm just mentioning how Poser helps me a bit.

Hi Steve K,

Thanks for the reply. I'm in the bad habit of playing with software to learn this or that about it and then putting my results together into something that I didn't set out to make. That's fine until I make the mistake of showing it publicly.

The vid was nothing more than playing around with some iclone assets and pre-made motions. Just to practice building a scene. Then the text occurred to me to make a story so I brought in the dragon. I haven't learned to use the cameras (and most other things) in the latest version of that software.

On a positive note, it's all good practice even though I want to use Carrara for my real animations. And if it gave you or anyone else a moment of visual enjoyment, then I'm pleased because I do this just for fun!

Regards

Well it's just a co-incidence that I happened to post this whimsical 'monster' video a couple of days ago. 38 seconds and no sound. If you blink you'll miss it because I chose to use upwardly scrolling text instead of sub-titles.

It's so poor it doesn't deserve comment - especially here because it isn't Carrara (but I hope that's OK this time, given the nature of this thread).

https://youtu.be/OBXXnhrjtSM

I've just done the same - upgraded, that is - from Poser 10.

Whenever I looked at the version comparison charts, I could see that most of the Pro features weren't really necessary for an amateur doodler like me. But I gave in for the 64 bit capability and hope to find the Fitting Room to be useful. The sale price also helped!

Much as I plan to stay with Carrara, I've decided to think more in terms of using pre-Genesis figures and to use Poser more. I'm hoping that the cloth and hair plugin being developed for Poser can be made to work in conjunction with Carrara. If not, then I'll need Poser Pro's 64 bits to create bigger scenes in that program.

Some fun and enjoyment ahead, I hope.

I'm loving seeing all the examples of things being done with this program!

It's led me to buy more things to use with Poser and I've even upgraded to Poser Pro in the sale of the past couple of days.

Thanks again to those posting videos and images for the rest of us to enjoy!.

@ VirtualWorldDynamics: Although it has been a while, thanks for your replies to my earlier comments. I'm pleased that Perception Neuron motion capture interested you.

I don't want to irritate Poser users by mentioning Carrara again but I was interested to see that Fenric provided you with some information. Although he and I have never spoken, I have often heard of him in Carrara forums because he has written a number of brilliant and popular plugins for Carrara. I hope he won't mind me mentioning this. One of the plugins is an MDD file importer and exporter for Carrara which I bought just a few days ago. As well as using your program for Poser I will try to combine using this plugin with the free Python script you mentioned.

In due course, that is - I know that Poser comes first!

Thanks again to those sharing their results.

 Hi DUDU.car

Yes, I remember it was you who explained before how to use the DynToMorphs script and I was very pleased to learn of it.  It works very well for the clothing but I found that slight changes to the figure's proportions were lost in Carrara.  This is most probably because I used the Poser Roxie figure.

But VWD, in his thread, was looking for another solution to making this work for Carrara users because he considers that .pz3 files can become too big. 

 Hi 0oseven,

I just followed the instructions in the manual to get the buttons script working:

You need to have the Python Script window open in Poser.

On a PC press the top button while holding the ALT key.  In my case the button label changes from 'Wardrobe Wizard' to '...'

Press this button which now has the three dots and navigate to the buttons script.  Click 'Open' and the script will now run from that top button.

After using the VWD program, the button reverts to what it was before (Wardrobe Wizard).

 @ VWD.  I think you can be sure that there is a lot of admiration for what you've done even though many others who are interested may choose not to comment.

As for creating realistic animation, another development that is now coming to be within the grasp of the ordinary person at home is motion capture.  There is a lot of excitement about an affordable motion capture set-up called Perception Neuron.

With such a device and realistic cloth and hair, excellent results will surely follow.

Thanks for the replies and thanks Dudu for the step-by-step description of the Marvellous Designer workflow.

Just thinking out loud ... the possible workflow for using VWD's script might be:

1  Clothe and animate a figure in Poser

2  Run VWD's cloth simulation for this animated figure

3  VWD can output the results in .PC2 format and a script can turn this into .MDD format

4  With Fenric's plugin installed into Carrara, the .MDD file can be brought into Carrara.   The .MDD file will only be the animated cloth, I think.  It's unlikely to be the figure also?

Poser can output animated figures as object sequences, I think.  There is, I believe, a Carrara plugin available for importing object sequences.

Maybe the animated figure alone in the scene could be saved as a Poser scene.  Such a scene could be opened in Carrara then the .MDD import could take place perhaps.

All of the foregoing begins from a Poser scene.  I don't know how it could start from a Carrara project.  Isuppose Poser's ability to output .BVH files might be brought into play. 

Thanks for this fascinating thread and for the wonderful images shown.  For me as a Scot, it's impossible to imagine Christmas celebrations in the sunshine!  (Actually, this summer in particular it's almost impossible to remember what sunshine is!).

In spending your time creating art, you're living what was almost always my dream.  Except I could never handle the concept of bringing my visions to life and then letting someone else take them away!  Even if they did pay!  So I worked at other things, never really finding the time (or, in truth, the tranquillity) to get anything much done. But I could never pass an art shop without buying something.  I would tell myself: 'if I buy that fifteen-page pad of acrylic/oil/watercolour paper, I can make a quick painting every night for a fortnight.  Then I'll have done something.  Guess what?  I have enough art material in all mediums to supply a school and I spend my free time on the computer trying to master 3d stuff.

Strangely, I don't feel too driven to make 'works of art' in 3d.  Rather, working in 3d is an inexhaustible visual stimulus whether it results in a clay render or an animation in full colour.  I sometimes wonder whether some income from 3d is possible.  In that regard I ponder over the possibilities of 3d printing. 

Thanks to those who are posting videos and screen shots.

Everything is looking amazing!

This reminds me of how many other things came to be improved in recent years.   I remember when computer screens showed only sixteen colours.  Printers used nine pins to strike ink-soaked ribbons and made poor looking images. Digital cameras made blocky pictures and were too slow for many subjects.  One by one all these things were perfected to the point where they don't need to be any better. 

Now clothing and hair simulations are being done with greater than ever realism in the Poser world.  It's great to see it happening!

 Hi everyone,

Today VirtualWorldDynamics posted this in the stickied Poser discussion: 

@Carrara users : In seeking generation methods for .MDD files, I have found a free script in Python that converts a .PC2 file towards a .MDD file. I think this script will be very helpful to export animations towards CARRARA.

Clearly he is putting serious effort into helping us!

Personally I know nothing about the use of an .MDD file.  I've heard that this type of file is used to send simulations from Marvellous Designer to Carrara.  But I don't know where the figure's animation fits in.  Neither do I know what a .PC2 file is!

Since I first heard of VWD's work I assumed that the figure's animation and the cloth simulation would all be done in Poser then somehow brought into Carrara.  Does anyone know whether the script above would result in a Poser scene being opened in Carrara?

As it stands now, the program gets launched from Poser, does its calculations and then the full version (as opposed to the trial) will send the results back to Poser.  I wonder what the possibilities would be of the same process happening all from Carrara.  At this stage I wouldn't want to make a request for that to VWD because I think his hands are full enough! 

I see a discussion here also (on this forum) on the use of the DynToMorphs script.  I wonder how the results will compare to the script VWD is looking at?

PS I'm not really sure if I'm asking sensible questions - I guess I'm concerned that VWD is working to provide something and I'm hoping that we will know what to do with it!  Then again, the knowledge of others here and in other forums never ceases to amaze! 

Thank you, Digitell, for your kind words.

There was no skill on my part in creating the animations.  I simply chose Alyson2 in the Walk Designer and made an adjustment to keep the arms out from the body in case they interfered.  For the running simulation, I moved the 'run' slider a little from the centre position.  In each simulation I kept the body in the 'T' pose for 15 frames before walking or running.

Since the figure and clothing came with Poser 10 (and 9 ?), I think others could easily repeat these simulations for themselves - they were run at the VWD default settings.

@ VirtualWorldDynamics.  Thank you also - I was hoping that showing some results would not be annoying to you and I wanted to give good feedback.

I used screen capture software to record the simulation as they took place.

 (Late) thanks Headwax, for the suggestion.

I made a start at last but am in a great rush right now.  I'll post also at DAZ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I795sG4qYs&feature=youtu.be