I used to use render studio when I used Poser.   I switched to Carrara several months ago.  Once you play around with the lights in Carrara, you will never go back to poser.

Klebnor

Connie:

Try a spot light on an interior scene and play with the light cone under the effects tab.  Use the edit button to access the options.  You can come up with some really nice moody effects.  Be sure to play with the half angle on the general tab to expand and contract the beam.

Playing with range and range falloff also gives some nice control.

Putting a bulb light under water creates a nice effect as well.

For the lights that allow it, the shadow intensity allows fine tuning of the shadow effect.

Compared to poser, I can play with the lights in Carrara for hours.  And I don't have to wait hours for the renders!

Klebnor unten den Menschen

By the way, love the stormchaser.  I followed your progress in the forum and bought it when it came out.

Klebnor

Conniekat8:

I'm no expert, but try this and see what you think.  Change the sunlight to a distant light and make sure it is oriented so the shadows fall where you want them.  You can easily slide the shadow intensity up and down on this light (unlike the sunlight).  The sunlight works in coordination with the realistic sky, so it is modified by adjustment of the sun when you edit the Atmosphere/Realistic Sky (you should play with this too, it's pretty cool).  I do not believe you can adjust the shadows, other than they might be less sharp if you have an overcast sky.  This is basically full sunlight, so the shadows are harsh.

The distant light is like an infinite light in poser.  It doesn't matter where you aim it, but the orientation of the arrow like symbol will determine the direction and hence the shadows.  Their strength is highly adjustable via the shadow intensity.  You can also play with the shadow bias under the Effects tab for this light.

Hope this helps.

Klebnor

Well, I fixed my problem.  I went into the specific shader for one of the clothing items and the highlight had a grey color in it.  I changed it to black, and the reflected highlights were gone.  Thanks Sparrownightmare, I did figure out that the default shader only applies to objects without an assigned shader, and therefore has little effect.

Interestingly, the setting of shininess (which I expected to be part of the problem) seems to have little effect.  I tried setting this high and low, with no discernable change.

Different colors plugged in for the highlight do react diffently depending on lighting.  For clothes, it must stay toward black to avoid shine.  Naturally, if you want a plastic or leathery surface, a lighter tone here would help.

Interesting.

Klebnor

Well, I found a workaround if anyone else has this problem.

Import the 3ds file into Carrara.  Open one of the shaders (it doesn't seem to matter which one, just don't use the master - I used roof) and change transparency from transparent to none.

All the textures work.

Klebnor

Sueposer:

Thanks for the feedback.  There is a gray master shader, what do you do to reduce the washout effect?

There is a texture jpg in the files - meshbox seems to use one jpg graphic with all the various textures placed on it.  What would the map look like, and how would I apply it?  I assume the material zones are defined by the texture map - would this be a jpg as well?

Thanks for any help.  It is maddening to have a building that looks so good in poser, and be unable to open it in Carrara.

BTW, I tried to import the 3ds version that meshbox provides, and it act very wierd.  The textures are applied, and there are many more component parts (the poser native file only has one big mesh).  The funny thing is, all the components can be seen through so that objects behind walls can be partially seen.  It's as though everything is partially transparent.

Klebnor

I used to use Poser 7, but haven't touched it since I started using Carrara pro 6.  I got it in the DAZ economic stimulus package at a very good price (a small fraction of Vue).  The render engine is so much faster and I have had no problems importing all my runtimes of DAZ and Poser content.  Lights are much better.  I find poser easier to use for, well, posing but other than that, Carrara is hands down better.  Pretty funny considering I paid 2 to 3 times as much for Poser when i bought it.  Once you render in Carrara, I don't see how you could go back to firefly.

Carrara also produces beautiful landscapes and skies almost effortlessly.  No more confining sky domes or funky backgroud props.

Klebnor

Well, there's plenty here on Renderosity.  Go to marketplace home and use the select vendor drop down to find his name.  I mentioned him because he did the Office Foyer you mentioned.  I have that one and it's pretty good.  He has a lot of variety and consistent quality.  Check out the rec room.

Klebnor

I use Carrara, and have never tried DS, but I can tell you that Richabri makes some of the best interiors around.  Ratracer was the best, IMO, but he pulled all his stuff off the market.

Klebnor

My browser tries to connect, but ultimately I just get a timeout.  It's been happening all day.  I've tried different browsers, clear everything.

Oh, well.  At least I'm not tempted by any fastgrabs today.

Haven't been able to connect all morning - still can't at 12:51 PM.  East Coast.

It's now Friday morning on the East Coast, and I've had no response from Daz so far today.  Time outs every time I try.  Seems like they're having trouble.

Klebnor Undsoweiter

Well, I installed the content to one of my runtimes, but it doesn't show up in the browser.  Is .daz the standard save format for a DS scene?  If so, how do I open it in Carrara?  I assumed I would see the building prop (or props) in the browser, but I don't.  (They don't show up in Poser either, I checked - but I assumed this was because it was the .daz format and Poser wouldn't natively open it).

So, do I import the .daz file into Carrara?  If so, I shouldn't need DS installed as I don't need to save out a .daz file - I already have it.  That's the format the prop came in.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Klebnor mit kopfveh

Thanks, GKDantas,

I guess I'll install Daz Studio and give it a try.

Klebnor auf wienerschnitzel