I have a question for users of Anything Grows. I downloaded the demo, and I liked what I saw. But the demo is limited 100 strands. My question is what is the rendering performance like? I realise the rendering is still handled by Carrara, but in general what are the times like with thousandsof strands. The fur shader I use for Lightwave is a Pixel effect. It doesnt create real geometry, but it is impressive still the same and renders very fast for the effect it gives. Unfortunately to get the fur or hair to reflect requires a workaruond or special compositing since it is a pixel effect and applied post render. I like the fact that Anything grows creates real geometry, but I am concerned about excessive render times. Any experiences would be appreciated. Donnie

Answering this question is a little problematic for this reason, Anything Grows does a ton more than creating fur. I have gotten some very good effects using strands plus transparency mapped 'hair' tip objects and haven't noticed much of a slowdown until I start approaching more than 50,000 strands. More strands does equal slower performance though. If your goal is to create fur similar to Monsters Inc. or Stuart, Anything Grows may not be a good fit because managing the geometry for 80,000+ strands becomes an issue for any software - especially if you begin increasing the number of sides on each strand. That's why LW does it as a pixel/post render effect. On the flip side of the issue, AGrows lets you create some animatable, very creative and controllable particle type of effects using the Tip Objects functions while hiding the strands. Creating fields of flowers at random heights is possible - easily. There are a ton of other uses too. Lastly, you really can't argue with the price. It is a really robust tool for not very much money. Hair is one of the Holy Grails of all developers... Mark

Thanks Mark. I think the price is wonderful. I realise the limitations with pixel effects, thats why I like the idea of generating real geometry. This will allow reflection and refraction of fur effects. I have a lot of idea already that I can use it for, much more than fur as you also mentioned. I was wondering though, is it better to go ahead and get the Power Pack at $99? I think I will want Grooves too. Together they approach the price of the Power Pack. Donnie

Oh yea. Go for the PowerPack. It's the difference between geometry that looks sort-of-real and geometry that looks real - with very little effort.

Thanks for the advice Mark. Guess I purchase that after I spend some more time getting to know the main program. Only have limited time each night to mess with the program, for some reason I keep playing with the plant generator. lol Donnie

BACK away from the plant generator, put down the mouse, now I'm going to close the plant generator, and you aren't going to open it until you play with other features, now on the count of 3, you will forget the plant generator, and explore.......1......2.....3! hehe. Though I understand why you are playing, its a great tool, I can't wait until you realize that you can make your own leaves! Brian brian@vizualds.com http://www.vizualds.com

Hi Brian. Yeah custom leaves will be great. I keep discovering more and more good things in Carrara. This weekend should be good for me and the program. Supposed to rain all weekend. I was supposed to start work on our new patio, but looks like that wont happen. Actually Im hoping to get a call from the studio before the end of the week, I would love to try Carrara out on a project. Of course I hope its one that needs trees. :) I have Vue 4. It has decent plants, but you really cant edit them. You can with the Professional version, but it came out not long after I purchased Vue and I wasnt willing to pay the upgrade for something I just bought. So for the weekend, I should actually get something done with the program or end up with a bunch of new plants. Either way it will be fun. Donnie