Just wondering something here, maybe it's a "dumb" question - but here it goes anyways...

Is there any difference between making an otherwise empty .car file with an object in it and those various items found in objects tab of Carrara's browser?

If it's the same, are there any recommended settings for saving the .car file?

Why do I ask?  I'm thinking about making a Carrara version of some models in addition to a plain .obj file. The difference is that the Carrara one would have shaders applied, and maybe some rudimentary setup things done to it like having parts heirarchy properly laid out and adding movement constraints to some parts. I might even consider throwing on some other things, but those may require plugins such as Sparrowhawke3D's Wheels Behavior modifier.

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Barbequed Pixels?

Your friendly neighborhood Wings3D nut.
Also feel free to browse my freebies at ShareCG.
There might be something worth downloading.

 The fast, easy way to make those files in the browser is to simply drag the objects from your scene from the properties tray into the browser. It automatically creates a new .car file with no lights or camera plus a preview. That way, when you drag the object into a new scene, you only get the object.

Mark

I think he wanted to know what settings he should use when saving an item to include the shaders and make it a sort of self contained files which do not rely on external support files like texture map images etc, or includes the texture maps directly in the saved file, making the scene portable.  I believe you simply save the object and save the maps internally when it prompts you.  Also, if you want to save the object to use in your object browser, just save it to the correct folder.  I usually use C:Program FilesDAZCarrara 6PresetsObjectsMy Objects.   And save it with the scene preview so you get the little icon in your object browser.