Okay, I've had Carrara since DAZ bought it with 5. Currently I own C6 Std. I really haven't learned the program, since it's been very alien from my years of working with Poser. But Poser 8 is giving me fits, and I've cracked open C6 again with the intent of actually using it and learning it this time.

I know that C8 will most likely be coming out  this year, and thought about getting C7 in the interim. So, my question is: what exactly are the Content handling improvements of C7 over C6?

Thanks.

-- Jeff

It's been so long now, since I used C6, that I forget the specifics. All I remember was the total ease and wonderfulness of it. The principles of the UI did not change, so I say: practice with Carrara details and when you are ready to use Poser content, then buy the C7 upgrade on sale.

Thanks.

I've been practicing with C6, and also been reading and watching tutorials, and I am finally getting the hang of it. And I'm taking my time, trying not to get frustrated by it ;)

I've read several tutorials about skin shaders, but none mentioned anything about Eyelashes. This seems to be a problem with many textures I've tried. The morphs don't clear up the very large eyelashes. After toying around, the only thing that seems to help is lowering the brightness of the Alpha channel. Is there a better way to deal with this?

Also, I am playing with M4 in C6, which apparantly he isn't supported until C7. Loads fine, but not all morphs work and occassionally odd things happen to areas. That's why I want to get C7, if these things work better.

I like cluttered or detail orientated scenes, and Poser just is squeezing me out of them. And Since I already own Carrara, I decided to take the full plunge and actually learn it fully. It's been more fun this time out, and Mark's tutorial's have helped (and I'll be shelling out cash to watch the rest of them soon, too, when finances allow).

Thanks for the info.

-- Jeff

Strange you should say Carrara and Poser are "alien" to each other - both programs originated at Metacreations (along with Bryce and what is now Painter)  Much of the UI is still present in all 3 of the 3D Apps to this day.

Content management is better in C7 (or C6) than Poser, IMO.

Well, Poser uses dials, Carrara uses sliders; terminology is different as well for many things, so are the camera controls and scene layout, translation controls, etc.

Just been playing around in the shader room. Some neat features in there, like the layers control.

Figured out the eyelashes, too.

Just getting into creating a workflow one step at a time, and getting used to the controls.

-- Jeff

Quote - Strange you should say Carrara and Poser are "alien" to each other - both programs originated at Metacreations

The two programs had their origins with the same company.  But Poser figures never imported all that great into the other.

Okay, seeing the list of bug fixes for the newly released C8 beta, I know what to expect out of Poser/Daz content handling from C7.

I have C6 Pro and I've jumped in feet first getting myself all dirty :)

The video project I have in mind, will cover all aspects of rendering and it forces me to try and learn it.

I plan to upgrade to C7 and eventually to C8, just waiting for the prices to drop on C7 first.

Analog-X64 -- yes, I've had it since 5, and only fiddled with it through 6. But now that I can't trust building a scene in Poser, and I like large scenes, I'm jumping back into the C pool. And, damn, I'm enjoying it :)

I had a WIP in my gallery of a Poser 8 scene that I'm re-creating from scratch in C6 aand trying to learn bits and pieces as I build it.

I'm also hoping for a C7 sale before C8 is released, so I can upgrade to that as well. Sounds like it's more stable and renders faster, too. And lots of new lights to play with.

Sticking with Standard, since I can't afford Pro.

But, hell, I'm having fun again!

Yes.. I'm waiting for a C7 Sale as well before the C8 Release.

Here a still of an explosion test in C6

Another still from another scene.

I have had many versions of Poser in the past.
The ONLY connection I have now is that I consolidated all the old Poser Runtimes into one and that Runtime is now in the Carrara Browser.

IF I see new (free) Poser stuff now I just add that to the Carrara's own Runtime.

Brian

Quote - I have had many versions of Poser in the past.
The ONLY connection I have now is that I consolidated all the old Poser Runtimes into one and that Runtime is now in the Carrara Browser.

IF I see new (free) Poser stuff now I just add that to the Carrara's own Runtime.

Brian

That is a good organisational tip Brian!! Didnt even think of it.

Quote - I have had many versions of Poser in the past.
The ONLY connection I have now is that I consolidated all the old Poser Runtimes into one and that Runtime is now in the Carrara Browser.

IF I see new (free) Poser stuff now I just add that to the Carrara's own Runtime.

Brian

Brian is rignt, I'm also doing this way.

Just a few quick questions:

I finished a character I wanted to use in a scene, and wanted to save the character with conforming bits. I highlighted all pieces in the Instances tab and saved it to My Objects. When I brought it back into a scene later, the conforming bits weren't there. So, what's the best way to save out a character with conforming pieces conformed? Do I need to Group the pieces before saving, or save out as a Scene instead of the Objects?

Also, why is there a Anything Glows light if Carrara has Indirect Lighting?

I'll have more questions soon. Still toying with everything that I can :)

-- Jeff

If I want to do this, I usuallly just group everything I want to save together and name it.  If it's a V4 character with clothing and/or parented props, I group them and name it "V4clothedwsword" or something similar.  When you save the group to your browser it all comes back in together.

Klebnor

Regarding your other question, anything glows allows you to make a light source out of an object.  Not sure what that would have to do with Indirect Lighting.

I find anything glows to be a hassle.  I usually use glow in the shader to make the object seem to glow, then put a normal light near the object to produce the actual light output.  If you have a texture for a light, or flame, you can use the same texture map in the glow shader and get a nice effect.  Use a 0-100% or 0-1000% modifier to adjust the glow.

Klebnor

Thanks.

re: anything glows vs. indirect lighting: with indirect lighting, if you use the glow channel, and render with indirect lighting, it makes anything glow/light  objects.

So it just seems redundant, unless anything glows was used before indirect lighting was supported.

-- Jeff

Just got C7.

Ooh, slider controls on the morphs, so we can easily use negatives without having to type them in.

Can anyone tell me why morphs on conformed clothing with crosstalk won't do anything? I tried changing the slider on the whole and on individual bodyparts, but FBM's won't budge. Also, what do I have to do to be able to use the scale on conformed clothing? The scale manipulators are locked, and unchecking the boxes in the scale parameters does nothing.

The clothing thing was in C6 too.

Anyway, I made progress with skin shaders and light settings, and render settings. Was tempted to just take out the C8 beta, but I don't want to get use to new stuff and then not have it available. WOuld rather wait for the full package later this year. I've got enough of a learning curve with C6/C7.

But if anyone has an answer about the conforming clothing, I'd appreciate it.

-- Jeff