Well, I loved the challenge I made so much, and because I've learned/stolen so much from the other great entries (-: , I want to do another, slightly longer, response to it. Here's the plan: We start off panning around a space station/gun, sorta like the Barge Cannon from Gundam Wing (or so I have been told). You see a shuttle fly by, and you zoom in to watch it land/dock at the station. When you see the docking bay, you'll notice... Problem 1: Arrays ...a large rank of Poser figure soldiers, wearing... Problem 2: Modeling Clothing and Clothes Morph Targets ...and when the guy steps out of the shuttle, all the soldiers... Problem 3: Linking Large Groups of objects ...simultaneously snap to attention. Then I go on to 'push the big red button,' I use a reverse-fountain to simulate a cannon charging up (ala the Sister Ray Mako Cannon from FF7), and a large glowing, expanding sphere, with pulsating lights (ala Bahamut Zero from FF7), until the cannon shoots and blows a planet up (think Alderaan). So, the problems are- 1: How do you array? I'm sure I saw an array command, but I can't find it. I could just duplicate stuff over and over, but that'd be tedious, and placing them would be a pain. What's the shortcut, and where's the command? 2: To get every single soldier to snap to attention, I want to link all the soldiers, 'dummies,' to one 'control' soldier. Could I just link each individual figure together, or would I have to link each arm to each arm? Or, does duplication also dupe the animation attributes? 3: I want the soldiers wearing custom uniforms and helmets. If someone can point me to a good clothing tutorial in Carrara/RDS tutorial, I'd be much obliged. Also, is there a Parallel-type light in Cararra? I learned a neat way to do comet/energy cluster light on Bryce parallel's (set it to volumetric, really bright and fuzzy, and linear falloff), and that makes a cool looking beam/pulse. Finally, can you make signatures on this board? I'm tired of always having to type in the adress over and over... Thanks a bunch! Nebula Supernova Studios

Attached Link: http://digitalcarversguild.com/products/lightpack1panel.html

Fun project ! :) It won't be easy to do in Carrara, though . The main reason is because you can't animate Poser figures in Carrara like you do in Poser ( i assume this is an animation ) . In fact, you can't animate figures at all coz our good old Carrara doesn't have bones . Of course, you could use linking and IKs and it would surely make the trick with armored soldiers . I can't really answer to all the questions, except on the two lasts : - there is a tube light that could simulate the light emmited by a laser beam . It's in Eric Winemiller's free light pack ( see the link ) - no, you can't make sigs on our forums . Yet . It would be very cool :) I'd suggest to ask Russell about that on the "Community ideas" forum (right sidebar). Hope this will help a little . Good luck, and keep us updated ! litst

Ambitious project, Nebula! You can make parallel light sources (in RDS they're called "distant lights") but they don't have the kind of control you're looking for. I think Eric's tube light is the answer for you, although you'll still have to build the beam itself, as the light isn't visible. The only way I can think of to get all your guys to snap to attention simultaneously is to create one and duplicate him. Yeah, tedious, but it'd work. (I'd actually make three or four different guys, then duplicate them in random intervals so everybody doesn't snap exactly the same way. And, yes, in RDS, at least, duplicating an object (or group) carries the animation events with it. You know, I'm a native speaker of English, and I don't understand some of your references. I think it's because I don't play computer games, and I think you're talking about some of them.... I've seen tuts on using RDS to create morph targets for Poser. I think you might want to look in the poser info here. You might also ask Clint H; he used to do a lot of Carrara to Poser stuff. (I think you can send him e-mail through Renderosity or click on his link on the B-Movie contest banner in this forum.) Am looking forward to seeing the shot you're working on. Sounds very cool.

Well, thanks for all the help! I guess, though, this all means, that there isn't any arraying at all in Car? Maybe in that Holy Grail of Optimism, version 2... Also, although no theres is no boning (heh...) in Car, I dont think this should be too bad....the only parts that need to move are the fore and upper arms. Also, I checked the two plugs from the DCG, they dont seem to be Car plugs, rather, RDS. Can plugs be imported? I guess I wasn't clear when I said I need RDS stuff; I only need RDS tuts for MT's because they translate well to Car and there isn't a very large amout of Car tuts available... Oh, and to those of you who say I need my head examined...you aren't the first. Try animating in Bryce, and oohhhh people will think you're crazy. Nothing like the 48hr render-time blues...(-: And the project shouldn't be TOO hard...AZChip has taught me much of planetary destruction, and that Penguin Submarine animation taught me a bunch too... Thanks for all your support! And don't expect to hear from me next week...between AP Tests (which was, btw, the Penguin Sub inspiration) and this...heh heh heh. Nebula Supernova Studios

Wait, belay part of that message....silly me didnt see that Carrara DCG Plugins, ha ha. Nebula Supernova Studios