dbuchter - 02 January 2013 09:24 AM
evilproducer - 30 December 2012 01:47 PM
Rashad Carter - 30 December 2012 11:48 AM
It’s nice to wish for all the bells and whistles in another program. The grass is also always greener on the other side of the fence. If Howie can make photo-real or near photo real atmospheres, terrains, etc. in Carrara then maybe it’s time for those that wish Carrara had this or that feature or enhancement to actually learn how to use the tools it has.
Amen.
The quality of work that Howie (and some others) produce comes from hard work. There is a lot of completely horrible renders that come from Maya and equivalents.
Howie (and others) prove that Carrara can do a lot, which it can when you spend the time and effort.
Somehow the quote above got attributed to me, but I did not write it.
What I will say is that the fact that there are so few Carrara users who push it as far as Howie and a few others indicates a potential problem.
Yes, Carrara can do amazing things, but can it do so easily? Sure, Howie knows how to model, light, and construct a naturalistic looking scene. He cannot be alone. So either no one else in the Carraraverse has an interest in building landscapes, or, its not nearly as easy as it should be and therefore only a select few can accomplish it.
Ease of use speaks highly for a software. Just how long would it take me today to become the next Howie Farkes in Carrara? Probably a very long time. Clearly, Howie is the key. But aside from hiring Howie to make all of my scenes for me, how can I do my part to help showcase the power of Carrara?
And when it comes to features, let me remind people of something. I for instance, use Bryce primarily. it can do incredible things, at least for myself and a few others. As sweet as it is its interface and lack of features make certain tasks very challenging if not impossible. Features, are not the enemy. Features tend to unlock creative potential held within an individual.
If you want to make a realistic human, but you dont have SSS in your feature set, then you will have to resort to all sort of photoshop magic (which is usually cheating by my book), which defeats the purpose of trying to become masterful with the software.
So ,yes, we as individuals need to take more responsibility and start producing more amazing stuff to showcase Carrara. Believe me, if there were 5 or 6 Howie Farkes type people building products for Carrara it would give new users the idea that reaching that level of expertise is likely for the masses. But the current situation appears that only a few will ever reach that level.
Many of the best Carrara users are also well versed in other, high end applications. This gives them experience, and even a sense of vocabulary which is useful.
So,, for a software to impress we need to see two things.
1. What can it do in the hands of a novice?
2.. What can it do in the hands of a pro?
This is the question.
