Are there many plugin developers left? I have a challenge/request.
dbdigital2
Posts: 270
After seeing many great plugins vanish from the store (and kick myself for not getting them when I had the chance), got me thinking how many developers are left? I know there are a couple as I see a few threads talking about one or two still in development which is WONDERFUL as I doubt very much Daz will be releasing a Carrara update (at least in the near future if ever), I think we have to rely on plugins update Carrara. Which got me thinking. One update I really really would like to see done is adding support for the Connexion3d mouse. Daz Studio has it, Hexagon has it, and when I asked Daz a while back they seemed receptive to adding it, but now I doubt it will ever be done.
So my question is, could this be done in a plugin? I know I certainly would buy it. Any other fellow Carrara users out there that would like to see this done and know of a developer that might be interested in the project?
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maybe you could email sparrowhawke or prescribe to his patreon plan ? what is the advantage of that mouse by the way?
I would hardly know where to begin with support for a 3D mouse. The Software Development Kit (SDK) allows us to write compatible plugins and Carrara is coded with specific sockets for where we can plugin new things into, the obvious ones being shaders, modifiers up to render engines. These are all existing predetermined types and when Carrara is loaded it looks in the \extensions folder and can identify the files and where to plug a plugin into. Scene Command plugins can initiate all sorts of actions when you choose from the menu or hit the hot key and are a good way to prise into things and fix them - a good example would be to hide all the bones of a figure. Scene commands are a good replacement for having scripting in Carrara. Other devs who like Python are able to use that to interface between other applications and Carrara. There is a lot that plugins can do.
It would be great to be able to add new tools to the main toolbar, I've tried that, but without the directions, instructions or sample code it's all really hacking and guesswork. With modifiers and wireframes some mouse tracking and response is possible but it's all done through the SDK functions. If the 3D mouse support was added to the more recent (unexpected) release of Hexagon then there is some hope the developers might return to Carrara and just tweak it a bit but that eternal hope is springing eternal...
The 3d mouse in this case (also called a Space Navigator) is a cap that you can turn/pull/twist all at once to navigate in a 3d space easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iyok24kIDk is the best example I found in a minute of searching. While I wouldn't say it is like "touching" your model, it makes navigating so much easier and faster. Not that there is a problem with Carrara, but think of it as a Ponitac vs a Lamborgini. Both are nice cars, but the ladder can go a lot faster. I have used one for years and it really makes a difference in moving around in the 3d space. Rather than having to move and reposition 3 or 4 times a normal mouse, all I have to do is grab the cap and 2 seconds later I am where I want to be. In Daz Studio at least, I find Carrara is much better in that regard.
Sparrow, thanks for responding and sounds like it is possible but not without examples. Guess I will have to keep hoping (but doubt it will happen at this point).
Headwax and Sparrowhawke
Well I looked up the ticket I had opened a couple of years ago when the last Carrara update had come out asking about adding support for the 3D mouse by 3DConnexion and at the time they seemed very receptive and made it sound like it might make it into the next update. I added a new message to the ticket (which was still open) saying I would still love to see this feature. And if the development team couldn't fit it in, could it be done by a Plugin Developer? I also mentioned I had talked with one and they said they would need instructions or sample code (perhaps both).
The response was not anything a Carrara fan wanted to hear. They said Carrara is not in development and their focus is on Daz Studio, Hexagon and the Genesis product line. Then they passed the link to the SDK on CarraraCafe, which kind of surprised me it wasn't a link to on Daz.com. And closed the ticket. Now considering before they always left such feature request tickets open, it gave a feeling of finality to the situation (like a slamed door in the face). They were polite and all, so I guess you could say it was a quiet shut. But a closed and locked door nontheless.
It is kind of strange though, with one of their focus being Genesis, why don't they want to at least add compatiblity to the later generations to Carrrara? After all it is one of their priorities. Oh well, guess I will scratch that dream off the list. :( Sparrow, I am very glad you and other plugin developers are still around, at least there will be some enhancements/additions to Carrara even if Daz has abandonded it. If was a coder, I would take a crack at it, just to see if it was possible.
I wish they could open up more of the source code or whatever is needed to third parties and also allow offsite commercial links pertaining to Carrara,
I can understand them not wanting to spend money and resources on it when DAZ studio is their cash cow.
They are a business.
That doesn’t mean people will not still use their content in Carrara and buy DAZ content as well as use Carrara, I for one certainly do, some of it actually works BETTER In Carrara,
I had an over the top set that sent Iray to CPU with it’s 8K textures I was going to return but Carrara rendered quite easily with the Octane plugin for example,
DAZ studio never could cope with the texture sizes Carrara could even in the native engines V 3Delight.
They have people willing to do stuff to improve Carrara at no cost to them that can only increase their bottom line even if it’s keeping people willing to create content as some PA’s actually use it as part of their workflow, PhilW, Tango Alpha being two who openly do, there well may be others.
So providing more code can only be good for them surely?
Wendy I couldn't agree more. Why they don't want to add Genesis support for the latest figures or relese code to allow others to do it is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is they don't think it is even worth their time for that for what they would get out of it. It would still take time checking to make sure what code they are releasing works, and isn't too much, or treads on other licences etc. It is also strange they want to have Hexagon on the upper side of their support list and yet GIVE the program away, when Carrrara is better and we paid for it. It is a bit of a head-scratcher to put it mildly.
3drendero Very interesting link. I have had a 3d mouse for several years, and back at the beginning they had a nice configuration aspect to create your own XML files for different applications. A kind of roll your own driver. They took that out and went with the idea to have developers add support for their mouse.instead. I always thought that was crazy considering there are a lot of people that would want to use programs that couldn't have native support added for one reason or another. I did look around in their fourms before posting here, but nothing about this was mentioned at all. And there were still people asking how to make this program or that program compatible. The driver I had was older, but updating hasn't made any difference that I can see. I still can't control Carrara or see a way to change the configuration to make it work. Perhaps I am missing something.
If they are linking to Carrara Cafe for it you have to wonder if they even have it!
Or the source code
.
they lost all the old archive freebies after all
.
Pixar even managed to accidentally scrub all the files to Toy Story when they had almost finished it, luckily an employee had made a copy to work from home so anything is possible.
Well they lost the old archive freebies awhile ago, I doubt they would have lost the source code to Carrara. Now if the last update was from back then, yep i agree very possible. But I doubt it since they did the update 2 years ago? I agree though it is really werid they pointed me to CarraraCafe for the SDK. Regardless I am sure they will never release the source code (or at least all of it). I have no doubt they would see that as giving away their properity information that could be used against them (someone creating a better product than what they have and putting a dent in their sales). While I disagree in the same way does Blender hurt their sales? Nope.
By the way, never knew about Pixar losing the files to Toy Story. Makes sense though back in the day, now they tend to have backups that are funneled out to a secure offsite location automatically and I suspect Daz does the same thing.
oops it actually was Toy Story 2 but here is a video about it
Very interesting but a couple of things that stand out to me from the comentator:
1. Animated films take a long time to make, especially back then..." And he goes on to list all the people involved. Ummm it is the same today lol. Nothing has changed. Kind of a flag to look at the rest of the account with more scrutiny.
2. "Nowadays these things exist in the cloud." Ummm being that they had to call a different location to either shut down the server or to do a restore, makes one thing it IS the cloud. The definition of "the cloud" is a server/client system. That is what they had. Otherwise they wouldn't be calling somewhere with an "operator" who then had to direct them to "systems"
3. "Somebody typed a delete command..." Well a couple of things there. Only a superuser could have that kind of access, and in general the only ones with that kind of access know Linux/Unix inside and out. Not to mention such access to the server should have been logged. Unless that was deleted with the other files, which seems unlikely to me. They must have known who did it, only a very few would have had that kind of access AND the logs should have said who anyway. But I suppose it could be they didn't want to ruin the person responseable, although I suspect they were fired at the very least.
4. "Well uh the backups haven't been working for the past month..." Now this is kind of odd if I am hearing it right and he says "month". Now if Gaylin had worked on the project from home "earlier that year" wouldn't that mean her backup is OLDER than the one the IT had? Unless she was updating that backup even though she wasn't working on it from home which would be unlikely. Or the backup in IT was hosed when "hasn't been working for..." occured.
Regardless, I am glad they got it going, but the whole thing raises questions. Either with the account in the book or the comentaor is wrong on.
Just a badly made video
if you google it you will find numerous actual news stories and articles about it
I didn’t learn of it from that video, I read it in Apple or Microsoft news most likely on my iPad it may have been an Apple article in my gmail subscription even
the guy who actually started the deletion was Ed Catmull BTW THE Ed Catmull
Oh I didn't doubt it happened just some of the info that was presented made me wonder if all the facts were right. I also started looking elesewhere to check.
Ed did it?? LOL! It makes sense then why he didn't mention the full detales in his book (at least according to the video). Or why he didn't get fired. Also explains how the access happened, he would of course have full superuser access. Sounds like a typo rather than someone issuing a command when not understanding the system.