Is Carrara able to read poser files?
RitaCeleste
Posts: 625
I am planning to join the PC and use Daz Studio for a bit before I invest in Carrara. I have looked at Blender but I didn't want to learn it and then switch to Carrara later. The problem comes in because I can only invest in one generation of models for quiet awhile. My budget is very limited. I see older hair that isn't made for the G2s. There may even be an outfit or two I'd want. Sometimes the files are for Poser only. So my question is with Carrara, could I use the old Poser files in Carrara? Could I then make the item fit my models and learn to re-rig it? I like longer hair models and they don't always go threw auto fit great I hear. I also want to learn to make morphs. I'm not confident that I will ever be making my own models from scratch, but I do think I could learn to edit models others make. I'd have to save up for Carrara and there are plenty of things that will work as is Daz Studio for now. But I'm curious. Poser's only new feature I like is the new fitting room, and it would seem I could actually do this and a lot more in Carrara. Am I missing something? If Carrara can use poser files and daz studio files, it would open up the content I could buy. If I could fit an item to a model and make it work on the G2s I want to use, well that's something Poser's fitting room can't do no matter what.
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I'm not sure I understand all the aspects of your question, but I think the basic answer is yes, Carrara handles Poser content very nicely. Carrara's browser links directly to external folders, including those with Poser "Runtime" directories. So there is no "import" command required, the items just show up in the browser and can be dragged into the scene. The first folder I add in Carrara's browser when I put it on a new machine is the large "Runtime" folder that comes with Poser. This includes a large collection of all the various Poser elements (figures, hair, poses, etc.), such as some DAZ figures like M4 and V4 (I think I use Poser 7, not on that machine right now). In fact, I don't use Poser at all anymore, since Carrara can do almost everything Poser does, plus handles large scenes much better. To me, the reason to buy Poser is simply to get the runtime for Carrara.
Does it need poser's runtime as opposed to just the files arranged as they would be in a runtime? A lot of the old poser files are zip files with where they would go in the poser runtime. Would that kind of file work without buying Poser? I'm trying avoid buying Poser. I like that Carrara looks like a tool I could just upgrade to and work with for everything. No learning Blender, mastering Bryce, and moving from program to program. How does the scene creation features compare with Bryce? I have noticed the Darkworld product for Carrara and the other scenes for Carrara look really nice. Its something I would have to save up for, but Carrara looks like a much better deal than Poser. And even though Blender is free, it seems like Carrara would save me a lot of time when working with Daz files and figures.
The short and broad answer is yes, Carrara will open Poser Content. The latest version of Carrara (8.5) was mostly about adding support for Genesis and DAZ Studio files. However, there are always exceptions. Check out Fenric's store. He sells plugins for Carrara that are aimed at using poser content in Carrara. Search for his website as well. You may want to lurk the Hexagon forum as well as folks sometimes use that program to make morphs and clothing for DAZ Studio content. DAZ is selling Hexagon 2.5 for around $20 ($13 with PC club) and was developed by Evoia, the previous owners of Carrara. Hex is focused on vertex modeling and Carrara is more of a Suite, but if you started learning Hex for content adjustment then switched to Carrara I don't think you would have wasted your time. I think the main drawback to Hexagon is that there has been no development for a long time, and there are some stability issues. Hex users could probably elaborate.
Good luck
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Download and install the free DAZ Studio 4.6 and when you purchase Carrara 8.5 it comes with tons of DAZ 3D content such as Victoria and Michael 5. The DAZ Studio installation will created all the proper directories such as runtime folder for the DAZ 3D content etc. There are many things you can do in Carara from particles, volumetric clouds, plants, terrains, modeling, dynamic hair, light effects and so much more.
Great! I will spend some time learning with Hexagon. I got it and Bryce last year for free. I was able to find some great tutorials at geeksatplay. I had decided at that time that it was too expensive of a hobby. This year I came to the conclusion this was something I still wanted to do. The G2s were out, Daz 4.6 was free. I will spend some time getting the figures and content together and learning. Carrara is a huge temptation but I need to get together the basics and learn some basics. If I save up the money over time it won't hit me quiet so hard. I want to do this right and own the programs and products I use. So since I'm feeling like being all proper about it, I won't try to get my daughter an "educational" copy of Poser, I'll save up and get Carrara. I think the best way for me to start out is to get the morphs for the G2's, buy products designed to work with the G2s, and use the PC to get some cheap environments to put them in. The free and affordable products have lured me in and I am ready to get started!!! Thanks for taking the time to share a bit about Carrara and that modeling in Hexagon is good training for using it. I really didn't want to learn Blender when what I really wanted was Carrara. Hexagon looked easier to use than Blender too. I'm nervous about 3d modeling, when I draw things come out lopsided. But I will give it a shot before I commit to a big purchase. I couldn't even get started without Daz making so much software available for free or almost free. I've drooled over products for years but when it was, "Hey you'll need Poser, Vue, Maya, Corel Painter and Photoshop!" I couldn't do it at all. Now with Gimp, Bryce, Hexagon, and Daz Studio, I can really try this. To tell the truth, I feel like buying Carrara at some point is the least I can do in return.
I was in the same frame of mind as you, when I first found Carrara. I couldn't believe my eyes - as it has seemed impossible to find software like this before. Something that can work with Poser and DS content, while also being a modeler, it's a dream come true.
I know how to model, but it takes a lot of time - and I wanted to spend more of my time arranging and rendering than modeling, yet I wanted to have the modeling capabilities for, as you've said, tweaking and making morphs. Carrara is amazing at this stuff. I'm not sure what you mean by G2 - if you're talking about Poser models, I guess some of the latest ones with Poser weight mapping might not work so well in Carrara. But I think G2 was from Poser 7 or 8, and might be just fine. However, DAZ 3D's Generation 4 models, like Michael 4 and Victoria 4 and their expansive range of shapes, textures and other support products, are amazingly great to work with in Carrara. Ringo (above) is doing a lot of work with Genesis and the Genesis 2 models - which require the latest Carrara 8.5, and are exceptional models.
The PC Membership was my first stop. I had saved and saved (actually my wife did that part for me), and wanted to place one big order. So I started with the Platinum Club for a year. That came with a bunch of cool free stuff, so I got that stuff all taken care of right away. What a blast! Now that my account shown me as a PC member, I ordered the rest. Lots of great stuff! I have invested so much heart and soul into M4 and V4 characters in Carrara, that I'm actually being a little slow about getting into the newer Genesis stuff. Besides, there's a lot more long hair for V4 and M4 than for anything else right now anyways.
Being a PC member has allowed me to build a really sweet library of 'this' and 'that's over the years. Lots of hair, costumes, scenery props, vehicles, gadgets.... Some of the stuff even came free! But the PC 1.99 product list is huge and it has saved me so much that my wife and I have determined that I'll be a PC member for the rest of my life - for the most part.
Since Genesis, PC has offered some amazing products for outfitting that figure, and now for Genesis 2 as well. Knowing that I would be upgrading to Carrara 8.5 as soon as it was released, like I did, I decided to collect this and that for Genesis, even before I actually started using it much. This worked out great. Now I have Genesis 1, which is male or female or monster or... and a whole slew of clothes and hair for it. Now my collecting begins for Genesis 2. I still collect items for V4 and M4 too, since they are such excellent models, I think I might just keep using them with the new ones.
My decision to go to Carrara is now considered to be my favorite software purchase to date. I find it to be easier than Poser and DAZ Studio. And since I can set up the render engine to be really fast, that speed makes things easier too. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot more to Carrara than the others. It seems it can do anything! But when using it like Poser or DS, it works the same way, somewhat, and is very easy to use. Great interface. The more advanced stuff is not a burden at all. It doesn't sit there in front of you in the interface, standing in your way. There really isn't anything daunting about using Carrara's interface. It's very friendly. When you decide to use physics, you'll do it, which will offer you the controls you need. Until then, the stuff that makes it work is completely out of your way. When you want to work on textures, you'll amaze at how cool the Texture room is. Most everything in Carrara is easy to do, and easy to learn. Yet you may still jump into some incredibly complex situations as well, if that's what you like. It caters to us all.
Somethings I wanted were on sale today. So when I was checking out it said save this much extra by adding the PC to it. I added a year subscription but some kind of discount seemed to be applied. I'm scared to death the price I got my order at is all a mistake. But if its really right, OMG! I hope this wasn't some kind of mistake, it seriously looks too good to be true though. If there was a mistake, will they let me know? Do I need to write a ticket or something?
I think others have answered your question, but just to confirm, the Poser program is not required to use Poser content in Carrara. The Poser compatible products I buy simply set up a "runtime" file in the proper structure. I do not put them in one big runtime, but keep them all separate so I can add them to (and remove them from) Carrara's browser as needed. So my Poser content collection is one (very large) directory with a zillion folders like "DAZ Never Was", "Renderosity Movie Set", etc., all of which have "runtime" subdirectories. When you add one of them to Carrara's browser, the folder name is what shows up, e.g. "DAZ Never Was", with subdirectories for "Props", "Poses", etc.
It's easier to do than explain. It just works like you'd expect, and was a great breakthrough for Carrara when the Poser support was added.
And BTW, Howie Farkes Carrara products are great, since there is no chance of a Poser import problem (they are generally *.car files, just load them directly or add to the Carrara browser, no "runtime" directory involved). An example of a Poser import problem is a texture that may need adjustment (the shininess is usually too high), but even for that, Fenric has a Carrara plugin that helps a lot.
Wait since I joined Platinum Club it shows the price of Carrara 8.5 Pro at like $172! Is this a one day sale, or will that price maybe wait until next month? It says its 69% off, is it like a one day only sale? I just spent money on the PC and I'm trying to recover from xmas. I would need to wait a month or maybe two to come up with that, But I can get it a lot quicker than I thought if that price hangs around.
Nobody can make that guarantee but DAZ, but... yeah! That's the price you'll be paying as a PC member. There is currently a promotion on Carrara that was supposed to end some time ago, but DAZ has been extending it and nobody seems to know for how long.
If you think that DAZ made a mistake on your order, send them a ticket with your order number attached - they'll look at your order for you.
Welcome to PC! I love buying DAZ models - so I have saved hundreds of dollars, maybe more. And my collection is growing and growing - making it so much easier when it comes to making a scene.
While Genesis2 autofit is not currently working in Carrara, The Genesis 1 autofit seems to work pretty well. In addition, you can buy the other figures (like M4) for Genesis and then you can Autofit clothing for THOSE models to Genesis 1 in Carrara. for example, I own M4 for Genesis 1. When I drag my old M4 clothing onto Genesis 1 it asks me what model it is from and what type of clothing it is. So I tell it M4 and Shirt and it fits just fine. I HOPE this functionality becomes available for Genesis 2 as well, but we had to wait for over a year for it to work for genesis 1, so I'm not holding my breath.