Ten Years After - The Making of Dartanbeck.com

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  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited September 2020

    Did a bunch of editing and additions to the site lately. Just tonight added a new video.

    Dartanbeck.com

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    In fact, I've just started a new thread: Regarding Simulations.... with a demo video of the animations the above images were illustrating. Check it out!

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    I've done a Lot of work on the Carrara Info page

    ► Forum Help Links now also includes links to categories of Cripeman's Videos within Cripeman's Memorial

    Also started a Physics & Particles page as a resource for us all to learn from. As I explain, I'm fairly new to Physics and Particles in Carrara, so I put in what I know about as far as things to learn from. If you think I'm missing something, please let me know. 

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    I think I like the layout and organization so far - let me know what you think. It's hard to tell when it's my own, and I'm staring at it for long periods - and seeing it on my screen. If any of you have any advice, please feel free to let me know!

    I'll be expanding a lot on Dynamic Hair and will be adding Cloth Simulations and adding a bunch to it in the near future, along with video tutorials and demonstrations. Looking forward to that! :)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    Did a Lot of work on Fenric's page and updated some things throughout the Plugins pages, including adding a link to Fractal Dimensia's PySwarm

    Added a page to host and organize the wonderful video tutorials by my friend, GKDantas (Marcello Teixeira): GKDantas' Carrara Training Videos, but isn't finished yet

    Reorganized parts of Carrara Info for better flow - though I think I need to do more. We'll see. I do like how this particular page is turning out, however. Bummer that SciFi Funk's videos have all been taken down. I was going to remove the post links, but plan to see if I can get ahold of the videos through Steve - see if I could possibly host them?

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,712

    Bummer that SciFi Funk's videos have all been taken down. I was going to remove the post links, but plan to see if I can get ahold of the videos through Steve - see if I could possibly host them?

     

    wish people wouldn't do that, it costs nothing to leave stuff up on YouTubecrying

    mind you I get a lot of flack and feedback for removing my seriously crappy stuff blush

    Rosie looks lovely in her scifi suit heart

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Bummer that SciFi Funk's videos have all been taken down. I was going to remove the post links, but plan to see if I can get ahold of the videos through Steve - see if I could possibly host them?

     

    wish people wouldn't do that, it costs nothing to leave stuff up on YouTubecrying

    Yeah, I don't know why he did that. He put all of his energy (which was Awesome Energy!!!) into producing those and his episodes. Bummer.

     

    Bummer that SciFi Funk's videos have all been taken down. I was going to remove the post links, but plan to see if I can get ahold of the videos through Steve - see if I could possibly host them?

     

    Rosie looks lovely in her scifi suit heart

    Thanks! I really like it too! My foxy little Liquid Knight! heart

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Since there were still a Lot more videos to post to the page, I went back to the Index style of 'link to video' instead of posting each video as an asset of the page, which was already making the page too heavy. So here's the revised GKDantas' Carrara Training Videos page.

    As always, let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, etc.,

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    Thinking about changing the title of this thread to "Dartanbeck.com" or something similar(?)

    Waiting for renders, I did some more tweaks for readability - I hope folks like how it's turning out.

    At the same time I've added link cues to some of GKDantas' Carrara Training Videos in the Help Links section, like I did with Cripeman's. I think this will make it a Lot easier for folks to be able to self-help themselves through their questions about using Carrara - as well as give the guardians of the Carrara Discussion Forum some easier methods to help folks out. To help with all of this, I made it so that each of the main categories in the Help section have hyperlink functionality (hover around the right side of the subheading, right-click > copy link address) - so we can send folks directly to where they need to go. It's still in experimental phase so we'll see how it works out. Always happy to make changes when needed!

    Getting closer to launching more tutorial and demonstration videos, I also added (reluctantly) a small Donate page. I don't really have a facility to accept direct donations, so the page has ideas on how to show appreciation, for those who feel compelled.

    I hope it doesn't come across as sounding awkward. I tried not to! Several of my dear friends have been asking me to do something like this, so I hope it's as subtle as I wanted it to be. If you care to have a look, I'd appreciate any feedback on it - layout, wording, am I doing the right thing by having this?, etc.,

    New cover page image will be updated with the new Rosie soon

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    Testing...

    This Link should take us to the Carrara Features section in a new window

    Edit: Yep. Takes us right there! :)

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    edited October 2020

    So here on October 14th of 2020, this is how far Dartanbeck.com has come. I never imagined it would grow this big this quickly, but it still has a  l o n g  way to go to fulfill my original intention of being a CG Filmmaker's complete(ish) resource - mostly geared toward using Carrara, but with hopes that it'll also inspire users of other software as well. It's amazing what can be done with little time - It's often difficult for me to get to a computer for any length of time.

    Dartanbeck.com

    Dartanbeck.com Home - Kind of a blog of what's inside with recent events toward the top of the page, under the initial greeting

    Carrara Zone

    Carrara Zone - Currently mostly a landing page to hold all of the Carrara oriented pages, but will eventually also serve as a more Carrara-centric blog

    Carrara Info - A new Index for Carrara Information - features, guides, video links... this is meant to become a more cleanly placed and organized ►►► Carrara Information Manual ◄◄◄ sort of thing. It now houses a new Forum Help!!! Links index, but this time with Carrara Training videos from Cripeman and GKDantas, and will include my own as well.

    Carrara CG Workshop - In addition to being a landing page for all of the pages within, this page also explains the goal for this section

    • Story - It all begins with one of these, right?
    • Pacing and Rendering - A discussion regarding common film practices as well as render outputs for animations

    Pre-Production Phase

    Pre-Production Phase - The things we do to prepare for Production

    Scene (stage) Setup - Currently only has one offering: Volumetric Lighting, which is an early hybrid video/written article. It doesn't have much of a written version yet - but does include a Base Scene Download

    Character Setup - This seems to be my main interest lately, as it has quite a few articles. Don't worry, I'll be getting on to other stuff soon!

    • Introducing Rosie 5 - I needed to get something started to find a focus toward developing this web site. This was it
    • Making Rosie 5Developmental information on creating my main protagonist - to be developed further
    • Using Genesis in CarraraA work in progress that will explore many ways to use various Genesis generations within Carrara
    • Genesis Morph ReductionMy method of not only reducing the weight of a Genesis figure, but also the number of available sliders in the Parameters tab
    • Dynamic HairOne of the parts of the Hybrid Video/Written article for Introducing Rosie 5
    • EYEdeas 3+A look at using Arki's amazing 3D eyeballs! Another part of Introducing Rosie 5
    • Millennium TeethUsing third-party teeth to get what my character (Rosie 5) needed to complete her ultimate look. Another part of Introducing Rosie 5
    •  Character Transfer using NLAI often like to update/upgrade my character to a fresh base figure with a different set of morphs (often when I buy new ones) - here's how I transfer the shape over
    • Character DesignWith its Character Template Scene download, this video/article demonstrates how I build each of my characters, monsters, animals, etc., It also covers the basics of creating shaders for Genesis (or any other figure, for that matter)
    •  Modeling for GenesisA fresh look, rejuvenating an article I wrote here quite some time ago. The video I made then is still helpful in how to send models from Carrara into Daz Studio, rig them to conform to the intended figure, and save back into the library.

    Production Phase

    AnimatingThis is where my animation articles will continue. I placed some useful info in here to get it started

    •  Hybrid aniMationanother hybrid article I'm working on now. Currently contains much of the info from aniMating in Carrara
    • aniMate 2Daz Studio comes with a free version, but when we buy the full version we get some really great bonus features!

    DAZ ZONE

    DAZ ZONE - This is an exciting page full of my love for Daz 3D with a stroll back in time to when Genesis came out and then even further down is this wonderful video I posted years ago - Daz 3D as it was when I was an aspiring young PA here! (the face you see there is Kevin, who was my boss! :)  )

    Daz 3D Content - Mainly just a container/landing page

    • Daz 3D Bundles - A look at the amazing wealth of content to be found in Bundles at Huge savings
    • Genesis 1 ROCKS!!! - I really dig into what I love about this amazing figure generation
    • Victoria 4 - A look at what is still (by far) the absolute Most Supported 3D articulate human figure on the planet
    • Some Personal Favorites - Kind of the opposite of "Buy something that doesn't work", this is stuff that I love, and it does work! I'll be adding a LOT more to this one as I've only just begun
    • Carrara 8.5 Pro Content - This page shows the massive bundle that comes with Carrara 8.5 Pro. The price of Pro includes all of this plus Carrara Pro? Very Cool!

    Daz Studio - I've started this page to help gather information towards learning this amazing suite called Daz Studio. As I learn I'll be expanding this whole section, but I like this page now already. I update it when I can - several times so far.

    • Content Creation Tools - Oh Yeah! This is what I mostly use DS for now - and even in that I've only been scratching the surface!

    Platinum Club + Experience - It's amazing how much value we can get from this service if we check in often! Even with little internet time I've been able to really fill up my library over the years - and the yearly membership cost is tiny comparatively

    • PC+ Cloth Frenzy - I've only just started this page. Since I started using VWD and removing rigging from figures so that I can add/delete polygons, change domains, etc., stuff in the low-price range in the PC+ catalog looks great and is fun to model with! I am working on a tutorial on how I make the clothing into static prop objects and then model them to fit the morphed figure, then run them through VWD as if using them as conforming clothes. It's really neat!

    Do It In Post

    VFX Zone > Fusion - Movie Magic at its Finest! Hollywood-grade compositing software

    Editing Zone > DaVinci Resolve - This page contains the Resolve Training materials I'm using to learn this Hollywood-grade Non-Linear Editor - and the free version also includes Fusion, built right in! (along with Fairlight Audio and Resolve's high-end color corrector)

    • A Quick Look - This is my short demonstration of some of the techniques I used to create the "Introducing Rosie 5" video

    Gallery

    Gallery - This landing page also has a carousel of some of my images you've all seen before. The Still Images and Video pages are very much incomplete still

    Videos

    Still Images

    Inspiration

    Downloads

    Carrara EnvironKits

    Base Scenes

    The Software

    The Software - I've included most of what I'm currently using and more. I still have plenty of stuff to add though. HitFilm will be coming to this page, and getting its own but I haven't used in yet in my current workflow - but its coming! Some software is just linked to from this page, others have their own as well:

    • Cyberlink Software - Great setups for video production and a lot more. Philip Staiger (PD Howler) uses this to make his awesome videos
    • Autodesk - With as little time as I have to use software, this high-end stuff isn't the practical choice. But when you want to go pro....
    • PD Howler - Oh yeah!!! My favorite image editor to date!
    • Particle Illusion - amazing particle effects simulator/recorder, now from Boris

    Whew! So that's the current list of pages. While a few of them are rather bare, currently just containers or landing pages, they have a lot of content in the works for them and the other pages are looking pretty cool, I think. 

    ...and some of my Carrara forum friends have asked my to put up a "Donate" button of some sort, so I reluctantly made a Donate page. I don't really have a method for taking donations, as such, so I offer some examples there ;)

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    As you all know, apart from using it to help get things set up for use in Carrara, I am still relatively naive to Daz Studio. So I've been building the initial pages for Daz Studio to help myself and others to learn great ways to make use of this extraordinary suite we have before us. Since the main Studio page has grown so much, I've made a mini map to get directly to certain parts quickly:

    Daz Studio Page Quick Map

    I also have a special page for using Daz Studio for creating content: Content Creation Tools

    Also check out my Modeling for Genesis page

    see my PC+ Cloth Frenzy - buying clothes has never been so affordable - or nearly as versatile!

    I've also updated the Daz Studio page with the new Unity Bridge and added a really cool video I found of my friend, Solomon trying out the new updated Daz to Blender Bridge and just loving it - which is very refreshing and cool since he's just starting out in Blender!

    I might just have to sneak in some time to have a new look (again) at Blender. Not to switch or anything...!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    New cover page image will be updated with the new Rosie soon

    It looks like I'll be starting from scratch as this scene appears to be missing (transferring to new computer)

    No biggie. I'll make it better this time! wink

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026

    Starting from scratch = Ouch.

    But any excuse to prod you to use more Xerr!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    Diomede said:

    Starting from scratch = Ouch.

    But any excuse to prod you to use more Xerr!

    It'll be fun! It's just Badlands with Etaiji Pass plunked in and optimized. Then drive the B.A.W. in there at a pretty good clip, to keep up with Rosie and Xerr, bring it al to a rest and render the frame that works for me! ;)

  • DesertDudeDesertDude Posts: 1,234

    Site is looking great Dartanbeck. Thanks again for your tireless cataloguing of all these information resources for Carrara and all your own contributions and explanations. Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  smiley yes

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Site is looking great Dartanbeck. Thanks again for your tireless cataloguing of all these information resources for Carrara and all your own contributions and explanations. Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  smiley yes

    Thanks DesertDude! It feels great to be appreciated! smiley

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    gah you been super busy - I missed so much - looking forward to saturating myself with this thread and your site

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    Headwax said:

    gah you been super busy - I missed so much - looking forward to saturating myself with this thread and your site

    Me too! I try to play catch-up when I can, but so much of what's been going on in this forum has slipped by.

    I am starting to get times when I can actually delve in now, so I'm digging deeper and exploring what I've been missing out on. It's going to be a lot of fun updating the new Forum Help Links with newer subjects - and newer actually goes back quite a ways! LOL

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    So far, beyond the main pages

    I still have tweaking to do on this - especially the articles and wb layout, but there's also a lot more topics to come!

    Introducing Rosie 5

    This is the project, whose completion gave me the material and inspiration to finally launch this site!

    This is the beginning of an experiment I'm conducting for a hybrid video/written article system to help folks along in a more relaxed, interactive kind of way.

    Instead of a single support article for this video, there's a whole list of them - so you can explore as much or as little as you'd like!

    Character Design in Carrara 01

    Now let's take a look at how I always begin my characters in Carrara.

    This lesson isn't about picking out shapes or styles. It all begins with a Character Template scene that I use so the lighting is the same for every character or creature that I create.

    It all follows these same simple steps in the beginning, and then we tweak them until we've got it just right!

    Simulation Test Renders

    Less than a minute, this video simply compiles a few simulation tests using Carrara 8.5 Pro's Dynamic Hair and VWD Cloth and Hair software for the clothing dynamics.

    Volumetric Lighting

    Let's put together a quick foreboding environment for our character to become trapped in.

    Oh, and let's give it some really cool volumetric lighting to really set that mood!!!!

    If that's not enough, we'll use PD Howler to make an animated gel for the volumetric lights, so the fog changes over time!

    A Quick Look at DaVinci Resolve

    And finally we'll step into DaVinci Resolve and blend our animated renders along a timeline to make a movie.

    In this episode I show the very basic steps I used in DaVinci Resolve and Fusion within it to create what we see and hear in "Introducing Rosie 5"

    Much much more to come!

    See the full current site map Here, or simply use the navigation menu to explore!

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited October 2020

    Wow, Dart, your page rocks!

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    Diomede said:

    Wow, Dart, your page rocks!

    Thanks, my friend! It's an honor to hear that! smiley

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    I have been rather busy and have not been having much time for any computer work un less Im at Work so it has been wonderful to see the energy that you are putting back into this now that you are back.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    I have been rather busy and have not been having much time for any computer work un less Im at Work so it has been wonderful to see the energy that you are putting back into this now that you are back.

    Thanks Man! How's your daughter doing in her studies, or is that a career now?

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,693
    Diomede said:

    Wow, Dart, your page rocks!

    Thanks, my friend! It's an honor to hear that! smiley

    I always go to your site before I come here now. It's full of treasures!

    bravo,

    --ms

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    mindsong said:
    Diomede said:

    Wow, Dart, your page rocks!

    Thanks, my friend! It's an honor to hear that! smiley

    I always go to your site before I come here now. It's full of treasures!

    bravo,

    --ms

    MS, Thank you so much! Very much appreciated!!! 

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    For anyone who just has a terrible time getting shaders working on your figures, I've written an entry-level shaders course for Carrara - based on very basic figure shaders.

    Character Shader Basics

    I'll be following up on this one getting a bit more advanced. I figured that a series of digestable articles is better than trying to get someone new to the game into all that Carrara's Texture Room has to offer in one go.

    For those who may need help before this is all written, my Character Design Course takes us further into material options and setting along with lights and other considerations. As always, if you have any immediate issue that I might be able to help with, let me know!

    Character Design in Carrara 01

    Here's the video portion

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    It can be frustrating trying to improve dynamic hair results with only a few short hours per week. Looking forward to one of my longer weeks coming up soon here.

    So here's an older version of the hair that I really liked. I'm a little on-the-fence about going back to this style

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    ...and here's a version of the latest changes on a newer design

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    The newer one has a lot more potential for realism, but I'm still not sure if 'realism' is what I want. Hmmm....

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