Happy 13th Anniversary of Daz doing nothing with Carrara  

Totally my husband's fault. In November 2009, I saw my then boyfriend creating these 3D graphic characters. He loved one called Aiko as he loves anime. I thought it looked cool so he sent me a link to this site called daz3d. At that time I think you could get the base prgram free (it was a long time ago) but if you wanted the Pro version you had to buy it. He told me there was lots of freebie content. He did warn me though. He said "like any good drug the first taste is free" and laughed. I had just missed the October sale. Within a month I became monthly Daz+ subscriber which switched to yearly in March when they offered a decent discount. I bought the Pro version then too. I spend way too much here but I love dabbling. I'm 66 and still working full time so I don't get to play as much as I would like to but I am retiring from my day job as of February 1, 2027 and hope to spend more time on my hobbies. Doing the things I love instead of the things I need to to pay the bills. My husband still uses Daz but doesn't spend anywhere near what I do and creates even less. He is a big fan of what I can do and I am not nearly as talented as some others here but I enjoy it. My Mum is an artist and I have what my sister calls the art gene. I also have Bryce, Hexagon, Carrara and Poser 13 which I dabble in but Daz was the first one I learned and therefore the one I tend to fall back on.

Saw Poser 1 advertised in a 3D mag or other mag ... it was beyond my price range at the time..1996 or so. Kept reading the mags and tried different software... then one day I was at one of those huge mega outlet malls and went into a software shop, and there in the software clearance bin was a copy of Poser 1 for $29. I snagged it. I still have it. Stuck with P4 for a very long time, using V1,2,3,4. I also found Vista Pro, then Bryce, Ray Dream Studio (Carrara). and several others. I loved the interface of Metacreations products. Kai Krause was the designer.  I mainly plodded along, as I still do today. 

I was in Totsuka, Japan serving in the US Navy at the Telecommunications Station they had there, where a colleague introduced me to Poser 1.0 when he learned I was looking for some 3D applications for my personal computer. It was by Fractal Designs back then. From there, I branched out to their Ray Dream Studio, and also Bryce by Mojo  I've been following their products through upgrades and evolution ever since.

I did feel that RDS was superior to the early versions of Carrara, and I was only forced to fully go with Carrara when my first computer finally died and I was unable to reinstall RDS onto my replacement machine. Throughout it all, I was acquiring tons of models from Zygote.

When Zygote became DAZ, I tried the DAZ Studio and had a hard time adjusting to the new UI vs how Poser did theirs. But eventually, I became used to it--only years later of being on DS so much, I'm finding the Poser UI feels rather clunky now!  Then I lost my access to Carrara when I tried to add an Adessa writing tablet to my system because the Adessa drivers were incompatible with Carrara. That disaster forced me to pick up Blender, and I quickly picked up on how powerful and great Blender is! Eventually, the Carrara/Adessa conflicts were finally fixed and I was able to start using Carrara again, but I haven't gone back to it because Blender is so much better. I've also got Hexagon & Pegasus, but I've rarely have needed to use them.

So far,  my highest use apps are DS & Blender, and I LOVE how transferring between them has become so much easier in recent years!!

I got Carrara 5 on a magazine cover disc

went to the Evocia site and was redirected to DAZ3D

it was 2009

I had a crappy Dell laptop that really couldn't run DAZ Studio

so I used Carrara, Which I upgraded to 7 in 2010 with the DAZ book, Figures, Characters and Avatars  then also bought Poser7

didn't really use D|S until 4 as that didn't crash loading everything 

I actually started out as an iClone3 user late 2008 as Reallusian Crazytalk came bundled on my laptop so went to their site once I got internet

Got Poser about 23 years ago and started with V3. Used Bryce and Carrara even before Daz aquired them. Also did a bit in Vue back then.
I had a store in Rendo with another account 20 years ago for a short time, but my main job consumed me and i had to abandon it.

Started to change to Cinema 4D with Daz content, but left it as well, when they started with their yearly maintenance fee.

Changed to Blender and will use my huge Daz library there with Diffeomorphic and by enhancing/modifying the content. As this is still a hobby, this will take some time until I reach some goals.

Back in the early 2000s, I was on a couple of forums dedicated to the Star Wars Roleplaying games and became online friends with several other members. One of them did some character portraits and got me interested in DS. That would have been DS2 & not long before Victoria 4 debuted. I think I must have had the worst learning curve in the history of 3D art.  Fortunately, my friend was willing to spend a lot of time teaching me over the internet. I used Carrara for several years as well, but got away from it when I started using G3 more. While Daz said G3 & Carrara were compatible, in truth some G3 items didn't work in it. 

Health update - Gastroscopy

Nothing serious or nasty found, so not about to drop off my perch yet !!!

Did find something that I will have to chat to my GP about, but other than that - good news !

Now to start on working about getting that replacement computer so I can get back to Carrara again ......

It's time for a new RRRR Render Contest!

The theme for this round is Turn the tide - The  challenge of making the best of a bad situation. Something went south, but how was it turned into something better, like the classic when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
RRRR stands for Random Runtime Roulette Renders, and it's a contest that has been running for over twelve years now, on and off. We invite anyone to enter, specially all those new users who have shown up the past years. This is not the usual make a very nice render contest but more like tell a really great story, often fun, with your render!

How does it work?
Make your pull of 4 items, and if your any Lucky Bastards, you pull one extra item per LB.

Who can play?

Anyone can play!

How do you prepare yourself for play?

The rules are very simple, but first you need to have all your items in some kind of order in a text file, dumped from the itemized history into a text file or a spread sheet. Remove things like software, gift certs, and special plugins from the list and items that wil not work with the software you work with.
 For example if you have items for Poser, Bryce or Carrara, and want to use DAZ Studio, remove those other items from your list. If you have loads of older figures, M3, M4, a ton of non Iray stuff and you only want to use Studio with Iray, remove all the junk from you list. 

Then you use a randomizer to randomly pick items from your list (your Runtime/My Library) for your start pull . You can use items from any store. Now build a scene with those 4 items plus any other items you want to add to make a fun scene. For newcomers I heartly recommend looking at the previous contests below to get ideas how you can do this. 

Working randomizer:: https://www.random.org/integers

There are some situations where you allowed to redraw, these are:


- You pulled something that doesn’t work, broken thing, only works in a version / software not used etc etc, or you forgot to remove that item from you list even though you knew it wont work, or figure that out later.
- You pulled a software or add-on to a software or anything you should have filtered out from the list.
- You pulled only huge environment props and will not be able to render a scene without crashing.
- You pulled an item you already have been using in two RRRR renders in this content and that was picked randomly. Three is a curse - rule!

Lucky Bastard Rule!
I say this again: If you have Lucky Bastards, you pull one extra item for each LB you have, simple as that. 
Explaination of Lucky Bastards. 
Lucky Bastards, or LBs, are a form of handicap system which makes the contest a little more difficult for those who have won.

Current Lucky Bastards Standings

How to play?
You pull, you compose and you Render. You post your images and pulls in this thread (Don't miss that, entries without pulls and posts in this thread will be disqualified!!).
Then the entry should also be posted in the Entries only thread.

Bundles
If you pull a bundle, use two or three complete items from it, or more if you like, but you do not need to use all, but only picking a hairpin from Victoria 8 Pro Bundle is “too little”. Clarification: A bundle still counts as only one pulled item.

Poses, Expressions and textures/colors
If you pull a pose pack, an expression pack or a texture/color pack, you only need to use one of them, not all. For example if you pull 500 expressions for Genesis 8 Female, use one, if you pull 128 colors for Frappe Hair, use one.
Accidenty breaking the TOS
If your entry is removed by the forum mods because it accidentally, not deliberate, broke the TOS, you do not have to redo that entry but can move on and make a new pull. 

The rules of madness! 
Now you have successfully and randomly picked your items, make a scene, you can add other items as well but the one you picked should be prominent or cleverly used. Render it, post it and make us all laugh! Remember though that the renders must follow the TOS of the forum. As we have a theme on the contest, the render should in some way touch that theme. 

The contest categories! 
There are two categories Best and Funniest. Every image will compete in both categories.

Contest duration!
It starts now at Friday August 7 - 2026, and will go on until Sunday September 27 2026 at 23:59:59 local DAZ time. 

This months sponsors so far:
Totte (Code 66) is sponsoring with two items from his store
Dartanbeck is sponsoring with items from his store

We want more sponsors!

Do you want to sponsor the RRRR?
Please chip in a gift card sponsorship, sponsors can play, they should play, they are even extra encouraged to play, as sponsors always plays for keeps.

Maximum number of entries? 
For this round it will be a maximum of 12 entries per player.

So, good luck and start your render engines!

Leave my file structure alone!

(Insert long string of curse words).

They have moved my GMIC data. Argh. 

Yo, One Drive, You Suck!!!!!

I can get it for 29.22 with 2 tokens as well

and will when I get paid tomorrow 

the size of the voxels are adjustable 

one can crumble buildings 

turn vampires to dust

like Carrara modifiers

WendyLuvsCatz said:

since the original image was removed and RH refered to Powerloader

I had no idea what dsa was being refered to

hence my less than helpful post

its simply a DAZ studio native format like duf is for later versions 

can be for many things including poses

.dsa, dsb, dse, and the old .ds are script files (the extensions distinguish between plain text, binary compressed, and binary encrypted). Befoe the .dsf/.duf files in DS 4 (which are just data) presets were scripts that made modifications to settings (and .daz scene files were a closed, binary format that was not really user-editable as a file).

as a Carrara and Poser user back in those days, I was forever opening the very crashy D|S3A and converting many to useable Poser and hence Carrara 7 compatible files

Carrara 8.5 at least reads duf files though not always with functionality 

still not dsa

since the original image was removed and RH refered to Powerloader

I had no idea what dsa was being refered to

hence my less than helpful post

its simply a DAZ studio native format like duf is for later versions 

can be for many things including poses

as a Carrara and Poser user back in those days, I was forever opening the very crashy D|S3A and converting many to useable Poser and hence Carrara 7 compatible files

Carrara 8.5 at least reads duf files though not always with functionality 

still not dsa

The world's first fully synthetic plastic was invented in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, who coined the term plastics. Since then plastics have taken over the world, especially once mass manufacturing became much cheaper around the 1950's and 60's.

Plastics are cheap, colourful, and versatile. Everything can be made of plastic: furniture, clothes, wigs, household objects, toys, medical equipment, computers. We achieve huge advances in technology and science as we use plastics to fly to the moon and connect the entire world through the internet. Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

Or is it, really? Looking at the environmental and health impact of plastics, they definitely have their dark side. Is recycling really the solution, or is it just green-washing? Does "plastic" automatically mean "cheap and disposable", or can plastics bring value to our lives? For better and for worse, plastics are all around us (and they may or may not be lead by Regina George.) The theme of August is: Plastique Fantastique!

Some useful links for the Contest

The KindredArts Free Resource Repo Here are the KindredsArt freebies and a rich list of sites that host freebies

Free 3D Models Link to DAZ's bi-weekly freebies

Limited Time Freebies Discussion Thread A thread under the Commons section of the forum, where DAZ's biweekly freebies are announced and, recently, even listed. It's useful for remembering which freebies were added and when.

The rules of the contest are:

• Your entry must be a new render, especially made for this challenge.

• Your entry must follow the DAZ TOS.

• You may enter a maximum of 4 entries.

• A minimum of five (5) Freebies must be included in your image

• All Daz Bi-Weekly Freebies are allowed throughout the entire month in which they are free, as well as the following month (for a total of 2 months).

• You may use a maximum of 5 paid items.

• Base figures (Genesis 9, Genesis 8, etc.) as well as their basic morph packs may be used as needed. They do not count as either paid items or freebies.

• DAZ Studio, Poser, Bryce, Carrara, Hexagon, and Blender are allowed.

• DAZ AI Studio is not allowed. The use of image generating AI technology (midjourney, stable diffusion, etc.) is not allowed in any form.

• Postwork is allowed. You must also include the raw render (before postwork) of your entry.

• For a more detailed version of the rules see the PDF attached to this post; or ask your question in this thread, we're always happy to clarify!

• Let's have fun and be creative with all the amazing resources that are available for free!

This contest ends on August 31st 2026.

Post your images and freebie links in this thread for link verification.
Once the links are verified, you can post your image and links in Entries Thread for judging.

First Place: $15 store credit from KindredArts
Second Place: $10 store credit from KindredArts
Third Place: $5 store credit from KindredArts

Past Freebie Contests:

January 2022 - Around and around and around...

February 2022 - Mysteries of the heart

March 2022- Luck Of The Draw

April 2022 - New Beginnings

May 2022 - Cozy Corner

June/July 2022 - The Secret Life Of...

August 2022- Sniff, sniff... what's that smell?

September 2022-Cars Cars and More Cars

October 2022 - Horror Movies

November 2022 - Thieves, Robbers, and Fraudsters all around!

December 2022 - The Night is Darkest...

January 2023 Speed Demons and Slowpokes

February 2023- I See Red

March / April 2023 Magical

May 2023 - Sweet Music

June/July 2023  Holes, Gaps, Caves, Tunnels

August 2023 Fabulous Pink

September 2023 Gardening

October 2023 Hallowed Night

November 2023 Wobble, jiggle, sway, and shake

December 2023 / January 2024 Driving Home For...

February 2024 The Glow Up

March 2024 Power Source

April/Mai 2024 Soft as Plush, Smooth as Silk

June 2024 An Octopus' Garden

July/August 2024 Take A Break

September 2024 Fake Smiles and Real Joy

October 2024 "Monster Mash '24!" 

November 2024 - Dreams

December 2024 - A Curious Christmas

January 2025 - Thank you, Saphirewild!

February 2025 - My Hallowed Valentine

March 2025 - Pride, Prejudice and other Shenanigans

April 2025 - The Little Ball of Calm

May 2025 - To Be Beautiful

June 2025 - Summer and Piracy

July 2025 - Design a Book Cover

August 2025 - Pure Cinema

September 2025 - Holiday Memories

October 2025 - Monster Mash!

November 2025 - The Winter Witch

December 2025 - Christmas!

January 2026 - When One Door Closes, Another Opens

February 2026 - Stronger Than You Think

March 2026 - The big blue

April 2026 - Free for All

May 2026 - Lies and Truth

June 2026 - Invasion

July 2026 - Summer Holidays

I am guessing also there is a limited market 

while it sounds awesome, it also sounds very much like what Carrara can do with explode and shatter modifiers and bullet physics and has been able to do for 16 years in my use of it (likely RayDream before it too)

and DAZ has not exactly tried to incorporate any of Carrara's features into studio in the same amount of time they have owned it

I wish you the best and hope you can find a market

admittedly I only own your 3D content as not a big buyer of DAZ studio tools myself prefering other softwares 

most tools I do own are so I can do some of the things I can already do in other software in studio only because the content I am rendering doesn't easily export to other software 

I always export out of Studio where possible and suspect thats what most do

I noticed a super old product " Grid for Carrara" SKU:4446 , software that allows a local home Render Farm to distribute rendering tasks between multiple computers . I had a light bulb moment ,if I linked all 5 computers in my house together...  I could avoid building A 10,000$ rendering  workstation to run Daz 6.  Oh look heres one on amazon CLX Set Creator Workstation - AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 4.3GHz, RTX Pro 6000, 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD, 192GB DDR5 Memory, 360mm AIO, WiFi, Windows 11 Pro, Black, AI-Accelerated   Only  $18,999.99 .   So .. since  50 series cards catch on fire and 40 series are gone and nvlink was abandoned with the 3090  and server boards are the only way to run miti gpus at full 16x band width for each . Is it too much to ask, for a way to not pay a data center to render  Daz ?

I bought a set off FAB marketplace 

and of couse in DAZ Studio it loads untextured and I have find the maps manually 

well

Carrara just to taunt me, gives a rendering failed in the ass room and the UI goes wonky

unusable 

but

IT LOADS ALL THE TEXTURES!

OK, feel a tad better, it actually only loaded one texture 

just showing how the UI screws up

how the hell does one unhide body part in Carrara after accidentally fitting geograft clothing 

Ron Knights said:

I pretty much gave up on paying for DAZ software years ago.

First I paid for DAZ Studio Advanced, then it was free. I bought Mimic, Carrara, Hexagon, etc only to see them abandoned.

I recently got some new plugins or programs... but they're already outdated with DAZ Studio 6.

Yeah, I have a similar path. Bought Studio Advanced as well, wasn't that version 2.x?? I also bought the Dynamic Clothing Control for OptiTex support only to see that fade. Bought Reality practically the day it was released and that eventually went sideways. I did buy one of the versions of Bryce, 7 maybe, and what's with that now?

Stezza said:

today we look into the future..... 

Nostradamus cubetrained, boned & morphed 

did some work on Nossy

modelled a new quill & gave him some Carrara fur and a couple of wrinkles...