Another one, while it's on sale- you have 45 minutes left to shop, so I would be remiss in not getting you more deeply in debt- The Longitude and Latitude lights are great for people who want click-click solutions, who are starting with Iray, or who don't quite "get it" yet. And for folks who like good lighting!

Here's how it works- you choose the location and time of day. Yes, that easy. You can tweak if you want, but you don't have to. It also comes with tree gobos for some fun effects. And these render quickly. I did Tropic of Cancer: Central Mexico>Dry Season>November 23rd. No tweaks, this is what I got. I put Nadine in Belle Dress.

So for Sun-Sky renders at a click, you can't go wrong with Latitude and Longitude!

You may want to click this to enlarge. You get the gist. It will show you the sun coming through the window so you get a feel of how strong it is and the direction it comes from. Easy!

This all started around 5:45am ish (Central time)  It went up and down quite a bit. Haven't checked lately.

Again, all these prices are currently even lower. The store prices are changing on everything, not just these. I checked stuff I already own and put in the cart to test them. Note the Umbris Outfit Textures are currently $4.20  (Showed the outfit, black, on Callista.)

Darkshade Outfit is very classy, family friendly- unusual for a warrior type outfit. Boots have low heels. Already 65% off before discounts- Goes to $7.11  Weapons are INCLUDED.

DONT MISS THIS!!!!  Bundle Bast for Genesis 3 Female. The first time I had it in my cart and forgot to check out, it is amazing. It's a bundle. And the price is $2.70 !!!!!

If you have Space Corps, note the textures for $4.19  Note it is not just color changes, those have subtle textures with them too. (Space Corps is linked on that page, click it to see if you have it.) 

ADDING MORE HERE IN THIS POST THROUGHOUT THE NEXT FEW HOURS, it's 4:30am Sat morning, central time. If you find deals/ want to recommend products, feel free to post!

If you're looking for seasonal, you'll laugh at this Halloween option for 3D Universe's Toon Baby. Only $2.70

Turtle Boy is good for a kid's toy and you can't beat the price of $2.70

Not sure about Mishka Hair, but it's for Genesis 2 and with Slosh's hair shaders, may soften up a bit. It's $2.70. Same with Bridgette Hair. These would definitely be fine for your toon characters or toon renders (actually, superb. Very crisp lines with filters.)

And for cheap boots (again, $2.70 for Genesis 3, check out Urban Strap Boots.

Oh, this wasn't what I thought it was. I was thinking poses. This Pin-Up Look will get you a hat, lipstick, 50's-60's sunglasses, necklace, earrings, bracelet. $2.70

These are for Poser, I assume with tweaking, will be fine. Think kitchen for the Blender, Contact Grill, Expresso Machine (love the scoops), Coffee Maker,  Toaster,  Food Processor.  You may have a hodge-podge of other kitchen items, but these will all have the same style. $2.70 each. 

Haven't heard anything about the ABC's of Modeling, but it's another $2.70

Dock Crane

I wanted to show you the Warehouse District: Dock Crane. This looks small in the grand scene of River Front but is good up close for industrial scenes along the wharf.

The crane loads to the central block 046. There is a pose that moves it to the wharf on top of the embedded track rails. The crane sits nicely on top of the embedded rails with no adjustment needed.

There is a tracks prop (rails with ties) that is the length of the wharf. It loads to city center and the move to wharf pose does not work on it. So set the track's North-South parameter value to 33274 and Down-Up value to -5.31 to get it in position. You'll also need to set the crane's Up-Down position to 13.72 so the wheel hubs sit on top of the track.

The crane has a number of different material presets. They are easy to use. Just select the crane and click on the preset you want. You can also remove the name plate with a material preset.

The crane has a number of moving parts you can control from the Parameters tab. Boom Up-Down, Cab Door, Hook Turn and Hook Up-Down all work well. You can individually control the 4 levers and 4 pedals in the cab but you need to expand the hierarchy and select the right bone to get to the parameter dial for that item, as the universal tool will not select them. Drive Reverse-Forward and Turn Crane work but are super sensitive. I adjusted the Drive max min parameters from +/- 1918 to 900 and the Turn Crane max min from +/- 100 to 0.36 (click on the gear icon in the upper right of the parameter dial to get to the settings).

There's a number of props that come with the crane. Individual barrels, pipes, and shipping containers plus pre-assembled multiples of them. 

Go to Main Menu

Well, does anyone else have any ideas of what may have inspired http://www.daz3d.com/starship-vampire ? I stilll think Slave 1 was an inspiration. Now that I think of it, the fuselage resembles that of an F-117 stealth fighter.

Not a Petipet product, but it had definitely been used for the central part of the craft in this set: http://www.daz3d.com/space-dock

hey there...

this is day one for me and hexagon.

i started off with just the robes from the Fantasy Friar for G3M outfit.  i loaded the robes onto a zeroed G3M, applied a texture, deleted the G3M, then used the File menu item 'Send to Hexagon'.  the robes turned up in a hexagon window, all right...but with all of the numerous components/surfaces of the piece flattened down into one object, as nearly as i can tell.

but when i tried exporting the robes as an .obj file, studio gave me the option to export it as an object specifically for hexagon--with quite a few variable choices available--and when i imported that into hexagon, i had even more separate nodes/surfaces to play with than i'd hoped for. 

so what's up with the 'send to hexagon' menu item?  it doesn't seem to play well with hierarchies.  it doesn't seem to offer any opportunities to adjust or define the send.  is it good for something in particular?

***

the hexagon documentation the installer offered to open for me doesn't seem to exist anymore.  can someone recommend a good introduction to the app?  preferably one that's a document rather than a video...

and related to my project of the day--did i do the right thing by leaving the .obj export-for-hexagon settings on their defaults if my goal is to modify the robe components' shapes a little bit and then send them back to studio?

i'm also wondering--if i want to shorten one piece, would i be better off scaling the mesh as it is, or would it be better to remove some central (non-edge-trimmed?) segment of the mesh and then put the remaining sections back together?  or something else entirely?  

thanks!

j

Change the Cutout Opacity to actually turn the emitters on. That took a few minutes of snarffeling around in the textures.

Cutout opacity has nothing to do with it. Use the Mat file provided and they work fine. I couldn't have renderd the promo images if they didn't. 

Duh. I was looking at the Materials, saw "Emitter" and started in on that - I didn't look at the Emitter material actually supplied.

I was able to get the emitter to glow by changing the Opacity Cutout. You already have it in there, ready to go - the color is a little off, not as good as the Material supplied, but its there.

The green pumpkin I applied the Green texture, and the Emitter texture. The central one I applied the light color skin texture, but changed the Opacity on the Emitter (did not apply the Emitter material), and changed the emitter color to a deep orange). The orange pumpkin I just changed the opacity on the emitter and left the rest.

All that said - it would have been better if I just lokked at what I bought, at what you worked so hard to create. It really is a wonderful set.

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

 

Same here.  I think everything I contributed to the second project is posted as zip files to this thread.  Some of the files for the first challenge were posted to sharecg. 

Awesome!

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

My cat is your cat, sure thing, all of the models and textures I have posted here or anywhere else for download are in public domain, no credit required either (would be nice though) 

LOL! Cool Thanks!

Yeah... I'd hope that credit is always given to the author.

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

Yes, please feel free to do what you wish with whatever I contribute, all free etc..

Sweet!

Anyone is welcome to anything I have/will contribute(d) as well.

Beautiful!

Hey, thanks everybody! I wouldn't want to go offering stuff to others without permission from the original author. I really appreciate your generosity! 

Something that will probably be forgotten by most seasoned Carrara users is that there are features of the program that seem to be very seldom used by anyone but which sit alongside the other tools looking just as important.  An example is the Storyboard Room.

I know that Carrara has an interesting history of how it came to be.  There was a thread on the subject describing how several previous programs were developed and merged and how ownership of the program changed a few times.

Setting the real history aside for a moment, Carrara always seems to me to be like a program where the creators, at a moment in time some years back, decided to make a general all-round 3d package and put into it all the features such a package could wish for in those days.

So we have a Spline modeller, a Vertex modeller, Metaballs, Landscapes, Vertex animation, Bones-based animation and so on.

Since that moment (which exists in my imagination), the world of 3d has developed and fashions have come and gone.  Spline or Patch modelling seems to be largely a thing of the past.  Vertex Modelling (box modelling) is still very much alive but Metaballs seem to have had their day.  (Although they could merely be lacking a champion to show the rest of us what they can do.  I reckon that a metaball figure could be further sculpted and re-topologised and such a model might be done very quickly).

What I'm getting at is that a stranger to Carrara might think that everything in the package has equal weight and that all of it needs to be learned.  Whereas a long-term user will have forgotten that certain features even exist because they are simply never used any more.

I have gone just about as far as I want to with trying out new software - where does it end?  So Carrara is just fine for me as the central home of my endeavors.  I can get respectable results with Hexagon for modelling these days and can animate quickly in Iclone and I also like Poser.  The final software item for my needs is 3dCoat which I haven't yet used nearly enough.

If I wanted to start saying that Carrara needs to develop further then I think it would be along the lines of today's sculpting packages.  Dynamic tessalation, voxel sculpting, etc.  Others might prefer more particles, liquids and so on.  I don't know enough about game engines to even know whether these compete with software like Carrara except to say that the animations from games these days are breathtaking.

But to reiterate my main point: a newcomer to Carrara may not realize that some aspects are seldom needed by most users nowadays.  Such newcomers might feel a little overwhelmed by what they find on opening it up.

Spelling edit

Thanks for the interesting perspective, Marcus.  Great big-picture stuff, somewhat unique from other views I have read.  My view is that there are at least two camps that want to see Carrara improved - those who would like more features (probably the majority of users) and those like myself who would like it to be made a bit more friendly for the new user.   I don't think that one has to exclude the other.  But I'm going to deal with what it is right now, and see if it becomes as friendly as Studio currently is for me.

Just yesterday, I opened Studio for the first time in a couple of weeks, and just fooling around I loaded a new item (Modern bed 1), applied new shaders to multiple surfaces, and rendered it multiple times, all in less than 2 minutes.  Easy peasy.  So, I thought, "how long would this take in Carrara?"  Surprisingly, it only took about 5 minutes, and the resulting render looked even nicer than the Studio render.  Getting there!

I've got English, Irish and Scottish blood and born and raised in Australia.....

 

Look Out!

Heh heh.  Funny AND clever.

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

My cat is your cat, sure thing, all of the models and textures I have posted here or anywhere else for download are in public domain, no credit required either (would be nice though) 

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Same here.  I think everything I contributed to the second project is posted as zip files to this thread.  Some of the files for the first challenge were posted to sharecg. 

do with the broomstick what you please .. ;-)

 

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

 

Sweet! Thanks Stezza!

By the way... killer freaking broomstick!!! 

do with the broomstick what you please .. ;-)

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

I've got English, Irish and Scottish blood and born and raised in Australia.....

Look Out!

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

Fantastic, Mark! I'm loving all of the stuff you've been contributing already!!! Thanks!

FifthElement, diomede, wgdjohn, Stezza, Mike, others, do you all mind if we were to include your submissions to a depository for public download?

 Hey 3dage,   Having a central repository for Assets is a great idea.

  I know that with google docs you could have the links to all the models in one place and with different categories it could be very helpful.   Anyone can edit the main google docs page and add links to their models which are actually hosted on the site of their choice.  I set up a page like this for the "Bang" movie , it worked not bad but need a little more orginization on my part. .  The ShareCg may be an option but I don't know much about their website.

 Maybe for the next Animation club movie we can do something or have something ready.

 

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

 

I'm glad you like ,. :)

 

 

 

Fantastic idea, 3DAGE! and excellent support suggestion, Mike. I like the idea of a central depository thing - and also agree that having content like this (even though anyone would also have access) would be excellent incentive to join in... less worry about this or that.

Speaking of which, I am planning on including a bit of advertisement of the club at the end of the movie, if that's okay, which will include mention that the links to the fun are included in the description - so then I'll make a consolidation post for the <<< Carrara Information Manual >>> which leads to general club conversation and each of the completed, current, and known future project threads as they become available.

Of course that consolidation post will be editable by any of us - I'd just get it started and add the links around the place.

Hi Dart :)

Yes, you can keep it,.  it's free to anyone who can download it and use it in Carrara. :)

Maybe it can be re-cycled and used it in another project,. the same applies to everything else,.... from me, at least (can't speak for other modelers)

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

I'm glad you like ,. :)

I am on board with that. Anything I contribute to these forum projects is free for any use to anyone who wants them. 

 Hey 3dage,   Having a central repository for Assets is a great idea.

  I know that with google docs you could have the links to all the models in one place and with different categories it could be very helpful.   Anyone can edit the main google docs page and add links to their models which are actually hosted on the site of their choice.  I set up a page like this for the "Bang" movie , it worked not bad but need a little more orginization on my part. .  The ShareCg may be an option but I don't know much about their website.

 Maybe for the next Animation club movie we can do something or have something ready.

 

I think that if we're going to have an animation club,. it needs to have some assets which can be dropped into scenes, tables, chairs, potion cupboards, jars, etc..

it's also an encouragement to participate ,.  join in ,get free stuff,. .. or maybe not,... maybe just get free stuf for carrara, which is fine too.

(just thinking out loud here)...

I dont know if it's possible to set up a  club "account" on something like Share CG where we could upload  and share stuff, ..rather than having links in different project threads

so we could have a central repository for scenes and assets.

To clarify,   I'm saying,.  let's create a central storage area, to keep all previous scenes and models available to any carrara users,

if that's possible, and everyone agree's.

if not,.  i'm ok with the way things are.  

 

I'm glad you like ,. :)

 

 

Something that will probably be forgotten by most seasoned Carrara users is that there are features of the program that seem to be very seldom used by anyone but which sit alongside the other tools looking just as important.  An example is the Storyboard Room.

I know that Carrara has an interesting history of how it came to be.  There was a thread on the subject describing how several previous programs were developed and merged and how ownership of the program changed a few times.

Setting the real history aside for a moment, Carrara always seems to me to be like a program where the creators, at a moment in time some years back, decided to make a general all-round 3d package and put into it all the features such a package could wish for in those days.

So we have a Spline modeller, a Vertex modeller, Metaballs, Landscapes, Vertex animation, Bones-based animation and so on.

Since that moment (which exists in my imagination), the world of 3d has developed and fashions have come and gone.  Spline or Patch modelling seems to be largely a thing of the past.  Vertex Modelling (box modelling) is still very much alive but Metaballs seem to have had their day.  (Although they could merely be lacking a champion to show the rest of us what they can do.  I reckon that a metaball figure could be further sculpted and re-topologised and such a model might be done very quickly).

What I'm getting at is that a stranger to Carrara might think that everything in the package has equal weight and that all of it needs to be learned.  Whereas a long-term user will have forgotten that certain features even exist because they are simply never used any more.

I have gone just about as far as I want to with trying out new software - where does it end?  So Carrara is just fine for me as the central home of my endeavors.  I can get respectable results with Hexagon for modelling these days and can animate quickly in Iclone and I also like Poser.  The final software item for my needs is 3dCoat which I haven't yet used nearly enough.

If I wanted to start saying that Carrara needs to develop further then I think it would be along the lines of today's sculpting packages.  Dynamic tessalation, voxel sculpting, etc.  Others might prefer more particles, liquids and so on.  I don't know enough about game engines to even know whether these compete with software like Carrara except to say that the animations from games these days are breathtaking.

But to reiterate my main point: a newcomer to Carrara may not realize that some aspects are seldom needed by most users nowadays.  Such newcomers might feel a little overwhelmed by what they find on opening it up.

Spelling edit