Big Tip: As a New User I strongly suggest you learn the third party content installs, third party is basically anything from other sites. And I also suggest you do as I do. Collect all the Instructions, tutorials and Help files in one central folder on your PC. That allows me to Open them in one window and Swap back and forth to them as I work in DS.
P.S. Your more than welcome. I help because I want all to enjoy what they do and not fight the program they use.

Well my take is explained in some of my comments on Andrew's website. To paraphrase, the two things I hope for are no loss of flexibility in being able to customize the interface for one's particular workflow/level and an easier mechanism for creating custom interface 'skins.' The inconsistency issues do seem to be an issue when trying to learn/teach.

From a teaching background one thing I've learned is that what on the surface seems unintuitive can often be put in a context where it becomes intuitive (it made sense to someone at some point) so that actually is not as much of an issue for me. A good explanation of why something is the way it is can go a long way. However, that doesn't make it efficient for a given person's workflow. The fact that workflows vary quite a bit from person to person, environment to environment, etc... is more central to my way of thinking, thus the need for a flexible interface. This of course can cause issues also in teaching, but most tutorials early on would center on a good starting default interface, and by the time custom configurations made sense, the people using them would hopefully be adept enough with the tools that it wouldn't be an issue but rather an aid towards increasing workflow efficiency in many cases.

A side note, my comments on the other site are under 'Joseph Jude' which is how I sign my artwork.

Of course my first attempts at DS are with a Victoria 6 and nearly all of the extra shoes, clothing and whatnot have all been made for Gen or Gen2. Sometimes the "Fit to" works, but most of the time it's just comically wrong. Should I just be fitting something like Wilmap's Genesis Thigh Boots to Victoria or is there some other way (the boots end up kind of in the right central axis position, but about 4 virtual inches too low so her toes stick out of the top of the shoes)?

The DAZ n00b :red:

Varsel said:

So here's my final second entry.

The bushes are recycled from the garden contest.
The lamp post resembles the ones that are used in Central Park, ([or that is what Google tells me..)
I just liked the shape.

The grass are all modeled in the Vertex modeller. Using two replicators. One for the main grass, and one for the grass tuft.
Again recycling something I made before.

That lamp and the grass look really nice!

So here's my final second entry.

The bushes are recycled from the garden contest.
The lamp post resembles the ones that are used in Central Park, ([or that is what Google tells me..)
I just liked the shape.

The grass are all modeled in the Vertex modeller. Using two replicators. One for the main grass, and one for the grass tuft.
Again recycling something I made before.

@Frank0314, @fixmypcmike

EDIT: thanks for your feedback. 6 precious hours later I managed to solve the missing M5 issue above.

Turns out the DIM version I installed created a My Daz 3D Libray folder in User/Public, but installed the ACTUAL files into User/Name/My Daz 3D Library. No wonder adding CDM>new My Daz 3D Library directory did nothing. Previous DIM was a schizo robot indeed.

I updated DIM after the last post. I then uninstalled everything DIM installed. DIM then tells me Michael 5 files = new updates. Seems like they fixed some M5 issues. I redownloaded M5 files, then reinstalled all uninstalled files to a fresh new empty drive/folder. Went back to CDM>add new directory. M5 is now added to Smart Content. So the issue is solved.

Meanwhile I am still a bit concerned about the mis-installed User/Name/My Daz 3D Library/Previous Installed Files. It is still there with all the files after DIM uninstalled. Should I delete this library manually from Explorer? Will it break things?

Thanks again.

@Dartanbeck: I can relate - I was a modder/modeller for The Sims and SC4 currently investing some precious time and resources in my graphics novel and animated docu projects. Daz3D is frustrating to new/intermediate Daz users like myself, not because it has historical baggages like Poser and previous Gens (I economized for that when I signed up) or new users are fluffy panicky noobs. There are coders and advanced 3D pros among those affected by DIM + content mess for the past few months. Daz frustrates because it is a features-rich creative tool with amazing potential wasted by scattered-brain documentation and messy forums relying mostly on the kindness of veterans.

What Daz needs is not more tutorials and docu and wikis and forums pointing to yet more wikis and forum links. They need ONE solid info central with proper clear-audio videos. They also need to stop speaking Daz.

Thanks again for your kindness and understanding.

Dartanbeck said:

Once I get the terrain to the proper look and feel, worrying less about the central content use area, and more on how I want the surrounding terrain to be, I use the Export Map function and tweak a mid-gray smooth center in the middle with an image editor.

My current preference is to start with Daylon Graphics Leveller; export that as a PNG (though they support a "Carrara MSH file...never heard of that and haven't tried it). I often tweak the PNG in Photoshop and then use it in Carrara.

I am wondering about World Machine and what it can produce. Curious to find if it is worth moving to from Leveller.

Awesome!

One thing that I really enjoy doing, when creating Carrara terrain, is to use the generators and filters to help me to get the overall shape and texture of the environment. When I say texture in this way, I'm referring to the bumpiness and mesh resolution. Be careful setting your resolution too high in the view port, or you could come to a halt with certain filters, like rain erosion.
Once I get the terrain to the proper look and feel, worrying less about the central content use area, and more on how I want the surrounding terrain to be, I use the Export Map function and tweak a mid-gray smooth center in the middle with an image editor. Depending upon the image editor used, you can also ad further details and changes by simply changing contrast and/or brightness and by painting directly onto the map. Then bring the new map in and make a terrain using it, which now saves from having to calculate the affect of all of those generators and filters I've used to make the initial shape. So now that I've imported my new height map, I set the intensity to get the height scaling the way I have envisioned it to be and then start having fun with more generators and filters, etc., to get it just the way I want it to be.

Keep in mind, while making terrain for use with content, that the resolution used on the view from within the terrain modeler should be equal to the render output, so that you'll have a better idea of where the terrain will be during the render. For example, the default terrain uses a much lower resolution for the working view than the render. So if you set the feet of a character firmly on the ground, the render might put the feet deeper under the surface, or float them over the top.

I've finally acquired enough time (while everyone else was asleep! ;) ) to catch the entire tutorial - start to finish. Very cool, Mark! I have a very cool tip for you, for future use:

Duplicating and radii
First of all (this will make more sense as you read further) if I am going to be adding things around a rather symmetrical object, like that main object in this scene, I will insert a target helper object and group everything that is not the target helper object. Select the target helper first, then shift/select the group. Now Edit > Align (Ctrl + k) an select both x and y axis', but not z. This will center the group over the central region where Carrara inserts things as well as loading items from the browser - very handy!

Now let's use your SpotHalogen for an example and put it in place as shown in your wonderful tutorial - I really love it!
Now, with the SpotHalogen selected, turn on CapsLock and move the hotpoint to the center - where the Target Helper Object is located.
This time, when you duplicate the light, you can simply rotate the new instance into place, rather than moving. Further duplication will now place the rest of the lights where you need them to be! Sweet!

Still limited on time - as normal this time of year for me, I intend to collect all things Mark Bremmer that I can find. Very impressed!
I really enjoy Phil Wilkes training as well as the incredible offerings of the Cripeman. To me, there can never be enough video training for Carrara. Getting personal within the interface like that makes learning so much easier - even though very well written and illustrated docs are also welcome to my tastes.

What I was meaning by those suggestions above was in the event that Mark was planning a new VTC experience. If so, many of the things covered already (unfortunately since I haven't seen them yet, I can only make an educated guess) will still hold true in the latest version(s). So if he had an 8.5 expansion or a continuation of more methods in mind, there is a wide range of areas where many people could benefit from such an exact approach to using Carrara and its tools. Again - at a loss of not knowing the full contents,
Some more fun things to cover might be (please excuse me if you've already covered some of this - as I'm working quickly, and off the top of my head):
Toon and other non-photoreal rendering
Various Shader node options
(I see that you seem to cover volumetrics - I can't wait to check that out!)
Advanced Particles Setup
Anything else that you see that any user might find helpful to know in their use of Carrara.
It's so vast that I just feel that we can never cover enough of this stuff.
I doubt that DAZ 3D finds your offerings to be competition to their store - but rather an enhancement to the use of the software that they sell - much like off-site plugins. This the case, I'll really get loud about your various offerings of great training. I recall watching the free portions of your training some time ago - and I find your teaching style to be very effective. Fairly soon here, I'll be getting several of your products and delving deeply into learning more about Carrara!

Also, besides my thanks for offering this great lighting tutorial, where you've really helped me to come to terms with the use of tube and shape lights (wow - they really are THAT simple, eh?), I am also deeply thanking you for this really cool scene content! How incredibly cool!
Dartanbeck

Well, we've reached page #100. Here's a recap for the next thread (if we're splitting this one at 100 pages).

Frequently-asked questions:

How do I use 3DS models in Daz Studio?
Convert them with Hexagon, Bryce, Anim8or, Blender, PoseRay, or PropViewer .

Where can I get the freebies that used to be on free.daz3d.com?
Nowhere, at the moment.

How do I download freebies hosted at forumarchive.daz3d.com?
Copy the link into a text editor, change the part that reads "forum.daz3d.com" to "forumarchive.daz3d.com", and copy the edited link into your browser's navigation box.

Unanswered requests, by post number:
3: a frog prop
7, 74, 993: longer fingernail for Genesis (preferably squared)
9: eye poses for Genesis
25: animal-head hats
36, 366, 800, 1030: Radii shoes, such as http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=41&aid=2527_3xmvjrvgTYKQ7I52QrDB&board_id=1
84: destroyable props (items with "damage" morphs, for animations)
114: men's Victorian style Opera cloak for M4 or Genesis
137: Emma stone for Genesis
143: Greek-Roman styled bench or seat, or a Roman-style couch with one long reclining portion and a couple of seats
145: US Army beret for Genesis
154: reptile skins for Genesis/V+M+A+F 4 to 3
156: boots like http://www.sharecg.com/v/58908/View/11/Poser/Cuff-Boots-PHF for Genesis
157: track and field hurdle
169: duffel bag
190: Hooded long coat, for M4 or Genesis, like http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=41&aid=9035_2e1KuUB7xNC8rNmpRy1B&board_id=1
194: Puerto Rican flag texture for V4’s basicwear
248: clock tower from Back to the Future
261, 824: F-150 king cab monster truck, rigged
279: fantasy skins for v4 or m4 - rocky skin textures or lizard type
285: courthouse, courtroom and the natural innards
310: Kate Bekinsale for V4
321: Angry Birds and Green Pigs
348: Hercules Plane or any sort of plane that would have dropped paratroopers into action (no, there isn't one on the free Aircraft list)
401: V4 fit for the Koz Long hair
431: Halloween "monster" costumes for Genesis male and child characters
503: double-barreled shotgun
505: sneakers for V4, and a beard for M4
509: stadium with full oval running track
510: "the Bravestarr character Vipra"
537, 1121: realistic police uniforms and police car
545: gentleman’s smoking jacket or short bathrobe for Michael 4
551, 652: face morphs of Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston, and Billy Dee Williams for Michael 4, and Bea Aurthur for Victoria 4
555: Sixus1 "Draconis Rex" poses
556: modern or near-modern classic firearms (assault rifle / submachine gun / pistol)
566: firefighter clothing for M3/M4 V3/V4 & A3/H3
568: walrus tusks
569: elephant head (and maybe body) morph for Genesis
592: frameless sunglasses, like http://quantumpromo.mwrc.net/images/dyn/sitemin_file2.php/product_images/58985/image/Ansi+Classic+Black-Gry+Flash+Silver.jpg
619: poses where the characters showcase products
621: adjustable (through morphs) spotlights (actual models that I can place a DAZ light inside), with brackets for a ceiling or wall
632: baby blanket shell for MilBaby3
653: Santa suit for Genesis
675: Army-style canteen
705: interior of an Indian palace (could be a back wall)
707: Trapper/Russian hats for M5
709: steampunk ankle boots for genesis
747: Charlotte Gainsbourg look-alike
750: Kharma look-alike
760: female body morph for the Gruggle Monk
800: Barsoomian add-ons for M4, and Barsoomian creatures
817: coin purse/pouch kind of thing that I can sit on a table
836: wristwatch that will fit V4 - preferably one that looks like one of those “tactical” Ironman or G-Shock watches made out of matte black plastic. Also a neckchain with ID tags
860: huipil dress for M4/H4, V4/A4 or Genesis, Central Asian clothing such as http://www.thelovelyplanet.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/traditional_kyrgyz_dance_Go.Live_.Serve_..jpg
861: chest-spandex type morph for V4 Elite Utopian
869: more modern version of Nanoha's "barrier jacket" dress from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ( http://web.archive.org/web/20071107041816im_/http://xposer.org/hosting/216352465_21.jpg is no longer available, http://animeartbooks.net/series/114-magical-girl-lyrical-nanoha/ has more reference images)
911: library interior
917: diaper for Genesis baby
922: Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) morph for V4.2
972: fantasy or medieval backpack
989: The eagle head/feathered headpiece for Zoar, Sorceress of Greyskull from the 80’s He-Man cartoon
1002: industrial shop lamps, photograpy studio lights
1007: this V3 headpiece for V4 or Genesis: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=41&aid=63369_qt3EgudCXekR4hJ43jSw&board_id=1
1047: "modern" typrwriter
1070, 1312: Kataginu kamishimo for M4 or Genesis, like http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/shop/image/kamishimo-9682.jpg
1072: Bubbleship form Oblivion
1084: commoner’s deel (traditional Mongolian outfit) for Genesis
1085: BVH files for the T-Rex or any dinosaur
1111: Gina Lollobrigida for V4
1154: vintage band t-shirts and grungy/worn t-shirts for Genesis or M4
1155: butterfly sword
1164: Abandoned modern laboratory/building, etc like one would see in Resident Evil or similar movies/games with dirty floors and blood stains, papers everywhere, etc.
1189: nun’s wimple, like http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sisters_of_Plenitude
1198: old clothes for an old m4 man…Hobo, tramp, ripped, dirty looking down and out
1203: closed-toe, flat shoes (i.e. ballet slippers or loafers) and/or boots for Luke or Laura 3
1211: swimsuit with Stephanie 4 morphs
1214: below-the-ankle socks for Genesis
1279: footprints in snow for DS3
1281: satchel like the one Indiana Jones used
1282: rabbit-face morph, and rabbit ears and feet, for Genesis
1288, 1316: Allison Scagliotti morph for Genesis, hair like Allison Scagliotti's character in Warehouse 13 for Genesis
1301, 1327: cyber or robot dragon (cyborg, not fully-mechanical)
1305: Chinese weapons (Liuyedao, Guan Dao/ Kwan Dao/ Kuan Tao, Chinese spears), food (Ginger root, durian, lychees, a blueberry, foxtail millet plant), anything Mongolian besides Yurts and “Mongolian BBQ”, roadkill flattened in the middle
1311: Blues Brothers suit with shirt and tie for M4 and V4
1319: Gelfling from Dark Crystal morphs for V4 - hand morph for V4 to give her only 3 fingers and thumb, foot with 4 toes, neither with a "digit chopped off" look
1320: hand air-pump like http://img0104.popscreencdn.com/157226328_vintage-hand-air-pump-lot-bicycle-automotive-truck-car-.jpg , wheeled hotel-type laundry hamper like http://www.medical-supplies-equipment-company.com/files/media/images/Industrial-Laundry-Cart-1.jpg
1323: arm and hand poses for V4 playing the harmonica from http://lab108.x0.com/lab108/inst.html
1324: 80’s punk rock denim jacket
1356: leg calipers (braces if you prefer), the sort that they used for polio victims
1363: treasure pile
1377: two-man saw
1379: British Army officers and battle dress uniforms of World War 2 for Genesis male and female
1393: pack saddle for donkey
1432: a set that loks like Elvis' Vegas outfits, for M4
1453: male body hair presets for LAMH
1454: a shortie heeled boot to match with the free magus legging mesh, for Genesis
1469: fur "standing up" for MilCat
1482: bull/minotaur head for Genesis or M4

M F M said:

Kyoto Kid said:

DanaTA said:

Kyoto Kid said:

Yeah when I installed Poser 8 and pro 2010 on my old machine, I ran into the same issue. For me Flash is one of those scary plugins as I often heard it mentioned as being a doorway for infection due to it's seemingly ongoing instability.

...and it's made by the same people who bring us Photoshop who want new users to work in the clouds. Over on another forum I have been hearing that some are bailing and either sticking with the version they already have or even switching to GIMP.

Without Flash Player, a lot of web sites won't work...including the Comcast home pages. It's not that scary, as long as you keep it updated. And don't visit sites that are unknown or untrusted. I have Poser Pro 2010. I only used it once so far. I don't remember if it needed Flash Player or not. I did find it easier to work with than I thought it would be.

I am still using Photoshop CS2. Not because of fears of update, because of no money for them. However, I'm not sure how this cloud thing works for it. So what if, for example, the cloud service has too many connections, or servers go down? Does that mean I can't do any Photoshop work? I don't like that idea at all. We here all know how cloud services can cause headaches (cough *ClodFlare* cough). And so reliable! :-/ It seems like these big companies are going way off course in deciding how we want to work. Like Microsoft thinking we all want our computers' interfaces to look like smart phones! Or that we want to do work on tablets. Survey says...not so much. Almost all tablet users use them for fun, social media, and emails...not for work.

Dana

...indeed.

Tablets could be useful in the workplace (which is what I hoped would happen) as they could make great "electronic clipboards" in places like labs, hospitals, factories, warehouses, etc, tied into to the facility's central intranet hub through their built in wireless (kind of like the "Data Pads" in Star Trek). Unfortunately, the manufacturers seem more fit to market them as nothing more than expensive "playtoys".

In the case of hospitals... there's an unfortunate side-effect to that, that most people don't consider.

When casenotes are in fully electronic form, including lab results, other specialists writeups, opinions, data dumps from diagnostics machines, other cross-referenced disease cases etc that may be relevant, the medical professional has to spend (a lot) more time reading what is on the screen, making sure they don't miss anything in the patent's history (because it might be relevant), rather than actually just _asking_ the patient "yo, what's going down?"... observing the patient... comparing the patient's symptoms with what they've seen before etc etc. With all that extra time required to enter electronic data accurately (not all medical specialists are touch-typists after all), along with extra time required to see what other specialists have written about the patient... it's not leaving much time for the "human touch" in the medical setting.

The technology appears quite spiffy on the surface, of course - having all that data there in one spot, having links to backup information, no more problems with unreadable handwriting, having it backed up and available wherever the patient happens to be... but there's a balance to be struck, that we're not quite there with (afaik).

$0.02c.

A doctor should be reading that info anyway. Asking a patient in a hospital bed what's up is not the only thing that is needed. A lot of people don't mention things because they think it's insignificant, or don't like to complain, etc. And what if the doctor doesn't ask the right questions? No, that doesn't happen, right? the doctor needs to know about medications and herbal supplements you take. That info should be in the computer. Having all the data there, in a properly organized and hierarchical schema that is easy to navigate, is a lot more efficient than asking a patient if he/she is taking x because there are combinations of what he plans to prescribe and x that make for bad side effects. There are a lot of combinations that will produce those side effects. Will the doctor remember all of them, and ask about them? No, that doesn't happen, either. My doctor prescribed a high dosage of ibuprophen for pain after I was rear-ended at an exit a few years back. That same doctor had been on me about my blood pressure being too high. Then I found out, on my own, that ibuprophen, as do all other NSAIDs, has one particular side effect...elevated blood pressure! A properly cross-referenced electronic record would have shown that relationship.

A workman, doctors included, need several tools to do their job well...not just one. Proper bedside manor and a tablet with instant look-up of patient data should both be in the tool belt, not just one of them. Waiting until we're ready is not the right thing. Getting them used to having the new tool now is the right thing.

Another $0.02

Dana

Kyoto Kid said:

DanaTA said:

Kyoto Kid said:

Yeah when I installed Poser 8 and pro 2010 on my old machine, I ran into the same issue. For me Flash is one of those scary plugins as I often heard it mentioned as being a doorway for infection due to it's seemingly ongoing instability.

...and it's made by the same people who bring us Photoshop who want new users to work in the clouds. Over on another forum I have been hearing that some are bailing and either sticking with the version they already have or even switching to GIMP.

Without Flash Player, a lot of web sites won't work...including the Comcast home pages. It's not that scary, as long as you keep it updated. And don't visit sites that are unknown or untrusted. I have Poser Pro 2010. I only used it once so far. I don't remember if it needed Flash Player or not. I did find it easier to work with than I thought it would be.

I am still using Photoshop CS2. Not because of fears of update, because of no money for them. However, I'm not sure how this cloud thing works for it. So what if, for example, the cloud service has too many connections, or servers go down? Does that mean I can't do any Photoshop work? I don't like that idea at all. We here all know how cloud services can cause headaches (cough *ClodFlare* cough). And so reliable! :-/ It seems like these big companies are going way off course in deciding how we want to work. Like Microsoft thinking we all want our computers' interfaces to look like smart phones! Or that we want to do work on tablets. Survey says...not so much. Almost all tablet users use them for fun, social media, and emails...not for work.

Dana

...indeed.

Tablets could be useful in the workplace (which is what I hoped would happen) as they could make great "electronic clipboards" in places like labs, hospitals, factories, warehouses, etc, tied into to the facility's central intranet hub through their built in wireless (kind of like the "Data Pads" in Star Trek). Unfortunately, the manufacturers seem more fit to market them as nothing more than expensive "playtoys".

When casenotes are in fully electronic form, including lab results, other specialists writeups, opinions, data dumps from diagnostics machines, other cross-referenced disease cases etc that may be relevant, the medical professional has to spend (a lot) more time reading what is on the screen, making sure they don't miss anything in the patent's history (because it might be relevant), rather than actually just _asking_ the patient "yo, what's going down?"... observing the patient... comparing the patient's symptoms with what they've seen before etc etc. With all that extra time required to enter electronic data accurately (not all medical specialists are touch-typists after all), along with extra time required to see what other specialists have written about the patient... it's not leaving much time for the "human touch" in the medical setting.

The technology appears quite spiffy on the surface, of course - having all that data there in one spot, having links to backup information, no more problems with unreadable handwriting, having it backed up and available wherever the patient happens to be... but there's a balance to be struck, that we're not quite there with (afaik).

$0.02c.

Kyoto Kid said:

DanaTA said:

Kyoto Kid said:

Yeah when I installed Poser 8 and pro 2010 on my old machine, I ran into the same issue. For me Flash is one of those scary plugins as I often heard it mentioned as being a doorway for infection due to it's seemingly ongoing instability.

...and it's made by the same people who bring us Photoshop who want new users to work in the clouds. Over on another forum I have been hearing that some are bailing and either sticking with the version they already have or even switching to GIMP.

Without Flash Player, a lot of web sites won't work...including the Comcast home pages. It's not that scary, as long as you keep it updated. And don't visit sites that are unknown or untrusted. I have Poser Pro 2010. I only used it once so far. I don't remember if it needed Flash Player or not. I did find it easier to work with than I thought it would be.

I am still using Photoshop CS2. Not because of fears of update, because of no money for them. However, I'm not sure how this cloud thing works for it. So what if, for example, the cloud service has too many connections, or servers go down? Does that mean I can't do any Photoshop work? I don't like that idea at all. We here all know how cloud services can cause headaches (cough *ClodFlare* cough). And so reliable! :-/ It seems like these big companies are going way off course in deciding how we want to work. Like Microsoft thinking we all want our computers' interfaces to look like smart phones! Or that we want to do work on tablets. Survey says...not so much. Almost all tablet users use them for fun, social media, and emails...not for work.

Dana

...indeed.

Tablets could be useful in the workplace (which is what I hoped would happen) as they could make great "electronic clipboards" in places like labs, hospitals, factories, warehouses, etc, tied into to the facility's central intranet hub through their built in wireless (kind of like the "Data Pads" in Star Trek). Unfortunately, the manufacturers seem more fit to market them as nothing more than expensive "playtoys".

Until now. I just read an article that says MS is now marketing it's version 2 of Surface tablets as competition for desktop computers. They are abandoning even trying to compete with other tablets. Perhaps because they can't. People have been buying iPads and Android tablets in droves and ignoring Surface. For the very reason I stated...because they want to have fun with them. They prefer desktops or laptops for work.

The idea of using them like the Star Trek data pads is a great one. But not in place of a desktop for things like word processing or spreadsheets...or programming! And there is something that not many are thinking about...repetitive motion injuries. Tapping out full sentences and such on a flat, hard surface is going to wreak havoc with people's fingertips in time. Plus it puts us right back to the flat keyboard layout, which isn't too good for the wrists, either. I would not like to replace my Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard with one of those. I don't even like typing on my laptop now when I use it. If I had extra money to throw around, I'd buy a half dozen of these to have backups.

Dana

ETA: In case anyone is interested, here is the article I was talking about.

DanaTA said:

Kyoto Kid said:

Yeah when I installed Poser 8 and pro 2010 on my old machine, I ran into the same issue. For me Flash is one of those scary plugins as I often heard it mentioned as being a doorway for infection due to it's seemingly ongoing instability.

...and it's made by the same people who bring us Photoshop who want new users to work in the clouds. Over on another forum I have been hearing that some are bailing and either sticking with the version they already have or even switching to GIMP.

Without Flash Player, a lot of web sites won't work...including the Comcast home pages. It's not that scary, as long as you keep it updated. And don't visit sites that are unknown or untrusted. I have Poser Pro 2010. I only used it once so far. I don't remember if it needed Flash Player or not. I did find it easier to work with than I thought it would be.

I am still using Photoshop CS2. Not because of fears of update, because of no money for them. However, I'm not sure how this cloud thing works for it. So what if, for example, the cloud service has too many connections, or servers go down? Does that mean I can't do any Photoshop work? I don't like that idea at all. We here all know how cloud services can cause headaches (cough *ClodFlare* cough). And so reliable! :-/ It seems like these big companies are going way off course in deciding how we want to work. Like Microsoft thinking we all want our computers' interfaces to look like smart phones! Or that we want to do work on tablets. Survey says...not so much. Almost all tablet users use them for fun, social media, and emails...not for work.

Dana

Tablets could be useful in the workplace (which is what I hoped would happen) as they could make great "electronic clipboards" in places like labs, hospitals, factories, warehouses, etc, tied into to the facility's central intranet hub through their built in wireless (kind of like the "Data Pads" in Star Trek). Unfortunately, the manufacturers seem more fit to market them as nothing more than expensive "playtoys".

SuperGJ said:

I want to thank you guys again for all of the help. Especially you Dartanbeck, for hooking me up with some of that documentation which has been very helpful so far.

I have been able to grasp the very basics at this point and I whipped up my first initial animation. I could use some pointers though!

You can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSz5UtnmhH4

I have a couple of specific questions in regards to how to improve this. Firstly, it is way too obvious to me where the camera pivots. I wanted a nice, smooth camera transition to slowly spiral around the central building, but instead the camera drifts from point to point, changing its course in a more rough manner. I tried applying the smooth animation filter, but it only worked slightly. Any tips on how to make smoother camera movement?

Secondly, is there a good/easy way to extend the ruined city without consuming a ton of system resources? Right now it looks rather empty since it consists of just the center buildings and some replicators.

Third, what can I do about the obvious plane horizon? Going with an infinite plane made the whole thing look weird to me. I figure maybe the solution to the second issue would provide a solution for this one as well.

What about better lighting techniques? I like the overall 'feel' or 'mood', but the whole image comes out a bit too murky for my taste. Further, the quality seems slightly lower than it should be - it all looks a bit too grainy. Maybe my render specifications are off?

And an additional, non-related question. I figured out how to paint my own textures for models, but how do I export them so I can use them in DAZ studio? I took a genesis figure in Carrara, made a new texture, painted it and then used the export option (.obj with texture selected) and I see the texture files in the folder, but Studio wont actually let me use them at all (not to mention the .obj is completely useless since it is essentially an unmoveable, unposeable statue when placed in DAZ studio). So any tips or information regarding this would be *very* helpful!

Thank you very much everyone!

As Dart says, the tweeners and the graph editor are your friend, but so is the motion path. Especially for a fly-through. Plus, you can manually aim and bank the camera as it moves through the scene as it moves along the path.

Select the object (in your case the camera) and at the top of the Camera's Motion tab, select Keyframe and change it via the dropdown menu to Motion path. Carrara will open a dialogue telling you that keyframes will be lost and asking how closely you want the data converted to a motion path. Since there is no animation for the camera at this point, don't worry about it.

With the camera selected, you can now use the pen tool that appeared with the other path tools to extend the path. Clicking will add points which you can use to control turns and elevation. The can be moved side to side and up and down. They can also be curved.

When you have your path, move to the end of the timeline and in the motion menu slide the Distance Along Path slider to 100%. I would leave the bank and align options off if you're animating your camera, because you'll want to aim it yourself at various points along the timeline.

I use the the align to path when animating a plane or car, but usually leave the banking off as I prefer to do it myself. Looks a bit smoother in my opinion.

SuperGJ said:

I want to thank you guys again for all of the help. Especially you Dartanbeck, for hooking me up with some of that documentation which has been very helpful so far.

I have been able to grasp the very basics at this point and I whipped up my first initial animation. I could use some pointers though!

You can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSz5UtnmhH4
Oh Yeah! I like the concept and think you're doing a great job! Especially the end! :ahhh:

SuperGJ said:

I have a couple of specific questions in regards to how to improve this. Firstly, it is way too obvious to me where the camera pivots. I wanted a nice, smooth camera transition to slowly spiral around the central building, but instead the camera drifts from point to point, changing its course in a more rough manner. I tried applying the smooth animation filter, but it only worked slightly. Any tips on how to make smoother camera movement?This is one option that keeps coming up these days: Go to the timeline (sequencer) and find the camera you're rendering with (Carrara lets you make as many cameras as you want!) and the spaces between the little black keys are called 'tweeners'. Select one, and then Shift Select the rest of them. On the right under "Tweener", change it to 'Bezier'. Sometimes this can result in unwanted movement as well, that can be tailored with the ease in and ease out settings and so forth, within the Bezier Tweener settings.
There's other ways that I have yet to explore, but perhaps you can figure it out within DAZ_jared's excellent explanation of Adjusting Amplitude, Timing and Scaling in the Graph Editor, which is likely the absolute BEST solution - one that I MUST figure out for myself as well. But if that is just too much to digest right now (I really haven't read it yet, but it looks brilliant!), try the above Bezier method. The Bezier is a spline that can be very tightly adjusted in and out. Do that on both sides and you can really get some excellent results. But try the default settings first and see what it does. Keep in mind that if you're in the middle of the timeline when making the change, you'll need to scrub forward or back a bit before you can see the results that the tweener has done. Then, if you need to change the smoothness, try adjusting the ease out of one and the ease in of the following one - be subtle at first. Okay, I've babbled this one enough for now, right?

SuperGJ said:

Secondly, is there a good/easy way to extend the ruined city without consuming a ton of system resources? Right now it looks rather empty since it consists of just the center buildings and some replicators.Yeah, you've just said it - replicators. They are what you use if you want/need to keep your resources low. I have recently acquired Inagoni's Advance Pack, which includes a special little tool called "Replica". Replica is another replicator for Carrara that has a lot more options available, both as various grids and shapes, as well as following a terrain or similar - but more importantly, once the new instances are placed, you can grab them (well, with your tools! lol) and move/scale/rotate them freely at your whim. I am really addicted to this tool now that I have it, and could never go back again. Really. If it didn't work in 8.5, I would have had to wait until it did before I could upgrade!
Now, let's say that you don't have Advance Pack. I would suggest starting with the Replicator, not the Surface Replicator for something so square. But you want more variation that just repeating the same thing over and over. Applying random rotation just doesn't work for this because you need your rotations to be 90, -90, and 180, and nothing in between, right? Right. Okay... yeah, there are situations that can make that untrue... I'm just sayin'
So here's how you can do this. Use your replicator to make three instances onto the appropriately sized grid (get the grid size by looking at the "Motion" tab with the ruins product selected. You're looking for the sizes in X and Y, not Z). Now click the "Create Real Instances" button. Yes. You are correct in that you've just added three more instances of this whole thing to your memory payload. What can you do when you want more? lol So now, if I'm not mistaken, these three new instances will be in a group below the replicator, and the replicator will still be there, and City Ruins is still in the replicator, and - I just don't recall, but it might still be replicating. If so, just take your City Ruins out of the replicator. You cane either delete the replicator, or save it for later.
Now arrange those instances with the original into a square grid that would look good replicated. Shift Rotating will constrain the rotations to every 45 degrees. Do that to get the four variation available. When you get a nice block that you'd like to replicate, select all of them and hit Ctrl + G, which will group them. Now with the group selected, go to the motion tab and get the new dimensions. This is where you can see whether or not it is square. Don't worry if it's not - you don't have to enter in those exact measurements into the replicator. In the replicator you can set you grid larger than the group to create space between them, or less to overlap, etc.,
Some food for thought - and I hope it helps.

Third, what can I do about the obvious plane horizon? Going with an infinite plane made the whole thing look weird to me. I figure maybe the solution to the second issue would provide a solution for this one as well.

Just like explained above, make a block of City Ruins made up of real instances. This time, they don't need to be in a square block, but can be spread out horizontally, possibly in a nice somewhat random staggered formation. Add the group to a Replicator (not Surface Rep) and sett the grid spacing accordingly, but this time set the Replication Method (top of replicator window) to "Arc". Don't panic! Set the grid in the X parameter (pink) to the distance away from center you want the instances to occur. Get them way out there, but not out of the cameras range. Set the number on X axis to however many replications you need and on Y to 1, possibly 2. Now play with the random values for random position. This will stagger them, which is where a value of 2 in the Y value will give more depth/realism.
TIP: It's often easiest to leave the actual things that are being replicated in the center of the scene. Once replicated, drag the originals (not the replicator, just the items inside it) down below the ground surface. Let the replicator place what gets rendered, saving you from all of that overhead on memory, then drag the sacrificed templates down below.
Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that, with Replica, you can do a lot more! But that's another conversation :)

What about better lighting techniques? I like the overall 'feel' or 'mood', but the whole image comes out a bit too murky for my taste. Further, the quality seems slightly lower than it should be - it all looks a bit too grainy. Maybe my render specifications are off?

I have run out of time and will talk more with you about this.

And an additional, non-related question. I figured out how to paint my own textures for models, but how do I export them so I can use them in DAZ studio? I took a genesis figure in Carrara, made a new texture, painted it and then used the export option (.obj with texture selected) and I see the texture files in the folder, but Studio wont actually let me use them at all (not to mention the .obj is completely useless since it is essentially an unmoveable, unposeable statue when placed in DAZ studio). So any tips or information regarding this would be *very* helpful!

Thank you very much everyone!

I want to thank you guys again for all of the help. Especially you Dartanbeck, for hooking me up with some of that documentation which has been very helpful so far.

I have been able to grasp the very basics at this point and I whipped up my first initial animation. I could use some pointers though!

You can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSz5UtnmhH4

I have a couple of specific questions in regards to how to improve this. Firstly, it is way too obvious to me where the camera pivots. I wanted a nice, smooth camera transition to slowly spiral around the central building, but instead the camera drifts from point to point, changing its course in a more rough manner. I tried applying the smooth animation filter, but it only worked slightly. Any tips on how to make smoother camera movement?

Secondly, is there a good/easy way to extend the ruined city without consuming a ton of system resources? Right now it looks rather empty since it consists of just the center buildings and some replicators.

Third, what can I do about the obvious plane horizon? Going with an infinite plane made the whole thing look weird to me. I figure maybe the solution to the second issue would provide a solution for this one as well.

What about better lighting techniques? I like the overall 'feel' or 'mood', but the whole image comes out a bit too murky for my taste. Further, the quality seems slightly lower than it should be - it all looks a bit too grainy. Maybe my render specifications are off?

And an additional, non-related question. I figured out how to paint my own textures for models, but how do I export them so I can use them in DAZ studio? I took a genesis figure in Carrara, made a new texture, painted it and then used the export option (.obj with texture selected) and I see the texture files in the folder, but Studio wont actually let me use them at all (not to mention the .obj is completely useless since it is essentially an unmoveable, unposeable statue when placed in DAZ studio). So any tips or information regarding this would be *very* helpful!

Thank you very much everyone!

Kyoto Kid said:

Salvatore said:

After having to do all the research about wooly myself, I bet I also need to this cosmological thingy myself as well !!

...would have saved you the research time but not up that early in the morning. As a matter of fact didn't get up until almost quarter of eleven AM (local time) as it took nearly an hour to get my right hip to pop into place. If I don't do that before I get out of bed I'm in pain for a good part of the day. This is going to be heck whenever I get a new job because I no longer will have the luxury to do that. No fun standing on a crowded bus in severe pain while trying to dodge out of the way of people getting on and off.

...did I mention I really don't like crowds?

Anyway, yes, he left because of the ongoing site issues part of which dealt with this CloudFlare service they are using.

From my experience I pretty much concluded this setup doesn't work well with slower and wireless connections based on the fact that once I switched a high speed cable connection, the same ills pretty much ceased for me. The place where he is staying offers wireless, most likely through a central hub which, if there are a number of users online at the same time, can have a negative impact on speed and connectivity. This was not an issue with the old site. A thread may have loaded slowly (especially if there were a lot of embedded images), but I was never misdirected to my account page, given a blank reply form, or logged off when attempting to submit a post even, with my terribly slow connection. If it took too long I'd get the standard "network timeout" message after which I simply would back up and try again (usually with success the second time).

I actually don't think the speed of the user's Internet access has anything to do with it. I am on Comcast/Xfinity's fastest tier. So it would seem that perhaps the CloudFlare part of it is perhaps more to blame for some of these problems.

Dana

Salvatore said:

After having to do all the research about wooly myself, I bet I also need to this cosmological thingy myself as well !!

...did I mention I really don't like crowds?

Anyway, yes, he left because of the ongoing site issues part of which dealt with this CloudFlare service they are using.

From my experience I pretty much concluded this setup doesn't work well with slower and wireless connections based on the fact that once I switched a high speed cable connection, the same ills pretty much ceased for me. The place where he is staying offers wireless, most likely through a central hub which, if there are a number of users online at the same time, can have a negative impact on speed and connectivity. This was not an issue with the old site. A thread may have loaded slowly (especially if there were a lot of embedded images), but I was never misdirected to my account page, given a blank reply form, or logged off when attempting to submit a post even, with my terribly slow connection. If it took too long I'd get the standard "network timeout" message after which I simply would back up and try again (usually with success the second time).

JohnDelaquiox said:

Not often but bacon is really good
I put bacon on fruit salad. (Spinach leaves as a base, assorted fruits, and crumbled bacon on top.) Everything's better with bacon.

...now that we are heading into the rainy season, soon to be followed by the cold, then very cold rainy season, I might consider it if I can find it on sale as I would be making hotcakes and rolled oats (very good on these BTW) more regularly. Of course the key word here is "on sale".

However i am intrigued by the Lyle's Golden Syrup as well and I found a place I can get it locally (at least I wouldn't have to pay for shipping).