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Head Wax - brilliant work, especially for the day and having to build everything! The music adds a lot too. I remember those days when anything you wanted you had to build. Here is one that I did in 1999 which was featured on a computer magazine disk of the day, it was done with Inspire3D (the cut down version of Lightwave). There are parts that make me cringe now - the run of the alien in particular! But there are parts that I still like, like the way the craft kicks up dust when it lands.
Hi Phil,
It's a nice image. However, there is a graininess to the whole render. I assume that this was done on purpose?
Sorry, I'm just trying to learn here.
Did that include the original version by Bruce Artwick at Sublogic? I.e. before Microsoft bought it. I have fond memories of that game on an IBM brand PC with an Intel 8088 chip (5 MhZ!) with a Hercules Monochrome Graphics card. Pure magic.
In retrospect, I think that I needed to turn down the bump maps a little!
No, Microsoft had bought it by the time I got interested in making addons (don't recall the exact version that started allowing it, but it was FS2002 where things really started taking off, so to speak). First version I owned was the SubLogic FSII for the Amiga. Oh those purple airports! I think I've owned every PC version since 98. Anyhow It inspired me into getting a real pilots licence too (although I can't afford to keep it going at today's prices - £190 an hour wet for a battered old 152! & it quickly goes well over £200 for anything bigger/faster/newer...)
Pencil & paper...
still do
Ray Dream Studio!
Kind of a cheat answer since RDS eventually turned into Carrara.
I know a lot of us Carrara users go back to the Ray Dream days, but haven't seen anybody mention it yet.
If memory serves me correctly, it even predates Pixar and Toy Story.
On second thought, I probably started just after Toy Story came out.
I remember in 1987 I attended a 3d graphics show in London, it seemed I was the only hobbyist there amongst all these professionals, looking at hardware and software that cost the earth, things like the IRIS dedicated graphics computer (what happended to them?!). There was a cinema showing state-of -the-art 3d graphics, some from universities - I remember seeing a very early cloth sim of a tablecloth dropping on a table and everyone gasped when it behaved like cloth, something we now take for granted. But a highlight - and the reason I can be pretty sure of the date - is that they showed Red's Dream, a very early Pixar short about a unicycle, if you've never seen it, look it up on YouTube. I was blown away!
I started in 88-89 with DKBTrace, the ancestor of POV, on my Amiga 2000. Even bought an 68030 expension card so that I could render several times faster :-)
Some years later, I switched to Anim8or. I liked the modelling part but not really the render. For a particular project, I had to use Poser. I didn't really like it but went along. I also tried blender, but didn't like it either Then, on a magazine cover disk, I found a full version of Carrara 7.2.
I didn't discover Carrara. It came to me. It was a surprise package bundled with CorelDraw (RayDream Designer/Studio). More than twenty years ago.................what!!!!!!????!!!
I wasn't even looking for a 3D Program but got hooked immediatly ....and stayed hooked. The user interface got me. And the full load of features that was unique at that time. I used but didn't like Poser, Blender was a complexityhell in the beginning. I then tried other 3D programs but they all lacked this special "take it easy" touch.
I came into 3D by the back door...furtively on tip toes. Sometime back in the 1990's I was a marine artist for an establilshed gallery. The gallery hired professional videographers to make a documentary of my work... however the gallery was not happy with the result and it lanquished. I found the process fascinating and when this editing system called Casablanca came out I bought it and a Hi8 video camera and started to learn how to shoot video and to do basic edits. At about the same time, Perpetual Motions, an LA based studio that made documentaries for the History Channel (at that time they were really interested in history - and not Yeti, Big Foot, or extraterrestrial sightings) wanted to use a number of my paintings to intergrate with a documentary they were making on Clipper Ships, which was the part of their coming series on the "Great Ships" series. They invited me to stop by their studio in LA when I got a chance - which I did when I visited my family in LA. The owner of Perpetual Motion was very friendly and because I was interested in the "how " of documentaries, had their editor show me their editing bay and equipment. Expecting mega expensive equipment and numbers of employees, instead they had one large monitor a couple of speakers and a Beta Cam SP tape deck for feeding in the video tape and of course a computer for running the editing software and a mouse. Yikes...that was it.. They also showed me their compositing bay where they were using After Effects 4....to create their logos and graphics. They advised me to get one of the new Mini DV cameras and a DAT recorder for sound, a Mac and After Effects. I came away from the visit with a whole new perspective...I wanted to make my own documentaries.
I still used the Casablanca as the Mini DV route was too expensive..I made my own mechanical equipment for panning and zooming paintings and stills. I completed a documentary on "Old Ironsides" ..which at the time I thought was great.. but was soon to be disillusioned as I learned more about editing and trade craft and the master was quiickly buried not again to see the light of a monitor. My art career was in full throttle so the video was stricly a spare time hobby. Eventually I was able to procure a Mini DV camera, a Mac that had firewire, Final Cut Pro (vers. 1) and After Effects 4 and Commotion to add to my Photoshop. The long learning curve began. I attended some DV Expo.s in LA when I visited my family. Part of the Expos were classes in After Effects, Commotion, etc. I signed up for some of the classes but was quickly humbled by all the bright professionals from the Hollywood studios who spoke in a jargon that left me in a daze. It was at the DV Expo that I first saw Poser. They had booth with monitors and showed demos of the their software. As I recall it was at this time strictly for still posing..no figures in motion. They also had some 3D software being demonstrated which deeply impressed me. I read a book on 3D and decided that I could handle it..In the book they mentioned Infini D and for me the interface seemed to make sense. I bought Infini D and the learning curve began. The more I learned about 3D the more I liked it... However, after I had the software for about a year I learned the Metacreations was abandoning Infini D and was combining Ray Dream Studio and Infin D into a new software called Carrara. I was very disturbed by this news ..I had paid about $450 dollars for the software... about a $1000 today and it was to be abandoned... I called Metacreations and talked to one of Infini D team (you could do this in those days) and he was distraught by the decision of the company,,feeling that Infin D should have been the platform on which the company should have added the features that became Carrara. Even today I believe he was right. Infin D was as solid as a battle ship.. the code was written so logically that it is almost impossible to crash. In all my years of using Infin D I have crashed it very few times. Instead they cobled two software packages together... A Bison in front and a Zebra behind and the people who bought the new software wonder why it was so unstable and querky. I suspect that it has taken years to bring some stability to the program..but even now it can crash on you at the most vulnerable times. However, the world moves on..
Over the years I learned 3D on Infini D and built a number of models that at the time I thought were wonderful, but today look embarassingly primitive. I bought Poser, 4 but had difficulty with the clunky interface. Infin D did not have the tools to make convincing figures. I tried Electric Image, and other 3D programs...but kept coming back to Infini D to actually get work done. Over the years I had looked over Carrara a number of times, had bought a copy and had aquired a free sample also..but each time I found the interface to be a little like Poser...odd and baroque. It was the need for figures that brought me to DAZ Studio and eventually back to Carrara.. After numerous attempts to use DAZ Studio and being counfounded by the interface I decided to give Carrara a final try. It seems the interface had changed, or was it me, either way I liked it and was able to begin learning... I bought Phil's lessons...and here I am on the forum - learning and loving it.
Msteaka
I recall reading that "Red's Dream" showed that animated works could produce emotional reactions. At the time, that was considered noteworthy. Now, if you Google "Toy Story 3 crying at end", you get ~12 million hits.
It is a wonderful combination ot the cutting edge technology of the day - in fact nothing that you couldn't do with Carrara - and the animator's art. The human character in it is actually quite crudely done, but yes, it is the unicycle's emotions that you can relate to!
I think Deluxe paint was probably my first introduction to the fact that computers were capable of being used as artistic and creative tools. but it was a few years after seeing that on the amiga that I found 3D studio, and character studio, on PC,. which later became 3D max,.
I was fortunate to work for a company which allowed me access to great graphics software,. like Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, illustrator etc.
I've tried most of the 3D software that's been released since the late 80's.
I found Carrara by accident,. and thought it was novel and interesting, since it could import poser figures,.
None of the other more expensive programs had that ability,. or anywhere near the feature set of carrara, without expensive plugins for plants, terrains, etc.
Most of the major 3D software seems to expect the user to build their own models from scratch,. which results in a HUGE learning curve.
Struggling with 3D studio for years, on 86's through 486's.. taught me to have patience. but the frustration of having no "ready made human figures",. was becoming unbearable.
in a search for Human models,. I found Daz3D,. and by happy accident, I found Carrara.
Yes, I think you have zeroed in on what makes Carrara unique, it is a wonderful fusion between a full featured 3D suite PLUS the ability to use an extensive library of characters and other pre-made content. There is no other program that I am aware of that delivers that in a usable form. It is therefore such a shame that it appears to lack the support that it deserves from its owners, even for their own figures.
PhilW, that;s pretty terrific. Wonderful job - and you did that in 1999 - that's jawdropping enough in itself
Thanks - it would be so much better if I were doing it today, but I'm still pretty proud of it for its time.
I seem to be the exception here. No background in 3D. I started with Studio in the early 2000's - version 1.3.1 (I think). I later got Hex and Bryce for free, in the same deal that Dart mentioned above, but both have sat on my computer, totally unused.
I'd heard great things about Carrara for years. Mildly interested, but not enough to spend the money, or take on a difficult learning curve.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when someone mentioned in the PC+ forum that Carrara was on sale for a ridiculously low price, and that the pro packs for V5 and M5 were included. I pulled the trigger, primarily for the content.
But, inspired by the work in Carrara that many of you have posted, I also started thinking, "how hard could this be?" Currently finding out.
Carrara is not "hard" but it is "different" to Daz Studio. Most of the things you can do in DS you can do in Carrara, but sometimes it has a different way of going about it, and I know that some DS users are put off by that. I find the same whenever I use DS , but in reverse of course!! Carrara can't use the latest Genesis 3 characters (there was word of some development in this direction, but there hasn't been a peep for months so maybe it has stalled?), but it can use all other generations of characters. When I put together my Learning Carrara video training, I was consciously allowing for people transferring from Poser and DS, and well as being new to 3D, and have hopefully ordered subjects in a way that will let you get basic results fast, and then move on to the extra facilities that Carrara has to offer. You can view the first chapters free here:
http://www.infiniteskills.com/training/learning-carrara-8.html
The training is also available through the Daz store. (You may see there are sets for Learning Carrara 7, Carrara 8 and Carrara 8.5 - the later sets just add extra chapters to cover the new functions as the core program did not really change, so you only need the 8.5 set to have all the basic training.)
Not me, at least if the results are good and the difficulty is more or less the same. However, after playing in the Carrara assembly room, I'm beginning to think that you guys are underselling the uniqueness of its manipulation tools.
Actually, I already knew about your free intro videos - with all the praise here in the forum, how could I NOT know? - and they were the next thing on my list! So, good timing.
Corel Suite 5 came with a very basic 3d app.
might've been Truespace, can't remember.
i remember most of the menu was grayed out.
I found Bryce2 on a computer magazine CD-Rom, but because my computer was too slow, I could never use it until...
A new machine arrived. I installed it again: now it was usable and I was impressed. I soon found that a free version of Bryce5.5 was available and so I gladly upgraded. Bundled with this new Bryce was Daz Studio, another pleasant surprise. But while I was using the couple Bryce/DS, I was also developing some curiosity for the other 3D graphics applications. The name "Carrara" kept going around but I wouldn't dare to spend money on it without knowing if it could be useful to me...
Enter Les Pardew's book "Figures, Characters and Avatars: The Official Guide to Using DAZ Studio..."
I do not know about the current edition, but the first one had, attached to the book, a DVD-Rom with lots of content and apps in it.
I bought it because I knew it contained Carrara 6 Pro. When I finally found the time to follow Carrara's included quick tutorial, I knew I had found my favourite :-)
I love this video! And the Modeling!!!
Bravo Man! What a joy!
Cool! So you've been a Die Hard from the beginning then! Very cool!
Awesome!
I love the interface too! I just really feel at home in Carrara!
Wow... quite the tale, my friend! My texturing got me into 3d, which got me to bypass 3d and get into posing animations, and now I'm into compositing and other vfx! Funny how we run in different circles to end up in similar venues, eh? ;)
Exactly. And when everyone else was telling me to get Z-Brush or 3D Coat or MudBox, it was he who's shown me how I already have all of the tools I need right here in Carrara... remember that, Andy? That was a cool thread! You taught me the bridge tool and showed that awesome bridge of nature image!
Since then I've been quite content with my Carrara - glad that I don't really need to buy any other 3d packages... Carrara does it all!
Having the ability to use Poser content is truly unique to Carrara - something that I now take for granted constantly! I love using content made by others!
Like Unified Brain, I initially had no other background in 3D. Ultimately I first started with 1:6 scale action figures and dolls. I then wanted to render them digitally so that I could have fancy sets and other effects that I could not achieve in real life. I poked a little bit at iClone, but this was during its extremely early development, and I quickly gave up on it. Somehow I found Daz Studio 3.something and chose it over Poser because it was free, I assume. Years of crappy renders ensued.
I left Daz just as V4 was hitting ascendancy, then returned in 2014 around the fade-out of Genesis 1 and the release of G2F. Slightly less crappy renders ensued.
Anyway, I was Dazzing along, happily minding my own business, until I noticed HowieFarkes' stuff coming up in my store searches. Motivated by a desire for Maple Meadows and World Gardens Maze, as well as a steep PC+ discount, I almost bought Carrara earlier this year, but refrained. Now that I'm in PC+ and Daz recently had its Orgy of Consumption annual PA Sale, the Orgy + PC+ discounts coincided to bring the price of Carrara down to $27.30, which I decided was a great deal, especially given all the content it comes with.
So that's the story of how I discovered Carrara and started camping out here. Currently Daz Studio is my primary program for setting up and rendering characters and scenes. Right now Carrara is definitely a secondary in that regard, but, with all its features and capabilities that Daz Studio doesn't have, I can easily see it becoming as important to me as Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I use all the time, though for a limited number of functions.
One of my personal goals this year was to learn how to do digital modeling, so I downloaded Wings3D and promptly ignored it. Carrara's modeling room might motivate me to actually achieve this goal, especially since I'm familiarizing myself with other aspects of the program anyway.
--MW