Alert #2 for those interested in Carrara

[cycollins]

Craziness season at www.daz3d.com has officially begun! Carrara Pro is now $192.00 and the basic version is $87.00. They are still a bit pricey, but a BIG discount from the basic prices. For those who don't know, this is a handy application for those interested in turning true 3D data into CW patterns. It's a key piece of the toolset I use in doing the two-sided human sculptures I do. So, heads-up to all who have been waiting to take advantage of the seasonal silliness at daz3d.com.

Cycollins

[DocWheeler]

Cy,
What else would be needed besides Carrara?

[Kenm810]

Thanks for the reminder, Quite a site, I'll give it a try.

[BobHill]

Looks great, Cy. I do believe I'll go for the Pro package. How close to Maya is this. I've had the early version of Bryce and Poser, but never kept them up. Very interesting program, however. I could easily get hooked, I'm afraid, particularly if it'll work for the CarveWright. Do you need anything except Carrara Pro?

Update: There is also an additional 30% discount, so if you also join the Premium Club and purchase the Carrara 5 Pro you'll get the 30% also as well as the Premium price discount. Both for $164.45 (download version). Now that's a really great deal.

Bob

[cycollins]

Well, not very. Maya is a fabulous package that has pretty much all the power you would need to create Toy Story 2 or Shrek. However, in some ways, Carrara is better for most of us, myself included. I'm a graphics programmer. That means, I work on BUILDING applications like Maya and Photoshop. When it comes to using them, I would venture my skill level no higher than fair-to-midland. It would be like comparing the carpenter who makes easels and paint-brush-handles to Rembrandt.

Carrara does have a representative cross-section of Maya-like features. It allows you to manipulate and modify 3D data (to sculpt it from scratch, you might want to use the sister application Hexagon 3D, but in a pinch you could create something in Carrara - more likely you will import something from a sight like daz3d, ContentParadise or from a higher-level program like Bryce or Poser). You can also set up and create rendered animations of the Pixar kind in Carrara, but this is a little outside the scope of the CW forum. Carrar is among the easier applications I've encountered to pick up and learn. It has built-in video help (as QuickTime movies), which is very nice. The user interface is no worse than average - 3D manipulation using a mouse and a 2D screen is very tricky and the state-of-the-art isn't that great. Finally, it has a nearly-unique feature, which is a check-box in the user-interface for rendering (the production of the final image from a camera and a scene) that allows you to save the depth information from the rendering process as a PhotoShop channel. PhotoShop channels in turn can be read into PhotoShop (obviously) and PaintShop Pro (thankfully) and perhaps even PhotoPaint and some others. This depth channel is essentially a CarveWright pattern. With a little bit of calculation and some trial-and-error, you can reconstruct the 3D scene in wood with the CW unit. So in answer to the question "what else do you need", the answer is a paint program that can read older PhotoShop documents (with extension .psd) and a good sense for what all the numbers mean. That "good sense" can either be the geeky techno kind or the artsy trial-and-error kind. We have plenty of both here on the CW forum.

Cycollins

[BobHill]

I do indeed have Adobe PhotoShop (CS version) and used to do a bunch of work for them (and still do betas), so if that's all that's needed in support, I should have it made .... or in the making, so to speak.
Thanks, Cy.

Bob

[DocWheeler]

Cy,

You described a lot about carrara that sounds good, but I have been trapped by programs that will not allow what I expected.
Can you import a photo into Carrara and work contours? Very difficult for this?

[cycollins]

...Bob mentioned joining the Platinum club along with getting Carrara. This is a good deal and I wouldn't discourage anyone from doing this, but take care. The Platinum Club is a great way to pick up 3D assets for cheap, but it is a subscription model, so if you don't keep your eyes open when signing up, you can end up in the auto-renew program where they autocharge your account at the end of your membership. Just caveat emptor. I'm a member of several of these programs, but I'm a cheap 3D asset junky.

Cycollins

[BobHill]

Cy,
Good point. The Platinum club is $29.95 to join (but the discount it supplies to the price of Carrera 5 makes it well worth it) and is $7.95 a month, but that also comes with monthly free items as well as always a 30% discount on anything you wish to purchase from them. It also affords you a membership forum, so for the extra knowledge alone, I'd say it's worth it. You can also purchase membership with a reduced annual price, but until I find out the real value, I'll go with the month to month price. For CarveWright projects alone, I see full value, but also a lot of interesting items for my other graphical pursuits as well, which is why I'm going perhaps further than necessary for carving projects.
Bob

[DocWheeler]

Is there anyone else out there that can answer my questions? The quections to Cy were what other programs are necessary and can you import photos easily and work heights readily?