Posing in Carrara
Ruphuss
Posts: 2,631
is it possible in Carrara to really pin feet to the ground so they don't move?
or do you have only the same posingtools as Studio has?
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You want to add a target helper object and pin the feet (or ankle) with the built-in IK chain in the figure's legs.
That may get you started on a tutorial search, or you may want to wait for a more detailed explanation.
There's a really great tutorial and setup kit available for Genesis. You'll need to have an account at ShareCG to download it - Free, and totally worth it!
Carrara Helper and Modifiers for Genesis by fabaone
thx for trying to help
but thats not answering my question
can i just with the program or do i need Workarounds
has Carrara posing tools of its own that can do that
with a just working pinningfunction ?
yes you can.
thx to holly
if there were any Trial for Carrara i could find out for myself
Google is your friend. I'm sorry I cannot be more specific right now, I am at work and cannot spend time searching for you, but this came up in seconds upon the search "Carrara trial download".
http://download.cnet.com/Carrara-8-Pro/3000-6677_4-10782148.html
Target helpers aren't a work around- It's what they're there for, among many other functions they can help with.
The file Dart referred you to just has the targets already set up for you as far as I can tell.
As far as I know, there is no pin foot to ground command, button or widget.
Even if you're not using Genesis, faba is an expert and made a brilliant tutorial. Sorry if I made it sound confusing.
You know, we could really use a good, step-by-step tutorial on this. When I posted that link to faba's sweet kit, I did so because it produces immediate results. But there may still be some mysticism as to what's really going on. There are many more great uses for this method of setup - beyond what I know on the subject, which is currently (embarrassingly) little. I have survived all of my animation efforts rotating each joint to my liking - with no help from pinning or taking advantage of kinematics. I cannot express enough how pleased I am that Carrara has been a dream in this regard - having such an excellent amount of control. I try animating in such a way in other convenient pose-and-render applications, and can barely wait to get out and back into Carrara.
faba's kit from ShareCG gives a pdf of how to set it up from the tools that she has already made. You get the target helpers and modifiers all waiting in the browser to drag onto your figure, according to her simple procedure. When done, you simply follow her final instructions on the correct methods of moving the figure and helpers - and you're working with a beautiful setup, feet pinned to their spot.
@holly
i did try that a week ago but says "Trial expired"
you cant get it to work
There is currently no trial version of Carrara.
oh :( sorry about that.
I know I have seen this as a specific tutorial, but I could not find it on Youtube so maybe it was not a video… There were some videos that showed IK in Carrara, but I am not sure they illustrate specifically what you want. Suggest you try a serach for "inverse kinematics carrara" on youtube, there are at least 3 that show IK in action, but I do not know if they show the setup….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sxMmZiVWyU
A search in the old DAZ forum archive suggests there was a video by Sub7nth showing exactly this (target helper used to lock ankles/feet), but his website seems to be neglected. Maybe this discussion is still useful
http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=1851757#1851757
Perhaps someone would be willing to post some screen shots (not renders, let's see the actual tools) of a Genesis character being posed in Carrara 8.5. Please make it an original, real pose (I've gotten ideas from books on 2d animation when working in Blender), not some preset. If we wanted to use presets, we'd just as soon use DS.
Who is "we?" ;-)
What tools are you unsure of? The manipulators? Things that can aid in the posing process such as Target helpers and tracking modifiers? I know what an original pose is, but what's your definition of a "real" pose.
I ask, because I don't wish to take your response in the wrong way. At first glance it appears there is a bit of a antagonistic "prove it" vibe. Then you follow your comments with a bit of a diss at DAZ Studio. I don't use D/S, but there are those that use Carrara that also use D/S, so please be respectful. Hell, I know people that use the latest Lightwave and also use Carrara because for certain things, it's either easier to use or gives better results.
Hi evilproducer,
Sorry, no disrespect intended. It's the Royal 'We', btw. ;) Ok, I'm just bad at picking my pronouns from time to time.
I'm just at a bit of a crossroads here. I've got all this great content for DAZ Studio, but as per a thread in the Commons forum, it seems to lack a usable FK/IK. So, in my humble opinion, posing in DAZ Studio sux. I do use the pre-made poses all the time. Otherwise, the clunky controls and long lists of parameter dials are not conducive to fun or production, thus making me cranky. (I make myself cranky, so I do take responsibility for any crankyness that I express. ;) )
I want to get more creative with the marvelous Genesis character, but DAZ Studio is holding me back. I've even considered exporting morphed characters into Blender and rigging and weight painting and shape keying and somehow getting all the hair and clothes and accessories to work.... No. No no no!
I tried the trial to Carrara 8. I couldn't get my DAZ content in it. And there is no v8.5 demo. How do I know if I want to buy it? I need some kind of evidence that maybe, just maybe, it can do real posing (as opposed to vendor supplied) with my Genesis characters.
No worries! No offense taken!
If it helps, here's our Carrara monthly contest thread with several entries that use Genesis. They are renders, but the contest had a WIP thread and the entrants are required to post at least one WIP and link back to it when they submit their entry. I know there were discussions of the pitfalls and triumphs the other artists' had while building their scenes with Genesis. It may be worth it to look at some them to get an idea of how Genesis and Carrara work together.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/30882/
BTW, the voting is open to everyone, so if you see something you like, feel free to vote for it.
If you want to try out Carrara, and get a nice book to read as well, check for a book called "Figures, Characters, and Avatars", by Les Pardew.
I think Amazon still has it. I'm not sure if the 'Second Edition' (the one with DAZ Studio 4) includes Carrara on a disc. But the first edition, as per the cover art below, comes with Carrara 6 Pro - and a pile of models to play with. It is the full version and you will get the S?N through DAZ store, here. Knowing that, I would go for a "new" version of the book - to ensure that DAZ will license it to you.
That's how I got into Carrara. The same day I bought the book, I upgraded to 7 Pro for the upgrade price before the book ever shipped. Carrara 8.5 Pro upgrade deal will work on 'any' version of Carrara - so they say. DAZ 3D is cool. They'll help you get into Carrara if you want to. I've never seen such a helpful, friendly place to shop at.
That said, I am going to say now that, going from Poser to Carrara has been so incredible for me that words cannot even describe it. Bliss. Hmmm... kind of a good description. Exciting. Wait... no. More like, Exciting!!! Hmmm... Bliss and Exciting!!!
One thing that I'm still wrapping myself around with delight, is how fun it is to switch out settings (incredibly easy and limitless at the same time) on the shaders, and manipulating the lights to suit what I've done with the shaders. Carrara shaders are very fun - which is good. Because they are the true key to your final image. In Carrara, however, all of the things that you can do with shaders just seems to make perfect sense, making them really fun to work with. Okay... I'm off on a tangent now.
You came here asking about Posing. In Carrara, the tutorial that I linked to in the beginning might not explain exactly how it works - but it does work beautifully.
Posing characters - even without any tutorial - is very fluid in Carrara. You can do it by using the dials or typing in numbers, or you can just grab parts and move them around. Animating is a dream!
For posing and tracking in Carrara, there a few Youtube videos/tutorials that show tools that should work for all figures. Basically, the world manipulators are the main joint controls for posing, and target helpers are usually used for tracking(regular and IK). However, most objects can be used for tracking as well as secondary joint manipulators depending on hierarchy. There is also Puppeteer for posing which is a newer built in feature for Carrara. NLA(Non Linear Animation) can save poses for later animations etc.
What Carrara posing lacks the most is true mirror/symmetry posing features in that when you move one leg/hand(etc.) the other will also move in relation/reverse. Currently, it must be done separately. There is also no pinning for FK/IK(what the OP wants), Orient Like object-> for instance grabing a sword handle, and you can't transfer keyframes in the middle of other object sequences using Copy/Paste.
At one point DAZ asked for what we wanted in animation features, but Bullet was voted for instead(iirc) for softbody simulations possibly for clothes etc. Carrara does have most animation/posing features that get the job done though. Hopefully some much needed new posing features will be in C9.
Well,
Holding down Alt, you can drag any selected keys to another location in the time line, which pastes a copy to the release frame. This works with any number of selected keys. I copy and paste all the time.
While I used to agree with the pinning point, that was before I found and tried Carrara Helper and Modifiers for Genesis by fabaone, like I posted at the beginning.
What it does is apply target helpers on the specific part of the figure, and you add the IK modifiers from the browser. When you're done, the feet are really beautifully pinned, and the helpers that you then use to move the feet works really smooth as well. I was(am) amazed. Sorry to push that thing like this, but that's exactly what it does - and it's just telling Carrara what we, ourselves, could tell it to do - it must be easier to show that it is to explain, so she just does the setting for us, saved to the browser. Genius.
faba... you totally Rock! I hope you here me!
@ evilproducer, thank you!
@ Dartanbeck, I watched your YouTube intro to v8.5 last night. Thank you! It answered some of my questions. I see that Genesis indeed works in Carrara. There are some things I want in a posable character. I hope some of you Carrara experts can help me out.
FK/IK: In DAZ Studio, I know that this can be toggled for the entire figure. However, I'm used to setting up FK/IK on a per-limb basis. Since the FK/IK switch doesn't seem to work, pinning does what I want, mostly, which brings me to my next point...
Foot roll: When creating a basic walk cycle, something every animator pretty much starts out with, the IK foot needs a certain amount of control for accurate placement and minimal counteranimation. My tests in DAZ Studio show no foot roll control. For example, if you want to maintain toe placement on a floor while the heel lifts as the character moves forward, you need the foot bone to stay on the floor while a separate control bone lifts the heel and thus alters the placement of the IK leg bones. Does Carrara have this level of control built into the Genesis character? If not...
Customization: Let's say you don't have foot roll control. Can you create an additional bone layer that does not deform the character but drives the deform bones? Being able to customize the rigging would be a big plus, especially if you could assign custom geometry to the bone display and toggle visibility to reduce screen clutter. Speaking of customizable bones, is there any way to create a kind of Heads Up Display in the shape of a face that could be used to drive facial shape keys for expressions? This is pretty much industry standard stuff. I don't mind parameter dials for character creation, but for posing it is out of the question.
Thanks again, all! I appreciate your input. :)
[The thread in the Commons I referred to yesterday: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/31499/ ]
I don't have C8.5 so I can't work with Genesis and don't know the rig, but since you have used it in D/S you'd know how many foot bones there are. In Carrara 7.2 Pro, which is what I have, you can set up IK chains and terminators, and remove those that already exist if you wish. You can also adjust the constraints and change the type of constraint as well.
So if Genesis is like V4 it will have a foot bone and a toe bone. You could set up an IK chain for the toe and the foot. I've seen screen shots of Genesis and the rig is visible. Not sure if visibility can be toggled on or off for the rig. There may be ways to edit the rig that I don't know about with C8.5 or Genesis.
I'm also not sure about the way to do facial expressions. Except for the jaw bone, I believe all the other facial movements are morphs, so you'd be stuck with dials in Poser (and maybe D/S) and sliders in Carrara. A simple way to keep the face in view would be to create a camera pointing at the face, parented to the head, and made invisible (so as not to interfere with other angles). Then select a multiple angle view in the Assembly room with the face camera selected for one of the views. In the examples I'm posting it's a 2-up view option.