Carrara 7.2 Pro Shadow pass corrupt

TourqeGlare

EDIT: Had hissy fit here due to minor tipping point. Sorry. Will update details in this post when I get home today. Details are a little further down.

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=2093230

Well, Google showed me that there is a solution, maybe, but that there's a 404 or something and no cashe.
It makes my anger burn hot and fierce since I spent a good chunk of my day off to see what's attached down there for a shadow layer.

I remember seeing that post there above, and how there was a workaround, but I do not remember what to do.

Does Carrara 8.5 Pro have a fix?
If it does, than I'll seethe at the store page for a product that I could not dream of affording lest
I pirate it and glare loathingly at the outdated product of the same name that I received from 3D World a few years ago.

Thank you.

evilproducer

TourqeGlare said:

http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=2093230

Well, Google showed me that there is a solution, maybe, but that there's a 404 or something and no cashe.
It makes my anger burn hot and fierce since I spent a good chunk of my day off to see what's attached down there for a shadow layer.

I remember seeing that post there above, and how there was a workaround, but I do not remember what to do.

Does Carrara 8.5 Pro have a fix?
If it does, than I'll seethe at the store page for a product that I could not dream of affording lest
I pirate it and glare loathingly at the outdated product of the same name that I received from 3D World a few years ago.

Thank you.

Instead of glaring loathingly at Pro software that you got for the price of a magazine, why not give some details? What version of Carrara? I take it this is the shadow pass? Carrara did have a bug with it, but I haven't heard of it after C7, so maybe it was fixed. I have C7, but not above or I would check it.

If you state the issue you are having in plain terms with some more details, such as Carrara version, OS, and specific issues, without the overly dramatic prose, then you will get the help you need much more quickly. Most everybody here on the forum is not paid to be here. We're individuals with varying levels of experience that are willing to help those that ask. It makes it easier when those that ask are giving details and examples.

TourqeGlare

I'm sorry about my hissy fit. The combo of a bad layer in Photoshop, a five hour render that slows my whole system down, a bad web page and lack of sleep kinda sent me over the edge.

Anyway, yes, it is a shadow pass layer. The version is 7.2 Pro and in my experience the OS didn't matter beyond modern Windows post Vista since I've had the same results from 7 to 8.1 with the pass layer.

I'm not at my PC right now, so I'm recalling from memory. The scratch disk is at 100 mb I think, all shadows were ray traced from a sun outside the building and two bulbs inside all "good" quality. I don't remember the shadow layer properties.

I'll fill in any details that I forgot, probably also from memory. Is there anything I forgot? :)

evilproducer

I can understand the frustrations. You're right about the OS not making much of a difference. That's just one of my standard mantras when a post is light on details, as there are some issues that can be OS specific.

I use C7.2 Pro and I haven't really messed with the shadow pass, except to test the corruption way back when. It was both Windows and Mac versions that had the problem. I don't recall the workaround unfortunately.

I do know that one of the gurus that used to post here and has been MIA for a couple years (Sub7th), had real issues with the bug as he tended to animate and would render with hard shadows and use the shadow pass to soften them. If anyone came up with a work-around, it may have been him.

As I'm typing this, a couple memories or recollections are trying to creep out of the tar I call gray matter... I will try a couple out before I say anything else, or I may look more like a dunderhead.

TourqeGlare

Thanks evilproducer, I appreciate your efforts. :)

Does anyone with Carrara 8.5 know if this issue is still present? Better yet, is there a trial? I'm on my phone with a slow plan, so its a little hard to check. Pictures and all. :)

If the issue is fixed, I may try to save some cash for it. Hopefully nab it in the summer or fall.

TourqeGlare

So, I unchecked anti-aliasing for the shadow pass layer in the multi pass options, and now it's just fine, albeit non aliased.
Odd thing, that.

evilproducer

I probably wouldn't have thought of that. Good idea.

I know it isn't anti-aliased, but you may be able to do that in Photoshop or whatever image editor you use by slightly blurring the edges.. I have to do that if I use a depth pass as they aren't anti-aliased either.

TourqeGlare

evilproducer said:

I probably wouldn't have thought of that. Good idea.

I know it isn't anti-aliased, but you may be able to do that in Photoshop or whatever image editor you use by slightly blurring the edges.. I have to do that if I use a depth pass as they aren't anti-aliased either.

I don't have an issue with doing that. Fixing rough edges in PS is better than seeing something akin to a 30 year old Nintendo screwing up. (Damn, that's old. :( )
Now, getting the depth pass to work with transparent shaders, PS fixing or not, that's the tricky part.