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Yup Carrara can weightmap, there aren't many tutorials on how to do this though, Philw touches on it in his advanced course and DimentionTheory and Cripeman both have some short tutorials on youtube about t he basic principles.
I think it's high time someone produced a weightmapped V4 and M4 for Carrara. No one has done it up til now though, don't know why except that not a lot of users know how to use it (as a guess) and there hasn't been a lot of demand for it as the existing characters perform pretty well as-is, but I've been wanting to learn more about how to weightmap so that I might one day tackle it :)
Joe,
I wonder how large of an operation we are talking about? Well its none of my business.. I just like the software and I have enough to do just learning and using what is there at present. Besides Carrara has gone through multiply hands through the years. If DAZ does not find it profitable it may end up elsewhere. Though considering that DAZ makes the figures such as Genesis, I think its best that Carrara stays where it is. It has a unique advantage over other 3D programs.
Starboardtack
Hmmm, that really isn't all that far from me. I guess the worst they could do is kill me slowly if I was to show up and ask nicely to speak to someone...
From what I've read, it seems like it has maybe 50 employees. Last I saw, they are listed on a business website as between 50-100 employees. I think its office takes up less than half of the second floor based on a real estate ad I saw trying to rent some space in that building. They included a floorplan, which was nice... :) ...That's why I'm guessing they're around 50 employees, cuz you can't fit many people in 40% of the second floor of that building.. :)
They merged with an Israeli company a few years ago, named Gizmoz. After that there is very little on the web about Gizmoz or what happened after the merger. In 2010 there was a lot of hype about a joint thing with Gizmoz where they develop personalized gaming avatars...basically your face on your human avatar. But nothing after that press release. All has been very quite on the DAZ front. Though I don't follow the other forums here, so maybe there's a lot of interaction in the Studio or Commons forums. But certainly not with Carrara.
And BTW, if anyone is interested in leasing some space in their building, here's the real estate ad I was referring to...
http://www.comre.com/flyers/ABeddard/Old Flyers/224_S_200_W-Ste_215.pdf
I recall, years ago, I think DAZ posted a video showing a walkthrough of their old (?) building and quick interviews with some of the employees. Interesting to put faces to some of the names.
You'd think they'd be happy to invite one of their users/supporters to come by and meet the crew and have tea and crumpets... :)
Yup Carrara can weightmap, there aren't many tutorials on how to do this though, Philw touches on it in his advanced course and DimentionTheory and Cripeman both have some short tutorials on youtube about t he basic principles.
I think it's high time someone produced a weightmapped V4 and M4 for Carrara. No one has done it up til now though, don't know why except that not a lot of users know how to use it (as a guess) and there hasn't been a lot of demand for it as the existing characters perform pretty well as-is, but I've been wanting to learn more about how to weightmap so that I might one day tackle it :)
Chapter 15 of the Carrara 5 Handbook has a complete step-by-step guide to rigging a custom (or other) figure in Carrara with bones and IK chains and then animating with a walk cycle. About 40 pages dripping with useful information. :coolsmile:
I think there may be 4 distinct rigging systems getting talked about together in the thread. (1) There is the Daz Genesis rigging system, which we can ignore for the moment. (2) There is the old Poser bodypart parent-child rigging system that V1/M1 through V4/M4 were originally released in. (3) There is the new Poser 8+ weightmapping rigging system that figures like Rex and Roxie were released in. (4) There is the native Carrara bones and weightmap system that can be used on custom figures (or any other mesh).
Jonstark, I think the V4 weightmap version you might be thinking of was that someone made a new Poser system (#3) version of Vicky4. In principle, one could export/import the V4 mesh to get a clean obj and then create a native Carrara skeleton for it (system 4). I think you would lose a lot of the joint morphs that come with V4 and the rig is already pretty good. Easier just to morph in the posed position or adjust the weightmaps at the margin.
What I see more often is people model their own figure in roughly the same dimensions as a V4 or M4 or some other figure that has been rigged in the bodypart-parent-child system (#2), and then attach their figure to the bone skeleton of the V4 or M4, and then make the mesh of the V4 or M4 invisible. They do this to save the time and hassle of rigging from scratch.
I occasionally model and rig my own figures in Carrara with just Carrara's system (#4), but if I were going to produce anything with the intent to distribute it, I would probably group the bodyparts and rig using the old Poser style (#2) because it would have more compatibility. Carrara, Daz Studio, and Poser can all use the old Poser system (#2), but neither Daz Studio nor Poser can use the Carrara system (4).
I think Carrara was sort of born "dead". It's for a very unique set of people.
I love Carrara for so many countless reasons.
I've still never seen the new Poser in action, other than the promotional videos from SM.
A couple of things that I have tried with great success:
- Creating native Carrara weight-mapped rigging - very powerful and about as easy to use as anything I've tried. I very straight-forward and accepted method of mapping.
- Modeling over a Genesis (both 1 and 2Female) figure and exporting the OBJ and using the CCTs in DS Pro - another simple, yet very powerful set of tools to get the job done. The really neat part about this is that there is so much flexibility built into the new technology which we may use to our advantage, such as:
* The Genesis/Triax system allows for fairly limitless changes in topology for use as morph dials to change its overall shape. This can be very easily done within Carrara, as you would any other modeler. For anyone new to doing this, it may even be a bit easier due to the matching input/output presets for exporting and importing the mesh(es). meaning that we can actually design custom shapes for Genesis and distribute them using a simple Carrara-to-DS Pro workflow. If you make radical changes to the mesh, you might wish to require (or advise) that the shape use a higher level of smoothing (increasing the virtual poly-count via SubD, which we can visualize within Carrara by increasing our own smoothing as we work on the mesh) - and then create a custom UV set and make matching texture maps for the new preset to include - this is how the Genesis Gorilla was born, as with all of the other character shapes.
* The Triax rigging system is very easy to work with, once you get to know it. Making custom figures in Carrara can be easily rigged with this new DS rig for a more broad range of users, including Carrara!
* Making conforming items for use with Genesis (1, 2M and 2F) is really quite simple and fun within Carrara, and then performing the Triax conforming availability within DS Pro. In PhilW's "Advanced Carrara Techniques", he also teaches us how easily this is done for other figures, such as the ever-popular V4.
Here's the thing: Making things that are compatible in a Poser way makes them compatible with Carrara users as well. Making things that are DS compatible are then also compatible for Carrara 8.5 + users. Making either of the above can reach a larger audience and launch the artist into becoming published, if one so desires. In that case, I think that it could help Carrara's window-front appeal if such items were delivered with Carrara-optimized versions as well - or even as a separate product. I prefer the method where the optimized version comes complete with the other version - so that it helps draw 'wonder' to the buyer.
I think that, in most cases, anyone whom might be drawn into Carrara in such a way will be happy with the purchase - especially if they then become forum members, where they will gain the wealth of wisdom that this forum provides. We have folks here that can solve just about anything - and that makes Carrara (and us) very special!
I kind of hope that some of that (the "dead" part) begins to vanish. I have plans in the works to help Carrara get the attention it deserves. With the right kind of help from the right kind of people, I think that we may just have a chance. After all, I Love Carrara for many countless reasons as well. I can hardly believe that it's not the most popular modeler/scene composition platform on the market for various reasons:
* Carrara is always less expensive than Poser Pro
* It has such a wealth of features and possibilities that are incredibly easy to use, and not that hard to eventually master!
(I'm not talking about becoming a Master of All things Carrara - but the ability to Master what it is that you want to do most with 3D)
- Want to just pose and shoot? Carrara can get you there SO fast! And this is something that, with a bit of training, patience and practice, can be mastered by almost anyone! We get instant access to a plethora of 'ready-to-render' environments - just set up the appropriate lighting, align the subject to the camera, then back the camera off enough to see him, her, or it, optimize the shaders, and render in a any of a multitude of styles incredibly easily and, compared to a lot of other rendering software, very fast! Practice this one example and it can be mastered to any degree that suits the user, and likely many other folks. Carrara's render engine is capable of being set for incredibly fast renders, especially if you have a modern multi-core processor, which is invaluable to setting up the project - shaders, lighting, composition, etc., And then it can be set up to render out increble pieces of art!
"Realism Rendering" by Phil Wilkes, sold at DAZ 3D under Infinite Skills, offers some impressive techniques regarding rendering, scene setups, lighting, even scene creation, shader optimization, building shaders from the ground up to make the simplest example models from the native Carrara content into more of a masterpiece-looking model, camera use and placement, post work, texture creation, as well as making renders actually look like a photograph.
Now I would normally just pass such a subject right on by. I have come up with my own style using methods that I've "Mastered" over years of coming up with my own 'look' for which I want my animations to have. Much of this work has never actually been shared. But when I bought the course, simply by being a Phil Wilkes fan (and student), and the fact that they were on sale for a ridiculously low price, I immediately began to realize the importance of this course, whether I want to make 'realistic, photographic' images or not. It is a wealth of master-class information being taught by a Master, whom has put a lot of time and effort into the research of teaching us all to become masters of our craft in Carrara.
It's funny how much I've pretty much ignored most of the models and such that come equipped in the browser, when the Native Content pack is installed. But these things have the simplest shaders applied to them, because they are mostly just examples of how to make models. But put some "Mastery" into setting up the shaders, detailing out the scene, setting up a great lighting scheme. and we can make marvelous images from next to nothing, but a knowledge of how powerful this incredible software really is!
- Animation is a simple endeavor - helpful attributes for such are included throughout the software in easy-to-setup sliders and fields
- Modeling is easy to learn and can be done in a massive variety of ways
- Rigging in Carrara (good ol' 'dated' Carrara), with its own weight mapping arrangement, is right up there with what's going on today
- Atmospheres, including HDRI as well as mixing HDRI with a Carrara atmosphere and many other ways to simulate a background for our final renders, is not only super simple to set up and use, but is absolutely and stunningly powerful
- Carrara's render engine is amazing - truly! Global Illumination, Full Indirect Lighting, Automatic Ambient Occlusion Sandwich, Caustics... and then there are some excellent non-photo-realistic render options as well - and a good assortment of available plugins
- Along with the rendering speeds and capabilities, Carrara has an impressive materials workshop. The Texture Room is a place where we can create some fantastic results with or without Image-based Texture Maps. The simple drop-down selections for all of the nodes that can be brought into a shader domain already connected properly in our ever-so-wonderful "MultiShader" settings. Now instead of having to know which 'nodes' to bring into the material, they're all already in a structured list, connected properly, and ready to use or not use depending upon the result you need. Then we can just go in and use the convenient drop-down settings to fulfill the look of our objects. Again, many great plugins are available to enhance this room - for excellent prices, too... I might add!
- Compositing live footage with effects, models, etc., is a simple endeavor in Carrara - again Powerful, endless possibilities
- Easy "drag into the scene" effects and modifiers for the process of getting our scenes to look how we want them to - animation features galore
- Excellent lighting solutions
- Displacement Painting tools in both the modeler and the texture painter - we can sculpt very much the way we could in sculptris or other sculpt modeler tools
- Particles are super easy to work with and can provide a wealth of versatility in our animations as well as still images
- Physics is, again, amazingly easy to set up and use
- Thanks to PhilW, Holly Wetcircuit (where the heck is she?), 3D Lust, Ringo Monfort, and now Jonstark, I find the Dynamic Hair in Carrara to be an invaluable asset. As Jonstark points out, Dynamic hair might be offered in many other software packages, but where are any examples of where it looks good? Carrara's hair looks very good!
- Here's a big one - Poser and DAZ Studio content compatibility! What other software has that with such ease?
- Computer friendly - I have Carrara 8.5 Pro 64 bit Public Beta installed on a mini laptop which has an Intel Atom processor, which is a stepped up cpu, originally designed for cell phones! Many things run pretty slow on this little machine, yet it can run Carrara! It might not be fast at rendering, but I can use it for all manner of other Carrara uses that I must get done - and that, to me, is huge!
Okay, there is a lot going for Carrara. I can sympathize with everyone's shortcomings with it - I really can. When I first got Carrara, I was not very stable financially - so frequent upgrades was never on my list of wants and wishes. So when I would discover something that required a work-around, that's the path I would take, in many cases. I chose to take on the wonderful attitude that had been instilled into me by some of the great Carrara user base, that we can achieve anything in Carrara - we just need to think. And I still hold to that philosophy. Carrara 9? Yeah... the idea excites the heck out of me, no matter what they decide to put into it (unless they fulfill those requests to change the interface and/or the render engine... that would get me to halt my upgrading, I think).
I've been having an "interesting" few days trying to get Carrara trees into Studio with anything like a sensible (or usable) poly count, towards that very end... ;)
Here is a step-by-step guide for creating Genesis triax compatible content for use in Studio and Carrara (I think you need more steps to create Poser companion files but I doubt that it would be complicated). As Dart says, very simple and very easy. Much easier than grouping bodyparts and matching joint editor zones for V4 and M4, for example.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45361/#676987
I kind of hope that some of that (the "dead" part) begins to vanish. I have plans in the works to help Carrara get the attention it deserves. With the right kind of help from the right kind of people, I think that we may just have a chance. After all, I Love Carrara for many countless reasons as well. I can hardly believe that it's not the most popular modeler/scene composition platform on the market for various reasons:
* Carrara is always less expensive than Poser Pro
* It has such a wealth of features and possibilities that are incredibly easy to use, and not that hard to eventually master!
(I'm not talking about becoming a Master of All things Carrara - but the ability to Master what it is that you want to do most with 3D)
- Want to just pose and shoot? Carrara can get you there SO fast! And this is something that, with a bit of training, patience and practice, can be mastered by almost anyone! We get instant access to a plethora of 'ready-to-render' environments - just set up the appropriate lighting, align the subject to the camera, then back the camera off enough to see him, her, or it, optimize the shaders, and render in a any of a multitude of styles incredibly easily and, compared to a lot of other rendering software, very fast! Practice this one example and it can be mastered to any degree that suits the user, and likely many other folks. Carrara's render engine is capable of being set for incredibly fast renders, especially if you have a modern multi-core processor, which is invaluable to setting up the project - shaders, lighting, composition, etc., And then it can be set up to render out increble pieces of art!
"Realism Rendering" by Phil Wilkes, sold at DAZ 3D under Infinite Skills, offers some impressive techniques regarding rendering, scene setups, lighting, even scene creation, shader optimization, building shaders from the ground up to make the simplest example models from the native Carrara content into more of a masterpiece-looking model, camera use and placement, post work, texture creation, as well as making renders actually look like a photograph.
Now I would normally just pass such a subject right on by. I have come up with my own style using methods that I've "Mastered" over years of coming up with my own 'look' for which I want my animations to have. Much of this work has never actually been shared. But when I bought the course, simply by being a Phil Wilkes fan (and student), and the fact that they were on sale for a ridiculously low price, I immediately began to realize the importance of this course, whether I want to make 'realistic, photographic' images or not. It is a wealth of master-class information being taught by a Master, whom has put a lot of time and effort into the research of teaching us all to become masters of our craft in Carrara.
It's funny how much I've pretty much ignored most of the models and such that come equipped in the browser, when the Native Content pack is installed. But these things have the simplest shaders applied to them, because they are mostly just examples of how to make models. But put some "Mastery" into setting up the shaders, detailing out the scene, setting up a great lighting scheme. and we can make marvelous images from next to nothing, but a knowledge of how powerful this incredible software really is!
- Animation is a simple endeavor - helpful attributes for such are included throughout the software in easy-to-setup sliders and fields
- Modeling is easy to learn and can be done in a massive variety of ways
- Rigging in Carrara (good ol' 'dated' Carrara), with its own weight mapping arrangement, is right up there with what's going on today
- Atmospheres, including HDRI as well as mixing HDRI with a Carrara atmosphere and many other ways to simulate a background for our final renders, is not only super simple to set up and use, but is absolutely and stunningly powerful
- Carrara's render engine is amazing - truly! Global Illumination, Full Indirect Lighting, Automatic Ambient Occlusion Sandwich, Caustics... and then there are some excellent non-photo-realistic render options as well - and a good assortment of available plugins
- Along with the rendering speeds and capabilities, Carrara has an impressive materials workshop. The Texture Room is a place where we can create some fantastic results with or without Image-based Texture Maps. The simple drop-down selections for all of the nodes that can be brought into a shader domain already connected properly in our ever-so-wonderful "MultiShader" settings. Now instead of having to know which 'nodes' to bring into the material, they're all already in a structured list, connected properly, and ready to use or not use depending upon the result you need. Then we can just go in and use the convenient drop-down settings to fulfill the look of our objects. Again, many great plugins are available to enhance this room - for excellent prices, too... I might add!
- Compositing live footage with effects, models, etc., is a simple endeavor in Carrara - again Powerful, endless possibilities
- Easy "drag into the scene" effects and modifiers for the process of getting our scenes to look how we want them to - animation features galore
- Excellent lighting solutions
- Displacement Painting tools in both the modeler and the texture painter - we can sculpt very much the way we could in sculptris or other sculpt modeler tools
- Particles are super easy to work with and can provide a wealth of versatility in our animations as well as still images
- Physics is, again, amazingly easy to set up and use
- Thanks to PhilW, Holly Wetcircuit (where the heck is she?), 3D Lust, Ringo Monfort, and now Jonstark, I find the Dynamic Hair in Carrara to be an invaluable asset. As Jonstark points out, Dynamic hair might be offered in many other software packages, but where are any examples of where it looks good? Carrara's hair looks very good!
- Here's a big one - Poser and DAZ Studio content compatibility! What other software has that with such ease?
- Computer friendly - I have Carrara 8.5 Pro 64 bit Public Beta installed on a mini laptop which has an Intel Atom processor, which is a stepped up cpu, originally designed for cell phones! Many things run pretty slow on this little machine, yet it can run Carrara! It might not be fast at rendering, but I can use it for all manner of other Carrara uses that I must get done - and that, to me, is huge!
Okay, there is a lot going for Carrara. I can sympathize with everyone's shortcomings with it - I really can. When I first got Carrara, I was not very stable financially - so frequent upgrades was never on my list of wants and wishes. So when I would discover something that required a work-around, that's the path I would take, in many cases. I chose to take on the wonderful attitude that had been instilled into me by some of the great Carrara user base, that we can achieve anything in Carrara - we just need to think. And I still hold to that philosophy. Carrara 9? Yeah... the idea excites the heck out of me, no matter what they decide to put into it (unless they fulfill those requests to change the interface and/or the render engine... that would get me to halt my upgrading, I think).
Yeah, but we're still talking about independent creators (and perhaps, though probably not any significant portion of Carrara users) freelancers.
Anyone looking to actually work at a studio really needs to learn their craft on Maya.
Most of the independent creators who I follow use Blender, Maya or C4D.
I'm not convinced that Carrara is really comparable to something like Maya or ZBrush.
Again, I think it's a great tool for a very specific set of people -- those who are independent creators looking for a few shortcuts to get their works out in a timely fashion.
To me, Carrara does some jobs for you if you need it to do those jobs. But unless you're using motion capture at every turn, its animating capabilities leave something to be desired. It's serviceable for animation, but not on a major production IMO.
For £3.5K I'd gosh darn [!] expect Maya to be more capable than £50 Carrara!
But I ain't gonna be using Maya unless someone buys it for me or I win lotto!
Interesting how these kinds of requirements go in cycles in different fields. In my field, I have watched the cycle of
Cycle 1
- our new hires absolutely need a very advanced (but general) math background, and then we will teach them our field
- our hires really need to know one of two (out of about 15) specific statistics packages, and we will teach them our field
- Oh $hit!!!! Our field just collapsed in part because nobody's staff understands what they are simulating with their mathematical models and their computer algorithms. We just had half the industry simultaneously make a mistake that every freshman knows is absurd! Go hire me some people who understand the field, and train them in math, statistics, and computer programming.
Cycle 2
- our new hires have a basic understanding of the field, but would catch on to the training faster if they had a better math background
- sure, the general math background is excellent, but we are spending way too much time teaching them our software
- F@c# No! Not again! I remember this exact same thing happening when I first got hired. What the hell happened? What do you mean our algorithm was set to do X when Y happens? Any freshman knows that is bull$h&t!!!!! Get me some people who understand the field.
Cycle 3
- we are spending way too much time training our new staff. We need to look at who we are hiring.
- rinse
- repeat
I'm sorry if your field has taken this route instead of hiring promising young visual artists and then training them on the specific software. I doubt that it will end well.
Interesting how these kinds of requirements go in cycles in different fields. In my field, I have watched the cycle of
Cycle 1
- our new hires absolutely need a very advanced (but general) math background, and then we will teach them our field
- our hires really need to know one of two (out of about 15) specific statistics packages, and we will teach them our field
- Oh $hit!!!! Our field just collapsed in part because nobody's staff understands what they are simulating with their mathematical models and their computer algorithms. We just had half the industry simultaneously make a mistake that every freshman knows is absurd! Go hire me some people who understand the field, and train them in math, statistics, and computer programming.
Cycle 2
- our new hires have a basic understanding of the field, but would catch on to the training faster if they had a better math background
- sure, the general math background is excellent, but we are spending way too much time teaching them our software
- F@c# No! Not again! I remember this exact same thing happening when I first got hired. What the hell happened? What do you mean our algorithm was set to do X when Y happens? Any freshman knows that is bull$h&t!!!!! Get me some people who understand the field.
Cycle 3
- we are spending way too much time training our new staff. We need to look at who we are hiring.
- rinse
- repeat
I'm sorry if your field has taken this route instead of hiring promising young visual artists and then training them on the specific software. I doubt that it will end well.
I think it's just, like, a hospital doesn't hire a doctor unless they've studied how to be a doctor, how to use a stethescope, take temperatures, diagnose, etc. A cameraman isn't being taught how to use a camera on set. People have X set of skills, and then having those skills, they apply for a job. Usually a job will ask, say, if you know how to use Microsoft Excel. That will be one of the most basic job requirements. So for 3D artists today, the most basic requirement is that they have an in depth understanding of how to use Maya. Just as a color grader looking to grade films will need to know whatever suite they're utilizing on the film. That's just the way all high end jobs work. You're not trained to do the thing like it's flipping burgers. You have a deep knowledge and experience using certain programs (or similar programs -- how C4D knowledge somewhat translates to knowledge of Maya), and then the best person is hired.
Maya is a specific program It is not like saying a cameraman needs to know how to use a camera. It is like saying a cameraman needs to know how to use a Nikon. Don't hire anyone who was trained on a Kodak.
Like I said. I doubt it will end well, but good luck with that.
Back in the day, a major studio hired Vincent Minnelli because he was great at his craft. They did not worry that he did not have a background in movies. They then gave him a full year to wander around their production facilities learning their specific equipment and their approach. They then did not stand in his way when he made changes. He went on to be one of the most innovative directors of all time.
http://www.biography.com/people/vincente-minnelli-9409616#!
I do not doubt you when you say what the realities of current hiring practices are in a field that you know better than me. But you should not doubt me when I say that in my field we do not flip burgers. It takes a long time and is very expensive to train people in highly technical skills that involve both subject matter expertise and technical expertise. The reality is that there is always a shortage of people who have both sets of skills when they come out of school so hiring strategies have to be formed. If you are saying that the current reality is that the current strategy excludes Vincent Minnelli because his background is not Maya, then I predict it will not end well for the people setting up that hiring strategy. I'm not talking about one hire, I'm talking about the background skillset of a cohort of workers as it becomes the decision-makers. (just a prediction based on repeated painful experiences in a field with very demanding technical requirements).
Certainly hope I'm wrong.
Besides that, things change. Making movies was all about film at a time, then digital happened and the first films made with digital cameras were scoffed at. But today there is a rash of DSLR made stuff all over the place. Sh_ft happens. One day we might say there once was Maya.....or not!
I guess I just don't see how someone could possibly be hired to work on a cartoon that's animated with Flash if they've only ever animated using paper and have no knowledge of how to use Flash. I think the cameraman comparison is apt because using Maya and DAZ have almost nothing to do with one another. Using Blender or C4D, there is some crossover knowledge. But if someone has only ever animated in DAZ studio, no matter how cool their animations are, I don't see how they could ever be hired to work on a studio that's using Maya for its production -- and most studios are.
What you're describing is old Hollywood when no one had any clue what they were doing. People from the theater were basically brought in to figure out what this whole filmmaking thing was about.
If you're going to be hired to paint an oil painting for someone and you've only ever drawn in pencil...that's just not going to end well. It's nice to think about the way things were done in old Hollywood, but the machine is much more efficient now. Everyone learns on the same software, everyone knows the staples of the industry, etc. There are outliers (I believe dude who made Monsters used Blender), but for the most part you need to know how to operate X cameras if you're a cameraman. A lot of old school guys are having to learn Red cameras because of the shift. It's just about having knowledge in your field based on the equipment and software that's used in your field. It's not that bizarre or depressing. You need to know how to use a Red Cam in order to shoot on a lot of low budget films. You need to know how to use Maya if you're working in CGI for a studio.
(Carrara is great for independent creators because independent creators don't need to worry about who's using what for this or that. All they need to worry about is creating the thing they're creating. If someone wants to get an industry job, they first need to learn the software of the industry they want to get into).
*I should point out that I do think it's possible for anything to happen, though. If Glen Keane wanted to animate on some Flash cartoon, Glen Keane would get a job and would have several assistants to help get him up to date on Flash. But that would be an otherwordly extreme case. For the most part, if you want to work in CGI/3D for a major studio, learn Maya and Zbrush
I will respectfully disagree with some of what's been said.
Studios and other entities who produce CG and visual effects and video/film productions are businesses. And they have goals. And those goals generally involve making money, but more specifically, a profit. And that requires people with talent, which means they are very good at supporting the goals of the company. With Disney, the goal is to enthrall their audiences with wonderful stories and visuals. If you can't do that, you're of no use. And companies need people who can work with others. Big studios need people with the skills to work in a production pipeline, and do great stuff quickly and efficiently, under tight/insane deadlines, as part of a larger team. That is what is important.
Honestly, any monkey can be taught software. That's not intended to be derogatory, just an acceptance of the fact that there are training manuals and instruction all over that will teach anyone to use it. But there are no training manuals that will give you talent or abilities that are key for businesses to succeed. Especially if you know the basics of visual effects already, and have gone to school to learn those basics, which apply to ALL VFX software. Once you know the basics, and once you know something about art and how to tell a story and how to grab people's emotions, then software is the easy part.
And don't forget, many/most major studios have their own software for much of this which was developed in-house, so knowing a certain app doesn't help much.
Yes, I'm sure there are companies who stress software. But the ability to grab the viewer's attention and say what needs to be said in a 30 second advertisement or a 90 minute feature is generally far more important. And to send an incredibly skilled and talented artist away solely because he doesn't use Maya or whatever is just, well, stupid.
I was going to make a similar point but Joe has already said it. If you want to be an animator, then knowledge of the principles of animation and being able to demonstrate that you know how to apply them in a computer generated environment is more important than which particular software package you used. Same goes (in large part) for modelling/sculpting, lighting, etc.
Yeah. I hear that a lot... :) :)
I'm not saying that you can't learn Maya, I'm saying that you're not going to be hired for an animation job when the job posting reads "Must know how to use Maya". Which, I mean, every single job offering for an 3D studio is going to say.
I agree that learning the software is the most irrelevant part of getting a job. The job will be based on your reel and personality and networking capabilities. But you'll have to have at least a couple years of Maya and an in-depth knowledge of the software in order to work for a CGI animation studio.
Carrara won't help knowing how to use Maya because they're so different. Unlike C4D and Maya or even Blender and Maya which share some things in common. Carrara has things in common with DAZ.
Just talking about software, and just talking about getting jobs in the actual industry. I like Carrara because it has nothing to do with any of that. haha
Really??
Well, the very first site I pulled up to see if your statement was true was Pixar. Here's what they have to say (and as I recall, the same thing they've said forever... :)
"Pixar uses its own proprietary software built and maintained in-house. In general, we look for broad artistic and technical skills,
rather than the ability to run one package over another. We concentrate on finding people with breadth, depth, communication skills,
and the ability to collaborate. If you have those attributes, we can teach you the specific tools."
I suggest you do some research first.
And Pixar has some more in-depth info about this subject, pretty much along the lines I discussed:
"The reality is that computer graphic animators have no advantage over pen-and-ink animators, clay
animators, stop-motion animators, etc. So while it’s preferable for someone to have 3D knowledge, it’s
not paramount. In fact, three-quarters of the Animators on Toy Story were new to computers when hired.
A common question is, “What software should I learn?” The answer is implied by the above: “Software
doesn’t matter; learning to animate matters.” Still, you might expect that learning the software that Pixar
uses would give you a leg up. However, even this isn’t true: Pixar uses its own proprietary software. Your
knowledge of basic animation fundamentals is the foundation for your computer training,
not the other way around. "
I'm sure someone was already going to say all of this but I beat them to it... :) :)
Sorry, I don't intend to come across sounding arrogant, but I was on the hiring end of this for many years. And we were CONSTANTLY trying to get applicants to understand that we want the talent and the skills that I described, not the ability to use certain software. But frustratingly, and for a reason I never quite understood, hobbyists and those who don't have experience working for a company in this field cannot comprehend that it's not about software. And every single discussion in this forum and others revolves around software and learning software, when in the business world that is somewhat irrelevant.
Again, this isn't a criticism or an attack on anyone, I'm just trying to get folks to understand a different perspective. :) :) :)
Really??
Well, the very first site I pulled up to see if your statement was true was Pixar. Here's what they have to say (and as I recall, the same thing they've said forever... :)
"Pixar uses its own proprietary software built and maintained in-house. In general, we look for broad artistic and technical skills,
rather than the ability to run one package over another. We concentrate on finding people with breadth, depth, communication skills,
and the ability to collaborate. If you have those attributes, we can teach you the specific tools."
I suggest you do some research first.
Hey, I can't argue with facts. haha
I admit that everything I talked about was 100% from a visual effects background and regarding visual effects studios. I shouldn't have broadstroked to include animation.
I was trying to think of a hypothetical wherein someone would be hired on a Flash animation series with no idea how to use the program and it just seemed to defy logic. But a company like Pixar, who is probably doing 99% of its hiring via a internship program, that probably all becomes irrelevant.
Still...if you get an internship at Pixar, it probably happened via university...where they would have taught you Maya all day every day.
I still think it behooves the person looking to get a job at a studio to put all of their focus on Maya, but for animation, if you somehow got a job not via an internship at a place like Pixar...then I guess never having used Maya is a possibility. Just seems like it's probably not something that routinely happens.
(also, quickly did some research because now I'm interested and confused. lol. Apparently ILM's software and Pixar's Marionette software are both based on Maya. So it sounds like even with Pixar, Maya is the "language" they're speaking)