Carrara Handbooks for previous editions - Pinup Art
Diomede
Posts: 15,168
I see Dart's Carrara 5 Pro and Carrara 3 Pro, and I raise the Carrara 1 Bible.
by Doug Sahlin
carrara 1 bible.jpg
4032 x 3024 - 2M
Post edited by Diomede on
Comments
Haha, awesome Diomede!
Someone out there must have a Ray Dream Studio handbook of sorts...way before my time.
No way!!! I just looked a few days ago and it wasn't there! I have to get my hands on that!!!
So Diomede, this won't sway my decision as a collector of Carrara stuff, but do you like the book?
Doug is cool... I bet it'll be a great read for me!
Here are the Handbooks Diomede was referring to, and I absolutely love what I've read so far and am convinced now that I'll enjoy them cover-to-cover!
But wait, there's more!
Here, we can get our hands on Free copies of the incredible Carrara 3D Expo Magazines, filled with amazing galleries, tutorials, interviews and articles!
C3DE Magazines
And here, we can read and/or download the complete collection of 3DXtract e-zines - either the entire collection at once, or one at a time, along with their support files!
3DXtract e-zine collection
There's even a pdf Index of what's included in each issue!
Want even more?
Dartanbeck.com is almost entirely Carrara-centric and has a wealth of articles, topics, tips, links, videos and ideas - especially focussed on the idea of making movies, but most of it certainly isn't specific only to that.
Visit Dartanbeck.com Today!
...and even More!!!
mschack has just begun (as of this writing) a Brand New
Carrara Tips Tricks and Tutorials site
Exciting news, especially since his first tutorial video is Absolutely Awesome!!!
It's still in its early stages but I'm hoping that this will become an amazing resource for All Carrara Enthusiasts!
I must add that, at the time I'm writing this, I'm suprized that I don't see his amazing tutorial video mentioned:
Tut 1: Making Realistic Carrara Terrain Scenes
Carrara Cafe is an amazing site of information, news, inspiration, downloads, galleries... Everything Carrara - they even have their own forums!
The crew that maintains the site and keeps it up to date are an enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable lot. Their passion for Carrara is what makes the Cafe such a great place.
They showcase projects done in Carrara, provide a multitude of Tutorials and have even written some fine Unofficial User's Guides to certain things, like LuxusCore for Carrara!
As we peruse the pages soaking in all things Carrara, we also notice links adorning the right side of our screen that lead even deeper into Carrara's vast community of contributors - for Carrara users truly are a sharing family of artsists!
It's actually a much larger place than what it might initially appear to be. Articles galore on so many topics with useful tips, tricks and hidden possibilities. Carrara is such an immense collection of 3D tools filed with animateable parameters that it can be really helpful to glean these ideas from others.
Carrara Cafe is also home to the Carrara 3D Expo Magazine!
Page through them directly in the Cafe in Full Screen, or download them along with their working files. C3DE is a Must Read for all Carrara enthusiasts!
So what are you waiting for? Go get your 3D Java on at the Carrara Cafe!!!
Oh no. I hope I didn't hijack this thread. Is this stuff okay, Diomede?
Thanks for the repost of the e-zine collection. It really is a great resource!
Silene
Much the same as watching PhilW's incredible video courses, these Carrara 3 and Carrara 5 Handbooks are teaching me techniques and opening my eyes to things I've never used. I love that! Besides, they give me good reading on great subjects!
The same can be said about MMoir's tutorials, Carrara 3D Expo and the many articles and tutorials on Carrara Cafe, 3DXtract, as well as taking deep looks through this forum - it's amazing what comes up as discussions in this vast forum of Carrara goodness!
The massive Carrara User Manual is also an amazing read, even if some of the subjects within may be devoid of what we're looking for, other topics are very thorough and informative.
For those of us lucky enough to have purchased PhilW's courses through Infinite Skills, we have a wealth of training in a most complete method of concise organization, brevity combined with essential reinforcement and a full complement of working files along the entire journey. When I bought my first one, many of the lessons detailed subjects that I simply wasn't ready to implement so, while I did watch through them, large chunks of the information was lost due to a lack of practice on my part, making them a worthy rewatch once I was ready.
In watching them again today, I still have eureka moments of other ways to do things. The way the videos are timed and structured makes it easy to go back and grab lessons on what we want to utilize right here and now, when needed. I love that!
PhilW's videos are now available via another vendor
I'm finding the same sense of reinforcement through sitting back and having a read through the tutorials that Mike Moir (mmoir) included in his Carrara sets, C3DE, 3DXtract and finding an interesting article or tutorial at the Cafe.
Cripeman's teachings are always a joy. He was quite genius at how he timed his video releases too. Right at a time when the forum community was discouraging the use of a particular Carrara function or feature, he's make a video about how to do something really cool with it - and they are all very short, to-the-point run throughs giving just enough information to actually use whatever it was he was encouraging us to try.
GKDantas also made a bunch of very helpful videos. Yes, they're text driven and silent, due to English not being his native language, I think, but they do a great job of introducing us to the use of many features within our rather immense interface.
If only I'd have know that, when Daz 3d switched to a different web system that the articles within the ArtZone would become defunct, I'd have saved Howie Farkes' (at the very least) incredible product testing notes that he posted for all or most of his Carrara sets. He had amazing test results with complete render room settings listed along with tips on shaders and lighting.
Tim Payne was another who published a massive wealth of important tips and techniques as did Dimension Theory, Age of Armour and SubSeventh, amongst others, like Fenric and Faba, NASSOS, 3dage, ExtruD, Holly Wetcircuit, Eric W of DCG and many, many others.
Carrara was HOT! I cannot fathom the idea that Daz 3d would ever drop development on it.
So many people comment to me that Carrara is an old dog, perhaps with a few tricks up its sleeve, but that I should move on. Hogwash, I say!
Carrara, even after not having any official development for many years, still does many, many things for animators that truly blow away Daz Studio under current and constant development. I'll be showing of some of these differences soon. I'm not dissing Daz Studio. I'm just saying that it still cannot do some of the basic functions that Carrara users have learned to simply take for granted - especially when animation is our game.
With the above writings, I'm sure I've left out a lot that I shouldn't have. But I thank all Carrara information contributors everywhere, and hope that some of my articles and videos, etc., help some of you in some measure. It's always my passion to help others figure out some means of getting done what they need to continue whatever it is that they want to do with this most beloved software.
Cheers
On Dartanbeck.com you may also find (and a Lot More):
CARRARA ZONE
Carrara Zone - Currently mostly a landing page to hold all of the Carrara oriented pages, but will eventually also serve as a more Carrara-centric blog
Carrara Info
Carrara Info - A new Index for Carrara Information - features, guides, video links... this is meant to become a more cleanly placed and organized ►►► Carrara Information Manual ◄◄◄ sort of thing. It now houses a new Forum Help!!! Links index, but this time with Carrara Training videos from Cripeman and GKDantas, and will include my own as well.
Carrara Cafe - A word about an amazing site!
Cripeman Memorial - A loving dedication to a lost friend and the Index to his Cool Carrara Tricks
GKDantas' Carrara Training Videos - Wonderful guides into many of Carrara's features and tools
Installing Carrara - Just some important tips to get all you deserve from this incredible software. I'll be expanding this page soon
Custom Browser - Still needs support images to guide the text, but this is part of what keeps Carrara very efficient for me to work in
►►► Carrara Information Manual ◄◄◄ - talks about the origins of the post, etc.,
Dantanbeck's Articles - Meant to be an index to the hybrid Video/Written articles I create - currently just links to my articles
>>> Finding Carrara - a story of how I discovered my favorite reason to be on a computer!
3DXtract e-zine - Keeping this historic archive of greatness alive!
Physics and Particles - a branch off of the Forum Help!!! Links, specifically regarding Physics and Particles
GKDantas' Carrara Training Videos
Phil Wilkes Carrara Courses
Carrara CG Workshop
Carrara CG Workshop - In addition to being a landing page for all of the pages within, this page also explains the goal for this section
Story - It all begins with one of these, right?
Odysseon Station - What Happened on Odysseon Station?
Pacing and Rendering - A discussion regarding common film practices as well as render outputs for animations
Pre-Production Phase
Pre-Production Phase - The things we do to prepare for Production
Concept Art - I have a few of my designs in here. I'll be adding more along with descriptions of them... eventually
Concept Art > Kitbashing Marcoor - The process of making my cool Marcoor Hunter space vessel
Scene (stage) Setup - Currently only has one offering: Volumetric Lighting, which is an early hybrid video/written article. It doesn't have much of a written version yet - but does include a Base Scene Download
Character Setup - This seems to be my main interest lately, as it has quite a few articles. Don't worry, I'll be getting on to other stuff soon!
Introducing Rosie 5 - I needed to get something started to find a focus toward developing this web site. This was it
Making Rosie 5 - Developmental information on creating my main protagonist - to be developed further
Using Genesis in Carrara - A work in progress that will explore many ways to use various Genesis generations within Carrara
Genesis Morph Reduction - My method of not only reducing the weight of a Genesis figure, but also the number of available sliders in the Parameters tab
Dynamic Hair - One of the parts of the Hybrid Video/Written article for Introducing Rosie 5
EYEdeas 3+ - A look at using Arki's amazing 3D eyeballs! Another part of Introducing Rosie 5
Millennium Teeth - Using third-party teeth to get what my character (Rosie 5) needed to complete her ultimate look. Another part of Introducing Rosie 5
Character Transfer using NLA - I often like to update/upgrade my character to a fresh base figure with a different set of morphs (often when I buy new ones) - here's how I transfer the shape over
Character Design - With its Character Template Scene download, this video/article demonstrates how I build each of my characters, monsters, animals, etc., It also covers the basics of creating shaders for Genesis (or any other figure, for that matter)
Modeling for Genesis - A fresh look, rejuvenating an article I wrote here quite some time ago. The video I made then is still helpful in how to send models from Carrara into Daz Studio, rig them to conform to the intended figure, and save back into the library.
Character Shader Basics - Explore the absolute quickest and simplest way to get a Daz Figure's materials up and running in Carrara! A very basic approach with no frills for speedy renders
Production Phase
Animating - This is where my animation articles will continue. I placed some useful info in here to get it started
Hybrid aniMation - another hybrid article I'm working on now. Currently contains much of the info from aniMating in Carrara
aniMate 2 - Daz Studio comes with a free version, but when we buy the full version we get some really great bonus features!
The Scene - This is where we'll explore using the scenes we've stored with our actors and/or vehicles, etc., to create our animated sequences
Animation-Simulation-Compositing Workflow Example