GarrettDR's Carrara Journey
GarrettDR
Posts: 229
Hello, l I figure I would document my first time doing a scene in Carrara. I purchased Carrara last week and open it, pressed a few buttons, clicked on some menus and closed it. I did this twice and then did a tutorial by cripeman, animated gears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biqcCFP6CZ8&feature=youtu.be
I then talked to some very knowledgeable people on a thread in the Carrara discussion about modeling in Carrara.
Thanks to diomede64, Jonstark, Tim_A, Design Acrobat and especially evilproducer! Thanks guys!
Soooo I decided today on my day off, I would try another tutorial and post my first Carrara scene. Yikes!
I found a tutorial by Cripeman called , "Make a Mountain of Skulls"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCe-tpl5mig
So here is my first attempt:
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Comments
Adding more bones by the replicator is easy!
And then backing away a little bit...
I then decided I wanted to change the skull by removing the bottom jaw. I got use to moving around the rooms pretty quick, but when I was in the model room, I was getting frustrated moving the camera. I kept wanting to use the shortcuts for Hexagon. RRRR! So i eneded up using the camera icons on the side. I will eventually get it.
One question, When selecting 'polygons', You can select the '+' or '-' to add or subtract polygons in the selection. Is there a short cut for this or do I have to keep hitting the button? (Hexagon is Ctrl,+) I had a picture but it didn't save. I see if I can figure out what happened and add it later.
After removing teeth and parts of the skull, I believe I ended up with 6 skulls and 2 jaws. I then decided to play around with the shaders.
Another question: Is there anyway to drag rooms, and or windows to a second screen? moving on...
After several attempts I used terrain and cellular. I closed my shader window and now I don't know how to get it back. The window with the properties? Luckily I can drag the shader from the shader tab over and drop it on the object itself. Now that is pretty cool! Wait! Why do I have so many shaders in the shaders tab? Does it keep every shader I played around with?
Somehow my terrain received the skull shader. I must have dropped it on it accidentally...
Anyway here are some results:
I am really liking this Carrara! this replicator thing is cool! I just want to shorten my Mountain, more like a hill, and add some more bones.
Now I want to say that I have already finished the picture but took screen shots and notes along the way. Just saying in case anyone is looking at time stamps.
After looking at the top pic I got an idea about changing the terrain to gold coins. So, i decided to try to model a gold coin in Carrara, Easy right? Go ahead laugh at me, I did.
After an hour, yes an hour, here is my gold coin...
oh yeah, My shader window was popping up behind my View window...
Ok, so lets get a gold color on this Coin and create another replicator. Tell it to use the surface of the terrain, add the coin, I wont do any rotation for now, and set this puppy to the thousands...
What the heck! Can you not use two replicators on the same surface? and why are my skulls at the bottom? This looks like crap!
I will save this off and go back and change the hill, more like a mound, to a terrain. I have to admit, sticking with it I am starting to get the hang of this.
Here is my pic now:
This is where I am going to stop for today. I have spent about 5 and a half hours on this and my Wife will be home shortly. Since we trade off on days cooking; She gets Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday and I get Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I've got to get off the keys, and in the kitchen. And if you were wondering, Thursdays are feed yourself days. Anyway, Feel free to comment, or offer suggestions. Especially about tricks or tips when using Carrara.
Again, Thanks for your time!
Nice start. Can't wait to see how your journey goes. Cripeman is an excellent resource, Kapow!
Yes, you can add multiple objects to replicators, and multiple replicators to surfaces, and even replicate replicators. Here are a couple of related threads.
Thread on replicators methods, tips, and tricks
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/38177/
Thread on using Carrara terrains and replicators to create oceans
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28506/
It's actually extremely cool to see your progress on this and how quickly you're mastering it. By the way, I think your gold coin is just fine :)
Nice work so far! I'm glad to see you added color to the terrain object to help with filling in the gaps.
When you created the coin, if it wasn't centered in the vertex modeler, the hot point may not be centered. Since the hotpoint is what is used to place the object on the surface, if it is offset, the objects in the replicator will be offset. You can manually move the hot point on an object or group, by selecting it, then turning on the Caps Lock key and moving the object or group's manipulator. You should see the manipulator move, but not the object. When it is positioned where you want it, make sure to turn off the Caps Lock key.
When I move a hotpoint this way, I use the a side or front/back isometric view and a top/bottom view to help me make sure it is placed correctly.
There's also a Move Hotpoint to Object and a Move Object to Hotpoint in the Motion tab for the object or group, right below the X, Y, and Z fields for the Hotpoint.
A note about the replicators: If the object being replicated is in the way, you can turn off its visibility and the replications of the object will still be visible.
Aren't replicators fun? :-)
Referring back to my render on your other thread, the only things that are *not* replicated are the tower and the fence. Everything else is replicated - I have 7 or 8 different replicators just for the trees and grass!
If you want to replicate both skulls and coins on your hill, drop both objects onto your replicator. Then if you set it to 100, you'll get 50 skulls and 50 coins. If you want twice as many coins, duplicate the coin inside the replicator.
If you want coins on the left, skulls on the right, you'll need 2 replicators. Then either split your hill into 2 shading domains, or create a distribution map - just a black and white image, white where you want stuff to go, black where you don't. Assign that to the replicator's shader. Invert it and do the same to the other replicator. Here's one of the distribution maps I'm using for my trees...
BTW, another way to centre the hot point is to go into the motion tab and type 0,0,0 for the coordinates
@diomede64,
Yes Cripeman is great! I find him funny in his videos when he is talking. I dont know how to explain it. It's funny how I searched for tutorials and I have done 2 for 2 on his. Thanks for the info and especially the links! I have saved them to my notebook.
@Jonstark,
Thank you! Quickly mastering it? Well, It's one thing to follow a tutorial than it is to just sit and do it, pardon the expression, "Cold Turkey". Being able to stop the video, or any video for that matter, and watch it over and over to see what tool was clicked on or which menu option they selected really gives the beginner a chance to follow along.But as diomede64 stated, Cripeman is an excellent resource. But I do want to add that your tutorials on hair in Carrara really have me intrigued.I never have messed with hair. For me, it was worth the money to buy it. At some point, I plan on following your tutorial on hair and will add it to this thread. Love your tutorials!
My coin, well, I hated my coin because when I added a cylinder, I didn't know how to change it to be one polygon high. I can hit '+' or '-' to add polygons, but I dont know how to add or subject either vertical or horizontal edges only. I can select edges and remove them but I didn't know how to cap the remaining object.
Instead of stopping, I decided to continue on with the project. I will come back to the coin idea!
@evilproducer,
Thanks for the info on hot points! I bet you are right. I probably moved my hot point way below the coin which in turn is what made my coins appear way higher than my skulls. I realized I was suppose to place my objects being replicated in the scene when I would render and notice them on the side, but I'd rather hide them like you mentioned.
@Tim_A,
Thanks for the tips with replicators and shader domains! This is a very powerful tool in Carrara that I can immediately see putting to use!
Thanks for all your comments! I really appreciate all of your time! I just wanted to also say that I have already finished these pics yesterday and I just didnt have time to get them all posted. I am going to finish that after I get this quick reply in. I wanted to go through a whole scene before I started using all the wonderful tips,links, and suggestions you guys have offered!
So, to recap any questions I have left:
1) How do you cap an object in Carrara's model room?
In Hexagon, there is a menu option under the tab,Vertex Modeling, called, "Close:Close all open Objects". The edge of an opening would be colored white and you could click on the white line and the area would be covered with a polygon. I tried bridging each edge oppostite of each other, but I would be left with a small opening at each end and it took some time to do.(Taking part in the hour it took me to make the coin!)
2) How do you grow a selection or shrink a selection continuously instead of having to click on the '+' or '-' keys repeatedly? Shortcut keys?
Ok, Back to my first experience...
So...
I wanted to take a look at the detail. Using replicators, has all kinds of ideas going in my head. And this is just the first tool I have explored in Carrara! I cant wait to be as good as my mentors!!!
So, I am going to leave this skull mountain alone and see what else I can get into. Now I cant remember where I found it, I did this yesterday, But I found a fog tool.Let me drop this in there and see what happens.
Nothing...maybe I need to turn some dials up!
(I didnt realized it was the grey could in the center!)
What does this setting do, dont know turn it up...and this one, turn it up...now lets render...
Wow! I like this! Sooo much easier than trying to do Fog in DAZ Studio! Pretty good looking fog in my opinion with just several clicks and dial turning!
Now I lost an image where the 'Fog in a box' didnt reach out to the edges and lost the pic, but it was very easy to fix. I love Fog!!
Lets do some more playing and do another render...
Is that a giant gold coin??
Now, that I got a grasp on what these dials do, Lets fine tune....
Amazing! I think I will put fog in every picture I do!
In the second picture, I dont understand why I am getting this! What is this? Render passes? Cool!!
Where did I select this at? And why do I have 96 passes?
I realized That I had created an animation in the last render. I was able to zero out the scene. I have done this before in DAZ Studio. Funny thing is I watched it several times to see if anything happened. I'm such a doof!
OK, I think that looks great for a first pic. Now lets do something to the sky.
"I dread this..." I honestly say to myself. I have tried for years to do landscapes with Bryce and I am just not smart enough. I have played with Bryce for YEARS! And I never could get it right. I take that back I did do an 'OK' pic and If I can find it I'll post it.
So lets look down here in the browser and find skies...
hmm lots of stuff, Here it is!
Lots of choices... OOH lets try this..
wait...Where is my Skulls! MY BEAUTIFUL SKULLS!
Close this window, OH, so you can load more than one scene at a time...hmm dont know how I feel about that. This must be for advanced users.
Close this window, Is this my coin??
OK, Maybe that was a preset and it starts as a new scene. Luckily I am a paranoid freak,because of Hexagon, and saved often.
I still love you Hexagon!!
So lets close the app, reload my saved Carrara scene, and enjoy my skull mountain, more like a heap.
Now please understand that I know this is not the greatest skull mountain but its my skull mountain, and I created it in Carrara. It doesn't matter that I have spent about 3 and a half hours and this is as far as I got. And it doesn't matter that I have spent about a total of 12 hours in Carrara since I first Installed it and opened it up. What matters is , is that I I am seeing progress, I keep trying, I don't get down because I can figure out how something works, and most of all, i AM HAVING FUN. So let me admire my skulls from a distance...
Lights, let me play with some lights...
I guess I will give the sky another try..
Let me look around abit, what is this?
OK,OK,OK, This is just too freaking cool!
Cloud Layers
More Fog!
Sun Beams
Compute Sun Position, are you kidding me???
After spending some time playing with the sky I cam up with this...
In the very last pic below, I like the skull, with the clearly visible teeth, in the lower right quadrant that is looking direct back at you. That sparks Ideas of allowing that to be the focus point. An animation with a crow flying in and landing on the skull would be cool.
Question:
Does fog react to wind, or can I make it react to a crow flying in and landing on the skull. Peaking the ground, and then flying off?
Spending another hour messing with lights I came up with these last few renders, calling this experience done. I still could add shadows but, for what this was, I think it turned out nice. There where other mishaps and questions, but nothing that time and practice won't cure. I wished that I could document and write as well as a lot of people in this forum, but I cant. I just wanted to try it once, to give my account of using Carrara the first time. Now if I would have done this with Daz Studio, Hexagon, Blender, Sculptris, Poser, 3D Paint, Marvelous Designer, Bryce, Photoshop,MeshLab, or any of the other numerous programs, then this would have been a much, much longer thread. I hope that anyone who gets frustrated with any of these programs to just keep trying, and you will get it! Thanks for taking your time, to scan this thread. I appreciate all who has given the time to respond...
Garrett
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If you're using the fog primitive you can animate the parameters to look like it is reacting to wind. This is probably why Carrara thought you wanted to render a movie, because you inserted an object with animate-able parameters. Or you inadvertently scrubbed along the timeline and changed something, thus creating a keyframe.
You may also want to try the volumetric clouds at some point,as they react to light.
There isn't a keyboard shortcut for this by default , but you can set one by going to File>Preferences, select Keyboard Shortcuts in the drop-down, Vertex modeler in the Context drop-down and Selection in the Category drop-down. In the list chose Grow Selection or Shrink Selection, type whatever you want to use as the shortcut where it says New Shortcut. Carrara will tell if whatever you chose is already assigned to something. If it's not just click Assign and you're all set.
I have the "+" and "-" keys on my numeric keypad assigned to these functions so I can just hold them down to continuously grow or shrink my selection.
Also - I am loving these images, this is really coming along nicely. Now you just need a barbarian perched atop it and you could have a classic Conan cover!
By the way Garrett, I forgot to mention that the lighting you're coming up with looks really nice so far. It has a nice moodiness to it.