What's the story On Carrara?

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  • I reported a bunch of El Capitan-related bugs this week (mostly to do with file dialogs and texture corruption), and the response was "Our QA department has not yet tested Carrrara on this OS, however, I have shared what you have found and they will look into it as they are testing." Make of that what you will.

    They did the same thing a couple of versions of OS ago. I think it was Carrara 7or 8 that didn't work with the Apple's new 64 bit operating system. It took DAZ almost a year to fix it. But they did!

     

    Would you mind sharing the bugs that you reported. I'm evaluating El Captain on an external drive right now and I'd like to see if I have the same issues. I've used Carrara 8.5.1 for a couple of hours and haven't seen anything yet. 

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,050
    Well, even if it takes time to fix the bugs, it sounds as if work is currently being done to Carrara, even if it just adds Gen 3 support. I'm hoping for more.
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    The primary one is to do with the open file dialog, In a "file not found" situation, it's missing the top section containing the file name. I move stuff around a lot between my work machine and laptop, and now and then a texture file doesn't get copied (particularly if it's not in the current folder tree). When the dialog doesn't tell you the file it can't find, it's pretty hard to locate it!  A couple of days ago, it couldn't find Ringo's DP shaders for some reason, and I had to wade through nearly 100 anonymous file dialogs before I could do anything!

    Second issue is texture corruption in the assemble room. After 15 minutes or so of what I regard as "normal editing" - switching between rooms, tweaking geometry, moving objects around, setting rotate limits for door props etc., the texture maps of objects start getting replaced by seemingly random images from other shaders. It doesn't affect a render, just the assemble room.

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,158
    edited October 2015

    I've had that issue with global skin shaders losing track of the location of texture maps, but I've never experienced the shader-swaps error that you report.  For whatever reason, I only have the global skin shader problem for purchased items (like Ringo or PhilW), but I can solve it going forward if I fix it once, save the fixed version to the Carrara browser, and then load the fixed version.  I've even had it happen when another figure in the scene uses the same texture map that Carrara says it can't find when trying to load the Ringo shader.  Bizarre.  But, like I said, for me it gets solved if I simply save a fixed version once, and then load the fixed version in future sessions

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • The primary one is to do with the open file dialog, In a "file not found" situation, it's missing the top section containing the file name. I move stuff around a lot between my work machine and laptop, and now and then a texture file doesn't get copied (particularly if it's not in the current folder tree). When the dialog doesn't tell you the file it can't find, it's pretty hard to locate it!  A couple of days ago, it couldn't find Ringo's DP shaders for some reason, and I had to wade through nearly 100 anonymous file dialogs before I could do anything!

    Second issue is texture corruption in the assemble room. After 15 minutes or so of what I regard as "normal editing" - switching between rooms, tweaking geometry, moving objects around, setting rotate limits for door props etc., the texture maps of objects start getting replaced by seemingly random images from other shaders. It doesn't affect a render, just the assemble room.

    Tango alpha,

     

    I've reproduced the missing file top section. I haven't seen texture corruption yet.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,180

    Well my older carrara 8.5 still works even with the new DS beta installed prob because I had blocked Postgre in windows firewall, DS4.9 moans about it

    needless to say smart content does not in either but I never use it

    no intention of using the content download thing in DS

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    edited October 2015

    I think that this will cause a host of issues for Carrara users - as DAZ's documentation states "Products updated to Daz Connect will not function with Carrara".  But there will probably be a host of people who go ahead and then complain when their content fails to work on all of DAZ's platforms.

    Added:  It also seems that DAZ intends to migrate to most new content being DAZ Connect only.  Which means that most new content won't be usable in Carrara (unless they do something about it).

    Post edited by PhilW on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Maybe it'll trigger another Carrara update -- like when they wanted to dump Valentina. I've already had hints from QA that there is or will be "testing" going on . . .

  • Ouch.  I have been away for a while and come back to find things are changing, perhaps not for the better!  

    Will have to check the El Capitan situation; Apple's new keyboard and trackpad look like what I need for my extremely painful wrists, and, since they require El Capitan, I will likely be updating soon.  If Carrara runs into problems, well, that may or may not force a rethink!  Or I will have to let a major investment go, or keep it on an older machine.

    The other news about the future of Daz and Connect sounds ominous.  Fortunately, I think I have everything I need, so I can keep my current version, not update anything and stay happy for a while. 

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,232
    PhilW said:

     ...  most new content won't be usable in Carrara (unless they do something about it).

    Thanks for the "heads up".  I've been avoiding DUF files & DAZ Studio-only products for some time.  Sounds like now its absolute - Poser and Carrara format only.  Meaning not much from DAZ for me.

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    Steve K said:
    PhilW said:

     ...  most new content won't be usable in Carrara (unless they do something about it).

    Thanks for the "heads up".  I've been avoiding DUF files & DAZ Studio-only products for some time.  Sounds like now its absolute - Poser and Carrara format only.  Meaning not much from DAZ for me.

    Well, the latest version of DAZ Studio has only just reached the public beta stage, so I am sure that new content will be available and usable in Carrara for a while. But it seems to be DAZ's intention to move towards DAZ Connect-only content in the future - so watch out for this and be aware that this will not be usable in Carrara, unless there is a new updated version.

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    Ouch.  I have been away for a while and come back to find things are changing, perhaps not for the better!  

    Will have to check the El Capitan situation; Apple's new keyboard and trackpad look like what I need for my extremely painful wrists, and, since they require El Capitan, I will likely be updating soon.  If Carrara runs into problems, well, that may or may not force a rethink!  Or I will have to let a major investment go, or keep it on an older machine.

    The other news about the future of Daz and Connect sounds ominous.  Fortunately, I think I have everything I need, so I can keep my current version, not update anything and stay happy for a while. 

    Apple have just pushed out a new version of El Capitan. Dunno if it addresses any of the Carrara issues though. I'm seeing the new Bond movie tonight, so testing it will have to wait till tomorrow.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,180

    My comment

    From the DAZ studio discussion, posting here in our forum too

     

    As far as I can tell this is just a way to force people to use DAZ studio if they want to use DAZ content. As a Carrara user I realized the honeymoon was over when G3F arrived now we are heading for the divorce court. Yes I do use workarounds like exporting G3F as FBX, retargeting in iClone and importing her animated in that form, she is still poseable without limits but no longer useable with any other DAZ content. Now we are going to face these choices with all future content from DAZ if we wish to use it, an exported prop or rigged dressed figure none of which ever work well directly in Carrara for me, FBX straight from studio is a mess I need iClone 3Dxchange to make it useable. Getting obj with textures in C8.5 is difficult, I use C8.1 for that as something got broken there too. Since DAZ owns Carrara and are hardly going to sell it to a compeditor, all I see is a lonely grave when the divorce turns nasty and the potential for new lovers dripping with honey from the Hive with carrara useable content looms on the horizon.

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,983

    A nasty divorce ..Isnt that an oxy moron? :)

    I think it's very clear that Daz is squeezing out Poser - and that Carrara is collateral damage.

    Game = you lose money now, you gain much more later.

    I think it's a wonderful move on Daz's part. Very smart. Very money orientated.

    Isn't that what drives us all? Isnt that the only reason we exist? To make a buck?

     Why care about previously long term loyal customers when you have so much to gain?

    Poser is on the ground, Daz is delivering the coup de grace - but there's not much  grace about it.

    Dont worry Carrara still works fine.

    And think of all the money we are saving.... ;)

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,049

    I dunno.... I just been shopping at Renderosity!!

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,180

    still is the operative word here, abandonware no longer viable with new operating systems is the next step

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,983
    edited October 2015

    Honey dripping from the Hive, I like that.

    Yes Ive been shopping at Rendo ;)

    Wendy, yes that is a worry. You are still right.

    Post edited by Headwax on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,180
    edited October 2015

    well it promted me to buy Scarlet sinces she's on sale

    I had to run Fenrics scripts on a copy of the cr2 to get her undistorted in carrara and the saved modified car file accepts her clothing and manually poses

    but applying poses gets mess on the left and you certainly do not want to use walk designer animations!!!!

    so prob going to only use in Poser which in itself is looking like figuring more in my future.

    Octane render carrara hair on left

    scarlet.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 271K
    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,180

    Interestingly for a Poser weightmapped figure that throws up import errors in DAZ studio she is not too bad with aniblocks there except her arms are not tposed so the blocks would need reworking.

    I got her from there into iClone just fine so will use her but oddly she crashed PP12 trying to render her in angelic outfit with the hair which considering she is made for PP12 + is a worry.

  • Has anyone noticed that Howie has not put out a landscape for sometime now??? Being they are the creame de la creame in inexpensive instant landscapes I have a deep down gut wrenching feeling he knows the end is near .... DOOMED I SAY, IT WILL ALL END IN TEARS!

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    edited October 2015

    Howie did move to producing some of his sets for Vue as well as Carrara, but it looks like he hasn't done anything new for a couple of years for either platform.

    I still feel that there isn't a single package out there that gives me what Carrara gives me, and it will be usable for many years to come, even if it doesn't get any updates.  But who knows, DAZ may surpise us yet.

    Post edited by PhilW on
  • LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
    PhilW said:

    Howie did move to producing some of his sets for Vue as well as Carrara, but it looks like he hasn't done anything new for a couple of years for either platform.

    I still feel that there isn't a single package out there that gives me what Carrara gives me, and it will be usable for many years to come, even if it doesn't get any updates.  But who knows, DAZ may surpise us yet.

    Here's my beef with Daz so far. They arn't trutful about there products. I'm referring to Carrara here, how can they NOT know what the future of the product is? They know right NOW if they are going to update it, how they are going to update it and if they are just going to scrap it and let if fall by the wayside. If they didn't I would be scared of who manages ther buisness side of things.

    My point is, if they know (and I'm sorry, they do), why not tell your customer base so they can move on - or at least prepare for what is to come? It screams 'lets milk them for all they got why we can' and 'lead them to the trough while we can with *hints* of working on things' with no concrete information.

    I'm sorry but those business practices piss me off. Just be truthfull and don't blow smoke up my A@@.

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    Lotharen said:
    PhilW said:

    Howie did move to producing some of his sets for Vue as well as Carrara, but it looks like he hasn't done anything new for a couple of years for either platform.

    I still feel that there isn't a single package out there that gives me what Carrara gives me, and it will be usable for many years to come, even if it doesn't get any updates.  But who knows, DAZ may surpise us yet.

    Here's my beef with Daz so far. They arn't trutful about there products. I'm referring to Carrara here, how can they NOT know what the future of the product is? They know right NOW if they are going to update it, how they are going to update it and if they are just going to scrap it and let if fall by the wayside. If they didn't I would be scared of who manages ther buisness side of things.

    My point is, if they know (and I'm sorry, they do), why not tell your customer base so they can move on - or at least prepare for what is to come? It screams 'lets milk them for all they got why we can' and 'lead them to the trough while we can with *hints* of working on things' with no concrete information.

    I'm sorry but those business practices piss me off. Just be truthfull and don't blow smoke up my A@@.

    well they use to tell us about what they were planning - we got new people

    and thing went down hill from there .

     

  • starboardstarboard Posts: 452

    Piracy + steady income stream = Adobe converts to cloud

    Although Adobe was not the first, Adobe has set the business model and others will follow. Daz has apparently a piracy problem....and so.....where else can this lead?  Daz has a different product line than Adobe so it will have to be some varient of a cloud base system.  I think all software companies look at the Adobe model with respect and envy and wonder how, if they are not doing it already..how to follow this lead. It makes economic sense and in some cases survival.

    The downside of this pay as you go system, are numerous, especially to the consumer. So if you are a company you had better be sure that your product is so unique  that you can hold your customer hostage and have them dance to your tune.  Otherwise creative and hungry software developers will rush in to fill the void that has been created.  At present, I have been looking for an alternative to In Design..as my version (CS2)can not be used on my new OS upgrade. And sure enough when I go looking there are numerous alternitives at a fraction of the cost of In Design. These writing and editing programs may not be as robust as In Design and will not have the professional standards and acceptance ..but it will fulfill my needs as a non- professional. And how many of the In Design users are like me - not in the printing industry - lots I would think.  I suspect that over time I will ween myself off many if not all the Adobe line of products as good alternitives pop up. 

    I can understand the motivation behind DAZ and I do sympathize with their problems, however as a Carrara user I am worried about their commitment to my program. When I look at a diagram of the DAZ product line, I see DAZ Studio in the middle with a bridge to Bryce (landscapes)  on one side and a bridge to Hexigon ( modeling) on the other.   Carrara is superfluous.  It is an independant entity dedicated to a small part of the market that consists of users who actually want to create content and not just use it.   Financially it would make sense to let it die in its tracks. And this may be what we are seeing, as JaguarElla has phrased it a "divorce" or Lotharen's conclusion of DAZ's attitude "lets milk em".

    However, as Shakespear said.."there's the rub" for there is another aspect to this. Where does the content for all the DAZ offerings in costumes, buildings, etc. come from.  Surely many of them come from users of Carrara itself.  You may have to feed the goose - but there is also the golden egg.  Cut off Carrara and you may also be cutting off some of the best new content to be sold on the DAZ marketplace.  DAZ may make the figures, but it is the independants that are the tailors.  I do hope that DAZ has thought this through carefully - for all our sakes.

     

    Starboardtack

     

     

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    Starboardtack - I would like to think that many product developers use Carrara, but I do not think that is the case. Zbrush, Modo and others are what I have seen referenced the most.

    Lotharen - I sympathise with your point of view, but from a business point of view, you would want to make as such money from older products as possible and not announce that you are ceasing to support them, so while it sucks for users, I can also see it from Daz's point of view. Carrara still has a unique position in the market and so will be attractive to many to continue to use, either until Daz Studio implements all the things which Carrara has which are missing from it, or until another full featured package implements native Poser/Daz figure support. Or until Daz updates Carrara to ensure future compatibility, but the longer time goes on, the less likely this is looking.

  • SileneUKSileneUK Posts: 1,975
    edited October 2015

    Well, when I look at the amount of time I have spent learning  how to make Carrara work for me, and still will be learning for years, this subscription thing is worrisome. I know I only have 20 some pages of content, but that money could have been spent purchasing and learning Zbrush. I didn't because DAZ products were so easy to use (rigged/ready), and Carrara has been fairly straightforward to get my head around and lets me build scenes, etc.

    Now I am just bummed. It could be another year before I have my stable of characters and their bits and bobs created.  It will be like Adobe CS3 is for me now. I own it ( legal copy), it works, except that if I go to Windows 10, Adobe 8.14 supposedly will no longer work, and Acrobat Pro is an essential part of the workflow. So I will have to find a W7 rebuilt machine to upgrade to. I will need to upgrade to just keep up with the demands of Carrara as it is. The fan grinds on, the video card is not the right Nvidia one for Octane. It's old, and tired, like me.

    I feel like I am in a relationship where I'm not sure what the other half is going to do, or rather I do-- but not when-- they are going to leave me behind.

    crying SIlene

    Post edited by SileneUK on
  • rampart_1576840087rampart_1576840087 Posts: 504
    edited October 2015

    Carrara has so many features and you have the abitliy to really do things well

    Carrara does have a learning curve with all the configuration items available under just about every tool there is.  It is hard to believe Daz would take Carrara ito the bone yard. 

    Constantly,  and I mean constantly I refresh with PhilW tutorial videos, and would love to have more of them.  PhilW has proven to me so many little wonderful tricks learned from his experience.

    This is principally my way of doing things, because I just don't have the heart to devote myself to Carrara.  The news has been pretty bad for over a year now...about the future of Carrara.

    Post edited by rampart_1576840087 on
  • starboardstarboard Posts: 452

    Phil,

    I stand corrected.. Being a relatively new member to the forum I was under the impression that you and many others on the Forum contributed to the DAZ content in a large way. From what you have said, most of the content creation comes from other software, being so, I would think, that implies the future of Carrara is even more bleak.  They don't need us, we are redundant. We just duplicate what can be done and developed with DAZ Studio, Bryce and Hexagon..All these come under their  Bridge and Connect umbrella.  I would not be surprised to see Bryce and Hexagon updated. Though why bother when the game is selling content.

    Disappointed and hoping I have to eat all these words of negativity if and when  version 9 comes out.

     

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