Carrara 8

Even though I've not yet moved to Carrara 7, those people over at DAZ3D have been working on a new version 8.



Carrara 8:

* Multi Threading
* FBX Export Updates
* COLLADA import/export Updates
* Multi Leaf Objects
* God Rays
* Barn Doors for Spotlights
* Puppeteer Animation Tool

Carrara 8 Pro:

* 64-bit versions for Mac and PC
* Edit Figure in Vertex Modeler without the need to Zero Figure
* Network Rendering Improvements
* Negative Lights
* IES Lighting
* Normal Maps
* Bullet Physics Engine - Rigid Body and Dynamic Cloth

There are also a few videos to demonstrate the features



Daz3D are also giving away a few copy as a prize in their Bullet Physics Competition

Carrara 7 Preview

Daz3D have kindly posted a series of videos on Youtube showcasing the new functionality in Carrara 7 such as 3D Paint, modelling in the assembly room, multipass rendering, enhancements to non linear animation, opengl textures and UV map creation, editing and unfolding.

STOP PRESS: Carrara 7 is now launched. as available to be bought and downloaded from the Daz3d site.

Carrara 7 Beta

Daz3D have released a Beta version of the popular 3D modelling and animation tool Carrara.



"The purpose of this public BETA is to provide the most accurate and transparent presentation of the new features to our customers allowing users the chance to gauge for themselves the worth of this latest release."

Features include:

• 3D Paint
• UV Editing/Unfolding
• Figure Content Levels of Detail Support
• Vertex Modeling in Assembly Room
• Rendering Optimizations for Transparency
• Multi-pass Rendering
• Larger Texture in OpenGL Display (4096x4096)
• NLA Track Groups
• COLLADA export (PC only for Beta release)
• DAZ Studio Content Support Improvements

Sign up for Carrara 7 Beta
Carrara Documentation Wiki

Daz3D Animation Competition

The sellers of 3D models and 3D software Daz3d are running an animation competition for uses of the aniMate Plug-in for DAZ Studio.



Everyone gets a $5 voucher for participating (submitting an entry). Also gift certificates for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers with the top prize a $500 gift certificate! Competition Details

There are 5 different categories Comedy ,Drama ,Dance-off ,TV-Spot and
Creative Inspiration.

The deadline is soon it's 30th November but Daz3D believe you can animate much quicker with their 3D software.

You can also view previous winners and rate animated videos.

Carrara 6.2 and NLA

There's an upgrade to Carrara out today and there's plenty of good bug fixes but some that I'm specifically interested in related to the Non Linear Animation.

• Simplified NLA clip/pose display and manipulation
• Improved auto blending between clips and pose in NLA tracks
• NLA Bounding Box no longer separates from object during playback.
• NLA, Offset relative to previous clip Translate values is now correct.
• NLA tracks no longer go invisible when you create a Master Pose and reappear when you change selection

I believe that these will resolve the issue I was seeing when trying to figure out how to create the offsets when writing my Carrara NLA Tutorial.

One of the reasons Daz have created this update is so that their new product Mimic Pro for Carrara will work, this is currently discounted by 30% for the next few weeks. This is a good price for people who don't have Mimic but there is currently no economical upgrade path for those using both Mimic Pro and Carrara.

My tips for using Mimic will mostly become obsolete when using Mimic embedded into Carrara as the majority of these revolve around the import/export processes.

Carrara 6 Released

The upgrade and full versions of Carrara 6 can now be bought from the Daz shop. I downloaded mine yesterday before the rush started.

Carrara 6 details of features

Carrara 6

Daz is previewing some of the new features of Carrara 6 on their forum and on youtube.
So far they have announced:

• Ocean Primitive: Like the land that was added in an earlier version but this allows you to make different seas, lakes etc. Shark demo video.


• Non Linear Animation: It allows users to create clips of animation (or poses) that can be reused and combined on multiple tracks of animations.


• Hair: A couple of demo videos on Youtube and a screenshot on DigitalPainters.


• Symmetrical Modeling: edit both sides of a object at the same time.


• Displacement modeling
  


• Enhancements to the vertex modeller including a bridge tool.


• Improved speed for viewing and manipulating larger meshes.


• Interactive Edge extrusion


• Improved Content Browser including support for multiple runtimes for Poser content. N.B. Daz Studio Libraries are not currently supported.


• Import of DSStudio scenes and Poser content and Skeleton import from DSStudio without the need for the creating applications.


• Skinning and morphing targets improved and performance boosted and integrated with Carrara's animation timeline


• Support for conforming clothing but not Poser's dynamic cloth.


• The imported figures will be editable and have features that regular vertex object have such as creation of morph targets. Full body morphs will also be supported.


• Rigid Body Simulation with a new updated physics engine with simulation on demand not when the application feels like it.


• Ray tracing Improvements - Improved speed and quality of raytraced depth of field with blurry reflections or soft shadows.
  
  
  


• Carrara 6 will have a standard and a pro version.


• Improved OpenGL support/performance.


• Free upgrade for people who buy now.


• Enhanced lighting controls such as shadow bias (used to correct self shadowing on low resolution objects) and lighting effects (CrossScreen, Glow, Nebula, Pulsator, Stars, VarioCross) see screenshot below.
  


• More transparency options for shaders, In-Scattering; an effect by the light reflected by small particles inside a medium such as cloudy water or a smokey room and a direct Absorption control. See Shark video above for an example of In-Scattering.


• New scene wizards, the empty scene can now be created with different default scales which affects the default size of new objects.
  


• There is also a new landscape wizard with a wide range of options for land and sky.
  
http://www.digitalpainters.net/car/v4moutain2b.mov

• Landscapes can be edited to use Render Time Displacement which uses less memory and can generate more details
  


• An alternative rotation controller to help with, for example character animation


• Enhanced editing of multiple selection for example if many lights are selected then you can change their brightness simultaneously or many object can be hidden at once.


• Unicode Support: Support for unicode object names and choice of fonts in the UI.


• Given that Daz have Collada Import and Export support in Daz Studio there is some speculation that there might be import and export support for Carrara 6. The is already a Collada plugin for C5.

There have been some observations that some of the new functions look like the previous generation of add-ins from Digital Carvers Guild such as Ground Control and Project Gemini. There are rumours that Erik is updating his current plugins to be compatible.

Microsoft's X format, import/export will be supported in a limited way in the release.

A flyer for C6 has been seen at Siggraph 2007.


Daz3D have announced that "Carrara 6 is scheduled to be released for sale on the DAZ 3D website in August 2007 with a special introductory discount being offered to DAZ 3D customers. The standard edition of Carrara 6 will have a MSRP of $249, and Carrara 6 Pro will have a MSRP of $549."

Daz3D's own Carrara 6 summary thread (needs registration)

For reference: Carrara 5 full feature list
Carrara 5 Pro vs Standard

Daz3d Project Top Secret

Daz 3D are looking for beasts.



Their new 3D game needs assets created by you. The game looks to be anime style with players breeding and riding beasts of various forms. With the range of models, Hexagon, Carrara, DazStudio and Bryce they should have everything needed to achieve such a project and with a large number of people regularly visiting the site I'm sure the standards will be high. The project is also backed with a website, forums, mentors, design guides and some industry experts.


Read more in an interview with David Perry who is directing the project.

Bryce 5.5 for Free

DAZ Productions are now giving away version 5.5 of the Environmental modelling software Bryce. They are also selling upgrades from 5.5 to version 6.1 at a price even lower than Bryce 1 was sold for back in the 1990s when I first saw Metacreations' software in a bargain bin at the back of PCWorld. The software has gone through a few changes since the earliest version, there are more presets, higher quality results, more sophisticate tools and now support for Daz Studio so you can import figures into your landscapes. If you find that there's anything that you can't do (or can't be bothered to do) in Bryce then you can always purchase one of the models from the extensive catalogue of objects, buildings, vehicles, animals, people and clothes that Daz3d have for sale.


Bryce 1

Bryce 6.1