by 3drendero | Jul 14, 2013 | News
The latest release of DIM (Daz Install Manager) 1.0.1.75 that was released on 20130617 now includes important updates for Carrara.The major feature is support for Carrara unique items and plugins, but also that Carrara 8.5 users now can skip to install Daz Studio but still get the full functionality of Genesis and metadata items.
More info in the forum thread:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/23964/
The main web page for the DIM:
http://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info
by 3drendero | Jul 13, 2013 | Tutorials
Sci Fi Funk has released a 4 part tutorial showing us how to apply rust shaders to a bunch of imported cars.
How to make rusty wrecked cars Tutorial. Using cheap models how to amend shading domains and apply rust shaders to your 3d models.
I start the tutorial by looking for cheap (low poly) wrecked cars. The only ones I could find that were reasonable priced were (inevitably) in max format. So they need converting to something usable by Poser or Carrara.
I briefly explain how to install 3ds max (for poser people).
The only way I could export successfully was via obj format, but the shading domains are all over the place and I couldn’t get materials out. Even if I had they would need editing to rusted shaders.
I explain how to model cars to make them look wrecked (move doors, bend plains etc).
PART 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyO53Smu6JE (Finding Car models and bringing into Carrara)
PART 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I9HT0-u1c4 (Organising your car models for shader work)
PART 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyoNAGYJKgE (Shader overview)
PART 4 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw7_jNxb4CU (Detailed explanations of the shaders)
More info and tutorials from Sci Fi Funk can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/scififunk
http://www.scififunk.com
Good luck!
by 3drendero | Jul 8, 2013 | News
Ringo Monfort, the Carrara shader specialist has his entire store at 30% off, including his new releases:-DP – Carrara Shaders For Aiko 5
-Carrara Skin Shaders For David 5
-DP Carrara Master Collection Shaders
Take a look at Ringo Monforts store right here for more details and renders:
http://www.daz3d.com/ringomonfort
The Aiko 5 and David 5 shaders are the first Carrara shaders for the Genesis model and require the Carrara 8.5 beta.
The Carrara Master collection includes over 80 shaders and features:
Anisotropic, sub-surface scattering, transparency absorption, fresnel, translucency and much more.
Aiko 5 Carrara render:
by 3drendero | Jul 1, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Digital Carvers Guild has put it’s Carrara plugin library into money saving BUNDLES!
More info at: http://www.digitalcarversguild.com/bundles.php
Full Suite for Carrara – includes Anything Goos, Anything Grooves, Anything Grows, Cognito, DCG Importer, Enhance:C, Ground Control, Noir, Parchment, Project Gemini, Shader Gel and Strobe, Shader Ops, Shader Ops 2, Shaders Plus, StarBright, Terrain Tools, Toon! Pro, Wireframe Pro
All the DCG Carrara plug-ins at a super bundle price: $356.78
Power Pack for Carrara – includes Anything Grooves, Anything Grows, Shader Ops, StarBright
Four classic plug-ins at a great price: $79.00
ShaderStyle for Carrara – includes Anything Goos, Shaders Plus, Toon! Pro, Wireframe Pro
Step up your shading and rendering with the ShaderStyle bundle; cel shading, cartoon edges, dirt and aging, wireframes, bevel shading, GI shadow catching, and more: $99.00
Terrain Pack for Carrara – includes Ground Control, Terrain Tools
If landscapes are your passion, the Ground Control and Terrain Tools bundle gets you two great plug-ins for one low price: $49.00
Thanks to booksbydavid for the tip.
Patrick Tuten uses Shader Ops, Terrain Tools.
Landscape in Carrara 5 Pro. Surface replicator, translucency, caustics, volumetric clouds, GeoControl Beta. Shader Ops & Terrain Tools from DCG. All plants are made in Carrara.
by 3drendero | May 26, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Luxus the Luxrender plugin for Carrara, by Spheric Labs has just been released at the DAZ3D store with an introduction sale price of 20.99$, normal price will be 29.98$. Luxus supports Windows/Mac with 32/64bit versions for both.
Here is the list of what is included/supported:
Luxus Plugin for Carrara:
- 19 LuxRender Textures as Shader Nodes
- 17 LuxRender Materials as Shader Nodes
- 01 Top Level Lux Surface Shader Node
- Support for Carrara’s Spot, Bulb, and Distant lights
- 05 LuxRender Specifc Lights:
- Infinite(HDRI/IBL)
- Projection
- Sun
- Sky 2
- Sun Sky 2
The CarraraCafe Development/documentation blog has some useful info and freebie links that should not be missed, more here:
https://carraracafe.com/luxus-the-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-developmentdocumentation-blog/
Especially the unofficial manual by rk66 is a must read: https://carraracafe.com/plugins/luxus-for-carrara-manual-pdf/
The official manual is available at: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/16380/start
Luxrender can be freely downloaded from: http://www.luxrender.net/en_GB/standalone
by 3drendero | Apr 19, 2013 | Cafe Articles, Carrara Plugins
The new Luxus the Luxrender plugin for Carrara is being developed by Spheric Labs at a very rapid rate. This blog is supposed to collect the most important information in one place.
The latest support additions are manual changes, free shaders and a FAQ, thanks to rk66, 3DAGE and Jay NOLA.
Luxus has been released and can now be bought from: http://www.daz3d.com/luxus-for-carrara
1. Release list/Change log
– CarraraCafe -> https://carraracafe.com/forum-3/?cid=1&show=59
2. Downloads (Updated December, 07, 2013)
– Official release of Luxus 1.0.0.0 (updated to 1.0.0.1) for Win/Mac 32/64bit is now available at -> http://www.daz3d.com/luxus-for-carrara
– Luxrender -> http://www.luxrender.net/en_GB/standalone
3. Documentation (Updated October, 17, 2013):
– Unofficial Manual by rk66 -> https://carraracafe.com/plugins/luxus-for-carrara-manual-pdf/
– Official Manual -> http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/16380/start
– FAQ (scroll down to Spheric Labs) -> http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/290982/#Comment_290982
4. Other related downloads/links:
– Some Sample Shaders -> http://sphericlabs.com/carrara/LuxSampleShaders.zip
– M4/V4 Lux base shaders by 3DAGE -> https://carraracafe.com/forum-3/?cid=25&show=217
– Luxus for Carrara Resource Pack by PhilW -> http://www.daz3d.com/luxus-for-carrara-resource-pack
– Luxrender Manual -> http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/Main_Page
– Unofficial Manual as PDF by Holly and rk – > https://carraracafe.com/downloads/?did=33
5. Forum threads:
– CarraraCafe -> https://carraracafe.com/forum-3/#cid=1,tid=30
– Daz3D -> http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/20383/
– Daz3D -> http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/22779/
6. FAQ (Updated 2016-04-24):
Q1: How do I create an animation with Luxus?
A1: Luxus only saves one file per frame of the animation (does not launch Luxrender), then you need to manually open the files in the Queue page of Luxrender, which renders an image of each file in the same folder. Detailed steps:
1. First you MUST set ONE of these settings, otherwise the first frame will render forever: Render Room/Rendering/Film Options:
-Halttime: 60 (means 60 seconds of rendering per frame)
-Halt SPP: 100 (means 100 samples per pixel, maybe overkill for an animation)
2. Setup Carrara for animation rendering (Movie, frame rate… assume you know this)
3. Check “Choose path” in the Rendering page in Carrara/Render room/Render/Rendering/LuxRender, to make sure that you know where the *.lxs files get saved.
4. Press Render. Done. Super quick since only files are saved, no rendering job has been done.
5. Load Luxrender and go to the Queue page and press “+” to load all the *.lxs files.
6. Watch Luxrender do its thing, all images should be saved in the same folder.
7. Enjoy!
by 3drendero | Apr 13, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Spheric Labs is working hard and fast, the new proof-of-concept build that was just released, includes enough features to call it a beta version, it works until the end of April.
Here is a complete feature list, bold means new since last build (Windows 64bit only):
Luxrender via Luxus (Render room/Renderer)
-Sampler
-Hybrid (GPU assisted)
Lux Surface (Shader room/Top Shader)
Lux Lights (Assemble room/Insert menu)
– Sun Sky2
– Infinite (HDRI) Use forward slashes for setting the path to the map in the “Map” filed. HDR and EXR both work. Example: c:/Program Files/DAZ 3D/Carrara8/Scenes/Global Illumination/DoschHDRI.hdr
– Sun Updated 17/4
– Sky2 Updated 17/4
Lux Materials (Shader room/Material) Updated 16/4
– CarPaint
– Cloth
– Glass
– Glass2
– Glossy
– GlossyCoating
– GlossyTranslucent
– Layered
– Matte
– MatteTranslucent
– Metal2
– Mirror
– Mix
– Null
– RoughGlass
– Scatter
– Velvet
Lux Volumes (Shader room/Material)
– Clear
– Homogenous
99% stable save/load function (Added 17/4, the fourth release)
-for future updates, so you should be able to start saving *.car files now already, that should work with the upcoming stable version.
Known bugs/issues:
-Camera zooms in more than in Carrara
-Some material options are missing
-Some parameters values are too limited
-Dynamic hair is not supported, SDK limitation?
Download and discussion in the new Forum thread at: https://carraracafe.com/forum-3/#cid=1,tid=30
Direct download link for Luxus: http://sphericlabs.com/carrara/Luxus.zip
Get Luxrender here: http://www.luxrender.net/en_GB/standalone
Here is a link to the Luxrender manual, a must read is the lights and material section: http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/Main_Page
-For those completely new to Luxrender, here is the main difference in lighting setup:
In most cases, it is recommended to use only meshlights/area lights and environmental lighting for your scene, rather than point or spot lights. This is becauase the point and spot lights are unphysical and have no real world equivalent. As a result, they tend to produce unnaturally hard lighting and sharp shadows. Avoiding the point and spot lights will help improve the realism of your scene.
-Also, try to change the lights WHILE rendering in Luxrender, in the “Light group” sheet, check screenshot below.
-Also, switch Luxus render from “sampler” to “hybrid” to run GPU assisted rendering, limited to one light currently.
