by Holly Wetcircuit | Oct 17, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Luxus for Carrara by Spheric Labs has been updated to version 1.0.0.1
Users of the plugin will need to download the new version from the DAZ 3D website.
List of changes include:
– Production Frame and render match up perfectly.
– DOF parameters.
– Internal Saved Textures supported.
– Squelched some warnings related to textures.
– AreaLight bug that applied the light to multple shading domains when it should not have.
– Fixed Cloth.
– Rendering will not hang the Mac while LuxRender does its thing.
http://www.daz3d.com/luxus-for-carrara
The unofficial Luxus for Carrara manual has also been updated
https://carraracafe.com/forum-3/?cid=1&show=59
by 3drendero | Jul 31, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Zgock is back with a completely rewritten YAToon plugin for Carrara 8.x, still free but this time also open source.
Even a year long hospital visit could not keep zgock away from the keyboard and YAToon development.
Features:
– Improved Toon Painting
– Improved Line Drawing
Currently version 2.00 alpha 2 is available at:
https://bitbucket.org/zgock/yatoon/wiki/Home
Forum discussion at:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/26045/
Test image of YAToon 2.0 alpha 1, no postwork.
by 3drendero | Jul 19, 2013 | Carrara Plugins, News
Fenric has just released an update to his Object Sequence Exporter for Carrara PC/Mac:
Corrects some issues with inverted normals and fixes compatibility with soft-body physics.
Get it at the download page, where you also can get the free trial version before you buy it for only $3.
You will also find the other extremely cheap plugins by Fenric at the same download page, with free trials for all. There are also 2 free plugins, get them and support Fenric by buying his cheap plugins.
The Object Sequence Exporter uses a “baking” method to completely capture all of the vertex position
information about an animated object and exports it into a sequence of individual OBJ files, one for each frame.
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.
