Elite Human Surface Shader from DS4 and Carrara 8?

Sphinx Magoo

A quick question...
Is it possible to bring a DS4 file with DS4 EHSS surfaces intact?

I'd like to bring in some of the Supersuit shaders intact into C8 and see how they render.

Am I doomed to have my dreams crushed?

Again?

3DAGE

HI Small fry :)

The Elite Human surface shader is a Daz Studio shader, which relies upon Daz Studio's shader system,

Carrara shaders work differently, as do most other 3D applications.

Explore some of the Carrara shader options and you'll have a lot of fun.

NOTE: Genesis and the Supersuit only currently work in Carrara 8.5 "Beta" which is still being developed to support genesis and improve the transfer of materials and posed between DS and Carrara.

Sphinx Magoo

Thanks 3dAge!

I figured it wouldn't be a smooth transition. I just wanted to give a try.

Right now I have this theory that DS4 will be good for setting up and experimenting with different character designs but that C8 is where I'll get most of the rendering and scene creation work done. I know some people do everything from within Carrara but DS4 file sizes seem so light that I feel more comfortable creating different combinations until I get just what I want.

Be that as it may, I have Shader Ops and Toon Pro from the Digital Carvers Guild to help me along. Might there be other necessary apps or plug-ins for helping to get the most of my renders?

3DAGE

HI Small fry :)

I ran Carrara for two versions before I started looking at plug-ins,. Carrara has some powerful tools, and it's worth while exploring those first , then if there's something specific that you want to do, which carrara doesn't do, go get a plug-in.

Sparrowhawke3d plug-ins are fantastic, and free.

The main thing I have with plug-ins is that if you're trying to learn what a program does, then it doesn't help you to load it with plug-ins from the get go.
Run Barefoot, feel the earth, then buy some shoes :)

Hope it helps :)

evilproducer

SmallFry said:

Thanks 3dAge!

I figured it wouldn't be a smooth transition. I just wanted to give a try.

Right now I have this theory that DS4 will be good for setting up and experimenting with different character designs but that C8 is where I'll get most of the rendering and scene creation work done. I know some people do everything from within Carrara but DS4 file sizes seem so light that I feel more comfortable creating different combinations until I get just what I want.

Be that as it may, I have Shader Ops and Toon Pro from the Digital Carvers Guild to help me along. Might there be other necessary apps or plug-ins for helping to get the most of my renders?

Carrara's file sizes can be very light as well. It depends on what options you use when saving a scene. If you use the save all internally, then the file will be large if you use image maps or movies. If you save using local settings or externally, then they can be pretty small as the software is only referencing them. Other things to do that help prevent bloated files is to go under the Edit Menu->Remove Unused Masters and select the options listed there.

As 3dage mentioned, each program's shader engine is different. To me it doesn't make sense spending time in DS4 tweaking the shaders, then coming into Carrara and having to do the work all over again, because thigs get lost or confused in the translation between the two programs. It might make sense for adjusting morphs and such if you're more comfortable with DS4, but things like shaders and lights don't really work that well from what I've seen.

The other thing to consider with the shaders you mentioned is that, while they've been optimized for DS4s shader system, they're still image map based, so if there's a specular map in DS4, it can be used in Carrara under Carrara's Highlight/Shininess channel. The same goes for bump, translucency, etc. etc. They'll just need to be adjusted to get the look you want. Additionally, Carrara has many shader functions that can enhance the final look when used alone or in conjunction with the image maps that may not be available with DS4 without additional plugins.

argus1000

If you use V4 or M4, there are several Elite shaders for them for sale. There are versions for Daz Studio as well as Carrara.

Sphinx Magoo

Actually, I got the Shader Ops plugin years ago to help out with some comic/animation-style effects. I used them here and here. Based on the pictures, you might see why I'd be interested in bringing over some of the Supersuit shaders into Carrara. :-)

Which brings me to another question:
Will I be able to bring DS4.5's .duf file format into C8 directly or will I need to translate the file into .fbx format first?

Thanks again!

3DAGE

HI Small fry :)

The plan is to have C8.5 enabled to import DUF Material presets saved in DS4.5, onto the selected figure in Carrara, in this case, the Super-suit.
with the caveat that there are differences in the shader engines, and some DS Specific shaders wouldn't translate,. .
For most purposes, this should allow you so save DUF material presets and apply them to the figure or clothing in Carrara,.

This would require C8.5 and DS4.5 once they're both ready to roll.

:)

Jay_NOLA

SmalFry you might want to download YAToon for Carrara if you don't have it. It is a free plug-in to do cell styles. It might help you in making some shaders for what you want to do.

32 bit C8

http://blog.zgock-lab.net/poser/yatoon/YAToon120C8x86.zip

64 bit C8

http://blog.zgock-lab.net/poser/yatoon/YAToon120C8x64.zip

Other Crarrara versions

http://blog.zgock-lab.net/poser/yatoon/en/