Carrara modeling tutorial by Mike Moir
robertzavala
Posts: 12
I just purchased and downloaded the Carrara modeling tutorial by Mike Moir. I don't understand how to view the video files or access the other files through Carrara. My install manager shows that it is installed. When I get the Install manager to show the installed or package files it presents me with a blank box.
When I do a search for them on my Mac I find two small files. One file is called Manifest.dsx and is 115 bytes and the other is called Supplement.dsx and is 138 bytes.
When I double click these files I get a message that I have no application to open them. I have also tried to open them in Carrara with no luck.
Any advice?
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Hey Robert,
I created 3 carrara scene files one for each tutorial and i put them in the Carrara Scenes/UserScenes folder . You will have to load these scene files into carrara's browser by going into the browser and adding the files as they don't get put there during the install . If you cant find the scene file you could try searching for the .car file , the carrara file would be "PencilTut*.car" I don't know the exact name as I don't have access to the files right now.
Maybe you could do a search on your computer for PencilTut*.* to locate the tutorial videos on your computer, they are in mp4 format. I don't know what the installer actually does or structures things.
Hope this helps and I will look into more if this doesn't work for you.
Hey Robert ,
How big was the download file , it should be 2 very large files totalling over 250mb . Was it like only 428kb?
It's only 428kb.
I guess the guys at DAZ uploaded in incompletely. :-(
Ouch! That's a bit f a difference! Hopefully they'll get it sorted out for you soon!
I sent Kevin at Daz an email about this and I hope they get it fixed soon. Sorry about this.
Mike
It WILL be worth the wait, I'm certain. Mike truly knows what he's doing. I can hardly wait to get this!
I just looked at the product page and the large file is there now, one large file by the looks of it. Sorry for the delay here and thanks for your patience.
Mike
I had a chance to download and install the tutorial, and it looks very good so far. :-)
I also like that I can see the mouse&keyboard; information in the video, as it makes following the steps easier.
Thank you,mmoir. :-)
Lee,
I am glad you like it so far.... No pressure but feel free to post your progress images here if you like . I really do want to get people more interested in modeling in Carrara.
Mike
I've always liked your products. I bought the tutorial but haven't had a chance to download it yet. Assuming I still have power tomorrow, I plan to start working my way through the tutorial. We east coast Yanks are expecting a major snowstorm to shut down several cities, including mine.
Oh wah wah! We have snow. But we've had crippling cold. Lake Superior is 93 or 94% frozen over. We've had cold so bad in Wisconsin the snowmen come inside to warm up! It's been so cold here, that dry ice doesn't sublimate. Why, it's been so cold that my Tauntaun froze before it reached the first marker.... ;-)
Oh wah wah! We have snow. But we've had crippling cold. Lake Superior is 93 or 94% frozen over. We've had cold so bad in Wisconsin the snowmen come inside to warm up! It's been so cold here, that dry ice doesn't sublimate. Why, it's been so cold that my Tauntaun froze before it reached the first marker.... ;-)
You win! You win!
I'm not complaining about the snow. If they don't shut the city down, I have jury duty. If I have a choice between working through Mike's tutorial or jury duty, believe me I'd rather work through his tutorial.
CHEEZEHEDS RULEZ! :coolgrin:
I actually kind of liked Jury Duty, but I agree, better to spend time learning Carrara with a good tutorial!
I just checked my available downloads. Is it two files, or one? There is only one listed, but it looks the right size?
FILE NAME SIZE MANUAL ? INSTALL MANAGER READY* ?
Carrara Modeling Tutorials 259.54 MB download
It is nice to know we are not alone in the super cold weather, we had -28deg Celsius here in Ontario last night. A city close by was -30degC which works out to something like -22degF. Pretty cold. it warmed up during the day though to a normal winters day.
Also as a side note, I bought the BMF Landscapes and Mystic Gorge and consider them to be tutorials of a sort as well. Very informative written material combined with very well laid out files, groups, and Carrara techniques... truly Mike, you've been a Carrara mentor of mine almost as long as I've had Carrara. And I'd like to thank you for that.
Snow did dump over a foot of snow on us, so I don't have jury duty today. Therefore, I have completed about 1/2 of MMOIR's tutorial. I will give my first impressions. Great job! I do have a few critiques and caveats which I will discuss below. I will completely understand if the moderators don't want me to discuss a specific store item here, even though my review is generally favorable.
Big picture -
True beginners
My recommendations for true beginners is different from my review for users with some experience, which is at it should be. If you are a true Carrara beginner, someone who just downloaded the program and is struggling with the layout. This tutorial is not for you (yet). I do recommend that you get this tutorial, but I don't think that you should watch it until you become more familiar with the basics of the Carrara screen layout, rooms, icons, and general interface. Even more important, you should be familiar with concepts and terminology in the vertex modeler. This tutorial focuses on vertex modeling, one function of Carrara (and that is all it markets itself as). It might be hard to follow if you don't have a clue as to what a hot key is, or what a drawing plane is. Having said that, once you do have some context (see Dartanbeck's list of resources), watch this tutorial series. You will get much more out of your Carrara purchase if you become comfortable mixing acquired content (such as Daz figures and props) with content that you make yourself. The ability to create objects, etc. from your own imagination, rather than only relying on 3rd party content is one of the features that distinguishes an all-in-one program like Carrara from an object posing/editing and rendering program like Daz Studio or Poser. I recommend true beginners watch this tutorial as soon as they have some context and comfort with Carrara more generally. Seriously, "as soon as", not some time after, or shortly after. Watch this "as soon as" you become comfortable with the general Carrara user interface and have made enough objects in the vertex modeler to become familiar with basic concepts and terminology, such as the drawing plane, shading domains, soft-select, etc.
More experienced users
If you are an intermediate or other experienced user, I recommend this tutorial without reservation. I know that you can already make a pencil or a cup in the vertex modeler. So can I. That isn't the point. Because Carrara is so versatile, and there are so many ways to achieve similar results, it is easy to fall into a rut by using the same tools over and over again - even if another tool would be faster, and more precise. I hesitate to say that your objects will be more realistic, because with infinite patience you really only need 2 abilities, add vertexes and translate vertexes, to make any object. So what does this MMoir tutorial offer the more experienced user? I would say it encourages you to use additional tools and functions that you knew existed in the vertex modeler, but generally don't use. For example, you know that the polyline tool is there and that it is possible to pivot a working plane to match a selected line. But, do you use it to speed your workflow and make more accurate objects? Or, do you just select a polygon and use the extrude tool and the rotate tool to approximate what you want? The second method can give the exact same results as the first, but the difference in time, frustration, accuracy, etc. can be immense.
From the Big Picture to more specific critiques
First, as expected, MMoir does a great job explaining what he is doing and how he is doing it. In addition, a box at the top of the screen scrolls his mouse clicks (if for some reason you were not listening). This makes it easy to follow if you already have some concept of what a hot key is, what a drawing plane is, etc. he does move very quickly, but that shouldn't be a problem if you are already familiar with most of the terminology.
Second, even relatively advanced users are likely to learn techniques that can speed work-flow, add detail, and provide additional methods that can be applied to their own projects. I consider myself an intermediate Carrara modeler. Within 5-10 minutes of starting the tutorial, it became obvious that there is a big gap between intermediates and experts - and I knew I wasn't on the same side of the gap as MMoir. For example, at one point he wanted to bow the inside of a handle that was made of 4 sided polygons. Could I do that already? Sure, I might use extract along and try to approximate the middle. Or, I might "over" subdivide the object to get more vertexes, including some in the middle. But this is what he did. He used loop to select the interior lines, subdivided so that the new points would appear in the exact middle of the selected lines - then used extract along to pull a new line to the new points. The result was identical to an extract along with the vertexes in the exact center of the interior of the handle. Could I have achieved that result without his tutorial? yes. But, if I had done it as accurately, I would not have done it as quickly and efficiently. If I had done it as quickly, it would not have been as accurate.
Third, this tutorial demonstrates the vertex modeler, one of the four basic modeling methods in Carrara. That is what it markets itself as, and that is what it does. For most users, especially those with exposure to Hexagon, the vertex modeler is likely to be the modeler that they turn to first for most projects. The other basic modeling methods are spline modeling, metaball modeling, and (IMHO) primitives with modifiers modeling. Carrara has some specialty modeling methods, like formula, hair, plants, and terrain. Just realize that the topic "modeling in Carrara" is actually much broader than this tutorial. If you want the broader perspective, there are full tutorial series like PhilW or Mark Bremmer, or you can cobble together tutorial collections such as Cripeman.
Fourth, the tutorial is in a series videos of MMoir's screen as he makes everyday objects (pencil, cup, and eyedropper). He is easy to understand and the screenshots were clear on my screen. I do think that the download/readme/getting started information could be improved. I had to navigate to where i thought the videos were after download and watch them. If there is a startup menu, I didn;t find it (of course, I didn't think I needed it either - so there is that).
Bottom line -
I am very happy with this purchase and would recommend it to others. My recommendation to more experienced users is without reservation. My recommendation to true beginners comes with the caveat that a true beginner really needs some context with Carrara's user interface more generally, and the terminology/functions of the vertex modeling room. However, a true beginner should watch it early in the Carrara learning curve, because people will get much more from their Carrara purchase if they realize the speed and detail that Carrara vertex modeling can accomplish.
Man,
if I were a beginner in learning the vertex modeler, I'd love to get my eyes and ears on this tutorial!
I love this!
I just bought and watched the pencil movie. Holy cow!
It's not only about the vertex modeler at all.
It has pre-project considerations and advice, outstanding wit, perfectly placed when you need a chuckle!, great habitual practices to get familiar with, selection, viewing, navigating, shortcut keys and mouse tools, and a general going through of extrusion, manipulation, aligning - with nice quick verbals along the way helping to understand 'why' your doing what your doing.
Okay, this is a modeling tutorial... but I want it to look nice! LOL
Mike takes us on a journey through making this pencil truly look Kick Angle! From assigning shader domains to tweak the final shader for every element needed to show off this cool pencil model. Hey, let's get some great lighting! I mean, how can we tell if the model looks great of we can't make a great render, right?
Mike, you rock! I already know I'm going to love watching the rest of this!
Your style and clarity and completeness of just that first movie has already made me proud of this purchase. Thanks for all of the new tips!
Thanks for the comments on the tutorials guys and I am glad you like them so far.. I do hope to see some final images once you have them ready, but again no pressure to post anything .
I already have the Infinite Skills series and bought this set by mmoir to add to my learning. There are some new tricks that I picked up.
One small thing: the author is working on Windows and does not relate the Mac equivalent of the keystrokes (there are a few that are different), so if you are on Mac be ready for this; no real big deal but it would be nice if they were included as they are slightly different.
Hmm... I should have made a verbal note about this a few times along the way in the tutorials. The problem is I don't know the differences between the Mac and WIndows platforms. Soooo,,, the Cmd key is the same as tthhee Ctrl key? What is the equivalent to the Alt key in windows? I should do a little research on this I quess.
Mike
It's the same, alt. That key on the Mac is labeled alt/option so you can totally get away with saying alt. Win Control is, as you said Command on Mac. If you are a Mac user that either doesn't have or doesn't use Right Click on your mouse (I have it but don't like to use it) the Mac equivalent to a Win Right click is holding the Control key while clicking the mouse.
Other than that I don't know what else could be different.
I also picked up your modeling tutorial the other day (based on the recommendation of diomede64 in another thread) . I've only spent a little time with it so far but I've already learned stuff I was previously unaware of. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with it. Once I do, I'll probably have more comments/questions but based on what I've already seen, I hope you're considering doing more of these.
Thanks for the info on the Mac keyboard issues, hopefully I can remember them.
On a another note, someone who bought my tutorial product is having some issues following along so I am going to start a help thread. I will do little videos showing how to get around their problems they are having, I am sure other people who bought the product can help out as well . I hope it turns into a learning modeling thread, I should be posting the thread shortly , just waiting for the video to be live at youtube.
Mike
It's the same, alt. That key on the Mac is labeled alt/option so you can totally get away with saying alt. Win Control is, as you said Command on Mac. If you are a Mac user that either doesn't have or doesn't use Right Click on your mouse (I have it but don't like to use it) the Mac equivalent to a Win Right click is holding the Control key while clicking the mouse.
Other than that I don't know what else could be different.
I also picked up your modeling tutorial the other day (based on the recommendation of diomede64 in another thread) . I've only spent a little time with it so far but I've already learned stuff I was previously unaware of. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with it. Once I do, I'll probably have more comments/questions but based on what I've already seen, I hope you're considering doing more of these.
Outstanding. I see great potential in this.
Let's face it, the official documentation for Carrara pretty much blows. Trying to figure out how portions of it work (the vertex modeler in particular) from an old, half assed book is nearly impossible. In my opinion anyway. The optimal way to learn (if possible) is to have someone show you how it works but few if any of us have someone locally we can sit down with who's ever even heard of Carrara much less mastered it enough to impart wisdom. Video tutorials are a quantum leap over reading a book. It's the next best thing to sitting with someone. The downside is, once it's done it's done and if you have a question or it missed touching on one particular thing you were looking for, there really isn't anyone you can ask.
That you are willing to follow up with answers to questions (and in video form no less) will be MUCH appreciated by all involved and I believe will help lead to quicker, greater success for everyone trying to learn.
I've been using Carrara for years. I'm pretty good at it but at this point I should be better. I've been "getting by". But seeing how you work I know there is a better way. I'm inspired. Between your videos and Kixums gallery over at Renderosity it's clear Carrara is a very capable tool if you know what you're doing. I want become a better user of the tool.
All I need to do now is find more time. :-)
Wow! Great service for an already great product. I think a related thread could be very interesting. I know I would follow it.
Hmmm.... I think the User Manual is excellent, but I still like to have the more lively approach of learning from masters. I've only been using Carrara since 2010, but I still refer to the manual on occasion, as it has some excellent info, advice, and options.
I must say, though... Mike sure makes learning fun, eh?
Yeah, I never thought it was that great. It's passable in some sections.
This way is going to be much better I think.
While I do enjoy the manual, I agree that this is better - and the more of these that exist, the better they all become.
I cannot count how often I think about doing something in Carrara, and decide to quickly check that part of Phil's or Cripeman's tutorial videos for some tips and inspiration. This new one from mmoir is a very welcome addition, and I'll be going back into these often as well. If not to learn, just to watch and enjoy :)
The thing about the user manual- any user manual is space. There just isn't enough of it. Basically, you have the space to tell someone what the tool is, what the icon or keyboard command is and perhaps a quick description of what it is supposed to do. There isn't the space to give a detailed tutorial on "how" to use it.
I have a great big, easy to read manual that came with Final Cut Pro. It's the same way. It will give a description of the tool, where to find it and maybe a situation where you would use it, but it doesn't teach you "how" to edit a video, just the mechanics of the program that allows you to edit the video.
Exactly.