Forum: Carrara


Subject: VectorStyle and Poser

SmallFry opened this issue on Oct 20, 2004 ยท 10 posts


SmallFry posted Wed, 20 October 2004 at 4:29 PM

I am curious to know if anyone has used Poser figures with VectorStyle. I'd read online that complicated models tend to not look too good in VectorStyle v1. Does anyone have any feedback or details if this is still the case? Also, if anyone has any samples, I'd love to see some. Thanks!


Hoofdcommissaris posted Thu, 21 October 2004 at 2:50 AM

Attached Link: A picture with a Vectorstyle Poser picture, hidden somewhere

I used the combination and I must say I could not do that *without* removing a lot of extra lines. But mainly around the face/eyes, because of the mesh density of the eyes and all. But once you remove excess lines (in Illustrator or Flash) you have a nice depiction. But of course it matters what you want to use it for. For one reason or the other, most of the time you can spot the picture's origin from miles. When you click the link you can see an example. The picture on the box is also from Vectorstyle.

falconperigot posted Thu, 21 October 2004 at 5:15 AM

That's a great image, Hoof! There's a certain amount of control over how your image will look - adjusting 'edge detail' gives the two different b&w images above for example - but, as Hoof says, in order to get a really good image a certain amount of work is necessary in whatever program you're exporting to.

falconperigot posted Thu, 21 October 2004 at 11:11 AM

Here's another image (no postwork other than convert from vector to jpeg).

mmoir posted Thu, 21 October 2004 at 11:44 AM

Wow, thats very nice .


falconperigot posted Thu, 21 October 2004 at 12:28 PM

Thanks Mike!


SmallFry posted Fri, 22 October 2004 at 10:35 AM

wow! that is so cool! thank you all for your replies!

i have a couple more questions:

  1. does vectorstyle work as a post effect filter? if so, does it work with particle effects or volumetrics?

  2. does it recognize poser textures, like bumps or transparencies? (this could be an issue with some poser hair...)

  3. are edges defined at the shader level or on the figure/model level? it might be nice to have different thicknesses for different objects in a scene.

i've been using lightwave for these type of renders, but it's so much work to get a nice clean render for flash sometimes. this might make a nice alternative to relying on flash's tracing feature.

thank you all for your help!


falconperigot posted Sat, 23 October 2004 at 5:01 AM

Attached Link: http://www.eovia.com/products/carrara_addons/vectorstyle.asp

1)No, it's a renderer that saves out a purely vector-based file. There's a preview. It works with particles in that they are rendered but shading effects are lost. 2) No. In converting everything to vectors it ignores bump/texture maps and proceedurals - it only picks up base colors in the shader tree. It's possible to color areas (like eye pupils) differently by using shading domains but that is all. This does cause problems with setting up Poser figures. No transparency or reflections are rendered either. 3) Edges are defined at model level and also where the plugin decides on a color change. If you are using flat colors this can lead to undesirable lines. Similarly, as Hoof mentions, the model can throw up lines where you don't want them (see my pic). You can't change line thickness - this would mean adding a variable stroke in Illustator or whatever.

SmallFry posted Mon, 25 October 2004 at 3:18 PM

Thank you! This was a great help. Being more familiar with Lightwave, I tried a Lightwave plug-in that offered Flash export and I got similar results. Thank you again for your help.


ShawnDriscoll posted Mon, 25 October 2004 at 4:45 PM

Amapi 3D 6 (free from 3D World magazine #57) can be patched to version 6.1 (free from Eovia) which does Flash and Shockwave3D export of its models as well.

www.youtube.com/user/ShawnDriscollCG