Long ago in a reality far away I was an early Strata user. Back when it was still called Blitz and it’s results used in several movies, with MacRenderman export and such - yes I’ve been doing this awhile. 
Was around when it became Strata and the company changed hands faster than quarters of the year. Some of the old gallery stuff is still some of the best stuff ever done anywhere in any app. Of course all you newbies will never see that. It suffered alot, but seems to be making a steady comeback and is good for many things. No I’m not a user at present, but I do keep tabs on them, waiting for a few things that just might break it out of the glorified logo maker mold.
I loved zbrush 2d look and 3d approach.
I have downloaded strata 3d cx 5 demo and I also like its photoshop look…
Lets see how good it is to hold on to…
Would love to have lemo’s and frenchy’s opinion here
well first button i pressed and it hanged 
next time i started it - it gave error not properly installed. 
Removed it and my poc resarted… :rolleyes:
Now I know why Lemo never mentioned it… 
Lemo
PS:There are others which I do not mention… But due to the fact that people have different intentions and levels of expectations I will never publish a Lemo-Blacklist.
stability is a issue Lemo
But this is my first render with a raytracing glbal illumination from strata 3d, exported with layers in psd files… and the model was lathed from a illustrator 2d file…
Looks good to a noob like me, but it is actually what runs in the long run …
Lemo any pro/con list for strata ? Not the blacklist 
I find it interesting, should I waste my time on it ? 
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](javascript:zb_insimg(‘44497’,‘first-render-in-strata.jpg’,1,0))
You really have to look at what you wish to accomplish and then focus on that set of functions and select the package with the best value. Or you will end up Posing in Poser, rendering in Strata or Modo when Strata is at it’s end, painting in Zbrush, UV Layout in another app… etc. etc… And all together will cost a lot of money and will constantly disrupt your ‘pipeline’ with bugs/ fixes/ new releases, interoperability issues.
I can render you a shiny apple in any and all applications. The issue is how can you get that apple into your comic production pipeline. With the least amount of tools and the best price. And Strata will not be in that equation if you take a close look at it. I might sound like a broken record but there is nothing better for you than either Cinema4D with Hair(later) or XSI Foundation. All have render passes which you can get into PS as layers. All have GI, Both will have Hair, and both work great with Zbrush and are ‘known enemies’. Do you have time or resources to figure out why the Strata Subdivisions or micropolygon displacements (If it has them) have a problem? You shout C4D Help or XSI Help and you almost have to take cover regarding the response you will get. With ‘novelty’ products… that’s an issue.
Jason hit it on the head with his post. And… if you wish to get away from ZSphere Posing and save money, then go and get a copy of Poser. That’s comparably cheap, gives you the abilty to rig a character and then export and import it in Zbrush again to use it posed in your scenes. Poser even has Hair. So you can see if that is something for you to ‘play with’. Due to the fact that you can get a world of free poser stuff, which you can load (through poser .obj export) into Zbrush Scenes, it might be a usefull investment. Look at it. I’d rather get Poser than Strata 3D ;-). The Poser Render Engine is not as good as C4D or Mental Ray, but you can get results out of it. Take a look at poser and how you can rig a ZBrush Character for deformation and even animation. The member who animated the TopMod mesh recently in the forum probably spend less than 10 minutes from import into Poser to the animated run/walk cycle in Poser. The only issue is… you will not get anything better/different out of it. So, before you go for the heavy weights like C4D or XSI… have a look at Poser if you do not wish to spend Money for a large Package. You really have to make up your mind regarding your comic pipeline.
You have PS and ZBrush. So you are all set regarding Illustration. If Poser would be good enough for rigin/posing of your characters and you continue to use ZBrush and PS for the final Illustration, you really do not need C4D or XSI.
Riging a character in Poser is simple. But then… ZBrush 2.5 should have the same function for you… But who knows when that comes out. GAHHH. Which reminds me of the reason why I bought it in the first place… lol. Let’s not go there. … So check out Poser and the world attached to it. Stay away from the ‘weird’ stuff ;-). Poser is weird enough lol. Hmmmm Poser is like a moped or a huge Girlfriend. All three are fun, but you don’t wish to be seen with them by your friends hahaha.
have to run… sorry for the confusing long mail…
Lemo
Lols alright Lemo 
Thanks…for the long suggestion.
Will have a look at poser and XSI is already there in my buying list for a long time.
Throwing strata 3d out now … will play with it when my girlfriend isnt talking with me and I have no other work to do :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Just wondering how many XSI users are going to upgrade to 6:qu:
I just got XSI Foundation 9 months ago and I am thinking spending close to $400 to upgrade when I still have not completely learned 5.11 would be silly, plus I still haven’t dropped cabbage for Zbrush. 
No real need to upgrade then. Imho the V6 advantages are not of great impact to the casual Fnd user. Neat things like shader balls where you can see better in the render tree how things plop together. But you will see that in the render anyways… So… lot’s of convenience additions and the big changes in the animation department… to be honest… I don’t fully grasp what those are about… I’m happy when my rig is wiggling it’s toe right now.
Lemo
I am thinking if they added more modeling and shaping tools (not that I need them) I would upgrade. Not really sure how to make XSI better for me. It is already good enough.
I hope you have discovered the tweak tool! THAT is adding a LOT of freedom.
Lemo
Moment of Inspiration : 1er December
Six views
Export ObJ extented
Details of newness
…
have fun Nurbs modeling 
PS My french translation is coming soon I must be precise for don’t mix with the previous
French version available
Guys
Any good blender tutorials somewhre in the web ?
Ty lemo
Ok another question especailly for people who paint in photoshop
what is the meaning of term “transfer” in photoshop ?
Is is like applying layers ?
i read somehwre that different layers ( like highlight, blur, intensity, desaturated) are togther “transfered” to give posteffects.
Normally transfer can mean lot of things in photoshop but this one is especially applied for painting and posteffects.
any one has any idea ?
Frenchy? Lemo ?
i think mytholon can answer that but we cant find him on zbc much.
Hmmm all I could ‘guess’ is that someone would say that all layers are transfered ‘upwards’ through filters. Upwards in the hirarchy. So one layer effect is applied after the next. Other than that I have not heard that term as something ‘specific’.
PShop is not THAT sophisticated. Any case, while we are at it… always use adjustment layers and do not modify ‘color’ layers directly. You do not end up ripping your hair out because you changed something mid way which you cannot use in the end…
Lemo
Kim Aldis, a XSI Expert has lowered the price of his cool TinyThickness Plugin.
It was a tad pricey before, but now it’s cheap for what it does. I bought a copy today. Finally thickness painless. Of course you can make that also in ZBrush, but the plugin allows more control and also allows a profile around the rim. Which would be hard to achieve in ZB.
Here’s my first try. 5 Minute Project.
[attach=45442]SpiderEgg.jpg[/attach]
Cheers
Lemo
Attachments
I’ve just been over to the MudBox site and I guess it’s back up again since it’s been hacked. They have a shopping cart and price list so I’m guessing it’s ready for distribution now.
The prices don’t seem too bad, but still seems a little steep for the professonal version. It will be interesting to see what developes with this program over the coming months and how it’s users are working it into their pipeline. I haven’t seen anything about UV mapping so I guess it does’nt have a features for unwrapping yet.
The cart is there, but I don’t think it’s for sale?