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224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
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© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Yeah. Stability, responsiveness, a modern UI... Sorry to be bashing a product you like; i've always felt Carrara had vast untapped potential, if only it were developed with some kind of real commitment to details. i have spent time and money on Carrara from version 1 through 6/7, and i never have managed to get a single project completed with it for various reasons (all bugs, none fixed, few acknowledged, all of them various types of terminal roadblocks).
But you know what? Same for Lightwave, which i also own. Same for Blender. Heck, same for Modo demos i've had. Same story of bugs and UI foolishness. Simple object renderings? Sure. Simple modeling? Yeah. High quality renders? Maybe, if i can stomach the slow as molasses test renders. Complex modeling? Better off in Lightwave, though primitive. Complex scenes? Never once in anything. It hurts particularly on Mac OS X, where all 3D packages are even less stable and reliable. But even on Windows... And it's never the software's fault, say the users on the forums. Bah. You don't want me complaining here.
The state of 3D rendering packages is pretty poor across the board. It is marketable as is because there are people with vastly greater frustration thresholds than myself who are being PAID to work with them. i'm not. Some day maybe this stuff will really mature... but not today.
i've checked out DAZ Studio. It's not really what i'm looking for either, though i check out new versions when available.
EDIT: Here's one of the bugs that is a perfect example of fundamentally broken features. http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=170720 - i was just looking through my Carrara materials last night, trying to decide if i want to revisit it and here was this toroidal space station model that's not round because the modeler is broken. i probably started that back in 2003. Sigh. At least the surface fidelity bug was finally handled. i waited for that one for about three versions.
Maybe my browser? That link didn't take me anywhere.
Hmmmm...
Carrara is really quite stable on both of my Windows 7 machines. Of course, we can all find ways to bog down a computer.
I must admit, I am not a Carrara or computer expert. Just a guy that likes to make animations from 3d figures in 3d scenes and Carrara is just the most excellent software I've tried for this. Not a rich man, either... I've never tried C4D or the others. Just Poser and DS. I was taught on 3ds, played with Maya... Love them both. But for me, Carrara is more specifically set up for using the figures made to be compatible with conforming clothing, hair and such, while also having the power of being able to create anything I want - and then animate and render the stuff. I needed my renders to speed up because I am mostly interested in making animations. This little dual-core machine works fine with Carrara. I would set up my Batch Queue to render from the time I go to bed to the time I get home from work the next day. Last year I finally built my own workstation with a single eight-core cpu and 16GB RAM, with a decent - but nothing too expensive - graphics card. That made a huge difference, as it would for any 3d software.
I definitely don't want to sound as if Carrara is without flaws or that, for all of the things that it can do it's the best on the market for these things. But Carrara is amazingly adept at being able to do so much stuff in one, convenient workflow. I love the animation tools, the vertex modeling in the assembly room, the ease of lighting and the power and ease of setting up shaders. And it renders really fast. I don't set everything at max or place checks in the "Best" boxes... instead, I work with my lighting and shaders to work very well at lower render settings - and I've been one happy camper!
Did we ever have any doubts about DAZ's commitment to supporting content use in Carrara? I don't, not after this:
From Michael 6 product description.
Ah ---indeed it does seem so odd that they put so much development into C8.5 for Genesis support and then we see so many times that Carrara gets a back seat even so. Its a puzzle sometimes watching DAZ.
Its just the way it is ....Daz sells content . Needs content using software. Daz likes Daz studio and Poser better as they sell more content. So that is where they focus most.
Carrara is third man out in many ways ----but at least its not out as it were. So we have to deal with being the step child as it were. I am overall pleased with 8.5 ----so I am not complaining just wishfully thinking what could be under different circumstances.
Rich
Pet peeve: Sometimes, things don't improve beyond the way they are now because people excuse the way things are now by saying that things are just the way they are now. Just saying.
Also, it doesn't help that Carrara's code base is a hairy, hoary, scrofulous old thing with just enough turd polish applied to it that it doesn't crash too often in modern operating systems. It needs a major rebuild, preferably from scratch. I'd love to be able to think that they're giving Carrara that major update for version 9. Yes, I'd love to be able to think that.
I do think that a properly fitted and functional Carrara would do more for their business than they are either aware of or capable of capitalizing upon. Imagine being able to create Genesis content in Carrara, without having to bother with Daz Studio, and then being able to sell it through Daz's store. Genesis gets a major boost through a new creation tool. Daz gets a boost through brokering a flood of new content. And all it takes is showing Carrara some much needed development love..... oh. Right.
Rich
That's okay. As you can see above, I can complain for the both of us. :)
Heads up, there's a new bundle offer which includes Carrara, so even if you don't want the other products it brings Carrara Pro down to $53.71 when bought with two of the cheapest items if you're a PC member.
I won't touch 8.5 again until it's finished but someone else might :)
Is Carrara 8.5 pro that bad? I own Carrara 8 pro and am debating upgrading, I haven't used Carrara in some time but I know it renders better than studio, well earlier versions at least, also, I know it's not created for it, but if you add shaders to clothing and save it in studio, can you load it in Carrara with the material/shaders? Sorry for do many questions
In case your question was prompted by my post: In this forum there is a thread titled "Carrara 8.5 bugs and other issues", you may want to check it out. Those issues and the fact that DAZ has so far said nothing about future updates rendered me unwilling to pay for this particular edition of what is otherwise my favorite CG package.
And as such you are doing Carrara and Carrara users no favours by giving your opinion almost as though it was a fact denigrating the current upgrade, which does include a whole lot of improvements and bug fixes from Carrara 8.
Also DAZ 3D have given several opportunities to upgrade at extremely generous prices, of which this latest offer is one.
Also DAZ 3D did tell you that Carrara 9 was in development and would be hopefully available in the first half of next year, I seem to remmeber that the 2nd quarter was mentioned, so you have had news of future Carrara development.
When I said future updates I meant something a bit more concrete than a year old announcement about plans to release the next major version. More specifically I meant possible free updates to the current buggy and unfinished TriAx support which happens to be the one and only major feature in this release.
Feel free point out any inaccuracies you see in my post. The issues I refer to have been documented quite well for all to see as I already said.
And as such you are doing Carrara and Carrara users no favours by giving your opinion almost as though it was a fact denigrating the current upgrade, which does include a whole lot of improvements and bug fixes from Carrara 8.
Also DAZ 3D have given several opportunities to upgrade at extremely generous prices, of which this latest offer is one.
Also DAZ 3D did tell you that Carrara 9 was in development and would be hopefully available in the first half of next year, I seem to remmeber that the 2nd quarter was mentioned, so you have had news of future Carrara development.
Well personally, I think it's good to get opinions from both sides of "it's awesome, must have" and "it's still really buggy, if spending so much money on a buggy release is okay with you, sure, but I'm waiting for a more solid version" is also a very valid- and yes, helpful opinion. I'm a carrara user and have had several versions of it, altho I'm by no means very sure of myself and don't know carrara very well at all (I prefer Daz Studio mostly, and lately, poser). But I also take araneldon's opinion as seriously as I take others' more positive opinions. I admit that I'm also dismayed with the bugs in a version being sold - even at a huge discount, still very pricey.
Still annoyed that my Carrara 8 serial stopped working. Sheesh. Oh well, i've moved on.
:) well , on my part I can't find real bugs in this version :-) I'm a Mac user and it runs ok for me, I'm pretty happy ( so far ) ... the only drawback might be that I read the announcement about a bundle ( commercial value of 250 $ ) which I don't see , but it might be me :-D .. one last thing , did anyone understood if aniMate or mimic is included in the pro version ? ... :D
they are not .
OK :-) tnx
Carrara's time line sequencer is totally awesome. It makes tweaking keys brought in by aniBlocks easy and fun. Say you don't want the arm and/or head movements from the walk cycle. Just select and delete them - simple as that. Carrara gives you as much room as you need to work on this stuff - and I love it!
Bring in an aniBlock of the guy throwing a temper tantrum. Delete all key frames except for the arms, head, neck and chest. Now save that as a Non-Linear Animation Clip (NLA Clip). Now load in a walk cycle and this time delete all of the keys for the parts you kept in the tantrum, and save that new NLA Clip. Now combine the two and you've got someone walking along cussing and throwing a real fit!
Simple, Fast, Incredibly Fun and Satisfying! ;)
:-) thank you Dartanbeck :)
he loves to talk - he can go on for hours ;-)
:-) good :) the more he talks the more I can learn :-D :-D
Thanks for the compliment ;)
If you look at the feature list, and the included content the price is very reasonable.
It's reasonable price for the CONTENT but what about the upgrade to the main program? I haven't seen anything in 8.5 pro compared to 8.0 pro to warrant paying for the upgrade. I waited 3 years for a patch to 8.0 only to get the great 8.5 blunder. I'm sorry but your program topped out at 6.0.
If you look at the feature list, and the included content the price is very reasonable.
It's reasonable price for the CONTENT but what about the upgrade to the main program? I haven't seen anything in 8.5 pro compared to 8.0 pro to warrant paying for the upgrade. I waited 3 years for a patch to 8.0 only to get the great 8.5 blunder. I'm sorry but your program topped out at 6.0.
Merry Christmas
Is the extra 40% off still being offered if I join the platinum club? Having trouble getting C7Pro to install, so if it's not too expensive I might as well pay the extra and get 8.5 Pro.
Thanks,
Ted
It's reasonable price for the CONTENT but what about the upgrade to the main program? I haven't seen anything in 8.5 pro compared to 8.0 pro to warrant paying for the upgrade. I waited 3 years for a patch to 8.0 only to get the great 8.5 blunder. I'm sorry but your program topped out at 6.0.
Merry Christmas For me and many others, the value of the upgrade vastly outweighs the price. But if what it has to offer isn't your thing, then perhaps not. Topping out at 6.0 is quite incorrect in my opinion though - as I feel that 8.5 is by far the best Carrara to date!
If you're having trouble installing 7 Pro... I'm wondering why. But having Pro in the latest version gives you 64 bit as well as 32 bit - which is awesome for today's computers that run 64 bit OS. I love that.
I don't know why either, it's 'installed', but when I get to the enter name and serial # screen I don't see anything but the boxes. No words, I posted this in another thread and another user said that it had to do with a font file getting moved when apple upgraded to Lion, and my MBP came with Mountain Lion and my son's Mac Mini (just got it Monday) came with Mavericks (and has the same issue).
Help me out with the math here, if they're offering it to me at $285.00 (I got 7 Pro from 3D World or 3D Artist for $15 bucks) and $285 is the 50% off price, 40% off takes me down to $171.00, right?
Thanks,
Ted
Sounds right. Yeah, Carrara 7 didn't play nicely with any of the Cat-named Macs I guess. I'm a Windows user.
When they're talking about upgrade pricing, though... they don't care where you bought it from though - I don't think. So if you contact customer support, they might be able to even knock some more off... not sure. But the 171 you've figured is definitely one of the prices many of us have paid for it.
Well I haven't paid any real money for Carrara since I think 3 or 5 so it certainly wouldn't hurt me to pitch in now!:lol: I will contact someone tomorrow!
Thanks!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
I really did! You?
I feel the same way - I'm not afraid to give a bit of my cash to the folks that make my life sweeter!
I did thanks! 'bout killed me to get the money for the Mac Mini (I paint houses for a living, 3D used to be an aspiration that dwindled into a hobby), but now my son has picked it up.