billhdz opened this issue on Feb 21, 2004 ยท 30 posts
ayodejiosokoya posted Sat, 21 February 2004 at 9:05 AM
Carrara does very well in comparison to all of these. -Strata 3D Pro First up it is easier to use then Strata as it imports more file formats, the key one being the obj file format which I think may be crucial in working with zBrush. Strata does not import this and has to use the vrml format to preserve uvs on import. Carrara has native support for a lot of things that Strata does not like HDRI, Sud division surfaces and also features an SDk so that technical users can add features to the program if they want to. See www.digitalcarversguild.com for more. However Strata is a very capable program with some really amazing users like Chris Tyler http://www.stratacafe.com/profiles/profile_detail.asp?profileID=1249 and others. It also has a very nice user community. Both Carrara and Strata have modelling tools that I think are a bit odd to use and often users suppliment these with an external modeller such as the free excellent Wings program or Amapi. Strata has native support for hair, displacement mapping and fresnel shading, but this can be obtained in Carrara by buying the Power Pack module (has many other features included) which in combination with Carrara is still about 200 dollars less than Strata. I think the Caustics in Strata look better though. For another hundred you can get a Flash expot module (Strata come with one). Radiosity in Carrara is VERY fast and is easier to work with as there are less parameters to mess around with. I am using an Athlon 850 and am very happy to leave radiosty on during test renders as often they take only a few minutes. Recently the Strata render engine has been optimised too and you can get good times out of it when you understand the parameters from what I hear. Features wise and value for money Carrara is the winner as it has more and costs less. However you must decide which program 'feels right'. I could not get on with the Strata interface because it just did not suit me. -Cinema 4DCE I did give this a breif go but I again did not feel very comfortable with the interface. The professional applications just feel to clunky to me. Carrara supports radiosity and Cinema 4DCE does not. For me the only reason I would learn CE is so that I could move on up to the newer version at some point but if this is not the case I think Carrara is a better option as a rendering solution. I am not sure about the modelling tools in CE, I think they might be really good. They definantly are in the later verions. -Amorphium I have not used it much and when I did I did not like it. It is very unconvetional but the unique tool set may prove useful depending on what you are doing. As far as it does not support Radiostiy. I think zBrush will overlap a lot of its features. -Carrara (my views) A program that is really maturing quickly. Version 3 made me a convert. I dont usually spend much time with demos but after 20 mins with the Carrara 3 demo I was convinced it was what I had been searching for. The interface is a bit "pretty" which will turn some off but this is forgivable as it is very well though out (most of it ;) ) and is one of those programs that when coming from another program is very easy to pick up and learn. However it does have a lot of depth while still being 'friendly' which is crucial for me. A few things irritate and there are a few bugs but none that are significant enough to make it unpleasnt to use. I think the best thing is to try the demos and see for yourself. I mention radiosty as a key feature beacuse it is an important feature to me but you may not want it. Which program you use is really dependant on what you want to do and your preferences in interface style. Good luck choosing