Attached Link: The news is here!

They kept a secret very well: http://www.3dXtract.com

I already preordered my copy of the Pro version.

Okay. Now I will go and find my jaw. Must be somewhere around here, under the desk.

Message edited on: 08/31/2004 03:16

Attached Link: Eovia's announcement

Well, let's say that I am very happy I didn't. I think they should include an extra offer for people who did buy them. Because this time you get the whole bunch for just 70 dollar more... This comes as a bit of a surprise, doesn't it?

Well, yes it does rather. If I wanted CADStyle now (which fortunately I don't) I'd have to pay 299 euros... What's also odd is that to upgrade from C4 standard to C4Pro is $300... It doesn't say that these are pre-release prices but perhaps they are?

It might be a way of showing that if you ever think about upgrading to PRO, you better buy the PRO version all the same. The prerelease offer is more about some extra bonus material. I think the prices will stay the same. For 208.90 euros the pro version will come to my front door (including a t-shirt, a book with tips & tricks and I think I qualify for the Mdelaflor book as one of the first 50 preorderers...). I am lucky enough to use it professionally, so I did not give it a second thought. Now I really have to learn Amapi...

yeah,i cant wait to play with carrara 4 pro.i bought lightwave 8 last week and im very happy that carrara 4 supports the lwo file format.i just pre ordered carrara 4 pro 5 minutes ago.:)

Message edited on: 08/31/2004 04:48

Looks good, however, I'm a little miffed that I already have Amapi Designer 7 and transPoser. And yet, it doesn't look like there will be any price breaks for that. I wonder if anybody wants to buy a copy of Amapi Designer 7 and transPoser? (If that's allowed) I really wish I had waited a couple of months. I only upgraded to Carrara 3 in June. Oh well, live and learn.

Eovia Introduces Carrara 4 Press Release For Immediate Release - Two new versions allow greater accessibility and affordability while expanding rich toolset - Apple Expo 2004 Paris, France August 31, 2004 Eovia Corporation, developer and publisher of leading 3D animation, modeling and rendering software, today introduced Carrara 4, the powerful, approachable, complete 3D solution. This new release replaces Carrara Studio 3 and will now be available in Pro and Standard versions. Carrara 4 Pro delivers an enhanced breadth of capabilities and power that professionals demand. Carrara 4 Standard provides the same approachable interface at an even more affordable price for non-experts. The dramatic enhancements to Carrara 4 provide greater options both for advanced users as well as newcomers, said Eovia CEO Philippe Richard. Our goal with this release is to provide a solution that not only invites more designers to consider 3D, but also supports professionals with a powerful product that puts no limits on their imagination. Eovia Carrara 4 software provides powerful tools for motion media, print, and the web. Additionally, this release complements every designers creative suite by providing improved interchange with industry-leading design applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Corel Painter, web tools such as Macromedia Shockwave and Flash, and video editing and effects software such as Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid Xpress, Premiere and After Effects. New features in Carrara 4 Standard include a terrain editor and scene manipulators, and improved IK, motion paths, timeline support, and more. Carrara 4 Pro software adds multi-node distributed rendering, vector and 3D motion blur, extended file import, and more. Eovia expects to ship the new release in October. Carrara 4 Pro software will be competitively priced at US$599, with Carrara 4 Standard at US$299. Customers who purchase Carrara Studio 3 between August 31 and November 30, 2004 will be eligible for a free upgrade to Carrara 4 Pro. Eovia is also accepting pre-booking of the Carrara 4 upgrade on the Eovia e-store. Users can upgrade from Carrara Studio 2 or 3 to Carrara 4 Pro for US$199 and to Carrara 4 Standard for US$129. About Eovia Corporation Eovia Corporation is dedicated to providing unique solutions for creative professionals as well as those just starting their journey into 3D. The companys award-winning 3D modeling, animation, and rendering tools offer superior versatility, affordability and unmatched ease-of-use. Eovias Amapi and Carrara software families deliver improved productivity to design and manufacturing environments by providing exceptional interchange with industry-leading applications. Founded in November 2000, Eovia has offices in both the US and Europe. Eovia Media Contacts Worldwide (except France, Europe) Karen Smyth karen@eovia.com +1 (650) 938-0515 x101 Europe Stefan Blomberg stefan@eovia.com +33 (0) 5 56 13 71 53 Copyright Eovia 2004. Eovia, the Eovia logo, Amapi Designer, Carrara and Carrara Studio are registered trademarks or trademarks of Eovia Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Just go for the Pro version of Carrara4 guys. It has tons of stuff and saves you lots of money. Ringo

I did. But it would have been nice if the fresh CAD style, TransPoser and Amapi buyers could get some kind of refund... I am all excited, all day. But I will have to practice some patience...

yep,that would be very cool,cause i have transposer and amapi 7 and pro too.

Yea, Amapi 7 Pro here too. I will have to say though, the full whammy with Pro Nurbs is worth something. Once again, this version fixes two of my biggest pet peeves which is blurry reflections and motion paths! Now, we get a translucency channel in the next version, Kix will be cool. I'm ordered up and I'll be bragging all day to my buddies. -Kix

I've been bragging to a lot of people. The only reaction I get is a raised eyebrow though. Even through the phone. I guess it is a kind of personal joy...

Sad, sad... :-)

model with Silo, and render with Carrara... sounds ok to me, just wish the price reflected this sort of scenario a bit better is all... ;)

I have been thinking of getting Amapi Designer 7, now Eovia has made it simple. Just get the pro-version. Network rendering? I guess that means I can't sell my G4 when I order my G5 some time next year. I like the fact that Eovia illustrates this network rendering feature with 3 G5 sitting side by side. I wish I could get that setup. At least $200 is not that steep, considering that that's the price I was indenting to spend on Amapi. I do agree that Amapi users should get a discount, at least $150 upgrade price would be a start.

Am I the only one that was expecting a bit more from this release? Version 2 to Version 3 was a big jump. Apart from adding some bundled plugins to the package there isnt much here that is that impressive. It seems more like Carrara 3.5 then Carrara 4 :( Mabey it is just Eovia understating how much is in their release is like they sometimes seem to but I have not been impressed yet.

I had the same reaction. After all they did between 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, this seems more like a point upgrade. For a hefty jump in price, too. Looks like they have given up on modelling in Carrara native -- going to concentrate on Amapi instead. Which is probably a lot more sensible but that was one of my attractions to Carrara; that it is simple to get around in (and to us old RDS users, familiar as well.) Maybe when the full list of features is posted, we'll see if there's some fixes to the UVmapper (to make it more closely match the rest of the UI and to improve selection within it), the metaballs modeller (ditto), and some of the other fixes and minor enhacements we've talked about here.

You know, even though I have Carrara 3 Studio, it would be slightly cheaper for me to upgrade again if allowed; and then receive Carrara 4 Pro free. (Probably not allowed).

I think as a new buy, pro is okay value but as an upgrade I am not yet convinced. I also dont like the idea of pro and standard versions. It smells of a company trying to make an extra buck out of the customers instead of trying to give the customers the best value for money. This is the reason I got Carrara 3 because it was a great product with amazing features added and if this pace of development continued then it would be an amazing pro level application in no time at all. I really hope they are keeping the best fetures underwraps till the release date is near.

what I really want to know is : are there any improvements to the bones? I see the IK stuff - but the weight mapping is a huge pain, and you cant load or save custom weightmaps.

I have the educational version of Cararra 3. Does anyone know if they're offering a pre-order for the educational 4 Pro upgrade yet? I can't wait to learn more about the new landscape improvements. Looks exciting!

Yah...there's just tantalizing hints on the preview pic of the landscape thingy. I find myself hoping from some of the labels that it is a geomorphic proceedural engine. I might not make any images with it, but I find the whole concept cool as heck. In general what they seem to have done was bring up various levels of the program, mostly the import/export stuff, up to where it could play nice with the big boys -- so they could then hang the "pro" label on and re-stage it as an intro and a full function, akin to those big boys.

What about particles??? :( It would be great if they would collide with something other than the floor (ground). I agree -to few facts so far and seems like a .5 upgrade.

ok i have a question...ive been seriously looking at Truespace 6.6..some of the deals they offer are hard to pass up and it seems like Truspace with all the potential plugins may be the better of the 2 packages to consider... anyone have any insight? ive been trying to check out reviews of Truespace to make a decesion..id be grateful for any experiences... i just bought Mimic 3 for Poser5..but damn..im getting all these programs and not a lot of time to learn all of them...i like Carrara, but if itd be better for me to just concentrate on Truespace...or even 3DSMax then...

I have both trueSpace 6.6 and Carrara 3. Although trueSpace has a lot of power, it isn't as usuable to me. I just can not get a grip on the interface. Don't get me wrong, trueSpace can produce some great models; just not from me. If you have a choice of Carrara or 3DS Max, I would go with Max. I just can't justify the cost for my uses.

Well first Todd71 you are talking about some pretty big price differences (tSp vs 3DSMax). It all depends on your needs. Are you a Pro or hope to be one? What do you want to do in graphics (3D)? I have tSp 6.6, LW 8, C4D 8.5, CS 3, and a few others. I'll sell you my tSP 6.6 & my ProTeam membership if you want. I personally prefer LW. Don't get me wrong I like C4D alot, but when you compare features and cost...LW is hard to beat. Even with the new cloth system, interface, and new render features of C4D...it's about $1900.00 US. Heck, right now LW 8 with tons of learning materials is only $1600, and it's got dynamics too. With C4D you have to pay about $2300 to get dynamics. Ok I know C3 is actually probably harder to beat in the features-to-cost ratio but there are some things like full dynamics, particles, hypervoxels, dopesheet, full featured graph editor etc... that C3 doesn't have (and it doesn't seem like C4 does either). Again, just my opinion. With tSp you need to really try the demo for a while because you need to make sure you can deal with the interface. Some love it, some don't. I actually don't mind it for short term projects, but anything longer and I get annoyed. Ok, so this is a CS forum. I think as a new user C4 is a great deal. As an upgrade...I'll have to see what details come out...to vague yet. I also agree it stinks if you have the CAD and TransPoser plug-ins, or Amapi Pro...you should get alittle more of a break.

Attached Link: http://www.eovia.com/carrara4/product_intro_car4.jsp

what i dont like in truespace is that it has obj import but no export,i also dont like the interface but the particle effect system looks interesting.

yeah i was looking over C4 and the announcement, but i want an 'all inclusive' package..if i want to animate, it should be able to do all of that...i want to do character animaion and multimedia stuff...basically do short movies... i like C and the way its laid out, but i just re-enrolled in school, so ill be able to pick up some of the academic version of software cheaper... i keep getting those great deals from TS and they seem to do everything...yeah i was reading about the interface thing too... theres so much out there and every group generally has its opinions its hard to find any biased reviews with everything at once...lol..

todd71 I am not sure if they have a TS Demo, but that would probably be the best way to see if you can handle the UI. I have heard a lot of criticism on Carrara's UI, some like it some don't. I guess it kind of looks to KAI for some people, but and the end what matters is not so much what others think, but what you think, so a Demo comes in handy.

Demo everything possible :)

yeah i try to demo stuff before i buy it...C was a good step for me cuz i started out with the Metacreations stuff so it was at least familiar for me...lol... but its like i dont have enough hours in the day to try everything...lol...i generally end up buying a bunch of stuff i never use...arrgh...lol.. thanks for all the advice guys...

I think TS seems like a great app but the impression I get is that there are lots of half implemented features that dont really work as well as you would expect. Instead of developing features properly it seems like they have spread themselves too thin and made an app that covers a lot of ground but not with much depth. I wonder what 7 will be like.

Count me among those who are kind of disappointed with the new features. I'm just a hobbyist, so the pro version is out of reach for me. And a feature I've really wanted, blurry reflections, is being "held hostage" by the pro version. I think my wishlist is pretty different from most people's, though. Everyone wants loads of features for animation, landscapes, and PoserPoserCharacterPoserPoser. Those are the three things I'm least interested in. So I guess I should be happy they've done SOME of the things I wanted (like the manipulator)

I may demo that Amapi and see if I can finally get into it. The versions I've tried before combined the counter-intuitive icons of a Kai interface with the bugginess of Poser5.0.0, under the banner of ESL menus and options that made less sense than the dubs on my favorite chop-socky flick.

see..im so sick of poser..i like that idea of it, but its too specialized for its own good...if C had Posers capabilities..or vice versa, then thatd be something... C with the character animating capabilities of poser would be awesome...

The inclusion of Designer is a good idea for those that dont have it. It looks like a great application.

count me amongst the sick of poser as well... I was really wishing for better bones in this version.

The thing is what exactly is so pro about the features that they have included in the pro version? Blurry reflections are avaliable in Bryce (nothing really pro about this), Transposer is only useful for people with Poser (again not many 3D pros are poser users) , Cadstyle is just a set of import filters. I think that the Inclusion of Amapi Designer is a great idea and my hat goes off to Eovia for this. The network rendering is definately a pro feature. With Amapi the split between pro and designer felt natural because not everyone would want nurbs or be willing to pay for them. The pro and standard versions of Carrara feel very artificial. It is almost like they did not have enough reasons to justify the split so they threw in some plugins to justify it. The core application does not seem to have changed enough to warrant an upgrade.

i agree..the pro and standard versions just just 'feel' right...i thought the new version was supposed to be targeted more toward the animation areas...ill have to put my 2 cents in with the rest that dont think its all it should be..

Renderer: I agree with you. I am also a hobbyist and I can't justify paying $70 more to have blurry reflections. I loved the upgrade to Carrara3, it was full of new features and enhancements. Carrara was following a path that was exciting and had a bright future. The biggest problem that I see now is going forward. I am sure that all the cool and neat new features in future releases will only be available in the pro version, where they will charge big premiums, leaving a stale standard version that will start looking mediocre as 3D development moves forward.

Eovia doesn't know its customers.

It thinks its existing hobbyist users are interested in doing CAD work and buying plugins/apps they already have.

Eovia's marketing department could have pushed for two different products consisting of a real pro version of Carrara 4 that has everything upgraded in it (not just tossing in Amapi 7 and slapping "Pro" on the box), and a bundle of their CAD plugins (along with a Carrara render engine) as a seperate product for sale to CSi's concepts2D and concepts3D users that Eovia is trying to lure.

www.shonner.com

Message edited on: 08/31/2004 21:06

As soon as I saw network rendering, I was hooked. That has been my big pet peeve. Raydream used to have it, then Carrara lost it. Now it's back! :D Sound support: Anyone doing character work NEEDS sound support, and from what the screen capture shows, it drops right into the timeline allowing for lipsyncing the easy way... hell.. the POSSIBLE way! I tried it before WITHOUT sound... ARGH! UGLY! Another plus having that. Motion paths: I hope they REALLY fixed these! So many little animations, fly-throughs and the like, are a BEAR to do with keyframes and tweeners, but with a motion path? Easy peasy! :D I just hope that there is a new tool for simply DRAWING the path in the assembly room. The old way stinks! CADStyle: I couldn't justify it before, now it's included? Great! Transposer: Same here! But lets add the BVH and FBX support. Now the standards of the motion capture industry are available! YEAH! :D Alpha channel support in textures: one word... DUH! This has been a LOOOONG time needed. Why have to make multiple copies of your textures to get simple transparences... input one file for both! :D Scene manipulator: a simple add (from what I can see,) but well worth adding. Terrain editor: Another LOOOOOOONG overdue addition. The old way? Stunk! I hope the new way is more intuitive and allows for DEM support and the like. That's it for my rants... for now! My overall feeling? Yeah! I put MY money down! :D

the network rendering was a must...id have had to have given up if it hadnt been in the new version, but still...there should be more... 2 of the additions were already available (Transposer and CAD), so thats no real bonus..plus Transposer is only a bonus to people who have and use Poser... CAD...what am i going to do with that?..lol..id rather have the export to Flash available to me... Amapi was already available and theyre just upping it to 7..i got 6 i think when i got C3... ive got it, but its just too much to learn and not enough of an animation package for me to want to use... Terrain is nice...but still waits to be seen if something like Bryce wont do it better and let you import it... so out of all the new stuff the only thing i can see thats going to be sooper useful to me is Nework Rendering and the sound support (but that still remains to be seen)...and morph targets will be nice to be able to help animating things... what i want to be able to do is character animation..walk cycles..etc..scenes, movies, etc...the trees are nice but id like to be able to deform them a bit more in the tree maker...lol..maybe thats too much to hope for.. with the IK itd be kind of nice to have some preset joints..like 'elbow' or 'arm' and then i could tweak it from there if it didnt do exactly what i wanted... so for 200.00 ive got pretty much the same thing i had before only i can render it a bit faster and have blurry reflections...? im just not seeing the confetti parade yet...lol..i was excited more when there was the talk about it moving more toward the animation enhancements...maybe im just not seeing it...

I have an amapi designer tutorial cd (at 3dcommune--I dont have it here because I cant have the downloadable version here as well [too large]) that totally details all of the tools in designer...gives tips and tricks, and shows you how to model thru step-by-step tutorials (that actually occur onscreen) to show you how to use designer. cPro is the way to go here...especially if you want to model as well..and designer is quite a modeller.

:)
BT

Message edited on: 08/31/2004 21:41

Yeah CPro is going to be the ONLY way to go (im still confused why theyre doing a standard version)...lol..thanks for he heads up brycetech..looks like for those of use that dont use Amapi now we're gonna need help...:) maybe we should have a hostile take over of the Amapi forum so we only have to go to one place for all of our info...hmmmm....;)...lol..theyd never suspect it...i hear theyve gotten fat from sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching their soaps all day...this may be the best time for as surprise attack...;)

The Amapi forum should start picking up speed again when schools resume in the next couple weeks. Lots of students can afford Amapi Pro 7 now using academic pricing ($125). www.shonner.com

dont most students go for lightwave or 3dsmax tho? the school im going to attend is having us buy 3dsmax i believe... i wouldnt think amapi and carrara are especially well known...

I'm talking about young students. Hobbyists in highschool or junior high playing on their dad's computer. Colleges aren't going to teach Eovia software to those wanting a career in 3D animation. Those students look for certified schools that emphasize on MAX or MAYA apps. Some art schools go with ZBrush. Photography and graphic design schools go with Lightwave and Photoshop. Even most adult education schools are pushing Lightwave and Poser as minimum apps to use in their 3D classes. www.shonner.com

I really see this whole thing as a great opportunity gone mediocre. The whole C4 Std and C4 Pro thing...what other software has done that successfully. Look at Inspire and LW. Not to mention what will become of Carrara Basics? Trying to appeal to everyone is admirable but often difficult in the marketplace. It seems a better approach would be to fine tune and fully develop the tools in C3. If you want to have different levels of your software than go the Maxon (C4D) approach. Adding awesome modules as needed. Maxon is one company that has not only listened to its' users but embraced their opinions. One more note before I get off my pedestal, can software companies come out with true updates instead of "point" updates that really don't add much for the consumer but does add $ to the companies pockets? Stop incorporating existing plugins and calling it an upgrade! [Jumps of pedestal] Maybe they will listen for C5, or C4.5 :)