I've been using Carrara since 2. Moved to Cinema 4D because I wanted to move up to the next level, it's now my main 3D ap. Still, I plan to maintain upgrades for Carrara because it is an amazing package for the cost at around 1 fifth the cost of the full studio bundle for C4D and a comparable feature set for Maya the value is simply astounding.

Although the level of control, fine tuning, and high-end capabilities is greater with C4D and Maya (much more robust particles and dynamics, cloth generating, hair, expression for node based programming, more/better animation controls, etc.)

Cararra still actually does some things better (or at least a lot easier). Network rendering allows for multiple machines to render a single frame where C4D will only distribute complete frames (unless you jump through some pretty stupid hoops). Things like a terrain generator and a plant generator are only currently obtainable in C4D via yet again more costly plug-ins. I like the way Carrara creates single volumetric clouds it seems easier to me than C4D. Poser is not really supported (at least on the Mac) for C4D except though .obj with no direct transfer of animation from Poser to C4D. Carrara has great vector based flash options available that simply aren't there for C4D.

C4D and Maya are overall leaps and bounds ahead of Carrara if you need complex animation and overall more sophisticated and varied control. However, for the most part Carrara can do most of the same things at a level that is perfectly acceptable for small studios or individuals at a fraction of the cost. C4D does have an incredible community of people who write tons of free plug-ins as well as for fee.

All in all I highly recommend Carrara 5 pro. Compared to the more costly aps, Eovia is practically giving away the store for free. If after learning all of the things Carrara can do and you find you need more control, than look at C4D or Maya (IMHO, Maya requires a rocket scientist to learn). I'm guessing if you are wondering whether or not the upgrade to Carrara 5 is worth it, the jump up to one of "the big dog" aps will be ridiculous over kill.

Carrara 5 pro upgrade GET IT! You won't be sorry.

YES! I agree with you on all your points about the comparisons! I have never used Maya or C4D, but I have used the trial version of 3dsmax 8, and while it IS extremely powerful, with a lot of useful things for animation, etc., I found it a bit overwhelming, and of course the price was out of my budget! The one thing I did love about playing with 3dsmax was it's Particleflow feature. It's particles that are controlled by nodes, much like Poser 5 and 6 material room, which is very powerful as well. Also, I was really getting into rigging meshes with CharacterStudio. It seemed VERY easy, compared to Carrara's bones, or even the regular bones rigs in 3dsmax, which I never got the hang of. However, I don't have years to spend learning a package either, and I was able to jump right in with Carrara 4 without too much fuss or confusion. Can't say that about 3dsmax. Also, Max seemed to require a lot more system resources to run than Carrara uses, so I'm able to run Carrara on my laptop, and still multi-task if need be. Don't get me wrong, I would have purchased 3dsMax 8 if I had the extra cash, but if you're on a budget like me, and still want as much rendering power as the big guns give you, Carrara is by far the best choice! I'm thrilled with it so far!

I have Maya Unlimited 6.5 and Carrara 4 Pro (will be upgrading to 5 Pro soon!) and I must agree, while the power of the "Big-Boy" apps are much more robust and complete, so is the price and learning curve.

I am still in the learning stage for Maya (and probably will be for quite a while!) but Carrara was easy to use right out of the box.. and that says alot!

Also, Maya requires the use of my G5 whereas Carrara can run on my old (much slower) G4 without struggling.

I'm thinking about buying Poser. Wasn't aware it had particles. Do they export to Carrara?

LOL! GrantMH, I think you misunderstood me about the particles thing. Poser does NOT have a real particle system. What I was trying to say is that I fell in love with the node-based particle system in 3dsMax 8, which reminded me of Poser 6's material room, since it is also based on nodes, and can be quite powerful for creating procedural textures. Sorry bout that. hehe

Thanks for the clarification

Hey here's a question - can C5 import the procedural textures of Poser 5+? I've stayed away from the Poser 5 materials room for the most part due to problems getting it into Vue.

Nope. Currently, nothing can import Poser 5 or 6 material nodes. Also, aside from still not having the ability to download my Carrara 5 Pro, I feel it is definitely worth the upgrade, since it is currently the easiest/least expensive way to convert Poser figures to FBX. It may cost more than BodyStudio, but BodyStudio also requires additional, expensive software to be used.

GrantMH, I have C4D and Carrara too (been user since RDS - C1 days) and could not agree with your comparisons and statements more. Carrara 5 Pro is a very worthwhile purchase/upgrade.