Vue renders with true rays, render time light effects, atmospheric volumetrics, and fully volumetric lighting. It also has a lot of scalability in anti-aliasing and assorted quality settings. Carrara simulates the ray tracing to a degree, does light effects post render, and has no volumetrics for atmosphere. However it has some nice caustics, and perhaps more usable ambient occlusion (same feature in Vue slows down more). Before render each has some other very important differences: Carrara regular includes these things:

• A spline modeler
• A nurbs modeler
• A metaball modeler
• A particle generator
• A tree designing modeler (only in Vue infinite or with plugin - Vue's premade plants are better)
• An ecosystem (only in Vue infinite)
• Anything glows (see my 'Space Vixen' image for an example - which has nudity so I won't link it, but it is in my gallery)
• Shaped lights - the source of light is not one point, but an area you shape
• ability to repose and rebone a figure from within Carrara - no reimport needed.
• Ability to make morphs with the vertex modeler (which while sub-par elsewhere, is the best morph maker -I- have used).
• better terrain generation, and easier to tweak (however Vue's choice of a default zero-edge peak is nicer).

Further Carrara has these things not in Vue: - A primitive Vertex modeler (Hexagons is vastly better)

• A UV mapper (Hexagon's is better I hear)

The landscaping and atmospheric tools in Carrara are easier to use and easier to customize your results than in Vue. For terrains the results are also superior, but the opposite is true for atmospheres. Carrara's plant design app is only marginally better than the one in Bryce. But of course, the one in Vue is a pricey plugin that doesn't come with the standard app... Render wise it can often be a toss between the two. Carrara does better renders than Vue in 'X', but Vue beats Carrara in 'Y'.

Truth has no value without backing by unfounded belief.
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