Hi all. I'm getting more and more into this world. I purchased Bryce, Poser+pp, Animation Master (and a few others) and have been creating wonderful things. And, after reading numerous posts and reviews, I see that the best (and EASIEST) program to create models would be Carrara (as AM is a bit tedious). So - went to the store, correction, stores... many, in Southern California... and all of them state that Carrara (for Windows, specifically) is now discontinued. I realize there is an undisclosed buyer for the product from MC (heard it's Adobe, but who knows). Anyway - I can't seem to get it... and I really want it. So - to the group, I ask - should I scour the net for it (someone's GOT to be out of date somewhere - or even ebay), or, is that even a good idea - shall another product come out to take it's place? (heard anything?). Or - ??? Ideas? Directions? Thanks, Jim Gale

I think BigSerge still wants to sell his copy, since he's on Max now . He's a moderator at the MAx forum here . You could ask him by using the "instant messaging" function at the top of the page . Take care : it's case sensitive ! Hope this helps . litst

Attached Link: http://http://www.eovia.com/

Go to this site. This is the company that owns Carrara. It is the place to get the correct information.

I'm sorry, Jaager, but Eovia doesn't sell Carrara yet, though it is planned . litst

Looks like there's a copy for sale at Ebay right now.

You'd be a fool to buy Carrara right now, unless you can find it for under $10.00. You wouldn't hit yourself in the head with a hammer would you? Then why would you want to start living a real life nightmare? Wait and see if Eovia actually releases Carrara 2.0 without 5,000,000,000,000,000 bugs in it. I hate to be brutally honest, but don't buy it unless you can find it for really,really cheap.

Alrighty then ... let me ask the obvious question here that shall be followed by at least 30 posts... Sigh... here goes... What's the objectively-as-possible best program to use to create objects quickly and easily with the most flexibility? So far, my experience is that Animation Master is difficult to master and bombs (with no save option) far far too often. My reviews have indicated (true or false?) that: [] Poser is excellent for, well, posing. And exporting poses to other software packages. However, creating objects to pose is a job for other packages. [] Bryce is wonderful for textures and lifelike geometry, unlike any other package. You can create objects, but only EXPORT the non-primitives (i.e. terrain), ruling out clothes, props, etc. [] Lightwave is good at creating objects but too expensive. [] 3dMax is not as easy an interface as Bryce/Poser, and there are SETS of books on different aspects of 3d development. That seems to indicate that it is difficult and requires knowledge of books to operate what other programs do intuitively. [] Carrara is a great interface, does tons, is a familiar easy interface like Poser/Bryce, but is now unavailable and buggy? [] World Builder sounds amazing but limited in creating specific objects - perhaps not it's intent. [] TrueSpace sounds too cheap to be full featured. [] any others?? Oh, and which is best to render in? Poser is FAST! Yet, I've seen posts that Bryce is much better at rendering due to the texturing. Thanks for the (hopefully objective) help - and the SLEW of responses to come after.

JimGale, If you can afford it, buy 3D Studio Max. It's not as difficult as lightwave, but it's not exactly cheap either. It all depends on what you can afford for what you want to do with it.As far as Bryce & Poser go, they are both great programs for what they are. I still love Bryce for doing landscapes & such, it's incredibly amazing for a $200 piece of software. But it's not a modeler per se, but you can do some very cool things with it. Poser is great for people and animals, but not for rendering, it's just a tool to use for specific tasks.Yes Bryce is in a different league than Poser for texturing and rendering. I would recommend waiting, and keep using Bryce & Poser and learn new techniques & tricks in them & just enjoy them for what they are for now. Animation Master Is tough but worth the effort, just keep at it, you'll learn the intricacies in the end. Good Luck.

Attached Link: http://www.caligari.com

I learned 3d on TrueSpace 1. Since then, I've moved through Carrara and am on MAX now, but TrueSpace 5 looks great. They keep winning awards on Interface design and ingenuity. I'd be lost, since I'd still try to do it the old way, but they have a lot of great features, and a terrific renderer.

IMHO I would wait until Carrara 2 is offered to the public. You have some great packages to learn with. Bryce has a great render engine and you can easily pull you rposer objects into it to render. But I would difinately hold off any purchase right now. Carrara 2 may surprise us all,a nd then again it could be a flop. Animation Master has some nice qualities. I would stick with it until we all know better about C2.

Attached Link: http://www.anim8or.com

If you want to play with a bit of freeware to learn a little about modeling, I think Anim8or is pretty fun. It can export/import OBJ, so you can use it with programs you already have.

Actually, Carrara has some strong points ! The main ones : 1- The interface is very intuitive and easy to learn . And it looks good, too ! Perfect for the beginner . 2- The render engine is relly fast . No radiosity, though ... 3- The shader editor is great . Perfectible, but so powerful ! Some weak points, now : 1- BUGS ! And some are very annoying :( 2- No bones ... 3- some modelling technologies that are getting old . I'm sure i've forgotten lots of things . It's just that these ones are the most important for me . litst

Attached Link: http://www.strata.com

Another decent 3D program that you can get for free is Strata 3D. They even have quite a few plugins that can be purchased. They even have a sale for all plugins for $99. If you opt for the Pro version, it has Radiosity as a renderer. Can't touch it without spending a few thousand dollars. I believe the Pro version sells for like $300 or $400. I added their link above

While Carrara is not avail yet, perhaps someone on this can help. I have the last version of RDS, I love the product, but my system crashed and I reinstalled all my programs. However the one serial numbers I cannot locate is Radical FX, I bought from whoever had RDS prior to metacreations. But they don't have the sn's anymore. Im really in a bind folks, without the serial number to Radical FX I cannot do boolean editing with models. Help me out here guys. Please

Attached Link: http://creafab.free.fr

Well, I don't use Carrara but RDS 5.5. It's very easy to use and to leard 3D. Actuallly, I'm trying to move to Blender, which is free, and can easily be compared to LightWave or 3DS MAX : it has bones, radiosity, etc. The interface is quite weird at the firs sight, but it rapidly appears to be very efficient. You can download it at : www.blender.nl Fabien CREAFab, la crtion numique autrement...