I'm studying animation in school now and would like to get into a program that isn't as expensive as Maya or Max.  I've looked at a few and Carrara looks pretty promising, but my friend that's used Lightwave a lot suggests I should get that.  Could anyone tell me which is the better modeling and animation program?

Not to depreciate Carrara that I use for almost 3 years now, but Lightwave its aimed to more seriuos job... it have a more open architecture, dynamics (now real hair), a good bone system and one of the best render engine in the market.
I used Lightwave in work but never have the money to buy it... when I gotta the money I spend all in Carrara and I love this software, but for more serious use you will have problems when going to the market with others users.
BUT always get the demo em look what you think about both. I love both but I have Carrara after almost 10 years using Lightwave.

how hard is it to import poser into Lightwave?

Good question! Smith Micro launched some days ago the Lightwave plugin for Poser Pro and there are other simple plugins to do that.
If your idea is to work with Poser content, so go for Carrara for shure!

You get what you pay for.  Don't expect Carrara to fill in for high-end programs.  You'll end up paying more later to get the proper application you really needed.  So you might as well buy Lightwave and join the pros.

Having used many different packages Lightwave is probably the easiest to model in.

I have both and I think either are good.
Its a case of cost balanced against features you want.
See if there is a demo version and give em a drive before you buy.
And if they dont have any faith in their product to supply a demo version, then dont buy it.

I have immense respect for Lightwave since my favorite CG show ROUGHNECKS: STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES was done in Lightwave. Yes, it's an old show, and the animation isn't as advanced as can be done now, but some of the animation and models and textures and effects still stand as the best I've ever seen. I'm a Max user myself, but as I said, I have a great deal of respect for Lightwave.

However, your choice should be based on how comfortable you are in each program, how the interface and workflow work for you, what fits you, and which program is fun to work in.

You might also take a look at Houdini. They have a version that goes for around 2000. It's not used much here at rosity, but it is used quite extensively in the movie and fx business.

Carrara is frequently given away for free on some magazine cover CD's/DVD's...

I have Carrara Basic & an older Pro version which were given away free about an year ago...

I don't use them much but I did like what I saw.....

I think DA3D may have Carrara on sale now....

Carrara is a great landscape program , I use it for generating backgrunds and it 8imports obj files nicely, so pose in poser or daz studio and import to Carrara .

Lightwave is a modeller , renderer, animation etc package.  Its unfair to compare them directly.

For a hobbiest who does a little modelling I would get Carrara for scenery , and pick up the FREE Truespace at www.caligari.com

If you're talking about doing landscaping on the cheap, Vue 7 Pioneer is free and does much better landscape than Carrara. Silo is a cheap but very good modeler that one can use to make 3D objects for Vue.

If you want to animate on a budget with lots of functionality then Blender is free! and very feature rich, some don't like the UI, but once you've learnt a little about it - it works and works well.

www.blender.org/

On to the main thing, everyone here is going to argue about their favourite and it does x better then y. The basics of it are that there are pros and cons to most apps and much of the choice will come down to personal preference, budget and maybe career planning (i.e. choose an app that is biased towards where you want to go).

I've moved from 3ds Max to blender and I miss bits of Max but as I don't need it for work anymore I can afford the cost of it compared to blender. I was tempted by c4d which is great but I personally found the material editing frustrating, I was really tempted by houdini apprentice and reckon that is worth a look at for it's price.

I have Carrara 5 and hardly use it I find the 'rooms' concept gets frustrating but it is capable.

If the desire for landscapes is important then blender has a nice terrain plugin called A.N.T.....

Put it like this, everything that was CG in the Matrix trilogy was modelled in Lightwave. Final Fantasy (the the first movie) was done completely in Lightwave, Jimmy Nuetron was done in Lightwave.  Go for the gold dude , get the student version of Lightwave for half the price while your learning.

I think i recently read somewhere that Maya is now the standard for animation. So if you could get a student rate on that I would get it. Then Max, then LW. I've had LW for years and think its fantastic. There is a steep learning curve to animate in it IMHO. I picked up Carrera a while back on one of the 3D World mags for like $15. But i just use it for PoserFusion sometimes.

 Ultimately it comes down to how familliar with the work flow and tools in any 3d application. Maya and Cinema 4D are certainly high end and feature rich, but many of those features can be simulated with some ingenuity in other applications. the new version of Carrara, version 8, is itself very feature rich, especially the shading system. i have found Carrara to be more intuitive than other applications and is a good overall program to use. 

i personally prefer Carrara and find that combining it with DAZ Studio 3 Advanced, Bryce and Blender can provide all i need(especially since they work well with Photoshop and After Effects).  

granted i am very impressed with the client list of Lightwave and Maya, but im not sure that is the best measure of quality. try out the demo versions first

Between Carrara and Lightwave I'd add my voice to suggesting Lightwave.

Still, since the OP mentioned "modeling" and "animating", I'd rather suggest Softimage.
Less priccy than Maya or Cinema4D (with the modules, which you end up needing soon enough anyway), a pretty strong modeling toolset and  of the best for animation too. And with a gentle learning curve, imho. Besides, For learning 3D as well as offering a fluid and efficient workflow, Softimage's interface is definitely leaving those of Carrara and Lightwave in the dust. Just my opinion of course. :)

If you are going to work for someone else I would suggest lightwave. If your going to work for yourself I would suggest Carrara. You can make anything in either. I think you would be more likely to get a job knowing lightwave. I think you could get started faster (producing models) in carrara.

I use carrara for anything non organic and 3dcoat or zbrush for anything organic. This seems to work well. Carrara simple does not have the film credits that lightwave does and is not yet an industry standard in the eyes of the companies.

Quote - If you are going to work for someone else I would suggest lightwave. If your going to work for yourself I would suggest Carrara. You can make anything in either. I think you would be more likely to get a job knowing lightwave. I think you could get started faster (producing models) in carrara.

I use carrara for anything non organic and 3dcoat or zbrush for anything organic. This seems to work well. Carrara simple does not have the film credits that lightwave does and is not yet an industry standard in the eyes of the companies.

I do not think that the tools matter when you create, it depends more on your talent. If I can create something faster and better in Carrara why should I use Maya?

Better said, when you call for a taxi to get to the airport, would you ask for a specific make of a car?

My 2 cents.

Read the CG magazines that interview artists in the field and see how many of the artists mention Carrara getting them noticed and a job.

Quote - Read the CG magazines that interview artists in the field and see how many of the artists mention Carrara getting them noticed and a job.

So what you are saying is that it is not your talent that gets you noticed, but the tools you use?

Would the career of an excellent singer depend on his/her microphone or the career of a painter on the make of paints he/she uses?
That would be ridiculous, don't you think?

Quote - > Quote - Read the CG magazines that interview artists in the field and see how many of the artists mention Carrara getting them noticed and a job.

So what you are saying is that it is not your talent that gets you noticed, but the tools you use?

Would the career of an excellent singer depend on his/her microphone or the career of a painter on the make of paints he/she uses?
That would be ridiculous, don't you think?

Yes.  It would.  A singer being interviewed will mention their agency that helped them and the music classes they took.  A CG artist will mention the school they went to and the software they learned on. 

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - Read the CG magazines that interview artists in the field and see how many of the artists mention Carrara getting them noticed and a job.

So what you are saying is that it is not your talent that gets you noticed, but the tools you use?

Would the career of an excellent singer depend on his/her microphone or the career of a painter on the make of paints he/she uses?
That would be ridiculous, don't you think?

Yes.  It would.  A singer being interviewed will mention their agency that helped them and the music classes they took.  A CG artist will mention the school they went to and the software they learned on. 

I was talking about a microphone, not an agency or a school.

Anyway, software is not important in my book, thank God my clients trust my judgement when choosing which software to use for which project, but then, I do not live in the "real world", I live in France.

Quote - Anyway, software is not important in my book, thank God my clients trust my judgement when choosing which software to use for which project, but then, I do not live in the "real world"

We'll have to take your word for it since your gallery here is empty.  And sound engineers worry about type and brand of microphones.

Quote - > Quote - Anyway, software is not important in my book, thank God my clients trust my judgement when choosing which software to use for which project, but then, I do not live in the "real world"

We'll have to take your word for it since your gallery here is empty.  And sound engineers worry about type and brand of microphones.

You missed my point completely, but that is ok.

If you had read it properly, I did not talk about sound engineers, I said the the career of a singer would depend on his/her voice and not the type of mic he/she uses.

My gallery is empty since I have just joined.

Interesting is that I asked one of my clients this morning, during a briefing, if it was important to him what software I use. He laughed and said "Of course not, would I ask my car mechanic to use only certain make of tools? It is his job to know how to fix my car the best possible way, just like it is your job to know what tools to use to represent my ideas visually."

Since you missed the boat on this.  That answer is: "Carrara is not mentioned at all by artists while being interviewed by CG magazines whenever they list their software pipelines used."

Here's a guy that doesn't mention Carrara at all in his list. http://www.smoothdevil.com/index.php?page=job_seeker_profile&job_seeker_profile_id=819

Quote - Since you missed the boat on this.  That answer is: "Carrara is not mentioned at all by artists while being interviewed by CG magazines whenever they list their software pipelines used."

Here's a guy that doesn't mention Carrara at all in his list. http://www.smoothdevil.com/index.php?page=job_seeker_profile&job_seeker_profile_id=819

Now you are talking apples, while I am talking oranges, lol.

I never meant to say I use Carrara for everything, the issue was that software does not matter, results do.

Anyway, thank you for pointing out my outdated profile, I have just corrected it.

Carrara does not come in the list of software used, which is a bummer.

Quote - I never meant to say I use Carrara for everything

I know.  Just messing with you while I see just how old this thread is you rezzed.

Quote - > Quote - I never meant to say I use Carrara for everything

I know.  Just messing with you while I see just how old this thread is you rezzed.

Yes it is old, but the issue is not.

Yes.  Cavemen painting in caves argued which tool was best for splatter effect: blow straw or horse tail whip.

Quote - Yes.  Cavemen painting in caves argued which tool was best for splatter effect: blow straw or horse tail whip.

Definitely blow straw, it was the Maya of the times, that issue has been resolved a few million years ago.

Anyway, I was just having fun with this, just like you did, while I work.

Have a nice day or night, whatever is where you are.