Hi Folks,

I wrote an article for 3D Artist and  just received my copy  (http://3dartistonline.com/) . I was pleasantly surprised to see that v6.2 Pro of Carrara is offered on the included CD.

I know, I know - it's version 6.2 you say. However, there are many folks not running PRO v 6 or 7 yet so here is your chance to move up a notch if you want too. And, I think it will provide an upgrade path to Carrara 8 - which is just around the corner it appears. 

Mark

Version 7 just came out less than 6 months ago so I don't think 8 is going to be out all that soon.  I did the 6.2-7.0 upgrade with that magazine freebie.  Works great.

I bought my 7 upgrade in December of last year so we are running on 13-14 months.  Thanks for the heads up on the magazine I have a couple of friends who would like it.  What # is the issue that has it?

 Issue #12 http://3dartistonline.com/back_issues.php

The one with the Shark spaceship!

Carrara 8 beta is being tested now.

is there an economical method upgrading from 6pro to 7pro? any sales in the horizon?

Excellent issue #11 hit the book stores here in Feb so I will direct those I know to look for 12.  Thanks

Quote - is there an economical method upgrading from 6pro to 7pro? any sales in the horizon?

No one knows. Speculation is during March Madness.

But one would think that with all of their software having version upgrade BETA's going on now, that DAZ would have a BIG software sale ahead of major new releases, so one might take advantage of the BETA's.

There should be one last major sale for Carrara; usually DAZ offers a free upgrade for new purchases of last version just before a new version is released. Usually happens after the second Beta build is released.

-- Jeff

Oops it was issue #10 that I just got for Feb.  Its gonna be a hair longer then :) 

Thanks.. will have to keep an eye out for that sale.

Quote -
There should be one last major sale for Carrara; usually DAZ offers a free upgrade for new purchases of last version just before a new version is released. Usually happens after the second Beta build is released.

-- Jeff

Given the state of things at DAZ (three parallel betas, Bryce, Carrara and Studio, with interwined functionalities) I don't think that the final products will be out soon; I expect the real target date some time before SIGGRAPH 2010.

As examples of the work still to be done, COLLADA import into Carrara8 is utterly, totally broken and Bryce hasn't yet true instancing.

Bye!!!

P.S.: on DAZ forum there are two discussions about clouds and godrays and the results are almost up to Vue8 or TG2 level so the beast is looking really well.

Mark, is your article in issue 12? if so, can you point me to a page number, please? I must be having one of those "blind spot" moments.

 I did the exact same thing my first time through - page 34. I was looking at the pictures instead of the words!

Quote -  I did the exact same thing my first time through - page 34. I was looking at the pictures instead of the words!

Thank you! Now I see it. I was looking for something Carrara-related :).

 I will have a Carrara How-to in 3D World magazine for issue 0130 - That's still a couple of months out though. 

I'm still using Carrara 5 Pro, finally figured out most of it (modeling wise that is).  So thanks, I'll be looking for it.  Maybe 3D World will have it too (some month).  Jan   

Since the issue in question here should be hitting the streets in the US pretty close to now.  I thought a bump on this to remind everyone that the free upgrade for platinum members from C7 Pro to C8 Pro and sale is going on about upgrades from 6 Pro to 7 Pro would be a good idea.

I dont purchase enough to justify a platinum account.  However I'd be interested in the 6Pro to 7 Pro upgrade.

Quote - Since the issue in question here should be hitting the streets in the US pretty close to now.  I thought a bump on this to remind everyone that the free upgrade for platinum members from C7 Pro to C8 Pro and sale is going on about upgrades from 6 Pro to 7 Pro would be a good idea.

Where can I find the offer for free upgrade?  I am a platinum member, and own C7Pro.  I can't find this offer at DAZ.
Klebnor

I would be interested in the upgrade from C6Pro to C7Pro as well. Budgets are very tight right now, and if DAZ is reasonable I would jump at an upgrade offer.

Here is the post in the Daz Forums

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=136197

You have to be a Platinum Member as the offer seems to be only posted in the Members Forum.  It says that if you purchase Carrara 7 or 7 Pro or upgrade from 6 / 6 Pro that you will get a free update to Carrara 8 (same Pro or Standard version that you bought upgraded).  The extra discount apparently is on Platinum Members.  I show the Plat price for upgrading from 6 Pro to 7 Pro at $99.93 even if you bought a Platinum Membership for one month it would still be an excellent savings.  

I should clarify in my posting above that the free upgrade is for those who purchase 7 standard/pro or upgrade to 7 standard/pro (the one in the Magazine being C6 Pro that can be upgraded) who are Platinum members during this special.  I wasn't clear and wanted to make sure it didn't sound like those who have 7 will get a free upgrade to 8.

Quote - I would be interested in the upgrade from C6Pro to C7Pro as well. Budgets are very tight right now, and if DAZ is reasonable I would jump at an upgrade offer.

Its a very attractive price on the upgrade sale price,  now as a bonus of getting a free upgrade to the corresponding version of Carrara 8 when it is released

Quote -
You have to be a Platinum Member as the offer seems to be only posted in the Members Forum.  It says that if you purchase Carrara 7 or 7 Pro or upgrade from 6 / 6 Pro that you will get a free update to Carrara 8 (same Pro or Standard version that you bought upgraded).  The extra discount apparently is on Platinum Members.  I show the Plat price for upgrading from 6 Pro to 7 Pro at $99.93 even if you bought a Platinum Membership for one month it would still be an excellent savings.  

I dont do enough to justify a Platinum account, but if the $99.93 was offered to regular members I'd buy it right now.

The question I still have is; is it possible to upgrade from the version of Carrara 6 Pro that I got from the coverdisc from 3D Artist magazine? I wouldn't mind the added expense of the PC membership
if I could then purchase 7 Pro for $99.93.

You can call their support to be sure, but when I first purchased Carrara, I was able to upgrade from a free magazine version without any problems. So I think it is still fully possible. As long as you have a valid Serial Number (which you get when you register your free copy), it should be fine.

Thank you for that info Antaran. I plan to do just that then. :)

What Antaran says, that as long as you register the C6 Pro and get the serial number in your account they don't make a distinction on where you got it for the upgrade.  There is a long thread in the members forum.  But at worse case call/write to sales and let them confirm.  Then you should be able to get the upgrade to 7 Pro and a free upgrade to 8 Pro when its release by purchasing during this special offer.  Just have to join the plat club to do it.

I recently got Carrara 6 Pro as a freebie on 3D Artist magazine's cover disc...

Searching Amazon I found a book named The Carrara 5 Handbook. However it's for version 5 and I have 6. Is there much of a difference between these versions?

And can someone recommend another book on Carrara?

Thanks

 Hi Kenmo,

Everything that is in v5 is in v6. However, v6 features (hair, etc)  beyond v5 so, obviously, the only thing you'll be missing is the new stuff!

Mark

I'm not seeing a good upgrade path from 6pro  to 7pro .

Carrara 7 Pro Upgrade from Carrara 6 Pro is  $169.95

Carrara 7 Pro Upgrade from Carrara 6 Pro is $99.93 for Platinum Members.

So if I sign up for the Annual Platinum Membership so I can do the upgrade for the Lower Price, I would have to pay $99.95 + $99.93 = $199.98  which is more than if I simply do the upgrade without being a Platinum Member.

The other option would be to sign up for the Monthly Platinum Membership for $7.95 and than cancel the membership.

The other thing that is strange is that the Monthly membership is $4.55 cheaper over the annual subscription over a 12 month period.  Normally Annual subscription are made cheaper than monthly subscriptions as an incentive for people to sign up.

Quote - I'm not seeing a good upgrade path from 6pro  to 7pro .

Carrara 7 Pro Upgrade from Carrara 6 Pro is  $169.95

Carrara 7 Pro Upgrade from Carrara 6 Pro is $99.93 for Platinum Members.

So if I sign up for the Annual Platinum Membership so I can do the upgrade for the Lower Price, I would have to pay $99.95 + $99.93 = $199.98  which is more than if I simply do the upgrade without being a Platinum Member.

The other option would be to sign up for the Monthly Platinum Membership for $7.95 and than cancel the membership.

The other thing that is strange is that the Monthly membership is $4.55 cheaper over the annual subscription over a 12 month period.  Normally Annual subscription are made cheaper than monthly subscriptions as an incentive for people to sign up.

The only thing is missing adding in the inital cost of joining.  The monthly being cheaper by $4.55 its not including the purchase of the initial membership of $29.95.  So we would have this 7.95*12=95.40 + 29.95 = $125.35 about 25.40 savings. On the second year or if you choose to switch from monthly to annual, you pay the renewal rate of $69.95 compared to the monthly of $95.40 about $25.45 in savings.  I started out a monthly then switched to annual by just the 69.96.  I know some are doing that with getting the Carrara by paying for just the membership and when there funds build up switching to the full annual if they are keeping it.

That would mean for those not having the platinum club,  if you wanted to take advantage of the upgrade of C6 pro it would be 129.90. 

Quote -
The only thing is missing adding in the inital cost of joining.  The monthly being cheaper by $4.55 its not including the purchase of the initial membership of $29.95. 

Sorry, I didnt read the disclaimers at the bottom of the screen.

I'm going to hold out a bit.

My Birthday is on April 21st :)  So depending on how much $$$ I get, I may upgrade using the platinum membership.

I just did some graphics work for a friend and he paid me well, and on time, so I had some disposable income to roll back into my graphics toolset. I went to DAZ to check to make sure the sale price for the upgrade from C6Pro to 7pro was still going. The good news is that the price has dropped from $169.95 to $142.76! I didn't opt for joining the Platinum Club since I'm more of a content maker than user, but I do believe in supporting my favorite software. I remember getting Carrara 5 standard back in '05 for $150.00 from Eovia while they were running a special and thinking at the time that it was a heck of a good deal. Now, thanks to DAZ, I've got the latest version of Carrara Pro and a free upgrade to the next ver. plus over a Gig of freebies and access to the CarraraPro8 beta! Folks can complain about DAZ all they want, but I don't think i'll be joining them. :)

Thank you for your tips.

I too got the free Pro 6.2 version I instantly upgraded to 7 using Daz Platinum for $99 and am skipping right to the beta of 8pro. I figure why learn to use 7 or 6.2 since I know nothing about Carrara, I'm just learning version 8pro and if it turns out too buggy I'll try 7pro

Heh, heh, you're braver than I am. Just keep in mind that 8pro is a Beta  at least at this point,and is bound to have many more bugs, and possibly stability issues than earlier full releases do. I wouldn't want you to lose faith in Carrara if you "know nothing about it" because the beta isn't fully mature.
Have fun, and good luck.

I have the free 3D world version installed- I got a link in customer support for the unique serial #- and clicked it- it was for CarraraPro5 (which I have full retail!)
 
How does one register- I typed in the magazine SN # and it came back with invalid #!

I don't know what to tell you Eric. I bought that same issue of 3DWorld that had C6Pro and gave it to a friend who wanted to upgrade.. I checked the installation code and wrote it down and compared it to the ver. I got in 3D Artist...exact same number on both discs!

 Thanks 50Parsecs!

I will give it a try- at worst I'll have to go through Customer service.

How are things in Epsilon Hercules?

 Thanks!

 I had written it down incorrectly- doh!

CPro7 installed and working!

Glad to hear it! As far as the home planet; the methane monsoons have finally stopped, and both our suns are high in the sky, so I'm going to go outside and soak up some lovely X-rays. ;-)