OK, still running carrara 7, more because it sorta just works, and I don't have to waste a bunch of $$. But it doesn't run on Mac's newer OS's and getting tired of having to bounce back and forth between start up drives.

Carrara 8.5 pro is on sale for $170ish and thinking of getting the upgrade just so I can wipe the old OSX 10.5 drives as it's the last piece of software I have that uses the older systems...

but I keep hearing about it being really buggy? Don't much care about any fancy features as I'm just a hobbiest playing around with modeling. Would move on to something else but been using carrara since version 1 and just know it and have too much issues learning something else. But kinda hate DAZ and their poor customer service/responce.

anyway,, how stable is it in it's current version on Mac's running OSX 10.9 (and Yosemite if anyone is beta-ing)

HA HA! Flame wars looming on the horizon!

For what it's worth....  I am not associating Carrara 8.5 with 'very buggy', so I don't know where that came from. But I'm on WIndows 7 and 8.1, I don't know how the Mac version compares.

-Philip

thebest3d.com/howler/features - coming soon with OBJ export of terrain meshes with erosion and colored sediments

PS: I also still keep and occasionally use Carrara v8.x, not sure why but like you said, it just works. (too).

You might try posting your question over in the DAZ3D Carrara forums. There are a few Macs users that frequent the Carrara forum there. I've got 8.5 running on Win 7 and am quite happy with it, but it seems that Mac users have more problems regardless of version, so it would be best to hear from them.

Significant render speed improvements between v7 and v8 series on the Mac. That is actually worth the price of admission in my opinion. Most of the changes between the v7 and v8+ are 'under the hood' meaning it's operational improvements but not a bunch of feature additions. 

There are some bugs, more on the fringes of the program than in the core area. The bugs don't seem to effect everybody equally. I personally have not been working with the Genesis characters in 8.5 so I don't have experience in that area, although I'm aware of Mac users that don't seem to have much issues at all. 

You'd have to find the Mac users at DAZ to know for sure, but I'd say go for it.

I use PC, but some details cross platforms. The use of any new DAZ figures (genesis) in carrara requires that the daz studio library runtime be intact. As a non-DS user (with my own runtime arrangement) this blew my setup out of the water. If you can run daz studio on your mac, then odds are that C8.5 will run also. Notice I said "odds", not "certainty".

If not working with genesis, I did not see any problems with C8.5

Quote - For what it's worth....  I am not associating Carrara 8.5 with 'very buggy', so I don't know where that came from. 

Where it came from?

Maybe from all the people who can't find their runtimes, can't get Genesis to fit their clothes, can't get Autofit to work, and a hundred other problems.

I don't know about the Mac. I'm a PC user.

I guess if the software you have doesn't work on your new operating system, then you have to switch.

I'm still running 8.1 which is basically 8.5 without genesis.  Might want to see if you can get that.

Quote - Maybe from all the people who can't find their runtimes, can't get Genesis to fit their clothes, can't get Autofit to work, and a hundred other problems.

Disclaimer: I use a PC, so my experiences may not reflect the experiences of Mac users.

Genesis,  Genesis 2, and Autofit seem to be working more often than not for me (like 95+% of the time). Sure, there are some things that don't work in Carrara, like geografting (where the UV's don't translate properly), the HD sets, and the occasional bit of content (the only problem I've had so far is textures not loading properly, but I've seen posts where people have had much worse problems with things I don't have). I do have Poke Away and Poke Away 2 (Poke Away 2 has a LOT more options than the first one for Genesis) which makes not having the advanced funtionality for Autofit in DS pretty much a non-issue. You need to keep in mind that no autofit type technology that has been developed to date is 100% perfect (Wardrobe Wizard, Morphing Clothes, etc.), so expecting everything to work flawlessly would be rather unrealistic.

Do Genesis and Genesis 2 work flawlessly in C8.5? No. But they do work, and in my experience it has been most of the time, YMMV. Granted, I'm not a "power" user like some here, but I have used C8.5 for beta testing the Octane plugin almost daily for the past 8 month's, and haven't had many problems with C8.5 or Genesis. Here are a few examples of Genesis & Genesis 2 rendered in C8.5

Renders by Ringo Monfort (mostly Genesis 2)

Genesis with V4 cloths in C8.5 Beta (Nudity)

Genesis and V4/G4 in C8.5 (Nudity)

Genesis 2 Female in 8.5 (Nudity)

Genesis 2 Female in C8.5

Genesis 2 Female in C8.5

Genesis 2 Female in C8.5

A couple more with Genesis 2 Female in C8.5

Aiko 6 (G2F) in C8.5

G2F in C8.5

Genesis/V5 in C8.5

I've also experience no problems at all finding or using my older external runtimes (i have 10 of them). New users seem to have problems setting up Carrara to use their external runtimes, but that's more of a learning issue than a software bug. Genesis use in C8.5 can be a bit more difficult, and is quite sensitive to the location where Genesis and Genesis 2 content is installed/placed. In my experience, as long as it is installed to "C:UsersPublicDocumentsMy DAZ 3D Library" there shouldn't be any big problems finding it (other than the older Genesis PA content that was never updated from .dsf to .duf), a using it will only be a problem with those items which for whatever reason just won't work in C8.5 (using the default location with DAZ Intall Manager can really help ensure it gets put in the proper location).

As for the "hundred other problems", I certainly haven't experienced even close to that number. Maybe it's because I'm a lightweight novice and don't use the features that have all the problems? I don't know, but from my experience with C8.5 I haven't seen even close to that many problems. There is a thread over in the DAZ3D Carrara forum here, where people can post their issues and problems with C8.5. I certainly don't see a hundred other issues lited there either.

Actually, listing the specific issues you are having with C8.5 would really be quite valuable to other users (posting them in the thread over at DAZ would be awesome). It would also be quite valuable for potential users, as one or more of the hundreds of issues you seem to have found might be a deal breaker for them.

With regard to my experiences with C8.5, I don't find it very buggy, actually quite the opposite. From the issues listed in the thread over at DAZ, it would seem that others are having similar experiences.

At some point I hope to have another look at 8.5.

After a brief foray I found my 8.1 scenes were not 100% translated into 8.5 (lights and object positioning).

As I don't need genesis I am happy with 8.1 which is pretty stable on either Win 7 or Vista.

Quote - Genesis,  Genesis 2, and Autofit seem to be working more often than not for me (like 95+% of the time). Sure, there are some things that don't work in Carrara, like geografting (where the UV's don't translate properly), the HD sets, and the occasional bit of content (the only problem I've had so far is textures not loading properly, but I've seen posts where people have had much worse problems with things I don't have). I do have Poke Away and Poke Away 2 (Poke Away 2 has a LOT more options than the first one for Genesis) which makes not having the advanced funtionality for Autofit in DS pretty much a non-issue. You need to keep in mind that no autofit type technology that has been developed to date is 100% perfect (Wardrobe Wizard, Morphing Clothes, etc.), so expecting everything to work flawlessly would be rather unrealistic. Do Genesis and Genesis 2 work flawlessly in C8.5? No. But they do work, and in my experience it has been most of the time, YMMV. Granted, I'm not a "power" user like some here, but I have used C8.5 for beta testing the Octane plugin almost daily for the past 8 month's, and haven't had many problems with C8.5 or Genesis. Here are a few examples of Genesis & Genesis 2 rendered in C8.5

As for the "hundred other problems", I certainly haven't experienced even close to that number.

Dust

I probably shouldn't have said a hundred. I didn't think anyone would take that quite so literally.

Seems if Genesis integration was the main reason for 8.5, if it doesn't work right, then that is a MAJOR problem.

I posted to that thread over at Daz too. The thread might not have had hundreds of problems, it seems the ones that exist are serious enough to be alarming, to say the least.

Disclaimer: I want Genesis to work more than almost anyone. I LOVE the way Olympia 6 looks, as well as Lilith 6. A lot of new content over at Daz is now in DUF only format and I have been hearing about problems with DUF (It's mentioned over in the thread)

Well, for now C7Pro is stable enough and does what I need. I'm not in the best position to invest a lot into Gen6 right now.

Tsarist - thanks for the reply and clarrification!

Like most things, you tend to hear more about the bad than you do the good, and I think that may be the case with Genesis in Carrara. Not to say there aren't issues that DAZ should address, but from my experiences, Genesis and G2F are for the most part very usable in Carrara. I don't have tons of G/G2 content, but what I have seems to work. Without Poke Away and  Poke Away 2, I'm sure that my opinion/experiences would not be nearly as favorable (Poke Away 2 makes using/clothing G2F quite easy).

I'll second your vote on Olympia 6 and Lilith! They are perfect for the Frazetta style fantasy renders!

Sorry for the short post - but I've got to run now.

I use 8.5 on Windows 8.1. I have been using it for about 7 months, with no significant problems so far, so based on my experience I wouldn't call it "buggy".

One thing tho, for Windows users. Before I bought 8.5, I tried an 8.1 demo I got froma CD, and it wouldn't even install on Win 8, but 8.5 runs fine, so if you use Carrara 8.1 on Vista or Win 7, and are planning to upgrade to Win 8, upgrade your Carrara too.

I bought 8.5 and still use 8.1

main reason is I still felt like I was beta testing 8.5 - mainly because of what the other user's feedback was. I cant afford to have my work screwed up

second reason - daz moved things in Carrara and made it a pita to find - so stuffed up my work flow. If it's not broken dont fix it - there's the idea that people have that they have to change things so they can say " look, I was here, I existed, see, I fixed something that wasnt broken and I;m worth more money"

third reason 8.1 works fine for me - I dont use genesis

4th reason _ I love buying new Daz stuff - most of the new stuff being released is genesis and up related - so I am saving a stack of money 

ya, didn't want to post on DAZ site as everytime it seems very biased there.  Not really concerned with the Windows versions as, well I don't run windows ;) 

I really have been using Carrara since the beginning and have tried many times to jump ship but I am just too set on the carrara work flow

*(been using it since Raydream- Fractal Design .. did the Meta creations, Eovia and up to Daz yup.. dating myself) *

guess I'll have to bite the bullet and just waste the $$$ just really tight these days  hmmmmm  

WOW!!  (big smilie face I wear now)  soo went to get it.. added to cart.. got the "*you can save as with Plat Club Carrara pro is $119 saving $52"  *well the 3 month sub is 24 bucks.. so still saving 28 bucks.. and getting PC bennies for 3 months.. OK worth the extra few clicks... got the PC subscription.... got that done.. 

went back to purchase Carrara 8.5.. says $119.. added to cart.. total says $59.98.. WHAATTT?  yaa.. buy now!!  so got it for like $83 and some change..  :)  :)  :) 

got major flu/cold .. so got plenty of time to play.. :)  now to download  ......

glad you guys basically convinced me to go for it~!!!

Well, glad you're happy, thomllama. Get well soon, and keep on rendering. :)

Quote - Well, glad you're happy, thomllama. Get well soon, and keep on rendering. :)

likewise - glad you didnt jump ship

Two words, soft cloth.

That is one of the best updates in C8.5. It can take practically any clothes and drape them for static sceens. It's not dynaimc cloth, I still need to do that in Studio with optitex, then transfer to C8.5 to finish staging. But going from Studio to C8.5 is fairly painless.

Things to note: Autofit only works if you are running CMS, if you have issues with it on your system or just no need of it, autofit wont work. {see DAZ shoving thengs down my throat I don't want}.

DustRider have you bought anything new for Genesis G2M/F? I was trying to build up my genesis/G2 pose library, but after having to get refunds on my last 6 purches because they just errored out in C8.5 I quit shopping at DAZ. DAZ has made some change to how poses are witten for genesis and G2 and neglected to update carrara for them to be compatable. This also effects new characters for G2. Trying to apply them in C8.5 just errors out.

But I will agree with others. The big update DAZ touted for months before the release of C8.5 was genesis compatability. When C8.5 was released people found out that compatability was magenal at best and has only gotten worse as DAZ updates studio and the file formats created by Studio and not updates C8.5 to keep up.

Also not DAZ does not update carrara to keep up with the mac OSs.

It works pretty well.

There are some issues, as noted with the geografting. As I don't do animation this is trivial for me as I can just pose such figures in Daz Studio and export them as obj files.

• Doing that also seems to make Carrara run faster for me. So I tend to post each figure individually in Daz Studio, and then bring them into Carrara one at a time for scene composition. Props, lighting, terrain, plants, etc... I of course do in Carrara.

I've also only had the application for a little over a month - so I have likely not yet encountered some issues others have had.

Like you - when I actually put it into my cart at Daz, the price was half of what it claimed to be beforehand. Seems in addition to a lot of regular sales on it, there are some hidden discounts. If they just changed the price on that thin to reflect what it actually ends up costing people - a lot more people might be using it.

My current profile image, attached as well in case I change it...

is a Genesis 2 Female rendered in Carrara 8.5 Pro on a 2014 Macbook Pro.

Like you - when I actually put it into my cart at Daz, the price was half of what it claimed to be beforehand. Seems in addition to a lot of regular sales on it, there are some hidden discounts. If they just changed the price on that thin to reflect what it actually ends up costing people - a lot more people might be using it.

Stan - I just picked up the Lilith Pro bundle (thanks to the challenge). I'll let you know how things work (or don't) when I get a chance. Unfortunately my Sept. is going to be insanely busy with a lot of field work, teaching, company, and week long tour, so It may be a while before I get a chance to try stuff out. I'm guessing it might be the first week or two of Oct.

Quote - Stan - I just picked up the Lilith Pro bundle (thanks to the challenge). I'll let you know how things work (or don't) when I get a chance. Unfortunately my Sept. is going to be insanely busy with a lot of field work, teaching, company, and week long tour, so It may be a while before I get a chance to try stuff out. I'm guessing it might be the first week or two of Oct.

I'd be glad to hear that myself because I REALLY like Lilith. 

Good luck with all the busy ness

there seem to be 2 differences between 8.1 and 8.5, genesis compatibility and soft body physics.

• if you have any version of Poser with dynamic cloth then the soft body physics probably isn't worth it because of the time it takes 8.5 to do the calculations and the superior finetuning that Poser can do.

• if you are satisfied with gen4 figures then genesis usage isn't terribly important.

having said that, I am very happy I upgraded to 8.5 even though I continue to use gen4 figures more often than not.  perhaps only because reading complaints set my expectations very low, I have been extremely surprised with how well genesis and genesis 2 work in carrara, in a good way.  It is very easy to use genesis and genesis 2 to make a morphed person or creature in carrara and use content that I already own with the new shape.  i have even been able to use posers wardrobe wizard to adapt poser 6 and 7 clothes for genesis 2 characters.  

• so, I fully recognize the probs people continue to have with genesis in carrara, and I use poser for draping not 8.5, but for me buying the 8.5 upgrade has turned out to be a very satisfying decision. 

Is C8.5 worth it? 

In a word

NO

Well, as I see, C8.5 is not at the top for Genesis yet… But for the remainder, are there some evolutions ?

Attached Link: C8.5 G2F/M

DUDU,

To my limited knowledge, if you aren't a genesis user and you have 8.1, there's no significant reason to upgrade.

I'm still on 8.1. I've not moved up to 8.5 because I don't see the need. I don't use Genesis, so I don't really need to upgrade. I'd love to see some real improvements made to the software beyond Genesis support. If this happens with a version 9, I'll be happy to upgrade, but until then 8.1 is working just fine.

Actually, I've recently been adding Inagoni's and Digital Carvers Guild plugins to my 8.1. With all the added abilities I get from these amazing plugins, I feel like I've got my own personal, customized 8.5. Those plugins are a lot of fun.

The extra plugins TOTALLY make Carrara worthwhile. 

As does Octane :D

Quote - The extra plugins TOTALLY make Carrara worthwhile. 

Oh, yeah. When I loaded them up and started exploring, it was like I had a new software package all over again. :)

Quote - > Quote - The extra plugins TOTALLY make Carrara worthwhile. 

Oh, yeah. When I loaded them up and started exploring, it was like I had a new software package all over again. :)

Well don't be shy, list them for the rest of us :p

:)

From Digital Carvers Guild:

Anything Goos, Anything Grows, Enhance:C, Shader Ops, Shaders Plus are the ones I'm using the most at the moment.

I love Shader Ops' Procedural Lock. I've been working on a series of renders to beef up my Carrara shader understanding. Procedural Lock keeps all the procedural details in place whenever I pose the figure. I was pulling my hair out until I found that little function. I've also had a ball seeing what I can apply Fake Fresnel to.

Enhance:C is loaded with tons of new shaders and shader functions. I can't stop playing with it.

Anything Goos and Anythig Grows are just fun. I have an alien plant creature I created for a group called New Worlds Project I was working on and Anything Grows really brought it to life.

http://carraracafe.com/wp-content/wps-content/forum/1166/1347/1_view_1r.jpg

Inagoni plugins:

Shaper, Architools, Baker, Primivol, Veloute 2 and Replica are ones I have now.

I use Baker to bake the Procedural textures I create with DCGs shaders to texture maps to use in other apps. (I'm still working on refining this, but it will allow me to use Carrara as a texturing tool for other software as well. Cool.)

Veloute 2 adds even more shaders to Carrara. You can never have enough shaders.

Replica lets you randomize replicated objects.

I've only just got Primivol but so far it's performed well and adds that little extra something to fog, smoke, clouds and fire. A lot of smoke and fire on a very cloudy day. :)

I want to use Architools more, but I haven't had time to set down and work with it much. I've seen some very good models created using this plugin. Anything to speed up the modeling process is good in my book.

Replica is like a morphing cage you can use on your models. I use it for pokethrough. Dropping a cage on a figure and pulling a vertex of two is much quicker than adding a magnet or moving into the Vertex room.

There, happy now? :) I know I've said it already, but these plugins really have made Carrara brand new for me again. They broadened my creative horizons. They've been a breath of fresh air.

Yes happy, never be shy with your tools :p

Well after looking at some of the prices of those plugins I think I will have to wait, getting Octane really did a number on my finances :(

Quote - Well after looking at some of the prices of those plugins I think I will have to wait, getting Octane really did a number on my finances :(

If you only get one get Enhance:C.

And what would you gain over C8.1? Better physics is the one I had the most fun with.

For rendering it's hard to beat the soft clothes effect of the tweaked soft body.

Well after I have a few other bills sorted out I will see what I can do, having a lot of fun with Octane atm, so tempted to get the plug-in for Poser to, but I will have to try and behave myself, the CC can only take so much :D

Edit: oooohhh exchange rate would make it just about do able, damn you all!!!! :D

sorry to go off topic - but have you used ground control yet?

I use Ground Control.  

Thanks Jeff, do you mind if I ask you questions?

Go ahead.

I'm of agreement, I have just bought the DCG Importer plugin, that works super well with realflow.
Is somebody would have made the experiment of this plugin with Marvelous Designer?
I don't have good performances and a few problems in animation...

Quote - > Quote - Stan - I just picked up the Lilith Pro bundle (thanks to the challenge). I'll let you know how things work (or don't) when I get a chance. Unfortunately my Sept. is going to be insanely busy with a lot of field work, teaching, company, and week long tour, so It may be a while before I get a chance to try stuff out. I'm guessing it might be the first week or two of Oct.

I'd be glad to hear that myself because I REALLY like Lilith. 

Good luck with all the busy ness

Haven't really had a chance to seriously check out Lilith and all the goodies that came with the pro bundle yet, I've been too busy working on the challenge. I did load Lilith without any issues, and all of the cloths, hair and characters that came with her loaded without error in Carrara, but most of the cloths did have quite a bit of poke through (some a lot). Some of them have adjustment morphs that take care of the poke through, others can be easily fixed with Poke Away 2.

In the next couple of weeks I should have more time to test her, and her poses a bit more. I'll let ya'll know what I find out.

psssst displacement mapping has become my go to fix for poke through. Just use a neutral gray texture and adjust as needed.

Some of my scenes involve sheer clothing, poke away deforms the figure so sheer looks real bad. When modeling in the assebly room worked with figures; still does mil 4, poke through was an easy soft tug fix.

Now I quit shopping at DAZ. My Pclub has run out and I refuse to suport a company that does nothing to suport my use of their applications.

I have done the same although I have not had Plat club for a while, but I have gone a step further and jut given up on anything Daz.

They treated me like dirt, and that is something I will not forget

I'm still running Carrara 5.1 Pro. Because it works.

I'm still running Carrara 5.1 Pro. Because it works.

Love it!! I'm not on 5.1 (but that's where I started). I'm still using 8.1 Pro because it works. Great reason to continue to use a piece of software...because it works. And with all the new plugins I've bought, it's like a whole new Carrara. I'm happy. :)

I'm still running Carrara 5.1 Pro. Because it works.

Love it!! I'm not on 5.1 (but that's where I started). I'm still using 8.1 Pro because it works. Great reason to continue to use a piece of software...because it works. And with all the new plugins I've bought, it's like a whole new Carrara. I'm happy. :)

Same. I was conscripted by DAZ when they bought carrara lol I had actually tried Studio 1.2{?} and didn't have any want of a tinker toy, plug and play app.