Hi all, I've been using Poser for about a year and I would like to get into 3D modeling. There are soooo many choices of programs out there my head is spinning! From what I've read about Carrara, it seems like a great choice for someone just starting out in this area. Am I right? I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions you have. TIA :-) , tetra1

Yup, it works for me. Carrara gives you a choice of 3 different modelers. It's the best bang for the buck - IMVHO.

For the price, you won't find a more versatile package anywhere. And in some respects, Carrara stands up nicely against the "big boys" of 3D. When used properly, it's just amazing. Check out the Carrara / RDS gallery to see some things this program can do. And remember, this forum is here as an excellent resource; people are helpful and they know the programs.

One of the freakiest things about starting out with 3d is the interface. Some packages are just too technical and they can easily intimidate newbies. Cararra's UI is comfy and uncluttered - it feels more like a canvas and less like a "calculator". (thanks for the quote whoever) If you like Poser's UI then Carrara would be a suitable move. And like AzChip said - you can't beat what you get for the price. You get a lot of great stuff -- stuff that I still used to its fullest extent :) I mean, I think I use only a percentage of Carrara's ability and there's stuff that when I discover, I have to sit back and say "damn that's good." Also, it looks like Carrara 2 is due out some time this year -- the probable improvements will just make it all the better.

Carrara is the best program I've found for learning 3D and while it's missing some features (like subd surfaces, caustics, radiosity) it has some features that even the big boys like Lightwave don't (plus it can produce great-looking output). The shader tree where you can "mix" diferent shaders together is very powerful. The manual is very nicely printed and very helpful (although it is a bit thin in a few areas like the particle system). Eovia has pulled together a few tutorials online and there are others floating around the net. Consider getting the Carrara 1.0 Bible (or even the Carrara for Dummies book which is an easier-to-understand version of the Bible by the same author). I don't recommend starting with something like Inspire/Lightwave (even though I did!). Lightwave is an amazing product but I don't sense that Newtek spends much time worrying about newbies (for example, lwave 7 doesn't ship with a tutorial, getting started, or anything like that). Maxon (C4D) at least has some very helpful documentation and lots of online tutorials. Carrara doesn't have support for subdivision surfaces (I think some programs call these metanurbs or hypernurbs) for smoothing blocky objects (supposedly this helps you great organic-looking things with lower polygon counts) but Eovia's Amapi does (and in brief tests I think Amapi's smoothing might work even better than Lwave's). Consider getting Amapi to fill out the lack of subd surface modeling in Carrara (Amapi even has some limited rendering and animation features inside it). I started working last night on a fish in Amapi, saved it out in RDS format (Amapi v6 supposedly supports Carrara's format directly), and was able to then work on it some more in Carrara's vertex modeler. The complexity of some 3d products can seem overwhelming. Carrara's room metaphor helps keep things uncluttered. I had a chance recently to try a Beta version of a major new release of a Mac 3d product and felt completely lost (and even more appreciative of how Carrara keeps things from getting too complicated).

Forgot to mention that the Ray Dream Handbook (2nd Edition) has a lot of good info that is relevant to Carrara (supposedly much of Ray Dream is in Carrara). The Ray Dream F/X book also has good stuff in it (full of ideas for creative ways to use Ray Dream/Carrara). If these aren't sold in stores anymore you might find them for sale on eBay. If you want to see what can be accomplished with programs like Carrara, head on over to www.rustboy.com (supposedly he uses infini-d, parts of which are in Carrara, and also is possibly now using Carrara as well). I believe rustboy's head was done in Carrara's vertex modeler.

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

Tetra, don't forget you can try a demo of Carrara Studio . One link : Eovia's site . Hartcons, you're right, the head of Rustboy was done in Carrara, the other things in Infini-D . But it's basically the same technology : what Infini-D does, Carrara can do it too i think .

I think Carrara is a great choice for someone starting out in 3D modeling. I tried other 3D packages and could never get comfortable their interfaces. To me Carrara's interface is more intuitive than the other 3D modeling programs I've tried. I think Carrara's weakest point is it's manual. As AzChip says this Forum is a great resource. I've found everyone here to be helpful and friendly. If you want to try Carrara you can download a trail version of Carrara at Eovia web site.(http://www.eovia.com) Keith

The trial is also on the resource CD. -Kix

Wow! So many great responses! Thank you all. I was trying to decide between Truespace and Carrara and I think I'm definitely going to go with Carrara now. The only disappointment for me is that it doesn't have radiosity and caustics....maybe in the next version eh? (BTW- is there a way to simulate these things in C?) Thank you all again-your input is great!

3D Animation from Models to Movies by Adam Watkins (a good book, by the way) has a tutorial on faking radiosity (including caustics). Radiosity takes so long to render that I imagine it's often faked. Lightwave has caustics but I haven't found a way to make them look that great yet (C4D has nice looking caustics). I think with Carrara's G-buffers you can get alphas for shadows and then add the caustics in Photoshop. As an aside, light shining through a Jack Daniels bottle creates great looking caustics (they look even better after you've had a few nips!) Truespace has an amazing number of features and add-ons for its price point but I haven't been able to get past the interface (staring at all those tiny little icons and fly-out menus gives me a headache!) They do have a lot of learning video on their web site, however. If you like caustics, check this out! http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=131496&Start=37&Sectionid=19&WhatsNew=Yes