Hexagon 2 is much easier to learn than Zbrush. I have Zbrush and the 2.5D way of paint/modeling is very confusing. In Hexagon 2 you model anything and just paint on it to do displacement, bump, color and translucency. Seriously Zbrush has a very high learning curve.

Please take a look at the video clips. You can extrude and create horns but the "painting and displacement are to be use for adding detail to the geometry such as wrinkles, veins, bumps, scale things of that nature. Not entire Ears, noses, horns, mouths etc. Those you need to model and add fine detail that you could not do in Hex 1.

Eovia Releases Carrara 5.1 Press Release #55 For Immediate Release Major free update delivers enhanced stability and new features Mountain View, California, USA April 3, 2006 Eovia Corporation, developer and publisher of leading 3D software tools, today released Eovia Carrara 5.1, a free update to its powerful, approachable, complete 3D solution. Carrara 5.1 delivers enhanced stability and an array of compelling new capabilities. New in this release is a redesigned tree modeler which includes wind simulation and a revisited interface that makes it easier to create complex trees by splitting the design process into distinct steps such as trunk, branches, leaves and foliage creation. Additionally, the new Universal Manipulator in the Carrara 5.1 Assemble Room speeds your work process by enabling you to move, rotate and scale objects without ever having to change tools. Improving scene lighting abilities, Carrara 5.1 now lets you apply lens flare effects on distant lights such as the sun. Volumetric light now also fully interacts with transparent surfaces and volumetric objects such as clouds or fog. In addition to new features, Carrara 5.1 has added many important fixes for even greater reliability and performance. Carrara 5.1 full version is priced at $249, with the advanced Carrara 5.1 Pro available for $549. Upgrade pricing for owners of previous Carrara versions starts at $99. Current Carrara 5 owners can download the upgrade free of charge from the Eovia website.

Bwtr. It gives them time to iron-out the wrinkles and pack it with a bit more....etc.:-) Well maybe more time to add the make wrinkles feature. LOL

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

The Carrara 5.1 update will be free and it has some other stuff that like the Universal Manipular in the assemble room.

HI, ren_mem. Small correction, Charles is lead eng. of Carrara develop at Eovia USA. He has nothing to do with Hexagon 2. Hexagon 2 is develop at Eovia France with its own development team etc. Plants, trees etc fall in the Carrara side of town not in the Hexagon side of town. :-)

Shonner. Yeah specially in the case of MODO 201 and Zbrush. In Zbrush they have to justified the $500 bucks and in Modo the nearly $900 bucks. But is good to know that we Eovia users are finally getting the goods at very good prices. Plus it feels good to know what we are no longer playing catch-up to the other guys. :-)

I think the upgrade price to Hex 2 is 99 if I am not mistaken.

its a lot more than interesting. :-) Have you check out the video clips very cool stuff.

Eovia Announces Hexagon 2 Press Release #54 For Immediate Release Evolution of innovative polygonal modeling software delivers exceptional environment for the creation of ready-to-render 3D models Mountain View, CA, USA March 14, 2006 Eovia Corporation, developer and publisher of leading 3D animation, modeling and rendering solutions, today introduces Hexagon 2. This more comprehensive version of the popular 3D polygonal and subdivision modeler now includes a multitude of valuable features that allow 3D artists and illustrators to build, texture and preview detailed 3D models prior to rendering. Model Your Inspiration Using Advanced Features This evolution of the Hexagon release delivers artists an enhanced set of tools for modeling, refining, UV mapping, texturing and previewing intricate 3D creations. In addition to the extensive modeling features found in the original Hexagon release, such as polyhedral, subdivision and advanced surface modeling, Eovia Hexagon 2 incorporates highly intuitive freehand brush modeling. Using a wide range of displacement brushes, 3D artists can easily refine 3D models by smoothing, pinching, and inflating the geometry or by adding high-resolution details. Significantly enhanced texturing features have been added to Hexagon 2. A comprehensive UV-mapping module including one-click UV-Unwrap enables 3D artists to easily apply UV-maps on 3D objects. Through the new 3D paint tools, users can apply textures using brushes and imported textures or choose from a large choice of predefined textures, provided by Eovias partner Spiral Graphics. With this release, Hexagon 2 now also is compatible with all popular graphics tablets, such as the Wacom line, to enable more precise and flexible modeling and texturing results. To improve workflow, Hexagon 2 delivers immediate previews of fully detailed and textured models by way of ultra-fast Ambient Occlusion simulating Global Illumination, and real-time shadows. Once a 3D model created with Hexagon 2 is ready to be rendered, it can be seamlessly exported in native .CAR format to Eovia Carrara, Hexagons ideal and reliable 3D rendering companion, or another rendering software through standard 3D formats. Pricing and Availability Eovia expects to ship Hexagon 2 in April, for both Macintosh OS X and Windows. Hexagon 2 will be competitively priced at US$269. Customers who purchase Hexagon 1 between March 1 and April 30, 2006, will be eligible for a no-charge upgrade to Hexagon 2. Upgrade price is US$119 for Hexagon 1 owners. Eovia is also accepting pre-orders of the electronic download version (ESD) of the Hexagon 2 upgrade through the Eovia e-store. Those who pre-order this ESD upgrade will benefit from a special upgrade price of US$99, and bonus gift valued at US$30. Complete details and instructions for claiming the no-charge upgrade are available on the Eovia website. More information about Eovia Hexagon 2 software can be found on the Eovia website at: www.eovia.com/products/hexagon/hexagon2.asp About Eovia www.eovia.com Eovia is dedicated to providing unique solutions for creative professionals as well as those just starting their journey into 3D. The companys award-winning 3D modeling, animation, and rendering tools offer superior versatility, affordability and unmatched ease-of-use. Eovia was founded in November 2000, with offices in both the US and Europe. Eovia Media Contacts Worldwide (except Europe) Karen Smyth pr@eovia.com +1 (650) 938-0515 x101 Europe Stefan Blomberg press_europe@eovia.fr +33 (0) 5 56 13 71 53 2006, Eovia. All rights reserved. Carrara and Amapi are registered trademarks or trademarks of Eovia Corp and Eovia SA in the United States and / or in the other countries. Copyright Eovia 2006.

I would recommend for you to purchase Hexagon it is a much better modeler and check at Eovias site. They have a companion upgrade offer and your price is $169.00 Hexagon 1.2 Companion Upgrade - English / French - Download Companion Upgrade from valid licenses of Eovia Carrara any version, Amapi Designer, Amapi Pro, Amapi 3D v6, except free versions.

Message edited on: 03/12/2006 19:29

Remember the Carrara 1 Bible from many years ago? :-)

MachineClaw. I agree with your comments. Regarding the "Practical Poser 6" I am currently doing a review on it and I am finding it to be an excellent book. It is one of the very best books for Poser. You can really tell the hardwork that went into producing such an excellent book. In depth information on major Poser topics that most users need help with. The Textures nodes, rendering,cloth creation, dynamic clothing, hair and much much more. I can't say enough good stuff about that book. But no need to tell you about it. :-) Ringo

what advance rendering from C5 is cover in your advance rendering section? I sure didn't see Ambient Occlusion or irrandiance mapping the TWO new advance rendering features in C5? and are this Carrar 5 features in the book? New particle system, replicator, surface replicator, ambient occlusion, irrandiance map, anisotropic lighting model, fresnel, translucency channel, weight painting, new volumetric clouds, matchmoving, include/exclude lights, bounding box display, smoothing of multiple objects and not all the new tools in t"he vertex modeler." Some of the new Vertex modeling tools yes but not rest of things on that list that are all C5 new features. Yes you did spend a great deal in the modeling room after al l it is what you know best in Carrara but I was hoping for more Carrara 5 related stuff. The material in the book is good and I pointed that in my review but I cannot call that a Carrara 5 Pro book it just doesn't have the most of the new stuff. You know that is what most users wanted to learn. Ringo