All Carrara items are 50% off until Sunday April 5, 23:59 MDT.

If you get 50$ worth of non-Daz items, then Daz originals are 75% off.

http://www.daz3d.com/shop

Here is the first version of the unofficial LuxusCore manual.

Please add any info you may want to share, so that we can write a good manual for the amazing LuxusCore:

http://carraracafe.com/news/luxuscore-for-carrara-plugin-unofficial-manual-2015-02-15/

Attached Link: http://carraracafe.com/luxus-the-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-developmentdocumentation-blog/

http://carraracafe.com/luxus-the-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-developmentdocumentation-blog/

Just guessing, but similar sales run for a week roughly.

Then they may come back later, but since it is a PA item, it does not happen very often.

Major update today:

• All options for materials should now be visible.

• All the texures of the 1.0 spec implemented (exception band and multimix)

• Added Mac Build.  Install/Copy LuxRender such that there is a folder right next to your Extenstions folder called LuxRender that contains the LuxRender application.
  Win64 - http://sphericlabs.com/carrara/Win64/Luxus.zip
  Mac64 - http://sphericlabs.com/carrara/Mac64/Luxus.zip

Attached Link: http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

Same download link as usual.

Attached Link: http://carraracafe.com/new-carrara-8-5-beta-build-released/

News post at http://carraracafe.com/new-carrara-8-5-beta-build-released/

Nice, there is a Luxrender package of 3D models the developers use to verify their builds, may import into Carrara, or at least via a Blender export:

http://src.luxrender.net/testsuite/summary

Have not had the time to export them to Carrara for a Sharecg.com post...

Attached Link: http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

Huge update again, lots of materials added:
http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

Kixum, I think the plan is to release a first version without auto material conversion, since that function takes a lot of time to develop and Carrara users are used to work with shaders.

Render times are much longer in Luxrender, but you also get to change a lot of the lighting while rendering. In the example above you can turn off the desk light light completely, while rendering or even after finishing.

Luxrender also outputs HDR images.

Carrara vs Luxrender can probably be debated forever, like in other forums that have battling unbiased vs biased renderers. I just see it as an alternative tool that has some benefits and some disadvantages.

Kixum, try your new scene in Luxrender, I'm guessing the results will be similar...

Updated release, more details here:

http://carraracafe.com/luxus-luxrender-plugin-for-carrara-beta-released/

And also a normalmap for GIMP, for those that want free plugins for their free softwares:

http://code.google.com/p/gimp-normalmap/#Download

As far as I understand it from the forums, since the last time, there has been some changes in the staffing at Daz. I hope that the changes are for the better and that we will see the releases as promised.

All that has been done mentioned above, may have been done at the expense of Carrara development. For me as a layman it seems to be a simple decision to postpone Carrara for all the Genesis, Studio and Poser stuff.

Never got the CMS/Smart Content to work well in Studio, though I have problems with the old way too.

Re-installing on a new computer, so the DIM is a lifesaver, running 500 installers is not an option.

Believe it or not, but a release date means that Daz has commited to release something, if that happens in time or gets delayed like many other software projects, I don't care much about. But the commitment to release and the commitment to include new functions is important.

Everyone seems to be forgetting that with Carrara 8.5 and Genesis support need platform work like DUF file format, Metadata, CMS, Daz Install Manager and other not so exiting stuff that should be counted into the development time since Carrara will need and use those.