My turn. First, I started this thread, not Ringo. Some might think we are one in the same (no one has ever seen both of us in the same room at the same time), but we are not, Ringo is better looking. Sailor_ed, you are right that Eovia was there to get some buzz going on their new modeler. Marketing is a valid part of any good business plan. Bad marketing can kill a good product just as fast as bad code. It was not the only reason they were there. The head of Carrara development, Charles B. was there and he is not part of the European Amapi-Hexagon development team. That chat session was during his work hours (8am west coast time) - they have only 5 people on the C dev team (its in the chat log). Charles writes code, so to have him sitting there for almost 2 hours not writing code must have cost them something. In a small company with limited resources time is the most valuable asset and there is never enough of it. The invitation to tell "Eovia what you really think" was to to tell them face to face in live chat, not here in this forum. That chat session was very lightly moderated - no pre-screening of any of the questions. Anyone who showed up could ask anything they wanted to Eovia. They put some structure into the chat to cover one topic at a time and did not give out any info on Carrara 5. One guy did get kicked & banned after Thomas asked him to slow down and wait until other questions were answered. I don't see the logic in blaming Eovia for not answering questions that did not get asked. They put the resources out there, if no one stepped up and asked the things you wanted answered is that their fault? I put Ringo's yahoo post up here to see if anyone on this forum who has real issues with Eovia would log in and try to hold their feet to the fire. I got my answer. I don't know how many other companies put their sales and development teams on the spot, live, in an effort to interact with their users but I don't see it as a negative thing at all. If it was going to be all PR they only needed Bob Shawn's post before the chat implied that it would be a waste of time with no real info coming out of it. While it was not as good as Rhino's open beta we did get a look at the gui, some of the new tools in action, a timeframe for release, and a very rough price range. That's more pre-release info than I have seen on anything coming out of Eovia before. Shonner maybe they are trying to do a better job with communication. wayne k guam usa

A few cuts from the chat session, should make more sense when you can read the whole log. We will shortly be introducing a new modeler that will be called Eovia Hexagon it's a Polgonal modeler, combining best things from Polygonal Subdivision AND surface modeling expected release date is in the next 60 days Price will be less than the current Designer pricing http://server2.eovia.com/demos/hexagon/hexagon_layout.mov http://server2.eovia.com/demos/hexagon/hexagon_4tools.mov http://server2.eovia.com/demos/hexagon/hegagon_spaceship.mov http://server2.eovia.com/demos/hexagon/wolf_lightmaps.jpg wayne k guam usa

there will be but it is going on right now whk

Info, the eovia people are in there right now. Including Bob, now would be a good time to let them know what you think of the direction they are taking the company. wayne k guam usa

Import is one area that Carrara Pro does pretty well now.
Out of the box Pro imports 12 3d formats including LW object files. They also added Transcad that opens up 8 more 3d formats that you'd get from CAD type programs like IGES, STP and Rhino 3dm files.
In contrast XSI(Fn) supports only 6 or 7 3d file formats (icluding the fbx and xfrog add-ons I got from the two 3rd party developers).
The issue you brought up about shaders & uv mapping got a face lift too, with a UV editor inside the modeling room. It has most of the basic tools that you'd get using UV Mapper classic with the advantage of working with C's shader domains and on the fly editing without having to export-import.

They put a lot of work into the program and threw in Amapi Designer 7 and a bunch of plug-ins before setting the upgrade price.

If you don't need or use the extra tools they will not have much value, if you do need them they are worth a lot.

It stacks up pretty well feature and price wise to other apps in the entry to mid level range like TrueSpace, Strata 3D, and Cinema4d (the core app with no advanced add-ons)

How C stacks up to the high end stuff from XSI & LightWave being brought down into the entry level game is hard to say. That's when the demos come in handy, letting users figure out for them selves if it is going to do it for them at a cost they can live with.

wayne k
guam usa

Message edited on: 04/05/2005 08:45

Info, thanks for slowing down for me. :>) It looks like neither one of us has math skills worth bragging over. We've taken this thread from some good posts on "Carrara Activity" down to splitting hairs over the upgrade cost of Motionbuilder. As entertaining as this is, should we continue or move on to something else? I've got one for you. What do you plug your Motionbuilder into for rendering your fbx files? I know that C3 does not do fbx, can Poser6 read fbx directly or work it through Shade? C4 has basic import support, but no export. wayne k guam usa

I'm sorry I was reading what you wrote, not what you where thinking. "When I bought MotionBuilder 5 it cost $1,000." my mistake wayne k If it only cost you 200 shouldn't your upgrade to MB6 cost only $50.00, following your 25% rule?

Heh, Infocentral you should be railing against Alias/Kaydara, I got 5.5 for $200.00 ($400 total with the upgrade from 4.0 ple). They gouged the stuffing out of you. wayne k guam usa

"It has a watermark" But hey for only around $2000.00 you can remove the watermark by getting Maya Complete. Seems reasonable to me. For $2k I'll bet you get a nice Maya polo shirt. :>) mdc

I have to agree with those points. I think the yahoo forum is growing in spite of yahoo and not because of it. Carrara has out grown yahoo and needs a better home. There was a thread or two on this same subject and it looks like options are coming on several fronts, including a company owned forum. We'll see who steps up first. wayne k guam usa

It is a very powerful program with a steep learning curve. Sub-d modeling & character animation tools as good as anything out there - high end or not. The $495.00 deal they are offering now was $1995.00 just last year. So it was way overpriced then or under priced now. Either way free market competition has brought the price down into the (serious) hobbyist user's level. If you drive a Mac you are out of luck. They have a demo so you can take a look at the gui for your self. It is nothing like RDS/Carrara. I have Carrara 4 and XSI - like and use both. wayne k guam usa

"XSI for about the same and for Softimage XSI $200 less and that includes the training videos!" Numbers are off a little on this one: Carrara Pro $579.00(full price) XSI Foundation $495.00 Deal on the 5 xsi training DVDs is over. Add $199.00 if you want them (I have them - they are worth the cost). 579 - 495 = 84 wayne k

Quick way is to go to a side view and select the backfaces then press "Ctrl+" to hide them (It's under the View menu "Hide Selection". Add shift in there to bring them back into view mdc

Hey! I thought you said I was the frontman? When did Brian get promoted? There can be only one By definition being in the front would preclude another from being ahead of ones self. At least put some consistency in the conspiracy theories. wayne k Guam usa Former frontman, now apparently demoted to second banana

Info,
Sorry about that, I did specifically focus on you because of the heated (dare I say sarcastic?) tone of your posts and wanted to know where you were coming from (my mistake -blame it on my public high school education).
I think this last reply shows that we will not be able to meet on any common ground. Ill try to tone down my Eovia cheerleading in the future so that it is not so obvious.

wayne k
guam usa

back to working for the man, sure hope that Eovia frontman check clears so I can make this this months rent.

Message edited on: 03/04/2005 01:24