Does anyone know when the release date will be and what might be included. I work for a Planetarium and we currently use Carrara 4 pro for our production but Lightwave is offering a great deal. It's really to good to pass up. I just wanted to know what we could expect with Carrara before we switched to Lightwave. Any thoughts!

Didnt 4 just come out a couple of months ago? Talk about pressure...lol..

I don't think that choosing something so hard to learn and to masterize like a 3D software should be only a matter of bucks ;) Carrara5 is cuurently under beta testing, but beta-tester are under a N.D.A. probably so they can't talk. I would say that if Carrara suits currently your main needs, then wait for the offical new version information ! Otherwise the public price of Lightwave has almost been divided by 2 by Newtek to be decreased down to 795USD (http://www.newtek.com/news/releases/08-01-05d.html), so it will be always time to made up your mind and to switch to LW if you want. Just my 2 cents :)

I'd recommend not being tempted by "deals" and actually explore LW a bit before taking the plunge. Great offers do not always mean that you will like the software.

I think the subject of your message should have been "Carrara 5 release?" rather than "Carrara 5 release!" -- I got kind of excited there, thinking Christmas came a little early this year.

Yea I got the same idea as rendererer. Im still stuck on 3 and I just can't afford the upgrade to Pro at this time. So I will just wight until 5 comes out and hopefully by then I will have the cash.

I am in the same boat as you, Pinklet, as I too am stuck with 3 for now. Gone are the days I could upgrade all my software on day one of a new release. Cash is tighter these days, what with inflation hitting all areas of the economy and wages still not keeping up... Anyway, hopefully 5 will have some really cool new features and be bundled with Hexagon instead of Amapi. I missed that whole $99 intro price for Hex and if I had known it was at that price, I surely would have bought it. But alas, I was out of town and when I got back the deal was over. Note to eovia: if you bring back that $99 deal, or send me a coupon, I know you will get at least one new sale! ;-) Regards, Paul

Todd71, Carrara 4 was announced on August 31, 2004 and shipped on October 25, 2004. Time just flies, :-)

vinividivinci: You are right, I guess at this point I am better holding out for Carrara 5 then upgrading to 4 now, it should be around February that they announce given a typical 18 month cycle.