I guess I should say first off, this not to start a debate on which modeling software is best, it's a sincere question. It's just that the people that make carrara, make amapi and now hexagon, why?? When you can model in carrara. Also I don't see many people that make things for poser using carrara or am I wrong? How about morphs for poser figures? Just reading and studying about modeling and am wondering about all this THANKS In A NUTSHELL...should i buy amapi or hexagon for modeling and leave carrara for rendering...

Attached Link: www.eovia.com/products/hexagon/hexagon2

I would buy Hexagon and leave Carrara for shading (or work on the shading) and rendering. Especially Hexagon 2 looks to be one of the best choices. Though I still use the spline modeller for simple extrusions from logo's etc. Hexagon 2 will add nice tools for painting (bumps, normal maps, geometry) that will make the combination even stronger.

Well I have both Carrara and Hexagon, and currently use Carrara to model for Poser etc. I have to admit tho that Hex 2.0 may make me change my mind with the new features. here's an example of Carrara modeled Poser clothing

I'd go Hexagon at this point, esp Hexagon2; that is looking competative with Silo and possibly even Z-brush at this point. Carrara's modeler has the advantage of being simple and clear. If you see yourself getting better renders, creating scenes that can't be done easily in Poser (natural landscapes, trees, particle effects et al), and doing a bit of modeling it makes sense as one-stop-shopping. You don't really need a second program, at least not right off. I should caution, however, that the Mac version of Carrara5 is broken in a couple of small but critical areas when it comes to Poser-oriented modeling. I've had to shift the bulk of my work back to Carrara4.

I do not have Hexagon or Amapi, so I can't compare. But to answer your original question, is Carrara a good modeler, I'd have to say yes it is. Though it is missing some features that other modelers have, it's still quite strong. I've been able to build mechanical objects with ease. Its combination of vertex modeler with spline modeler, along with the primitives and metaballs have allowed me to build pretty much anything I need to build.

I built the train in the attached still entirely in Carrara 3 and 4 Pro. I used UV mapping for all the textures using only Carrara's UV mapper (which has been improved greatly). The compositing of the guy and the creatures and the energy burst effect was done in AfterEffects.

Hope that's helpful.

• Dex
  www.pandemoniummovie.com

98% of my models are Carrara. Let the gallery speak for itself. -Kix

Keep in mind most here, that prefer carrara for modeling, have been using it for awhile. If you are just learning carrara I think most will prefer hex or silo etc... to actual modeling in carrara. Modelling in carrara is advantageous because you are in the program and using it elsewhere, easier to render and work with things as a whole, but I would try demos to decide for yourself, you want it to be easy for you to create not spend more time on learning a sw interface and tools, but spend more time on learning modeling etc...