I got my package from MC today, containing the Macintosh version of Carrara. It comes as a two CD set. The application CD is Mac specific, the Content CD is cross platform. It has the interface we've come to expect from MetaCreations applications. I happen to like the Kai/Bryce interface, much more than I liked the RDS 5.5 interface, so this is fine with me. It has pop out trays along the sides of the screen. In Poser and Bryce they pop out when clicked. In Carrara they pop out when double clicked. Strangely, they are really slow. I am running on a G4/450, and I can watch them repaint several times as they extend from the sides of the screen. Carrara uses Navigation services. It can also use multiple monitors! You can drag tool palettes, rendered scenes, or other stuff onto the second monitor. Importing Poser figures has been problematic. I tried several times with an OBJ file exported from Poser 4 along with its .mtl, which I had used in a previous Bryce project. I navigated down to open the file. Carrara asked me what kind of file it was (OBJ, DXF, or 3DMF), and a few details about how to open it (whether to switch the Y & Z axis, etc). Then it brought up another Navigation Services dialog box saying "Impossible to find the file, please relocate it". Clicking cancel was ineffective, it just kept bringing up that message asking me to relocate the file. I twice had to reboot the machine to escape that loop. It seems to be the .mtl file giving Carrara fits: it I delete the "mtllib" line from the OBJ it imports correctly (though without textures). I had a similar experience with the first 3DS file I tried to open: it brought up another NavSrvcs window saying "Impossible to find the file, please relocate it". Fortunately clicking cancel worked, and the 3DS file then imported without incident. My initial impressions are that it is a classic MetaCreations product: it looks good, is priced at the middle of the market, and is somewhat buggy.

Hrmph. Unlike Bryce, Poser, and other MC applications using a similar interface, Carrara can utilize the second and subsequent monitors attached to the system. However, it doesn't look like you can do much with that second monitor. Rendering windows can be dragged over to it, as can the main buttons. I really want to arrange it like I have my RDS workspace set up: all of the Browser and Properties pallettes on the second monitor, with the primary monitor just being for the tools and the scene. Try as I might, I can't get Carrara's pop out trays to move over to the second monitor.

Look in the Preferences for Dual Monitor settings.

I had been trying to drag the docked windows over to the other screen. I eventually figured out that you have to hold Command and click on the docked pane to "undock" it. Then you can drag the undocked frame over to the other screen. So its doing what I want now, I can set up a workspace to use the second monitor like I do in RDS.