Seems like nobody loves good old RDS any more... which I find strange, since in my experience it's vastly superior to Carrara and many other, newer programs as far as some parts of modeling go... So, does anyone else use it as a modelmaking engine, and just use Carrara as a special effects machine?

I just recently got RayDream and am trying to learn some of the basics. First question being: every time I try to import a wavefront obj file, (Vicky or Mike) into RayDream they come in too small to work on. What am I doing wrong?

I still use Ray Dream Studio for just about all of my 3D needs. I haven't bothered with Cararra cause it'd probably take me too long to understand the new interface, plus I can't afford it at the moment. I always believed that it's what ya know instead of what ya got.

I upgraded to Carrara from Ray Dream 3D and wouldn't go back. Ray Dream 3D, from what I understand, was very similar to Ray Dream 5 without the metaballs and vertex modeler. I think that Carrara has a much improved interface and much better rendering engine. It took me forever to render anything in Ray Dream, but Carrara is faster.

Attached Link: http://home.att.net/~JVNautilus/Hunley/reconstruction.html#Crew

I do all of my modeling in RDS 5.5 with almost no problems. I've tried Carrara a few times and have been put off each time by one thing or another. I don't like what I find to be a muddy interface sceen in Carrara. Some Carrara capbilities and changes from RDS are attractive however and perhaps I'll change over some day. Meanwhile though, when I want to get something done quickly, RDS works for me. Tired, I think there was a thread here or in the Poser forum on going between Poser and RDS or Carrara. You need to change the scale when you import. If an object I import is too small (or too large) I compare the size I got to the size I expect. Any dimension will do. I delete the imported object and re-import, changing the default scale (4") to say 40 if the object is 1/10 what I expect. Sometimes several tries are needed to get it right. If it's close, I make the final minor adjustments on the object after import. RDS does have a plug-in to import Poser 3 models. It chokes on conforming clothes and other Poser 4 improvements, but is OK for some work. See the link for some simple renderings done in RayDream with a number of Poser models imported via the plug-in.

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Well, the images looked good, but I really liked the article. Love when I get some good information. =)

I still use RDS. I actually THOUGHT I'd ordered Carrara, but a, uh, clerical error at home, shall we say, meant that the call was never made. (If you need something done, do it yourself.) So, I'm still with RDS, and may or may not order Carrara sometime soon. I may decide to wait for version 2.0 to see if bones are included; if so, I'll jump. If not, well, there's always bone-bender for RDS. As for the interface, I think it's just a matter of getting used to whatever you're using. I made the jump from Infini-D to RDS without much trouble, and I figure I'll be able to go to C the same. (I'm even somewhat conversant in Lightwave, but its logic is a bit different from Infini-D, RDS, C.) If you have any RDS specific questions, post away. Many of the folks in this forum started in RDS, and lots of what you do in Carrara is conceptually identical to RDS. (I actually started in RD3D which is a powerful program, though missing LOTS of the bells and whistles present in RDS. Making the jump from RD3D to Carrara, well, no wonder you'd never go back.)

Mike - thanks for your advice, I'll try that. At the moment, I'm just try my hand at simple "one piece" objects, hair objects or simple weapons and the like.

Use it most of the time for modeling but I'm moving over to Carrara - with some disappointments. the selection tools in the Vertex Modeler leave much to be desired + everytime I select a point it moves - it's a pain. Also what happened to the nudge keys? or the sizing tools? - there's no "constrain" option. I think if these things were fixed - plus the ability, and I know I've said it before, to perform a simple bevel/filet edge would round out its ability nicely :) I have this bad feeling that there will be no improvements to the modelers in Carrara 2 though - any thoughts??

Tired-Mike...Page 386 of the RDS5 manual says scale to 8", in DXF format, to achieve the best texturing resluts. = )

AzChip: Stick with RDS, and get Carrara only if you render for a career or something. The two programs have very little in common, and RDS is actually vastly superior when it comes to modeling... metaballs and terrain generators don't make up for all the annoyance of not being able to cut and paste global coordinates or control much from the mouse in the vertex modeler. It's fancy, and its lens flares in particular are beyond cool, but it's rendercentric rather than modelcentric like RDS or MAX...

Attached Link: http://creafab.free.fr

Well, I still use RDS for my personal use, especially when I need a fast/good rendered image, or when I need PNG animation. I also keep on teaching RD to my pupils who are working on a small cartoon using R3D. In fact, I actually use Blender most of the time, and Amapi 4.15 when I have to model something renderd into RDS. Fabien3D

I'm using it because A) I can afford it (found it for $90 online) and B) if it's good enough for Anton Kisiel it's good enough for me. The Carrara upgrade looks good but until the complaints over what was lost are resolved I think I'll stick with RD5.