What's the story On Carrara?
donato
Posts: 22
Carrara has been a very important program for me. I use it for work renders. For customer animations. And for my hobby. But every time I go to the Daz site, it seems it's supported less and less. Is there going to be a version 9? After all this time, it's would be difficult to believe that Daz has made no decision as to the future of Carrara? Is it going to be integrated with something else? Discontinued? Sold off? As a loyal program user, it would be much appreciated if someone would share any knowledge they may have about the future of the program. This program is the best.
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A search for 'Chris creek interview at hive wire 3d spotlight' will shed a small amount of light.
Use google
Yeah, this thread bothers me as well.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/58113/
I have bought every tutorial package for Carrara 7.0 to 8.5 I could find.
Now, this bit about G3 and Carrara does run the proverbial flag up.
I would appreciate to read recommendations from other Carrara users for other applications we can use with similar abilities.
Seriously, if Daz is going to quit Carrara... The model rooms, terrain builder, replicator, and other tools in Carrara are not there in Daz3d studio. Hexagon and Bryce are on the ropes, probably more so than Carrara. So...you can't point to them.
Poser...?? I don't know anything about it. I know Blender is supposed to have a huge learning curve, 3dsmax and Maya are more for serious graphic pros, Sculpt software requires artistic ability like a sculptor would have molding clay.
Anyway, I would appreciate to read any ideas or recommendations. I imagine others are interested as well, because if Carrara is to be phased out it will require some time and effort to competently learn new applications.
What about 3dcoat? I've read good things about it, but never quite connected with what is does.
Iclone...well, it has no model builder, no tools for working that allow editing content like Carrara. Carrara is what I have used to make content item edits, especially props. There are a few primitives you can edit and tweak in Iclone, but no way they are real modeling tools. Terrain building is improved with introduction of height maps. You can duplicate in IClone, but nothing like the Carrara replicatior.
You duplicate the entire item with all polys, not one item with ability to reference the one item for all it's iterations.
Carrara works well as it is, don't panic
I tried the Google search - found hive wire, not interview.
Gotta link?
IMO, leaving off the newest edition to Daz3d characters for use in Carrara is a major issue. Ask yourself...why?
Sorry no link, daz woul d remove it ....
I tried the Google search - found hive wire, not interview.
Gotta link?
Go to the hivewire forum and click on the 'What's New' button
from the generated page look down the list you will see the 'Sticky' topic about Chris Creek.. very interesting ;-)
I read it.. thanks
There are always two sides to every story of course.
Nothing I read changes anything for me at this time.
I am mostly pleased with Daz3d content and applications.
My purpose is high quality content for export to Iclone for video production.
I enjoy the high quality content and ability to export from Daz3d studio and Carrara.
I hope Daz will work with Carrara to make it better. Carrara does so much we all need in a consolidated package.
I read other postings with regard to the new Victoria 7.
Wendy mentioned it was exportable, which means there is a lot you can do with the character, even migrate it to Carrara with workarounds.
I'm not ready for new characters, but I suspect when I need a high quality character I will look into it further.
I did read on the IClone forums where they are working on a facial expressions file for the new Victoria.
Daz3d is a marketing company. I don't really think any person seriously doing 3d imaging or animations thinks otherwise.
Well, those who understand what a "marketing company" is might disagree with you... :) :)
Well, those who understand what a "marketing company" is might disagree with you... :) :)
I suppose you are correct.
I think it is clear that Carrara will not get any new "features", it's put on hold, they have added G2 support and that was good and maybe they will add G3 support also, but don't hold your breath for anything else, on the other hand Carrara is good as it is, maybe a little too many crashes sometimes but that goes for many other 3D applications also.
As has been said before, DAZ is going the content route and Carrara does not fit in that well in that scenario.
I would guess 1 of 2 things will happen:
1: They will add G3 support to keep it fresh for a little bit longer.
2: They will start to give it away for free and pretty much cut all strings.
But I still use Carara for many things, and it has all the basic stuff you need so it is very complete (I had to give up on it, but not because of any lack of features).
It is much easier to learn compared to Blender for example, but on the other hand, Blender is free and if you can wrap your head around the user interface (I can't) it's very good and have a ton of cool features (yes, Carrara has a lot of cool features also, but it's not free).
But we are talking "hobby" users here, any form of movie production is locked in by Autodesk monopoly, and for TV it's the same thing with the added contender of Lightwave that has big support in TV production.
For amateur users like me, price is an extra factor that is not (so) important for professional users.
Hmm, that was too much, in short, I don't think Carrara will get any new features, but with some luck they might add G3 support and fix the G2 problems, Carrara as it is has a lot of cool stuff and is easy to learn.
Daz3d are they really missing the big gorilla in the room?
My gosh what a repository of Gold. Daz3d owns studio, Hexagon, Carrara and Bryce. My gosh what more could anyone want.
It takes thousands of hours work by a development teams of talented people to produce any one of those applications. The important part is those applications are still in use, and are viable products.
I wasn't here when Daz3d was coming together, but I will bet when they bought Carrara, Hexagon and Bryce the owners were jumping up and down with JOY.
Daz3d might think to make arrangements with competent developers to contract work, profit share or or other flexible arrangement based on performance to work with those applications.
A Carrara team, a hexagon team and a Bryce team. Each of these applications has unique features. A consolidation application might even be developed that includes the outstanding features of the applications into one or fewer applications.
Shareholders often force companies into failure, because they emphasize profits and increases of shareholder equity. It takes tough and resilient management within a company to stand up for what they believe when shareholders dictate policy. Management has to balance the goals of the company as best they can with the goals of shareholders ( a precarious position). It can be a constant hassle trying to juggle two divergent thinking processes of shareholders and management for mutual benefit.
If Daz is set on shutting down the applications they should think to make enough effort to update the applications and rejuvenate enough interest in the applications to sell them to someone else. A new improved GUI would make a huge difference with all three of these applications. That might be all it would take to interest potential buyers.
Considering all the offerings today with regards to 3D programs and considering their cost and complexity..not to mention their difficulty handling the human figure...What if I said that a new 3D Application that was about to be launched that had a far simpler interface than was currently available and on top of that gave easy access and easy manipulation of a whole library of human figures and clothing - And on top of that it has landscape tools. Not just a figure manipulation interface such as DAZ and Poser but an actually 3D environment that allowed you to change and create meshes.... And - And ...its at a bargain price. Interested ?
Yeah..We have it. If DAZ does not do another thing to the Carrara application it is still the best option out there. Carrara has altitude and it can glide for years... Take it from someone who still actively uses Infini-D 4.5. for certain tasks. Of course, I would prefer that DAZ continue to support Carrara ..but if not, we are still ok. All the tools are in the box..a hammer is a hammer, a wrench is a wrench.. these tools will last for years. We are limited by our imagination..nothing else.
When you see an application that can do what Carrara can do, - let me know. For myself, I know when I have a good thing..
Starboardtack
I agree. Rather than more Carrara features, I prefer better ways of creating short animations - camera motion/angles, lighting techniques, actor blocking/movement ideas. Carrara has all the tools, I just need to learn better ways to use them.
I can go with the remarks of the last two posters... I'm into Carrara.
Carrara needs a new GUI
Yes, I have a visual problem and the only way the GUI works for me is to set my screen resolution from 1920x1200 to 1140x900.
Screen resolution with Daz3d studio is fine at native resolution 1920x1200.
Effectively, I have to change screen resolutions often when I use Carrara.
Yes, there are enough tools...yet, there are still areas for improvement.
Anyone experienced with computers knows at some point things can be changed enough just in the OS to thwart progess with applications. Not counting what effect hardware improvements can do. Now we have multi-porcessors instead of better faster core processor (singular). Why is that? All computers are now made in China, and keeping up with advances in new improved processors would be a complete rework of the computer building industry. Are they ready for that.? I don't think so, that is why everything being promoted is multi-processors. This is not a complaint, it is what it is.
Graphic cards have become the critical component in most of our systems, in lieu of super fast core processor. Rendering for years has been facilitated by the core processor. Now the software is accessing multi-processor cores and the GPU memory.
My next video card will probably have 4 gig or more of GPU memory. My Sony Vegas software loves my GPU memory.
What I am saying... without updates in the applications, regardless of how viable they are now for our work, that can all change.
Carrara is a workhorse, and the things you can do with it are remarkable. That is, considering I don't know of another application that can do so much. People who use Carrara are pleased and loyal to Carrara. All the things that can be done it gives Carrara very good brand loyalty. Why wouldn't any company that owns such a product be making a responsible effort to make it even more relevant for the loyal users and proponents of the application.
Neglecting Carrara doesn't make sense.
^^ This!! :)
Brilliantly stated, I very much agree.
First Great posting
Second is the resolution change because the Fonts are so small? If so have you tried the Font Boost to enlarge the Fonts?
Carrara is truly the best 3d program I have ever worked with. Sad that it probably won't be supported in the future. Well, it was sold off before when it was RayDream. Maybe it will be sold off again to someone who see a growth opportunity.
It boggles my mind that Daz doesn't seem to think it's worthwhile to support and promote a professional quality platform that supports their content. A good friend of my brother works at ILM and he told me "No one that I know uses Daz for anything." He had never heard of Carrara when I mentioned it to him. He did really like the genesis models, he called them "really cool free people" but he didn't like the software. "It's really hard to animate them in that software, isn't it?" So it seems to me Daz is some how missing an opportunity to tap into another market by not showing support for a professional quality user experience that fully supports their content. But what do I know?
My workflow -
My work is video production, not art or still images.
I use Daz3d for purchasing high quality content and Studio for reviewing content, decimator for lowering poly counts selectively, applying some shaders. Then I export into Carrara or Reallusion 3DXchange for export to Iclone 6. I use Carrara for the model rooms, shaders, terrain building and other things I need to do with content items.
You could say... I am not a standard user of Dazed applications. I work through Daz3d applications then export into Iclone for Animation, Lipsync, and physics tools. Then I build video production inside IClone, which has an awesome timeline for animating , then I finalize my projects in Sony Vegas Pro. Sony Vegas is fantastic for building and editing audio as well as video files.
I do not do any renders in Daz3d applications, since my latter work is in IClone. I do review projects with Daz3d stuido or Carrara render tools when I am working with projects prior to export. Final renders are done in IClone and Sony Vegas Pro.
The new Reallusion 3dxchange ver 6 has been released. A character builder tool is planned for release this fall.
NO... I am not pushing Iclone. Iclone is one tool in the box, which offsets some of the things that aren't done that well in Daz3d studio or Carrara.
YES... I believe Carrara could be improved with rework of animation tools and timeline. That is the principal advantage of programs like IClone. Iclone does animation very well.
rdonato,
Just to set the record straight, as I feel that Infini-D gets short changed with respect to Carrara's heritage, I'm including a couple of screen shots of both Infini-D and Carrara. I have always thought that most of Carrara came from Infini-D not Ray Dream.
A. Is a shot of Infini-D user interface. Infini-D was last updated in 1998 so much has happened in 3D since then. However, I think you can see the the elegance that it had at that time. It is a rock solid 3D Application. I don't think I have had it crash a handfull of times in all the years I have used it and I have created some huge files. The resemblance to Carrara is obvious. Also its method of using a model room for creating the objects which are then brought into the assembly room...
I like Infini-D so much I have bought old Macs that can still play OS 9 in Classic...At present I make objects in Infini-D and import them as .DXF into Carrara as I can work very fast in Infini-D. The cottage for example was made in Infini-D.
This is why I am not worried whether Carrara will be supported or not. Good software can last a very long time, great software can last much longer. I think we have some great software in Carrara. Also Carrara has some great genetics.
Starboardtack
The latest release of Carrara allows for larger font sizes now, if that's what you mean.
The latest release of Carrara allows for larger font sizes now, if that's what you mean.
WOW! Thank you for that. I went into preferences and found "Interface Font". I jacked it to 4 and now I can read without having to resort to lower screen resolutions. This is a big deal for me and should be for other people with visual issues - a major improvement, almost like a new GUI for me AGAIN Thank you.
I did not realize I could do anything with the UI colors either. Maybe some readers could share their UI color settings for highest visibility. I will definitely tweak for a better colors combination.Looks to me like the GUI can really be perked up alot, and possibly not look so outdated.
I also would like to add this - After working with a GUI for hours on end it is often easier on the eye strain, and the attitude to be able to perk up the workspace. It would be excellent to have sticky thread where people have shared their UI colors and fonts with others. I suspect it will be a perk up for many, especially new users. Those tiny default fonts were not just hard to see, but were obscured in the background (also boring). If you can't tell, I am excited about this.
Glad I could help! :)
It is small perhaps, but at least it shows that DAZ does listen to us sometimes. I look at these small improvements that are made (excluding the content support updates), such as the font size and the vertex modeler bug that was fixed and I think to myself, why would they do this if Carrara was dead to them? Why not just leave it as is, except for figure compatibility?
It's called "cost vs. benefit" :) :)
If the the cost of keeping Carrara on life support is small enough, compared to the benefit they expect to receive (maybe from additional content purchases) then they might decide to check off a few things on their "to do" list for Carrara.
By the way, where is that font size setting located? I only see a font selector, but no size selector. Thanks.
File / Preferences / Interface Font, and on the left hand side there is a sliding bar for 'Font Size Boost'. On the right hand side you can select the font type. This is only with the latest release of Carrara though.
Ahh...okay thanks.
I must not have the latest version. I kept thinking that I had no use for the content/database improvements so I never downloaded.
I have said this elsewhere, but even if DAZ never implements Genesis 3 compatibility and never develops the program further (and I have no insider knowledge one way of the other, this is just a “What If”), I can still see me using it for many years to come. The figures that are available for it already are fine and with plugins such as Octane, I can get better and faster results than I can with DS or any other program - admittedly partly because that is what I am familiar with using, but also because of Carrara features such as replication and hair. But under this scenario, there would be less and less new content that I can use directly and that would lead to me buying less from DAZ. I know for them it is largely a numbers game, but failure to deliver Genesis 3 compatibility and further program improvements will have a knock-on effect for them too.
But Carrara remains a very flexible and usable tool, and for what I want it to do, there is no good alternative currently available. Hell, I've just used it to produce an animated short for a small US studio which is shortly going to be doing the rounds of film festivals.
I hear that a lot here, and I'm sure it's the case for me also.
But in reality I think the same thing can be said for every piece of software that has ever been developed since the beginning of time. :)
I recall my first spreadsheet was Lotus 123. That was decades ago. But if I only needed a simple spreadsheet with none of the fancy and rarely-used Excel features, I could fire up Lotus 123 right now and get the job done. If it still exists that is... (does it?)
Or WordPerfect. Or so on...
However, if I need to do a really cool and believeable fluid simulation in my 3D render, Carrara isn't in the picture. Or fire. Or integrated node compositor. Or so on. It's all a matter of what you want or need. If your needs are minimal, then feature improvement may not be a big concern.
So yes, Carrara has some strengths. But that and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee. :) :) :)
The real concern is whether other apps will overtake it in the near future. If someone develops a .car scene importer into some other apps, and people learn how to "carrara-ize" the interface of the "other" app, it will be tough for Carrara.