What other latest/updated closed source 3D products are similar to Carrara?
Samuel S.
Posts: 322
As a hobbyist, I learned a lot from DAZ's free and paid products, but the time has come to add the latest 3D authoring product besides Carrara. I will continue to use Carrara and other DAZ products. Hopefully, developers can pick or re-write Carrara to match the latest in the industry as I found it to be the best and easy to learn 3D authoring tool.
I am thinking of 3Ds Max (I am currently trying out the Trial), and I also noticed that DAZ's Bridge for Max is available.
Post edited by Samuel S. on
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well I do believe there are indie versions if you are considering Autodesk stuff and earn less than 100K per Annum
for me 460AUD a year, I have actually pondered it but not bitten the bullett yet
Thank you. I noticed that similar to Carrara, Blender, and Lightwave 3D's origins, it came into being around the late 1980s. I also tried Maya but it was a memory and resource hog for me.
Max also seems very similar to Carrara. It lets you export content to Carrara using the Carrara Preset. Additionally, the X, Y, and Z axis directions are similar to Carrara's.
With DAZ Bridge for Max and Max's support for Carrara; it seems a good fit. I will create some videos in future.
I just found the following on the Autodesk Max Indie version.
Get Access to Autodesk 3ds Max Indie Software with Affordable Prices
Are you eligible?
Note: This offer is subject to certain restrictions.
I'm tired of all subscriptions regardless from who and for what (thanks a bunch, Adobe)
I don't see in Max Indie anything that would make Carrara less interesting than Max
in fact, I think Carrara has more to offer than Max Indie unless you go full blown Max version maybe
Carrara is pay once own for ever
Max is pay for ever never own it
besides, how often did Autodesk kill a Program and left the users behind
Softimage
Stingray
123D
etc.
3ds max is a dead man walking
Carrara has only one Problem, it is in fact not a real DAZ product, it is eovia and it has been Carrara ever since with only minor updates. 64 bit was a must
the interface should get an overhaul soon and as a free update
the very core of Carrara is user friendlyness functionality and features
not sure if you get all that in Max Indie version, could be only marketing Autodesk is better than this or than that to rescue a sinking ship that has already water up to the bridge
I agree as well. Carrara does need updates, but I will continue to use it because of its great feature set. I wish all indie versions were free for the indie community or hobbyists who are not making any money from Creative work. One example, Microsoft has a Free Community edition of Visual Studio.
Upon checking I noticed that Max Indie is the full version as per Autodesk Max Indie FAQs:
3ds Max Indie has the same features and functionality as the full software version of 3ds Max.
not bad, but again; to pay for a hobby on dripfeed ? hm …
I use Carrara on a near daily basis to make short animations, and I don't see that changing. The only other 3D program I use regularly is E-on software's VUE, the only program for which I pay a subscription (I think about $100 per year for the hobby level). This is mostly for the amazing environment/landscape renders, especially with amazing scenes purchased over the years. But I've recently been exploring its "Animation Wizard", which allows animating various vehicles (planes, cars, etc.) over mapped out tracks, with appropriate turns, banks, bumps, etc. I used to see it as a not very useful feature, but after getting into it more, I'm starting to like it. But I do not recommend VUE for most hobbyists, it is a niche product that to me is only a supplement to Carrara, and I think needs a honkin' fast machine (mine is a 12 core/24 thread AMD). A good supplement, but Carrara still rules.
Thank you all!
I agree; there is no question about the power of open-source Blender. They now have paid plans as well for critical or production projects:
Canonical Offering Blender Support — blender.org
Blender seems like the closest parallel for hobbyists, now that Blender has revised the interface.