Differences between Carrara 8.5 (32 bit) and 8.5 Pro (64)

HeavyD

What are the main differences between 8.5 and 8.5 Pro?
Is 8.5 only available for 32 bit systems and Pro for 64 bit systems?
Is the Pro version available for 32 bit?
It seems the Alpha channel transparencies are not available in the 64 bit version when rendering a Quicktime MOV file but it is available in the 32 bit version. Is this right or am I doing something wrong?
I read in one of these posts that the serial number for the Pro 64 bit will unlock the Pro features in the 8.5 32 bit version. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks in advance for any insights on this.

Chohole

8.5 is 32 bit 8.5 pro is 64 bit as downloaded, but in actual fact they are both the full Pro version. It is the Pro serial number which unlocks the Pro features

So if you want 8.5 pro to run as 32 bit then download the version shown as 8.5, but use the Pro serial number when you need to add that

3DAGE

The 32 bit version of 8.5 has Quicktime export,. as Quicktime is still only available as a 32 bit application.
the 64 bit version cannot currently export to Quicktime (MOV) format.

the work around,. and a much better workflow, is to export as a "Sequence" of frames,. I'd normally use PNG or Jpg.
then you can open the image sequence directly into Quicktime pro, and export that as a .Mov
or open the sequence as a clip in After Effects, or any other video editor, and composite with other clips or live footage.

PNG format will allow you to render with "Alpha" (transparent backgrounds), for compositing, and give you the highest image quality.

The 64 bit version will allow you to access more memory than the 32bit, which is limited to 3GB ram, as all 32 bit applications are.
64 bit programs can use as much system memory as you have available.

As for functions, features, tools and abilities,. both the 32bit and 64bit versions are the same. (apart from the above differences) :)

Hope it helps :)

evilproducer

3DAGE said:

The 32 bit version of 8.5 has Quicktime export,. as Quicktime is still only available as a 32 bit application.
the 64 bit version cannot currently export to Quicktime (MOV) format.

the work around,. and a much better workflow, is to export as a "Sequence" of frames,. I'd normally use PNG or Jpg.
then you can open the image sequence directly into Quicktime pro, and export that as a .Mov
or open the sequence as a clip in After Effects, or any other video editor, and composite with other clips or live footage.

PNG format will allow you to render with "Alpha" (transparent backgrounds), for compositing, and give you the highest image quality.

The 64 bit version will allow you to access more memory than the 32bit, which is limited to 3GB ram, as all 32 bit applications are.
64 bit programs can use as much system memory as you have available.

As for functions, features, tools and abilities,. both the 32bit and 64bit versions are the same. (apart from the above differences) :)

Hope it helps :)

Pretty sure they're limited to a theoretical 4 GB of RAM, which would be moot on a 32 bit system as the OS needs RAM as well. However, in my case I use a PPC G5 Power Mac which is a 64 bit chip, but the 64 bit version of Carrara is only for Intel Macs, so I have to use a 32 bit version of Carrara. I have 6GB of RAM (up to 8 GB) installed on my system, so I can access the full 4 GB of RAM that a 32 bit program can handle. I've done it once or twice, but it's rare my scenes get that large.

HeavyD

Thank you for making two key points:

1) I did not realize Quicktime didn't work in 64 bit

2) I forgot 32 bit was limited in RAM usage.

Both points will help me a lot.

evilproducer

If you render to an image sequence with a 64 bit version of Carrara, you could use QT Pro to compile the sequence. If you use .png or other formats that support alphas, QT will respect them when saving to your codec of choice (provided that also supports alphas).