So, is there a Carrara 9 coming at all?

24

Comments

  • TGS808TGS808 Posts: 168

     

    It's actually fairly typical of professional companies not to answer questions about forthcoming releases.

     

    Forthcoming releases? LOL. Is it typical to not release a proper update in more than six years? (I don't count v8.5 which was basically bug fixes –that took three years to fix–that allowed v8 to function without crashing on Macs). At this point Carrara is verging on being abandonware. Professional companies may not answer questions about a forthcoming release's new feature set, but at the very least they will let you know that there is a forthcoming release. Daz won't even comment on that. Not professional. At all.

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,226
    TGS808 said:

     

     At this point Carrara is verging on being abandonware. 

    I have to agree with that.  You've got problems when a serious user/vendor like PhilW says, "... given the current rate of development, the sun may have gone nova before anything happens."  Yes, I am happily using Carrara on a regular basis, daily at times, but my only thought for the future is how to keep it running as Windows gets updated.  Probably just keep an old machine running, as I'm doing now with Adobe PageMaker.

  • TGS808TGS808 Posts: 168
    edited April 2016

    but my only thought for the future is how to keep it running as Windows gets updated.  Probably just keep an old machine running...

    Exactly the point I've made in other posts. Sure, we are happily using Carrara now but with each new version of Windows and/or OSX that is released, it becomes less and less likely that we will be able to continue this way.  That v8.5 still installs and runs on Mac 10.11 is a stroke of luck. Eventually that luck will run out. The OS and the hardware* will advance even more, leaving Carrara behind and at some point in the future it won't install at all. I don't want to (nor should I be required to) keep a museum of old Macs around just to run outdated software. 

    *I've already noted in another post that the Carrara interface (icons/fonts) look outdated and shabby on a 5k Retina display. Adobe by contrast has updated the interface for their CC products so that they look sharp, clear and take full advantage of the 5k resolution. This is the difference between software that is still in active development and software that has been abandoned like Carrara has. Daz may not have given an "official" statement but their actions (or lack there of) are pretty clear. Belive me, nothing would make me happier than to eat these words but at this point, I don't think we're ever going to see a version 9. At least, not from Daz.

    Post edited by TGS808 on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125

    I am proceeding on the assumption that this time next year I will be a Blender user.  I tried sliding over to a Studio/Bryce/Hexagon bridge workflow to try to replace several of Carrara's functions, but it looks like Hexagon and Bryce will be having the same operating system upgrade problems that you are anticipating for Carrara.  In my view, Studio is about to take a severe step backwards in functionality when Bryce and Hexagon cease working, even as other features get improvements.

     

    Shame.  I hate Blender.  I really hate hot keys and other things that require multiple limbs or mutliple digits to do a single task.  Guess they don't worry about the ADA because 3D has a global community.

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,024

    There was a thread about making Blender looking a bit more like Carrara, since Blender GUI is very customizable.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/58735/ot-carrara-izing-blender

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,024
    TGS808 said:

    but my only thought for the future is how to keep it running as Windows gets updated.  Probably just keep an old machine running...

    Exactly the point I've made in other posts. Sure, we are happily using Carrara now but with each new version of Windows and/or OSX that is released, it becomes less and less likely that we will be able to continue this way.  That v8.5 still installs and runs on Mac 10.11 is a stroke of luck. Eventually that luck will run out. The OS and the hardware* will advance even more, leaving Carrara behind and at some point in the future it won't install at all. I don't want to (nor should I be required to) keep a museum of old Macs around just to run outdated software. 

    *I've already noted in another post that the Carrara interface (icons/fonts) look outdated and shabby on a 5k Retina display. Adobe by contrast has updated the interface for their CC products so that they look sharp, clear and take full advantage of the 5k resolution. This is the difference between software that is still in active development and software that has been abandoned like Carrara has. Daz may not have given an "official" statement but their actions (or lack there of) are pretty clear. Belive me, nothing would make me happier than to eat these words but at this point, I don't think we're ever going to see a version 9. At least, not from Daz.

    Latest Carrara update has a "quick&dirty" font scale function, seems to help a little on Windows, but only some parts of the GUI are "updated" for new hires screens.
     

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125
    edited April 2016

    My experience with Blender has been frustrated by the requirement to use multiple limbs/digits for some common tasks, which the OP of that same thread apparently also experienced.

    "One of the problems is that Blender relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts. And that’s fine if Blender is your main software and you use it regularly. However, for someone who jumps around multiple apps on a regular basis, trying to remember keyboard shortcuts and different mouse operations is a huge pain in the butt. It annoys the heck out of me. So there are some limitations in how Carrara-like you can make it, since you need to use SOME keyboard shortcuts for common operations"

     

    I guess I will adjust.  Still a pain in the butt that some advocates of Blender gloss over. 

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,024

    On the positive side, the plugins are being updated and give Carrara new features:

    Octane Render: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45564/octane-render-for-carrara-or4c-public-beta-now-released#latest

    WVD Cloth and Hair simulation: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1026680/#Comment_1026680

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125

    Agreed. I hope that this time next year I am still a Carrara user, even if it is still C8.5.  VWD = awesome!  As I said in earlier posts in this thread, my guesses are often wrong.

     

    3drendero said:

    On the positive side, the plugins are being updated and give Carrara new features:

    Octane Render: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45564/octane-render-for-carrara-or4c-public-beta-now-released#latest

    WVD Cloth and Hair simulation: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1026680/#Comment_1026680

     

  • tsaristtsarist Posts: 1,614

    I really would like to see Genesis 3 support for Carrara, but if it takes a little longer to get it RIGHT, then I can be patient. 

    I keep hearing varying things about Genesis 1 & 2 operability in Carrara. From "master users" they seem to work fine, from average users, the picture is not as rosy.

    Same with DUF format.

    I don't really care about "Daz Connect" (for one, my computer is airlocked).

    I just want Genesis 1-3 & DUF items to work as flawlessly as Vicky 1-4 work in Carrara.

    My only request to Daz is to take your time and get it right!!

  • RoygeeRoygee Posts: 2,247

    My experience with Blender has been frustrated by the requirement to use multiple limbs/digits for some common tasks, which the OP of that same thread apparently also experienced.

    I have to chuckle everytime I see remarks like these:)  I've been using Blender daily for around 18 months and have only come across one function that doesn't seem to have a menu item - and that is a simple "n" to toggle properties.  The key combination shortcuts are simply that - shortcuts.  Which Carrara users keep demanding more of!   The more common shortcuts are learned so quickly by use - I mean, r - rotate,  e - extrude, s - scale, x - delete, Ctrl z- undo, g - grab.....etc. How difficult can that be.

    Possibly the more advanced video tutorial makers are guilty here by hammering out shortcuts instead of using the menus, but those are for advanced users - there plenty others that take their time and use menus or explain the shortcuts for new users. 

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,125
    edited April 2016

     I have started threads asking for alternatives to using multiple limbs/digits in Blender and the response has been to tell me how many more strokes per minute experts achieve with smart keys.  As a joke, I phrased it as I don't want to put my coffee down  People have not pointed me to menu alternatives, even though I have asked.  So, it may be poor communication - but I really don't think so. Happy to be shown otherwise. 

    Edited to stay on trend in thread

    Roygee said:

    My experience with Blender has been frustrated by the requirement to use multiple limbs/digits for some common tasks, which the OP of that same thread apparently also experienced.

    I have to chuckle everytime I see remarks like these:)  I've been using Blender daily for around 18 months and have only come across one function that doesn't seem to have a menu item - and that is a simple "n" to toggle properties.  The key combination shortcuts are simply that - shortcuts.  Which Carrara users keep demanding more of!   The more common shortcuts are learned so quickly by use - I mean, r - rotate,  e - extrude, s - scale, x - delete, Ctrl z- undo, g - grab.....etc. How difficult can that be.

    Possibly the more advanced video tutorial makers are guilty here by hammering out shortcuts instead of using the menus, but those are for advanced users - there plenty others that take their time and use menus or explain the shortcuts for new users. 

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    PhilW said:
    MistyMist said:

    would like an offset slider for softbody collisions to collide a smidge before hitting the vert

    You know you can vary the collision distance, right? 

    ??  where?  thanks!!

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Hi Misty :)

    In the main Physics tab ... SCENE / Physics,.. you can set a "Global" collision distance,.for all physics objects.

    In the Soft Body modifier,. You can set a distance for that object,. which ignores the global Scene collision Distance

    in the collision settings area, it's called "Margin"

    Physics collision.jpg
    361 x 697 - 58K
    Softbody collision.jpg
    382 x 602 - 55K
  • TGS808TGS808 Posts: 168
    3drendero said:
    TGS808 said:

    Latest Carrara update has a "quick&dirty" font scale function, seems to help a little on Windows, but only some parts of the GUI are "updated" for new hires screens.

    I think that will only make the bigger which wouldn't help. It would just make the jaggy "8-bit" look more noticable. It's not that it's unusable this way. It's usable. It would just be nice if it were updated for the modern world.

  • TGS808TGS808 Posts: 168
    3drendero said:

    On the positive side, the plugins are being updated and give Carrara new features:

    Octane Render: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45564/octane-render-for-carrara-or4c-public-beta-now-released#latest

    WVD Cloth and Hair simulation: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/1026680/#Comment_1026680

    Agreed. The third party guys (and I include Sphericlabs/Luxus in this as well) are at least trying to keep Carrara on life support.

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    3DAGE said:

    Hi Misty :)

    In the main Physics tab ... SCENE / Physics,.. you can set a "Global" collision distance,.for all physics objects.

    In the Soft Body modifier,. You can set a distance for that object,. which ignores the global Scene collision Distance

    in the collision settings area, it's called "Margin"

     

    Thanks.  

    Margin didn't seem to help with the rocking chair experiments.

    mebbe the global settings will have more oomph, smiley  

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,032

    I hope they add iRay to Carrara but it seems that Carrara uses Octane Render from reading this thread which I hear I supposed to be good. I've yet to eveen try Carrara but if they upgrade it it might be the best $65 I spent in the DAZ Store.

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    I hope they add iRay to Carrara but it seems that Carrara uses Octane Render from reading this thread which I hear I supposed to be good. I've yet to eveen try Carrara but if they upgrade it it might be the best $65 I spent in the DAZ Store.

    We also have the Luxcore render engine available currently for free.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/50130/luxuscore-carrara#latest

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Misty,. :)

    It could be the resolution of the "softbody",.  or the object it's colliding with,.

    open a thread and post some screencaps of what you're doing,.. if you want.

     

    Nonesuch :)

    Octane isn't built into Carrara,. (just to clarify that)  :)

    Carrara has a great quality (photo realistic) renderer built into it,.  take a look at some of the rendered images in the threads here,. or any Carrara products in the store.

    It also has a "Non photo realistic" render engine (toon), and there are plugins available for LuxRender and OctaneRenderer.

    Carrara is a full 3D Suite of tools ,. and although Genesis 3 isn't currently supported,. you shouldn't let that hold you back from opening it up and seeing what it can do,. it's a very powerful toolset.

     

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144

    I hope they add iRay to Carrara but it seems that Carrara uses Octane Render from reading this thread which I hear I supposed to be good. I've yet to eveen try Carrara but if they upgrade it it might be the best $65 I spent in the DAZ Store.

    Octane Render is available as a plugin for Carrara - it is very good (I wouldn't be without it myself) but it is not included in Carrara and it is not cheap. Carrara's own renderer is very fast and capable though with the right settings.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,032

    I hope they add iRay to Carrara but it seems that Carrara uses Octane Render from reading this thread which I hear I supposed to be good. I've yet to eveen try Carrara but if they upgrade it it might be the best $65 I spent in the DAZ Store.

    We also have the Luxcore render engine available currently for free.

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/50130/luxuscore-carrara#latest

    Thanks. Thanks to PhilW and 3DAGE too. I look forward to making scenes in Carrara this spring and summer.

  • donatodonato Posts: 22

    The codexes are all out of date.  The program isn't keeping up.

     

    My favorite program ever and I'm afraid it's gasping it's last few breaths.

  • wikitimewikitime Posts: 36
    donato said:

    The codexes are all out of date.  The program isn't keeping up.

     

    My favorite program ever and I'm afraid it's gasping it's last few breaths.

    Agreed. :(

  • aspinaspin Posts: 219
    donato said:

    My favorite program ever and I'm afraid it's gasping it's last few breaths.

    Dont worry, Daz3d managed to stop every gasping of programs they bought in the past.

  • ScarletX1969ScarletX1969 Posts: 587

    So, I apologize if I'm sounding like a broken record (and I'm sure the forum SAs are gonna post all kinds of links to other threads about this very topic.  Please do not.  I know I'm beating a dead horse), but I cannot help it.

    I simply love Carrara as most users here do.  As someone whom has paid hundreds of dollars for content, software, and PC memberships since 2004, I would like to know at least some definite answer as to whether or not Carrara 9 is in the pipeline.

    I'm not interested in knowing about new features or anything like that.  The community has covered that base.  I would just like to know if you are at the very least, doing small but crucial development work on Carrara, if for no other reason, for me to continue to spend my money here.

    And I'm not interested in SAs telling me that they spoke to someone around the same time last year at noon that yes, Daz is working on Carrara.  Just throw us a tangible bone of some sort.

    No disrespect to SAs, I know you are doing your job but it's frustrating not knowing whether or not a software you bought and use is being worked on.  I'm sure a lot of people here feel the same way.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited July 2016

    Which is why there are several other threads  covering just this question,  some of which actually have feedback from DAZ_People.   Not quite certain what an "SA" is,  but DAZ_People are actual employees of Daz 3D.

    The best way to get your feelings heard by Daz_People is through filing a ticket with Customer Services,

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • ScarletX1969ScarletX1969 Posts: 587
    Chohole said:

    Which is why there are several other threads  covering just this question,  some of which actually have feedback from DAZ_People.   Not quite certain what an "SA" is,  but DAZ_People are actual employees of Daz 3D.

    The best way to get your feelings heard by Daz_People is through filing a ticket with Customer Services,

    Thanks for merging.  An SA, in IT speak, is System Administrator (although on the street it might mean something else...lol).  When I said "No disrespect to SAs", that was to the forum SAs whom I know work volunteerily and have to police these forums for dups or misconduct.  I don't think Daz_People will address when Carrara 9 is coming out or whether it's being developed on, but maybe you guys know a little nugget or something.

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,989

    we're all mushrooms frown

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,326

    < Waves his hands towards Utah, using the force as powerfully as he can muster >

    There will be an updated development of Carrara - and it will kick total ass ankle!!!

    Truth be told, Carrara is also my biggest reason for my perpetual shopping at Daz3D. I keep working with (in) Daz Studio to get used to it a bit more. I feel as if I owe it to Daz3D to work with their in-house designed and built masterpiece software. 

    I'm very proud of them for taking it (D|S) as far as they have, knocking on the doors of all of the latest and greatest technologies, while incorporating the finest commercially available rigged figures into its gears through and through... it's actually quite ingenious - and I applaud them. 

    When it comes to what "I" want to do with all of this, I still find everything else besides Carrara to fall very short of fulfilling my needs, where Carrara exceeds my needs, causing me to propel deeper into the industry that I had originally planned.

    I like Poser, I love 3DS Max, never tried Modo or LW (or several others), really enjoy the tools in Maya, enjoy the heck out of Daz Studio - and may have even been happy using any of those choices if I had never tried Carrara. If Carrara ever dies, I'm not sure which software choice I'd take on next. Probably start by messing around with Blender and likely leaning towards C4D, Modo, or Z-Brush. 

    I will never abandon Carrara, however, unless there was no way to run it, which I don't see happening.

    So, for me... I will mostly stick with buying products that I know are compatible with Carrara. For me, having to export something as an OBJ and import into Carrara that way is not compatibility, so I simply won't buy stuff with those requirements.

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