Does anyone use these two apps and can you give me an honest overview of how they perform for you?
Hey Mentat,
I almost had the opportunity to review Carrara 2.0 but my video card wouldn’t work with it. But, what I was able to do and see was awesome. I really liked it. I couldn’t give you much more than that because I didn’t get to play with it long. Had to send it to another writer to review. I liked it’s work area more than other 3D apps I’ve used. I like their room setup where you work on an object in different rooms for different things. There were lots of other things I liked about it also but as mentioned I wasn’t able to get very far before I had to send it on.
I do have Amapi but haven’t used it in a while. Not by choice but by time constraints. If I had to choose between the two I don’t know because I didn’t have enough quality time with Carrara. Although, what I saw of it really looked awesome, but then I really like Amapi also.
Big help I am huh?
There is a demo of Carrara and Amapi. You should try them both and see what you think.
Thanks Vikki! I have been reading up on Carrara and Amapi. From what I can tell Amapi looks to be the big brother of Carrara but Carrara seems to handle all the setup for boning and animation and such. They have an excellent intro price on both bundled together right now of $499! But it is only until August 7th. The interface for Carrara looks understandable as it reminds me of Poser and Bryce (Metacreation influence there no doubt) I have looked at Rhino but it is still a little higher priced. I am not sure which one I would like better. I have not worked in any other 3D apps other than ZBrush so I haven’t a clue as to which one would work best for me.
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant about Carrara. The interface is terrifically friendly and very understandable. In the very short time I had it I was truly impressed by what I could do. 
First thing I tried of course what to model a head. It is awesome how that works. I’ll explain…
When I was modeling it, you actually only model one half of it. The other half is a mirrored copy sort of I guess. You work in points to get it started which is terrifically easy and then continue to add points and move them etc to get what you want. It was very interesting and you can jump back and forth between rooms to see everything as you work.
Carrara was very interesting and was easier for me to understand than the others. In the end it is all in what you like and like I said you should download the demo and try it. It is cool.
I just tried downloading the demo and it crashes every time I try to run it. It’s going to be a long day.
Hmmm, you don’t perhaps have a Rage video card do you? Let me get to my notes. Meantime post your machine specs so I can compare them with my notes.
600Mhz P3
16Mb NVidia Riva TNT2
384 Mb Ram
13Gb Hard Drive
Soundblaster Live audio
Win 2000 NT
This is a work computer is is networked.
Hey Mentat,
I’ve PM’d you a couple of times. Don’t know if you’ve received them.
Are your video drivers up to date? Do you have AntiVirus software running? If so which one?
If you have don’t have the latest drivers you should update. If after you update that doesn’t work, PM me and I’ll give you an email for contact.
If you already have the latest drivers for the video card, PM me and I’ll give you an email for contact.
It’s a network machine and controlled through our facility in Iowa. I can’t change the video drivers without messing up some of the network stuff (they put a specific driver set on my machine explicitly because of network compatibility issues). I will see if I can run the demo on my home machine. I have PM’d you back.
Hi Menta
Amapi has a curious interface 
You create on a virtual table and take tools with a speedy movment of the mouse on the screen ! Like or unlike it.
There is also a classic interface.
It’s a strong modeler but a little practice is neccessary !
I practice it but I have been never addict 
interface too inusual, but it’s my own advice.
Pilou
Ive been experimenting in Amapi. It’s a reasonably priced modeling program with some powerful features. Although it does have some simple animation capablities, most users model in it and render/animate in another.
For those of you who would like to augment Zbrush with a modeling software to export and import models, Amapi is a great choice because of its features and price.
In fact, you can get version 4 for free.
Hi Mentat7,
I have used both of these programs and they have very good features… 
- U will have to update the video card drivers ( as Vikki already mentioned) if U are to run the DEMO. Try installing it on a win98 machine, it is sure to work…
It works great on my Win ME machine at home! Thanks everyone!
I thought these two programs deffinately looked cool. When you actually dive into them and try to do some serious work though, what you pay for is what you get. You can’t expect a pinto to run like a porche. For the beginner though these programs should meet most of your needs though. I myself would save up 5 grand, buy a 3D BOXX(about 3 grand) and after already purchasing ZBrush, buy Maya Complete for 2 grand. I know it’s alot of money but you will be a thousand times more satisfied.
Sirquadalot I am also looking at Rhino. I have never used a 3D app like these before so I think regardless of what I start with I am going to be doing a great deal of learning first. One day I hope to get either Maya or Max but that’s a lot of cash to put out. Gonna have to save up me pennies first (and figure out how I am going to explain to my wife why I am blowing three grand on a piece of software :eek: )
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Gonna have to save up me pennies first (and figure out how I am going to explain to my wife why I am blowing three grand on a piece of software ) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah. That’s one I do practically weekly. (My wife is also my company’s bookeeper.) :eek:
Hi Mentat7
I just upgraded to Carrara Studio (which includes Amapi 5.15) from the old Infini-D, mostly for the animation capabilities of Carrara.
I have not worked that much with either program yet. Version 5.15 of Amapi does not have OBJ import/export which would be a big disadvantage in working with ZBrush because you would have to use DXF, which makes HUGE files and doesn’t include textures. Check to see if version 6.0 imports/exports OBJ before you buy!
If you interest is in modeling, Rhino is a good choice, with the following exception. Rhino is a NURBS modeler, and though it will import/export polygonal files, you can’t manipulate the vertices in polygonal models, such as what ZBrush creates.
I have considered purchasing Rhino, but since I already have FormZ, I have resisted doing this. FormZ started as a polygonal modeler, and has since moved into NURBS. It continues to support creation and modification of polygon based geometry. With version 4.0 to be released later this year, it should then have NURBS capabilities equivalent to Rhino, and scripting too!
Hope this helps a bit.
Chrisd,
Yup, Amapi 6 does have OBJ import/export.
I actually have Rhino and I don’t use it very much. I seem to get polygon modeling better then Nurbs. It is good if you want to make machinery though, it can be very precise.
I’m actually looking at buying Carrara too, it has a very nice render for such a low price, it’s polygon modeling tools are better then Rhino’s and I think it will work very nicely with ZBrush.
Hi Mentat and anyone else interested in Carrara,
I bought Carrara v.1 a few years ago but found it to be very buggy so I stopped trying use it. I recently decided to get the v.2 upgrade because of all the new features and the promise of more stability and I must say that it turned out to be a very good decision (rare for me ) It truly is a great program for the price and is a perfect compliment to ZBrush. Here’s a couple of quickie images I put together recently with ZBrush objects in them.
In the top image the hand and the chrome thing were made with the new ZSphere method in 1.5. Notice how the hand and sky is reflecting in the chrome, it did that automatically. The bottom image is a head that I modeled in ZB 1.23 and the freeform shape was made in ZB 1.5 . All objects import beautifully, just make sure “show backfaces” is on in the import popup window. Both these images were rendered with global illumination and a little spotlighting. You can also render with caustics if you want. My favorite thing about Carrara is the lighting. It’s very realistic and controllable. My main dislike is the quality of the rendering. Even though the new radiosity option gives it a smoothness it still has an inherent choppiness and rough edged look. ZBrush has the best quality rendering and I can’t wait to try the new ZBrush global illumination. I did a test animation with the new bones feature in Carrara and that seems to work well with Z objects as well. So much to learn though, which explains why I’m not around much. Playing with Carrara and Animation Master which I bought at a nice discount at MacWorld not to mention working 14 hour days these past few weeks… :mad: