Carrara Basics 2

[Artful Dodger]

Hi all, It's a simple question about CB2. I saw this in the store today and as far as not really playing around with a 3d app. would this be a good start for someone? The box said it came with lessons/training and a good amount of things to play around with for $99. I just wondered if it would be worth it to start out since a few EDU sites have it for $49.
I just want to make some cartoon characters such as those in Jimmy Neutron without feeling overwhelmed. I know how to use Flash so keyframes and so on wouldn't be trouble just I don't want my guy to look like he has a goiter and not a neck
Any input or even a few screenshots of your work would be great to see different programs texture/colors. Thanks again for the input/help

 

[ATD]

Hi all, It's a simple question about CB2. I saw this in the store today and as far as not really playing around with a 3d app. would this be a good start for someone? The box said it came with lessons/training and a good amount of things to play around with for $99. I just wondered if it would be worth it to start out since a few EDU sites have it for $49.
I just want to make some cartoon characters such as those in Jimmy Neutron without feeling overwhelmed. I know how to use Flash so keyframes and so on wouldn't be trouble just I don't want my guy to look like he has a goiter and not a neck
Any input or even a few screenshots of your work would be great to see different programs texture/colors. Thanks again for the input/help

I don't know anything about CB2 but I am pretty sure Jimmy Neutron is done in Lightwave (about $800).

http://www.newtek.com/

A lot of 3D apps will do that type of look, it depends on how deeply you want to get into it and how much you are willing to spend. It not just the look of the render you should look at but the character animation control as well. A lot of character artists prefer Maya, but it is neither cheap or easy ($2000 to $7000).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=6871843&siteID=123112

Also a few of the apps have free try out versions (like Maya). I would test drive a few of them before you part with your money.

 

[stylum]

Carrara is very good for that kind of stuff at that price point, it's got lots of 3d clipart and knowing flash you'll be animating in no time.
Your machine should run it nicely too

Major 3d packages have better rendering capabilities, animation tools and many plugins but are in a different league pricewise

For info on work done with the best of 3D packages visit http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=121

 

[ewinemiller]

Carrara Basics is a pretty good starting point for 3D. However, it's not a universal binary and it's based off the Carrara 4 codebase so it's likely it won't be updated to a UB (Carrara 5 is the latest version). Judging by your signature, that might be an issue for you. I find on my 2ghz MacBook Pro, Carrara runs nearly the same as on my dual 800 G4. If you use bootcamp, on the Windows side it runs quite nice. I haven't tried it under Parallels.

If you have any specific questions about Carrara, please let me know. My company, Digital Carvers Guild (http://digitalcarversguild.com), writes plug-ins for Carrara.

Regards

 

[elfin buddy]

If you're looking for something inexpensive, try either Blender or the personal edition of Maya. Both are entirely free, if I remember correctly.

 

[baleensavage]

Blender is very full-featured if you can stand the interface. It was written for Unix to be cross platform, so it is not very Mac-like at all (to really use it well you need a 3-button mouse). With that said, once you figure it out it's great. I just wouldn't recommend it as your first 3D app.

Last I knew, the trial edition of Maya is very very restricted and huge. You get stamps all over everything saying trial and it has limited rendering. Maya is also very complicated for a beginner.

I haven't tried Carrara yet, but I do have Hexagon, their entry-level app. Hexagon has a really nice interface and a pretty good beginners feature set. If Carrara basics is anything like it, I would recommend it.

Depending on what you want to do, you may want to try other specific 3D programs like Poser for people or Vue for terrains (both of which offer trial versions I think). Terragen is also supposed to be pretty nice and it is free. Terragen does 3D landscapes.

What type of 3D art are you looking to do?

 

[Artful Dodger]

If you're looking for something inexpensive, try either Blender or the personal edition of Maya. Both are entirely free, if I remember correctly.

I always recomend these two apps. myself but I haven't used them, only seen them a few times from guys at school.

ewinemiller
Carrara Basics is a pretty good starting point for 3D. However, it's not a universal binary and it's based off the Carrara 4 codebase so it's likely it won't be updated to a UB (Carrara 5 is the latest version)

Yeah I am able to get Carrara 5 for $129 EDU and LightWave 8.5/9 around $300 with the manual (EDU again).

baleensavage
Blender is very full-featured if you can stand the interface. It was written for Unix to be cross platform, so it is not very Mac-like at all (to really use it well you need a 3-button mouse). With that said, once you figure it out it's great. I just wouldn't recommend it as your first 3D app. What type of 3D art are you looking to do?

If there was a small how-to use Blender manual out there I'd give it a go as I have plenty of time to learn stuff so that's not an issue.
As far as 3D art just something to make my cartoon with, which would be about a 3-5 minute video at most. Also I'd like to see my character in a 3D pose just to see what he'd look like.

stylum
Carrara is very good for that kind of stuff at that price point, it's got lots of 3d clipart and knowing flash you'll be animating in no time.
Your machine should run it nicely too

Major 3d packages have better rendering capabilities, animation tools and many plugins but are in a different league pricewise

For info on work done with the best of 3D packages visit http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=121

I've been to CGTalk.com before but I've stayed in the 2D realm but I guess I'll peek in the other areas from now on

Thanks for the input and help as I'm going to download some trials and give some apps. a go this long weekend