Carrara v6? and a Book question

[fbj]

I just noticed a reference to v6 on this page:
www.eovia.com/products/carrara5/carrara_pro_vs_std.asp - under the import/export section. Just curious if anyone has links/info on v6 features.

Also - the only book manual for Carrara 5 that I know of is the Eovia manual ($32 at Amazon) - but I read a bad review for it http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bi...rev/index.html

Are there any other C5 Pro books out, or on the way in the very near future?

thanks

[Thomas]

It's a mistake I think (5.1 and not 6)

[fbj]

Thanks - I just got this reply from the Daz/Carrara forum:

They are referring to file compatibility with the 5th and 6th version of the FBX file format, not carrara 6.

Sorry for the confusion.

[jval]

>...the only book manual for Carrara 5 that I know...but I read a bad review...

If you're new to Carrara or 3D modeling this book is actually rather good. The problem is that all the blurbs imply that it offers a *thorough* coverage of the new Carrara 5 Pro features and this is simply untrue. It covers a number of features but not even close to all of them.

- Jack

[marcovth]

Forget about the book, this is all you need ...
http://www.lynda.com/store/ProductIn...?productid=434

[pem]

Originally Posted by fbj

Also - the only book manual for Carrara 5 that I know of is the Eovia manual ($32 at Amazon) - but I read a bad review for it http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bi...rev/index.html

Are there any other C5 Pro books out, or on the way in the very near future?

thanks

The Carrara 5 Pro Handbook is the book that review refers too. It is not from Eovia but is published by Thomson Delmar Learning and the principal author is Mike De La Flor. He also was the editor and principal author of the preceeding Carrara Studio 3 Handbook. http://www.delmarlearning.com/browse...sbn=1584504633

I was a contributing author to both books.

For those new to Carrara or 3D, it is a good introduction. It takes a project approach to learning Carrara's tools. The book covers all the core features of Carrara, making it useful for anyone who has Carrara.

The main issue the reviewer, Ringo Monfort, had with the book is that it did not cover a majority of new features available in the latest version of Carrara. In defense of the authors, the book was finished about 4 months before Carrara 5 was available (because of publishing lead times), before Carrara was feature complete, some of the planned sections could not be completed before the deadline and the book was written to be inclusive as possible. Unfortunately, many people were hoping for an advanced text exclusively about the new Carrara 5 features and so were disappointed. As far as I know, no such advanced manual is planned.

Carrara comes with a good reference manual that includes some tutorials. It is in electronic format (PDF) but could be ordered separately from Eovia as a printed text. I am not sure if DAZ is continuing this practice. Regardless, it is cheaper and more environmentally sound to print out the electronic PDF manual at your local printshop in the binding of your choice (including many "lay-flat" bindings). Many printshops allow you to upload and order a print of a PDF through the internet.

At this time there is no other books out there on Carrara (unless you count the much older Carrara 1 bible.....). There are online and CD/DVD training tools for Carrara including the one from Lynda.com http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=196 , the one Ringo Monfort is producing (don't have a link yet) and a training CD from VTC for Carrara 4 http://www.vtc.com/products/carrara4.htm and what appears to be an upcoming Carrara 5 product http://www.softwaretrainingtutorials.com/carrara-5.php. If you compare the contents of these video training tools and the book, they are very similar as they are all for the beginning to intermediate user.

This site, eovia3d.net (now http://www.polyloop.net/ ) is an excellent resource for tutorials on Carrara.

I hope that helps.

[fbj]

Thank you very much for that reply. It filled in some missing gaps about my understanding re what to expect and what is available. I'm going to look into the PDF printing at my local printer -I had never considered that option. I guess there is plenty of material available....It's up to me now to study. Thanks.

[pem]

Glad to help. It would be nice to have an advanced book on Carrara or even an art book but books are a big undertaking and risky if your potential audience is small. With a larger user base now maybe we will see more in the future.

I forgot one more option for educational material on eovia products, the collection of material from 3DXtract. It used to be available for purchase as a CD but I can't see that option any more on the web site www.3dxtract.com however, there is a bit torrent test you can access from http://www.3dxtract.com/cfforum/view...srow=1&erow=10

Good luck.

[luisram]

pem: I have bought the book from Borders this week and so far so good. I comes with a CD with the tutorials files, it is writen in simple english with a very good introduction. As a bonus the last chapter is dedicated to Hexagon and other programs as well. The book didn't miss any aspect of Carrara. I'm glad I have it now.

Thanks.

[Corndog]

Pem.. I too purchased the book and I liked it.. I was very new to carrara and have beginner to medium 3d knowledge so it suited me just fine.

[dbigers]

Actually the 3D Extract issues are now available for free download. Try this link. Thanks to Thomas and of course to Carl for all the hard work, and to Thomas for hosting the files.

http://forums.polyloop.net/showthread.php?t=7809