Another Cool Carrara 8 Pro Demo : Here's a simple animation of Mars using just a NASA map on a sphere and a distant light. Next will add a background using Dartanbeck's cool plugin, Starry Sky.
1:45 video, rendered at 900x800, 24fps in 36:20 on ASUS i7 laptop
Carrara 8 Pro (Version 8.1.1.12)
Artist Megacal had a life-long fascination with Mars & Martians since seeing War of the Worlds (1953). Now he has the tools and more time (but less money) since retirement in 2011, he hope to go there more often, and explore, looking for evidence of ancient Martians......maybe some live ones!