Some of the reasons why Lightwave choice is a no brainer -stability -industry proven -massive 3rd party support -greater workload -more accepted -better rendering -better effects -better implementation of features standard with package -more complete solution I see what you are saying, but Lightwave is not made for the faint hearted. I have both 3DSmax r2.5 and Lightwave5 and Carrara cannot yet stand against them. Lightwave is not only good for film, many game developers use lightwave for low polygon modeling. It is one of the major reasons why it is a big seller. Most people really only hear about it beacause of its implementation in film. Lightwave is a great, all-around 3D solution, and Carrara can be but it is a not currently and that is the brainer. Engineering Interface, yep, I prefer it that way and many others do too. To me that is simpler but that is only my opinion as I don't really care for the little hands or rotating balls etc... To me those are just redundant features that act as nothing more than eye candy. I learn the keystokes and move on. I could care less about those things because when it comes down to it, and interface can be as pleasing as you can get it, but if the software doesn't deliver what it says it can deliver then it's still an underclass. You cannot say that one software is better than the other based on its difficulty to use. Carrara has an easy interface, but does a shitty job a many things like IK! What makes the difference is Stability and Dynamics. Can the software deliver what I need and can it handle the workload!? YES Lightwave can, and at the present time Carrara cannot. Now that it is in the hands of Adobe, oh yes, I expect to see some good things come out of it or I would have discarded it earlier.