Yes. The big boys are overkill for most people that say they are hobbyists. Maya was very confusing to me, whereas I get Carrara. I first started with ray dream and Carrara and Bryce and Poser all have similar interfaces thanks to MetaCreations. It took me a while to figure out how to move the camera in C4D and Maya, not as easy as the big ol track ball on carrara... It does seem that learning 3D first with Carrara or Ray Dream can be a good first step, although for a complete newbster some things in these apps are confusing. All in all I will continue to upgrade Carrara with every new version, as they always add new things that make it one step closer to the results of the Big Boys without the headaches and price. I checked out Cinema 4D (C4D) as it has been suggested that this can be as easy to use as Carrara (C2). I don't think it is, but that is me. It was not as intuitive as C2 or as easy to use. You have to think a bit different too, when using C4D over C2. Not to mention that for a beginner hobyist like me, $595 for C4D base is a bit steap. If you want caustics, raydiosity and rendering results that out does C2 then you need to spend another $500 for the advanced renderer. C2 is a much better value to me. Regards, Paul