I'd say that RDS 5.5 is a great package. It's the last in the RayDream line, and so many of the bugs that plague Carrara are worked out of it. (It still does have a few quirks, but it's not too bad.) For what you're wanting to do, RDS will server quite well; it'll do much more, too. And there's still a great deal of info on the web -- tutorials, etc -- for RDS. Plus, this forum is a haven for Dreamers who haven't moved on to Carrara. (Lots of Carrara stuff, here, too, and much applies to RDS.) I'd also suggest you check purplus.com. Last I heard, they had RDS 5.5 for around 80 bucks. (I bought my copy there a while ago for 130. Still feel like I got a good deal, though....)