I agree with the others, Carrara 3 is a great app, especially for someone like me who does not get much time to use it. Since it is easier to use then many other apps, I can use it casually and still get good results. Plus when I am ready to do more serious 3d work, C3 has so many features that I have not even touched, so I always have something new to try. I think the render engine in Carrara 3 is brilliant. Some people, that have used more traditional 3D modeling apps prefer a more robust set of tools then C3 offers, (I don't see why as I have seen awesome things modeled in Carrara) With that in mind there are several FREE versions of software available now, that compliment Carrara. Here is what I have seen and or have that were free: Amorphium 1.0 (Free on 3D World #16)(Mac/PC) Amapi 5.15 (Included in C3 Studio, and was available on Mag CD)(Mac/PC) TrueSpace3 (Free on 3D World #33)(PC Only) Cinema 4D CE (Same Features as XL6)(Free on 3DWorld #44) IntelliCad 2000 (Free on 3D World #26)(PC Only) Pixels 3D 3.7 (Free on 3D World #23)(Mac Only) WorldBuilder 2.3 (Free on 3D World #44) (PC Only) Vue d'Esprit 2 (Free on Computer Arts #55) (PC Only) These are just a few of the FREE Pro apps that I have seen and some make a great compliment to the Powerful C3 Render Engines. Hope it helps, Paull