try the demos... also you can get 3dxtract for some tutorials on carrara. personally I found C4D a little to confusing for me.. but I'm just a hobbist so if you are looking for pro work.. you'll have to play with the demos and feel them out for your self... I do believe that Carrara can do some very pro work.. (look at the Carrara community project image i posted here and get info on it at 3DCommune.com, this was done by mostly hobbst like myself and in spare time, looks as good as some things in maya and lightwave.. ok i'm pushing it.. but you can do great things with it. check out Mike De la Flor's stuff.. he uses it profesionally) anyway it's up to you I'd say again.. try demos and buy what works for you.

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Hexagon, Carrara, Sculptris, and recently Sketchup.