Attached Link: http://www.vizualds.com

I wouldn't say they a large company, but they are a dedicated company. They have offices in the US and in Europe. They are one of the few companies that directly interacts with the user base and they do listen to suggestions. They even had a chatroom event recently where you had a question and answer session for the developers. I do find it odd they haven't updated the promotion. Probally gearing up for the release of Hexagon. OR they are extending the promotion. As for the userbase size. I'd say they have a pretty large user base. I've heard counts of in the 100,000+ range of registered Carrara users. The yahoo list has about 2500+ very active members. With anywhere from 300-1000+ posts per month. Also, there is a Eovia supported forum site in the works to be launched that from what I've heard will have a gallery, and a download section. There are also some very active plugin developers: http://www.digitalcarversguild.com http://www.inagoni.com All reasonably priced. And as the other Brian said 3dxtract is a great resource to take advantage of with its own active forum. As to whether all that meets what you are looking for thats up to you. I've been happy enough to use Carrara since its beginnings. Brian