Welcome aboard. There is a ton of stuff to cover. I would look thru the manual first. Go over what you know and what you don't. The assembly room, texture and render room is where you should spend most time based on what your background is(stay out of storyboard).The included presets are very helpful for learning, as well. There is alot of good stuff just there. There is also a very active yahoo lists(Carrara)and many other places.Eovia3d.net is also very good.A new consolidated site is in the works to replace the yahoo list of many yrs.

No need to think outside the box....
    Just make it invisible.