Hmm. This has been an interesting discussion. I was thinking about buying Lightwave myself. Right now I'm using Carrara, but plan on upgrading some day. I've played with Max some, but I think Lightwave is more attainable budget- wise (I just missed winning a bid on eBay for sealed-in-the-box 6.5; I think it went for $720 or so, argh). My main interest is cartooning/comics, and I wondered if any of you have used Lightwave for that sort of thing.