I don't think you'll be disappointed with Carrara...maybe just that you waited so long to get it. ;-) I used to be a heavy Bryce user but use mostly use Carrara and Vue 6i exclusively now. Even with Bryce Lightening, renders take fooooooooorever. The Carrara render engine is faster than Vue's but Vue does handle a wide variety of atmospherics more easily. However, you can make Carrara do some pretty cool stuff (http://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1196007&member - http://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1114544&member) If you only do landscapes and don't want to create your own content, Vue 6i is very good. But if you even think that you'd like to work with Poser figures easily, create landscapes, create your own models or characters, import models and modify them etc., then Carrara is the way to go. Mark