I second dvlenk6's recommendation of Wings as a modeler. I do this because it's my favorite modeler, and because it vexes TheBryster so.  I'll bet Analog-X is as anxious as I am to get hold of Carrara6. I still love Bryce and use it. As D_A_M says-"But for me it comes down to time, and Bryce's ease-of-use means I can get up and rendering an idea quickly." Bryce is still very hard to beat in that respect. I still use and prefer Bryces terrain editor for designing heightmaps for import into Carrara.