I'm glad the feedback was helpful Magus.  I really like C4D also. All around I would call it a much better 3D package for a price similar to Strata, but in order to get it to render stills as good as Strata you're going to need the Advance Render Module which adds at least another $600 to the package. So I find Maxon's tiered pricing kind of deceptive. The company I worked for previously switched from Strata to C4D at my recommendation, but I couldn't afford it so I chose Carrara for myself after I left the company.

Just keep in mind, it's not the software but the artist that determines the quality of the work.  If you have an area you would like to focus on you can find some packages more specialized for those things, but in the end it's up to the guy pushing the pencil... or... the mouse in this case.

Miss Nancy, if you want to see Strata Images the best place to go is the Strata Cafe here:
http://www.stratacafe.com/gallery.asp

Chris Tyler is the resident render master, his gallery is here:
http://www.stratacafe.com/member.asp?ID=1249

John Hunter Barrie also does amazing spaceships:
http://www.stratacafe.com/member.asp?ID=2579

Mike Hopkins uses both Carrara and Strata I think:
http://www.stratacafe.com/member.asp?ID=7607

Dale Schulz - Does all his modeling in Silo, rendering in Strata:
http://www.stratacafe.com/member.asp?ID=229

Most of the good models you see there were either done in Silo, Wings or Blender then imported into Strata for render.