I know this would not be true for everyone, but to me $500 would be a drop in the bucket! Compartively speaking of course ... it's still cheaper than most good 3D software out there (3DS, Lightwave, etc.) ... granted it's very specialized. After spening money out the whazoo on AE, Premiere and boatload plugins, $500 seems like a bargain. Assuming the rendering engine was a "mean-machine." I would still consider something around $500 close to entry level in the world of 3D animation. It would be nice to have two options $250 and $550 versions. -Tim