@replicand: thanks for your thoughtful post. I admit to being tempted by some of more pricey modeling apps, to go beyond the content driven poser world, but I find it hard to justify so much money for a hobby that fascinates but that I'm frankly not the good at, and I'm not sure I have the self-discipline to get better. I have zbrush now and I'm struggling to do more than create simple morphs and textures with it, and it is capable of so much more in the right hands. I feel almost guilty having it; which is silly I guess, but keeps me from buying modo, which some days I want desperately. Sigh.