I started in 3D with TurboCAD 3D, this cheezy cheap excuse for CAD, (i prefer autocad now). Yet, i was able to make 3d objects and render them, which was mindblowing. I then found bryce 2, totally stunning, after which i had to upgrade to bryce 3d, and then version 4. The problem with bryce is that its renderer just isnt all that powerful. So i needed more. 3dsmax had the power, but i lacked the knowhow, so i went to rhino. Excellent program, you can make ANYTHING in a relatively short time, yet again, lacking rendering capability. Enter...Carrara, the perfect vehicle by which to render my creations. It's built so much like bryce that the familiarity alone made it plausible to use. And now, since the current update, its better than ever. I have dipped my hand into a few other packages, most notably Alias|Wavefront, but i just cant grasp that yet. Good luck to all future 3D artists!