@RobynsVeil - Spent some time there this afternoon and didn't get much info I could use. Useful site, though...

@Lobo3433 -- Totally agree on Blender being much more user friendly. I tend to download every new release. It is a very powerful app, but as you say has a very high learning curve. I correctly set the NURBs path in the curve modifier.  I am having no luck in resolving this. It is mostly a matter of rotation that I am running into. I see in your screenshot that you have the X axis set as the Deformation Axis. In my example, I am using the Y axis as deformatin axis. I also see you have it working properly. No such luck here. I am still getting the cylinder or plane at the wrong rotation after setting the curve modifier. And in Edit mode, they change to a different rotation than in Object mode. I obviously am doing something wrong here. And yes, Andrew does talk a bit fast. I have the same trouble at CGCookie. These guys are good, but I think they assume that the end user has their knowledge, and therefore leave out bits of information that means success or failure. Andrew is using 2.59 and I am usimg 2.66. Could this be part of the problem?

Thanks to both of you for your input. It's back to the drawing board for me...

C~