Jess, thank you! :) I was getting to my own boiling point with all the stuff I was reading in the forums, but now that I've read your answer, I see that somebody else has said what I was feeling, so now I don't have to :).

And I agree with you, jt411! We should get more people to discover and use Carrara. I usually try to brag about it whenever I find people who'd listen :). But I'm not sure my art is good enough to do it justice, so I may not be the most convincing person to do it :(...