Carrara is no longer getting updates, as far as I know. I want to replace the functionality of Carrara and preserve the ability to use most of the 3D content that I already have. I listed the functions of Carrara, and listed plugins for Studio that replace those functions. Studio is the anti-headache software. It is designed for ease of use with lots of support for ease of learning. It is the opposite of headaches. Depending on sale prices, the plugins that I listed (which includes the ability to make custom content, not just pose other people's content) total to about $150-$200.

Sounds like Cheetah and Shade are great. Look forward to hearing more about them.