well i guess i will add a few of my own thoughts to this fourm though i am probably not qualifyed to really put to much into this debate. as a little background i started with lowpoly modeling for game design in the 3d game studio , useing it as my level builder itself. which in a way basically is landscapes and interiours of buildings etc. and for modeling organics in extream low polys it was Quark , or a few other extreamly small players that are out there. But as i continued to tinker with game design i really began to grow disatifyed with the way things looked due to the extream low poly useage and limatations i had to textureing my models , so i decided to shift form game design to art still sceans , and i hope to work on some animations eventually. the first steping stone i used into my transition was Blender. which was a good modeler for my beginings , but the interface i found was more then a bit of a pain , so after a few months tinkering with it to no avail i decided to test out some demos i first tryed 3dsmax which i found a very solid program , decent interface , but i dident like the feel of things , and i couldent put down on the screen things that i saw in my head or in my sketches i use as refrance next i tryed lightwave and truly that lasted about two days with me , i couldent get around the way the interface is. to many diffent applications in my mind , to much got lost in my confusion in that one but then i tryed Cinema 4d which i found was extreamly solid in many ways , the user interface was one i could work easly with and i felt compleatly at ease with , i dont know why but in many ways i can see simularaties with its user screen and game studio. so i stuck with it and i find its extreamly easy to work with , though if anyone here peers into the Cinama 4d message boards you would find me still asking tons of questions to the more experinced people there. because i admit it i am still very much a beginer and there is alot i have to learn about this application. and the various commertal and free plugins that are floating around the net. On the Con side of my choice i found that there is less tutorals around the net for this application , primarly because it seems the user base is quite a bit smaller then the other big boys (3dsmax , Lightwave , i have never looked into Maya so i dont know) so it can be a bit frustrating at times .. but i think i would make the choice again just for comfert with the application and that is what i feel is one of the most important things when looking for any application , you can choose whats the most powerful stat wise . you can choose what offers you more features , or you can find the one you can use with more ease. and i think the user ease with a program is the most important aspect of a modeler , the rest of the stuff is bounis. but many people would likely disagree with me . but thats the way i feel about the subject