I am a Subsea Engineer for an global oil drilling contractor currently workign on a rotational basis in Nigeria. I started in 3d about four years ago when I picked up a free copy of Realsoft 3d from a Computer Arts magazine on the way to work. I already had Cad experience so it was not to hard, then I transitioned through alot of software(C4D, Max....) until I settled on Eovia products. Carrara has a godd render engine that is simple to use, and Hexagon is a great poly modeler that is probably dead now. I picked up Amapi Pro as well and am waiting for the new version which will let me drop Hexagon. I have just recently started using XSI(5.2) and will start replacing Carrara with that. I like MoI because it is simple and quick, Michael has a big task ahead with regards to adding functionality and not adding clutter.