You certainly can't go wrong with Modo or Cinema. If your starting out I would highly recommend Lightwave as it has by far the most training material available (check amazon for books on the various 3d software). Truespace is priced about level with Carrara Pro since the price doubled from version 3 to 4. This is a good package that contains a lot of features built in (no plug-ins required). Download their demo and register you e-mail address. You will start to receive "special offers" of up to 60% off and FREE training videos for its use. Then there is SXI which is feature film quility and cost LESS than Carrara. Good luck in your decision.