Just out of curiosity, what other 3D programs are you familiar with? The reason I ask is that I have found Carrara quite easy to grasp once I read a bit of the manual, and did a few tutorials. There are many available tutorials, either free, or commercial, in several different formats such as video, webpage, PDF, instructional CD/DVDs, etc. I see that you've been a member here at R'osity for a long time, yet you don't currently have anything in your gallery; not that it means anything.