Carrara is easy enough to use and has the options to save alpha and other info in some image formats. I like its rendering and staging features better than its modeling features. (The modeling room isn't bad, but I find other programs work much better for my particular workflow.) If importing a model, slapping on materials, and lighting is your thing - it's hard to go wrong with Carrara. (It's definitely not as confusing or clunky as some other apps in this regard.) And if you model things, but aren't all that fond of Carrara's built in modeling room - it covers a decent variety of import options such that it works well with other 3D apps.

As for Adobe acquiring Carrara, I'd rather that they not. As much as I'd like to see more investment in Carrara's development, I wouldn't care much for having such a neat program become unaffordable for those of us who are just getting by.

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Barbequed Pixels?

Your friendly neighborhood Wings3D nut.
Also feel free to browse my freebies at ShareCG.
There might be something worth downloading.