CompuServe Messages

John– >>If you've got a CD-ROM, then take a look into your local technical bookstore — many tools these days have non-saving demo versions available on CDs included with books… useful resource.<< Thanks for the suggestion, although I haven't been able to find demo versions of many of the "big name" professional programs available. I've talked to customer service departments and the general response seems to be that these programs (Lightwave, StudioPro…) are too complex to make "self-teaching" demo versions possible. They don't want users with insufficient training and documentation to get discouraged before actually buying. I've been looking to magazine reviews and online comments from people who use some of these packages to try to get a sense of each one's capabilities. I think it's time to just bite the bullet. Lightwave and StudioPro are two of the titles I seem to encounter the most. I've heard a great deal about Animation Master as well, but I haven't seen anything (as far as I know) that it has produced. And I haven't found anything that addresses cross-platform concerns. I'll likely start with Lightwave on the PC and see what happens from there. Thanks again — Joe