CompuServe Messages

Jim, I d/l the recent discussion about alladin, which was a reproduction of a detailed advertisement, but since you have the real thing, I would be interested to know a little about its intuitiveness, i.e. the learning curve and whether things are obviously situated. Are there different rendering qualities, so that you can get a quick look and how does the animation compare to Lightwave which I've heard is very easy to use. I think if lightwave was a stand alone package I would certainly go for it, but I'm not fussed about video (yet?) and $2000 for a ray tracer isn't in my buget. Any Ideas? What would be the closest alternative? – Keir _