Just to close out my contribution to this thread:
No, I haven't heard of REAL 3D — if it's as good as 3DS then it probably
is very good indeed. There's no question that programs like 3DS and
TOPAS keep getting better and better — and the competition has to
try and keep up. Remember also that Release 3 of 3DS is coming out
in October (at least, from what I can tell) and that will raise the stakes
yet once again.
I also do not in any way discount the support this forum provides —
if you are on CIS (obviously) then this is a big factor. 3D programs,
by their very nature, tend to be complicated and not always intuitive —
quality support such as is available here is golden and if you can't
get that it doesn't matter how good the package is (unless it reads
minds!).
All I can tell you is that I've seen lots of 3D programs and nothing
comes close, IMHO, to 3D Studio.