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I still don't think it's that hot.   To me, it looked like they tried to map a CG texture over a live actor, kind of like they did with "The Mummy" to create the half-desiccated, half-regenerated scenes.  ...there's still somethign a little stiff or plastic to the movements.  If I didn't know this was CG, I would have thought she had way too much plastic surgery or Botox, and her face was partially paralyzed.

..as far as the best CG to date, it is a toss up.  So many movies go for a stylized look, there are few that try for true photorealism.  Shrek and the PIXAR movies are all stylized and cartoony.  Final Fantast VII: Advent Children has a dreamy, androgynous, anime look.    My vote would have to to go the new Star Wars trilogy for most photo-realistic, even though there weren't really any CG humans

[[/quote] You mean Wings3D?
Anim8or does everything (except physics).
[/quote]
Wings3D isn't stand-alone... Try loading it on a flash drive, and taking it from PC to PC.  If I need Physics, I go to my trusty 3dsMAX 9

You should be able to edit with perspective (and using the "Arc Rotate" feature).
As for rendering, stills should be no problem, and "Scene Mode" was created for motion.

Perspective is still an external view. I am referring to editing an object from within that object. 

Say you have a sphere inside a cube...  If you are in Flat shaded or Smooth shaded, you can't edit the sphere, because you can't see it. No matter how far you zoom in or how you rotate the view, you can't see through the box.  If you switch to Scene mode, you can place the camera inside the box and see the sphere along with the inside of the box, but you cannot edit them. 

Steve, I've noticed in some "Suggestions" threads you mention that a particular item is on your "To Do" list... Why don't you post your to do list on the website or forums, ranked according to priority so people won't ask for things you are already working on, or have planned? 

I know I'd be curious to know what the future holds for the greatest free, stand-alone 3D modelling tool (sorry, need to clean the brown off my nose now)

Ok, I know this has been more than a week, but I had a vacation in there somewhere.  Anyhow, this was the more detailed version, but I didn't like the way the Salon and Deckhouse windows looked, so i am redoing those, but I have added some real wood textures, although the deck is darker than I like.

As far as the extra details, this has more fittings, such as the horn, anchor winch, lifering, etc. I also rendered it in ART so it looks a lot better except for that feisty near-Z clipping issue at the bow.  I also included a pic of the prototype so you can see what I am working towards.

How about a perspective shot, so we can see the whole building? By the way, you may want to make the windows wider. 
...Edison didn't perfect the lightbulb until 1879, so for the 1800s and most of the 1900s buildings had large windows to allow a lot of light in, especially in the front. ...also, when a fight breaks out, you want nice big windows for people to get knocked through. 

If you want a good idea of what a western town looked like, check out some model railroad magazines or websites.  Most model railroaders stick to the late 1800s, or the 50s and 60s, and they model down to the trash in the alley!  ...most towns actually had a lot more buildings than you would think.   Just check out this map of Calico, Ca:  http://www.calicotown.com/townmap/  the map includes modern additions (they didn't have Bus parking in 1881), but most of it is the original town.

It is only in the movies or little flea-speck towns where everything was arranged on 1 street and had a handful of buildings.  ...just depends on whether you want to model Walnut Grove, or Tombstone...

How difficult would it be to implement an autobackup feature?  Those of us who forget to save before a test render would greatly appreciate it.    ...especially when we get the dreaded "Anim8or has encountered a problem and needs to close"

A lot of modern yachts have squared off sterns and shipbuilders have pretty much done away with the rounded boat-tail.  On the prototype there is a dive platform that folds down out of the transom, which I eventually plan to model the as well.

I haven't kept track, but I think I've been modelling as a hobby for about 5 years now. ...ever since I got my hands on G-MAX in MS Train Simulator.  I just checked my main model folder the other day and was actually surprised with how much I've done.  ...Everything from a flashlight to this boat.  Unfortunately i usually get distracted with something new to model so it sometimes takes me a while to finish a complete project.  A lot of the time I will model generic components that I can use later in bigger models.  ...switches, knobs, etc... I have a whole folder dedicated to just pieces and parts.