Mike,
Thanks for all the information. I'm not new to 3d modeling, I used revit for a long time but switched to mac. There I tried archicad but that app doesn't cover my needs. I know how to model in 3d but I don't know the specific vw commands. For example: I don't know how to make the surface from mars' post into glass. 3D modeling is 3D modeling but all the little things are different in the different apps. I haven't been able to find a book that explains the entire program so I'll try to get some answers here.
thanks,