yeah, the watermark is annoying...if you lighten up the background though, it makes it disappear a lot and it's easier to model. i had the use of full version of maya while in school, but no longer...i want to get the student version cuz i'm not rich :p does the student version have a watermark? i know it's not for commercial use, but i'm wondering if it's similar to the houdini apprentice where there's just a tiny watermark at the bottom?