thank you for the info Jazz
i have had a search to see what courses are available locally but there only seems to be distant learning via dvd's. and £180 i think i would be better with youtube LOL
i will concentrate on 2-3 design before looking into the other types of software, little point getting a head of myself. at first i will be cutting out 2D shapes, brackets, letters etc but if it works well and i get into it more then more complicated work like faces and other carvings could follow.