Artlantis is an application specifically tailored to architects and makes a good effort to present tools plainly. With Artlantis 2, elements can be edited, so correcting modeling flaws is simplified from prior versions. I am developing a book called "The Artlantis Attitude: Making Great Art Without Breaking Stride" because i believe it can become that easy. Almost. But you don't wake up in the morning with the skills, you still need my book.
Cinema 4D takes much more time to learn but is a more sophisticated application, especially in the way it employs material surfaces. This is the major downfall of Artlantis, even with their new "MakeYerOwnShader" tool.
"Sub-surface scattering" is how apparent material surface depth is achieved - deep car finishes, gauze draperies, etc. Cinema and most other professional applications have this kind of ability. But it takes a long time to master since there are dozens of dialog boxes to wade through. Not that basic materials aren't in their library, but if you wish to excel in Cinema, there is considerable tweaking of light and material in both Cinema and Photoshop afterwards to achieve luminous, seductive artwork.
If you are an architect looking to present design ideas, stick with Artlantis, if you intend to move into full-time rendering/illustration work, get Cinema. And Photoshop. Photoshop is like Sugar Crisp: "Can't Get Enough of that Photoshop."
I'm just playing around here, but the attachment shows how far you can get in Artlantis.
Dwight Atkinson