Blender.org

Blender is so quick that most hobbiest's do not need to setup a network renderer, so I don't think a lot of people have used it. Both of your questions are easy to test though. (I would test them but its just as easy for you to test it as it is for me to, so your going to have to do the leg work) :)...

Just to add to this, you need to be in orthographic mode for the background images to show up... (numpad 5 will toggle between the two)

Use the sequencer to run animation 3 times, and or
extend your animation so it circles 3 times and rerender.

There is a "style" quality to it. Texturing is a big part of it, but modeling also can play a part. For example look at this post: http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20562 The models all have a certain quality to them. Again just start simple and get it the way you want it, working your wa...

Start simple. Start with the road. You'll want to look at uv-mapping to
get a nice looking road.

Then maybe work on some of the simple objects the semi boxcars, cones, lamp posts etc..
Then tackle a building.

Do a google search for blender road to get started...

It depends... ;) Seriously though your asking a question without giving any details. It could take blender 5 minutes to render a frame, it could take it a day. It depends on what your rendering and how complicated your scene is. It's pretty easy to do things wrong and make it take longer than it rea...

Google is your friend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vj5vI9PYS8 (second link in a google search for blender moving grass)

I'm not a big python fan....

Why not just use an if statement though?

if ob["ObjectIsCustom"] == True:
isCustom = True
else:
isCustom = False

or something similar?

If your going for simple, You could just name all of the materials on your special cubes differently. example: red for normal cubes, myred for the special ones... You could also add a custom property, however you would need to export to a file format and or write your own exporter that will add the ...

It has the complete version. (I'm not sure if its the "latest" version
but I think it's updated every time there are major updates to bullet.)

You don't import/export, you use link or append. If you link it the new blend just references the other blend file. If you append the data is copied over to the new blend. If you want to keep it simple append the scene from the first file into the second one, that way you'll get everything and you c...

Try this. Take the default cube, go into edit mode. Select say the top face. hit x and select delete faces. Then select 3 of the verts, (shift right click) then use f to fill it. Then select the other tryangle you want and fill it. One note, if your verts are not part of another face they will get r...

You probably want to look at some tutorials and or hang out on blenderartists.org. Fuse: Do a google search for fireworks blender that should get you started. Also do a google search for signature blender for some extra ideas. #2. Create your finished object. Then use key framing to fold it into a s...

Startup blender, look at the file formats you can import and then
use google sketchup and export to one of those formats, and then
import it into blender.