Personally, I think Inventor Studio brings the Inventor line way ahead of Solidworks. It is possible (and quite simple, with a little practice) to do an entire FIRST level animation on Inventor Studio.

As for the Rendering time, I notice that the engine in Inventor 11 is slightly faster than that of 10. However, Studio in 11 is still slower than 3ds. I beilieve this will be fixed in 12, and the engine will be brought up to equal speed.