C4D is not inexpensive, but the base app is about $600. The two modules worth having besides the base app are Advanced Render and, especially for animation, MOCCA (Soft IK and easier interface to rigging), which are $500 and $400 respectively. It's actually cheaper to get the XL Bundle for $1700, since you also get Net Render, Pyrocluster, and Thinking Particles modules (saving several hundred dollars). If you can live without radiosity, caustics, and depth of field in renders, you can avoid Advanced Render. As you can still do bone rigging, IK, etc. without MOCCA, it is optional as well. But, and the big "But!", features of MOCCA may be necessary for including morphs into C4D (not certain about this yet). LightWave is still the same price, $1600. Netherworks, I hope to implement morphs and ERC after bone rigging. These Poser features are mostly supported within C4D (in their own forms), but they are not as easy to translate between Poser and C4D as I'd like. :) BYS