I think your are right Birddie. That's what I will be doing to get started - Bryce and Poser - this is enough to get the creative juices stimulated. Also, I have spent the last few hours with Terragen - and I am really inpressed with it. There is one thing I have discovered for now - I do not want to use a program where I have to start from scratch - I don't want to design my own meshes, nurbs, textures etcyet. For now, I am happy with programs that have intutive interfaces and helpful tutorials. Maybe down the track I will design my own meshes, nurbs, textures etc. So that's my final conclusion: Programs that have intutitve interfaces. These seem to be Bryce, Poser, Terragen (someone wrote a good tutorial for Terragen - without it then it wouldn't be so good). The next progression, I'll give Vue a go. I think this is the most logical progrssion for me. I may also play around with Maya educational (in a few weeks or months time). Cheers. PS Thanks again to all. I am extremely happy with the quality of responses. Thank you for taking the time to assist.