It seems like a lot of people are hung up on a term Professional. Professional has nothing to do with the amount you pay for a program, the classes you take, or the money you get paid for using an app. Take a look at V5 Infinite. They were going to call it professional, but let's not get hung up on names. We're talking about a program that's got some great radiosity, renders relaively quickly, seems stable, makes amazing use of instancing, integrates with other 3D apps, and costs $600.00, not $3000.00 plus classes. The workflow is ok (not the fastest, but not as muddled as Poser is). The point is, it's not the app, it's the artist that makes great works of art, HOWEVER, the app is the artist's tool, and if you have a styrofoam hammer, it might get the job done eventually, but there are better tools available. There's more to an app than price. Wings 3D is free, I believe. Blender was too, at least it used to be. What makes something professional is the results you acheive with it, and the efficiency of getting there. I can make a Poser render that looks like a photo, but if I can do the same thing with Lightwave in 1/10 the time, which is the professional app? (That's why I use Poser instead of Lightwave for 3D people, but still render in Lightwave.)