I will make some suggestions, too. First, try demos before spending more than a couple hundred dollars on any program. Price is not a factor of how good the program is. You need to know how good it is at what YOU want it to do, and how comfortable you are with its tools and interface. If you are stymied at Maya's learning curve or hate 3dSMAX, it won't matter that they are "industry standard" for various parts of certain industries... they aren't for you. Try the free programs. You'll be amazed at what is available. Have fun playing with them and getting a feel for using digital tools. Maybe you prefer entering precise numbers into a box or maybe you prefer to grab a mesh with the mouse and treat it like putty. Maybe you prefer a drafting interface with everything lined up just so (you adapt to it), or maybe you prefer a softer friendlier interface where you can change the colors and move items around to suit your work habits (it adapts to you). Maybe you prefer a package with a printed manual where you can mark pages with sticky notes and prop it open, or maybe you hate manuals and rely upon tool tips and whatever help you can find in the menus. This is the time to determine if you prefer decorating surfaces (painting, texturing, postwork) or building in 3D (moving objects around a scene, and then rendering). Check to see how well the programs play with others: what sort of import and export files are accepted, and what sort of plug-ins are available. We seldom make an image in just one program: some programs are better for figures, some for model-making, some for backgrounds, some for rendering, and some for postwork. You don't want to spend more time trying to wrestle your scene into another program than you spent setting it up! (Arguing with the computer is not making art.) And some programs are next best to impossible. Hash's AnimationMaster is a wonderful program, but it stands alone because nothing can get imported or exported. :sigh: Look to see if there is official and ongoing product support (you probably don't want a dead-end product what will never be upgraded) and also check for user support groups (like this site... you can get faster help online from other users). Finally, don't try to learn everything at once! That way lies madness (or major confusion) Carolly