A good starting point would be DAZ|Studio. It's free, you can get it at www.daz3d.com, and it comes with some basic content (human figures, some clothing, a couple of animals, and some environments and plants). There's a DAZ|Studio forum here, the members can help you out when you have questions. The other option is Poser, available at www.e-frontier.com. They've got three versions: Poser Artist, which is rather limited but is also the easiest to learn, Poser 5 and its successor Poser 6. But those are not free. I'd suggest starting with DAZ|Studio and find out if you like it. Most of the work in the galleries is postworked in a 2D editing program such as Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Making an image that looks good straight out of DAZ|Studio or Poser isn't easy, and many artists fix up the imperfections. Photoshop is rather expensive, several hundred dollars. Paint Shop Pro is less expensive, and is also very good. I'd recommend downloading The Gimp, a free open-source 2D editing program, and try using that for fixing up your renders. I don't have a link for you, but Google will find it in no time. And don't be disappointed if your first tries don't look good. Making images with Poser or DA|Studio is like chess - learning the rules isn't too difficult, becoming a grandmaster is very difficult. And don't hesitate to ask for help here in the forums. I'd advise searching for advice in the DAZ|Studio forum and the Poser forum, the Poser Technical forum is dedicated to the "under the hood" mechanics of Poser. Which is very interesting IMO, but not directly geared towards making good images. And a warning: Poser / DAZ|Studio can be very addictive! It's great fun.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

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