As mentioned above there simply is no comparison. Poser is an awesome tool for what it does, but it is not really a "prime time" level general purpose 3d tool. For one thing, it has no modellign abilities to speak of, and it has basically no ability to handle large scenes. The "foundation" version of XSI is about the best all around value these days. 3DS Max is good, but expensive. Lightwave is seriously out of date and Maya is (thanks to its purchase by the folks who make 3DS Max) on very shaly ground. http://www.softimage.com/Products/Xsi/v5/