I would like to add that while you are trying the different demos of some of the commercial products out there, that maybe you would give Blender a look. I have been using it for about a year. I cannot compare it to the pricy commercial apps because I have not tried them, but for a free peice of software, I think it is totally amazing. I have learned everything from the wealth of free onlione tutorials available, and there is a Blender forum right here on Renderosity.