Thanks for the reply

Ha ha!...yes, i've now got the full carerra software and finding out that almost everything you've said is exactly what I'm thinking. It hadn't occured to me though to use carerra instead of Poser. I'm just so happy I've at last got a render/modeller that can import Poser scenes and textures.

Yes, I think c5 has lots of benefits over cinema, but it falls woefully behind in it's ability to create models. Funnily enough the c5 model methods are much easier to learn than cinema's, but there's lots of things one can't do. I was quite shocked to find that c5 can break up a spline but cannot join it together again. I also don't like the instant 3d effect from spline shapes. I want a shape I can edit BEFORE I extrude it...and there's no cog shape or all the other useful prefabricated shapes.

The c5 package comes with a demo version of Hexagon, which promises the facility to make more sophisticated models. That might be so, but I've got the demo on two discs and neither came with a key to unlock the demos. Someone's slipped up there.

Other things I love about c5 are the 'oh so much easier' shaders, also the fact that the program has quite a bit of Vue thrown in with it's landscaping and plants. Heck, it's even got a much more interesting plant generator than Bryce 5.

My one moan about c5 is that when I import a Poser figure or scene, the program freezes when I try to do anything until it's transferred all the textures.  I think, like Textract used to do, it is having to search through the runtime and extract all the texture files. Then I find it best to immediately save the scene content 'internally' within c5. The trouble then seems to be that the c5 file gets progressively bigger and takes much longer to load.

Anyway, I'm just finding things out at present. I think I'll stick with cinema for making sophisticated models and use Poser for posing but c5 for scene composing and final render.

Does anyone know if c5 can create cr2 or rsr format characters and props that are compatible with Poser?   And if so, is it also possible for c5 to create 'easy pose' figures?