Quote - First learn terminology of 3D, the basic one. Wings 3D is great free app to start with, and get feet wet in 3D. Play around with tools and primitives, get a feel for 3D space. Poles are part of topology, its advanced theme that comes way after you get basic and intermediate level. There is great forum here for Wings 3D, peeps are very helpful. Forget about Maya, Max, etc, those are production apps for professional use, and prices are according to that. As for starting with less "powerful" app, don`t worry about that. Its the artist that make art not the app.

I totally agree. I was about to suggest Wings 3D until I started reading all the posts and saw this one. I was directed to Wings 3 months ago when I was 1st starting and once I got the hang of it I was making so much crap I didn't know what to do with.  lol

But that aside, once you get a feel for Wings, do a right click, Import Image plane, select the reference pic of your choice, and build your model around it. After sum1 told me about that lil feature my whole game stradegy changed!

Anyways, it's all I know right now, and with the new features they are working on (a primitive sculpt function with push, pull, and smooth) I see myself using it for the forseeable future.
And BTW, if you tried Blender at all and your mind just about exploded with all the keyboard commands you hafta remember, then Wings is definately for you :o)

                                                                                                                    

Poser 10

Octane Render

Wings 3D