jb - forgive me for preaching a bit, but frankly, I think you are wasting your time on Maya (for now). When you look past the interface and price tag (although Maya's price tag is hard to overlook ;-) ), all 3D programs are basically interfaces to create some 3D geometry, add surfaces and set up control points and parms as to where, when and how the geometry should move and deform. That, and the necessary code to "photograph" your surfaced, moving geometry, i.e. rendering. The difference between the apps is that some can do all of the above, and some can only do some of it. Maya is a do-it-all package, Poser is a specialized package for posing/animation, (mediocre) rendering and a bit of deformation (not real modeling). By buying stuff for Poser, you sort of "outsource" all the things it can't do to other people, or other apps if you make your own Poser stuff. The point is : what do you need Maya for? If you stick with Poser, you can concentrate on learning all the basics of posing, lighting and rendering, while "outsourcing" modeling, surfacing and setup to other people (by buying Poser stuff). Good animation, lighting and composition is not a question of software - look at the images in the galleries, some of them are right up there with FF in terms of quality, some are even better, IMHO. Rembrandt may have used scores of brushes, tons of exotic paints and wall-sized canvases, but throughout his life he kept practicing and practicing and practicing with humble pen-and-ink on humble pieces of paper.