Being cash poor, here's some freebies that I highly recommend: DoGA - kinda like putting together models from pre-built sub-parts - but also terrific for props and sci-fi stuff - you can export 3DFace DXF files that you can import into Poser: http://www.doga.co.jp/english Terragen - for creating ultra-realistic backgrounds - save as jpeg or bmp http://www.planetside.co.uk/ Go to PCPlus to download a free, full featured copy of Cinema 4D - use it to create props of all kinds - and truespace 1.0 - both of which have forums here http://www.pcplus.co.uk