The right textures and lighting can help even the default Poser people look pretty good. John-on-the-Run and HappyWorldLand have good free textures. You can find some global lighting sets in free stuff here, and the tutorials at Poser Arcana are quite good in helping you to set up spotlights. Kozaburo of DigitalBabes has excellent free hair, and a tutorial, too! :) Traveler of MorphWorld 3.0 has created thousands of morphs, and he has tutorials on his site and at Runtimedna. I'd suggest learning how to compose, texture, and light your basic characters before spending a small fortune on the premium characters, clothes, props, scenes, and all the other goodies. (The prices asked for various items are very reasonable, but it does add up.) As a Max user, this should be pretty fast for you. We have some incredibly talented people here and in the other Forums. They have pushed the program beyond what its designers have envisioned. Most of them are willing to help by answering questions or leading tutorials. Carolly