Brian if your just wanting to start off by importing figures to render then Vue is most likely your best choice...cinema (or LW or MAX) would be over kill in this case.....but having vue THEN buying one of these apps wouldn't be a waste of the money you spent on Vue as it still does outdoor scenes better than the others...infact i reckon if you end up with Vue, a good 3d app like the ones mentioned, poser and uvmapper your set for any eventuality :o)........Steve