No Programming or HTML needed. artistic ability helps. This is a good time to start with us because Poser 5 will be shipping out this month so there will many conversations about how to do something or other (we'll be just learning alot of the new features too) In the meantime go to the curious labs web site and download the demo. The demo only has 1 figure - a dressed male figure. But you can learn about the basics with it. try re-texturing the guy, see how he looks with different lighting, try posing (using the dials) Here at renderosity you can find tutorials, freestuff & help when you run into trouble. As far as what program to buy, My advice to a newbie is to only buy poser 5, P4 is cheaper but after the addiction sets in you'll want the features in P5 and buying them separate will cost more than if you bought P5 from the start. I would skip Bryce for now, I have Bryce 4 (rarely use it) and have heard that Bryce 5 was a disappiontment. As you gain experiance & through trial & error you will discover what elements to purchase, depending on your personal needs. Lastly I will add that while poser costs more than your typical off the shelf program, you will get alot more enjoyment from it (think about how often you use a program you bought 3 years ago? I've had Poser for 2.5 years and still use it daily)