Aha, so I've arrived at the right time for the latest debugged gear, have I? I'll put in the extra RAM first thing next week, and then give it a blast. Thanks for your help, mate. 

 What's SR1? The max RAM I can load onto my iMac is 3 gigs - so that's a match, at least. I'm downloading Vue now.  

 Thanks, cspear. I'll go to e-on software now. 

Very nice composition values in your gallery, by the way. When you say, in Nightscene 2, "adding a figure added 90 (?) minutes to the render", does your RAM influence this? How much RAM have you? 

Thanks for the input, aeilkema. I will try the freebies first.

 Thank you, Vestmann. 

Thanks, replicand. I've just discovered that my iMac takes 3 gigs RAM maximum  - and have ordered it from RamCity. So I'll have to chug along with that.  

 Thanks, guys.

replicand: I've already earmarked 4 gigs of RAM. Are you saying I need 5?

Okay, so my shopping list now lists a RAM upgrade; Poser 8 (?), and Vue.

What about that Lightwave, Shade, Z-brush stuff?

Hmmm. Well reasoned, Trekkiegrrrl. It makes sense to start as you mean to go on, and as Poser comes with more basic kit, the extra price is negated. And if the Daz interface is different, there's not much point in learning it if you intend to graduate to Poser, is there?

I've also ticked off 4 gigs of RAM as a must have....thanks, NoelCan. 

The reason I've posted here is because I couldn't find an unassigned forum. But I do not exclude Vue and the other Poser alternatives - it's just that I don't know what they do!

Can anyone tell me? If I buy Vue, will I be limited to content designed for that program? And what about the other 'base' rendering programs?  

Lightwave, Shade, Z-brush? Can these add on to Poser?

Thanks, pakled. I'd been wondering how Poser and Daz compare, and if Daz is simpler to use I might do well to start there.

I'm planning to attach a separate hard drive to store stuff – but do you think my current Mac has enough RAM to handle the rendering demand?   

 Thanks, TrekkieGrrrl. There are so many options that I need guidance!