Originally Posted by sunken

A lot of people suggest 3D Studio Max or Maya or one of those for 3D stuff, and they are awesome programs, but they are sometimes overkill. I have Lightwave3D (which I use for making 3D models if I need it), but I use Vue D'Esprit and Bryce for the actual renders. Both of these are much cheaper for rendering. There is a lot of free models and stuff for them if you don't want to make your own as well. For more info, Bryce is at daz3d.com, Vue is at e-onsoftware.com. Both programs do amazing renders. Just thought I'd throw them in.