Yes, 3D studio max is a great program and not too hard to get started with if you're at least an intermediate user. However, if you're a total beginner to computer graphics and you're not very computer savvy 3d studio max will probably make you short circuit. Also, you should know that 3d studio max is quite a piece of intensive software, I'm running a p4 2.0ghz, 512mb ram, nvedia geforce fx 5200 and I have occasional refresh problems if i click other windows, solved by minimizing and bringing the window back up, so would probably work best with 1g of ram. there are quite a few free programs like worldcraft and qradiant, gmax and a lot of other stuff. tell gmax to make a b3d pack! but, there are 'try before you buy' versions of 3d studio max if you're up to it. I just got 3ds max recently and have no prior exp with it but, similar progs. It is a bit of a steep learning curve for me but, the tutorials are very good and easy to follow.