Im Pretty New

ok im kinda new to this 3d thing, well, ive taken about 3 years of school in autoCAD, so i know the 3d concept but, i mostly dealt with solid models. So far i created a mushroom, staple remover,and a  pod racer. The only software i have now is auotCAD 2000 and Rhino 3d. would you reccommend 3DS or what software do i need to create and render well, i think i need something better to render with than rhino, cause either im missing something or its not to good at rendering, so if anyone would give me any helpful pointers i would be very grateful.  

Yeah, the renderer included in Rhino sucks big-time. If you've bought a copy of it, I think you can download Flamingo from they're site ( http://www.rhino3d.com ) and that improves it a lot! As for 3D Studio, it is a hell of a lot bigger than Rhino, loads of options, but if you've got that kind of money Maya is supposed the leader of the pack.:)

Maya is HARD to learn..better off starting with Max..be warned, though, that you probably won't be inclined to switch after you've spent some quality time with Max ;D

i spent a good few years with Max...and when i switched to Mirai i never looked back to Max...
guess it depends on the user i guess.