(Yes, I will totally make word-plays on my site name, or anything else I can get my hands on.)
BIOI got into 3D rendering in mid 2004 with PoV-Ray. I've done a few interesting things with that program, but I never got deeply involved with it.
In the fall of 2004, Daz had a contest on DeviantArt that had quite a hefty amount of prizes. It looked very interesting, and they offered free software with which to work with. So, I downloaded the current beta of Daz|Studio and went to work with what they had available. I've since become absolutely hooked.
Daz|Studio has hit version 1.0 now, and I can't wait for the software developement kit to be released. The flexibility of the software is vitally important, and it's still missing a few key utilities that are available for Poser.