Links: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/research/reports/2001/srinivasan.html

I've been asked a number of times about how one views 3D models and how to show 3D models on the Internet. There are a number of free applications to create, manipulate and view any number of 3D file formats. http://www.blender.org/cms/Home.2.0.html is a very versatile application to create your own images and 3D models. there are many more applications this is just one.

http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/cortona/ is a plugin for your browser to view vrml files on the web and on your desktop. If you have your interested parties install the plugin on their machines they can view your 3D models.

there are also free application to edit images http://www.gimp.org/ is very good application that works very similarly to photoshop.

http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-2191_4-10398243.html is another free paint program.

If you already have something built and need to take a photo of it it's a good idea to have the best image you can (obviously). If you don't, a bad image gets in the way for the person looking at it. You always have to remember that it's an object that has never been seen before so all of the information in the picture has to be considered. that means the background and the lighting as well.http://www.andrew-whitehurst.net/3point.html is a place you can get an idea for lighting your work. lights don't have to be fancy just consistant. A neutral background is a must. A roll of butcher paper is cheap. http://www.designinflight.com/04July/diy_photography_on_the_cheap.html http://www.shortcourses.com/studio/tabletop/studio.htm are two examples of quick and inexpensive setups.