Apologies in advance if this is construed as a spoon feeding post. I really don't intend it to be and just wanted some general advice if possible.

I started using Archicad 12 on my Macbook Pro at the start of last semester and have progressed to a useful level (still by no means 'competent') whereby I can produce drawings appropriate for the level of a 2nd year student undergraduate. I do feel however that I've hit a bit of a wall in terms of generating useful 3d renderings. I've toyed with Artlantis but from looking at some of the composite images on the presidents medals I can see that one needs to move beyond merely pressing render. I'm well aware Artlantis isn't the only package and so I'd love to hear some suggestions...

My photoshop skills aren't too poor and so I suppose what I'm looking for access to is a 3d rendering package that is a) able to take my Archicad model and process it and b) preferably available for free under the terms of a student license.

I do find user communities a very useful source of information when learning software packages and so any related links to these is also welcomed in tandem with a recommendation or two.

I hope I haven't put you to sleep with this question and thanks for reading.