3d animation software

[shredmaster]

i'm thinking of expanding the video production, multi-track recording and digital photography into animation as well. have never done it before but i know with many hours i will tackle it, as with everything else.

my question is...... what to get? i know it's $$$.

3d studio max or maya? i'm leaning towards maya.

yes i have very fast pc's... i have a video production co. anyway, as far as learning and just overall.....your advice.

thanks!

[krizz]

I use the program 'Blender 3D', it's not professional (though used by a few companies). It's VERY lightweight (only 5MB or so, but there's more in it than you'd expect!) and there are a few nice video-tutorials on the net to get started. I used to be a 3dmaxxer but I like the ease of Blender very much.

It can be used for games, 3d-modelling and animation. Very worth checking out.

Oh and BTW., it's open-source

www.blender3d.org

There's some nice modelling in the 'peugot contest':

http://blender3d.org/cms/Peugeot_Contest.493.0.html