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[zeebo]

I'm looking for the best 3d modeling/animation program out there.  The best program considering the features, user friendly, etc.  Not the price.  I know of most of the 3D software out there from some searching, but there are alot of biased forums.  I know everyone here will have their opinion, but I still want to hear it.

Most of the 3D programs I know of are:

3D Studio Max
Maya
Rhino
Cinema 4D
Softimage
Houdini

If there are any others that are good, let me know of them.  Let me know which one you believe is the best from the group listed above and if your favorite isn't listed, let me know of it.

I'm really wanting to go big with modeling/animation to add to my photoshopping, so I can possibly start my own website that covers Flash, 3D, and Photoshop.

Thanks!  

[socalx]

ya blender is a good program but kind of hard to use and if were to do tutorials on the web they are kind of confusing too because if you dont know what the hotkeys are or dont know where anything is then there hard to do.oh and thnx metal helped me out too

[zeebo]

Thanks metal.  I'm a pretty decent drawer, I've been taking art classes for quite a long time now and always been able to draw fairly good.  It runs in the family from my dads side and I happened to inherite that gene.

I've been saving up my money for a long time, and I know the cost of these programs.  Therefore, I'd rather not start in blender so that I don't get too confortable with a program that cannot do as much as Maya or Max.

I totally agree with the online tutorial thing.  They lead to bad habits and alot who use them go to tutorials for everything.  Every time I'm in the mall, I stop by Walden Books.  They let me just sit there for hours reading their guides.  I never really took the time to read a book about Maya or Max, because in the past I've always been interested in programming and Photoshop.  Now that I'm confortable with both, I'd like to extend my work with 3deminsional art.

Thanks for your post, really helped me out .

[Hazanko]

PERSONALLY i've used Maya AND C4d, among a few other small proggy's out there, and i'm gonna have to tell you that they are maya and C4d are BOTH very amazing programs... i haven't gone very far as into animating in C4D but i have animated in Maya and i really like they way thier program is organized.
as Metal said being able to draw can be a REALLY good help to you, unless you are going to be modeling things that already exist. if you're doing models of some kind of creature or something you thought up, then drawing skills are essential.
it's been awhile since i've used Maya, and i haven't really done much in C4d(as animating goes), nor have i really experienced much of the full extent that the programs can actually go to. for both programs, i just fooled around in them until i learned how to basically use the program(and a few of it's features)
but as tutorials go: i WOULD not recommend tutorials other than when you JUST installed the program; after you've followed one tutorial, then work on your own(or take a class as MD said). IMO, 3d programs are really hard to just open up after first installing/using and be able to use the, while programs like photoshop you can just open up, and things are pretty much self-explanatory in most cases. after doing just one tutorial, it'll usually help you in learning where some of the buttons/features are placed, and what the basically do... without learning a few of the simple aspects of the program, the program can be extremely confusing