Now that depends on a gret number of things. Do you want to be an independent, or do you want to work in a studio? Do you live close to any schools? Are you good at learning things on your own? If you want to be an independant, you can go either way. If you want to work in a studio, you should probably go to a school. If you want a good list of schools, pick up a copy of 3D magazine, or 3d Artist magazine. They have lots of ads for schools. most are in california, but a few are scattered around. Stay away from the art institutes international. I went to the art institute of philadelphia for almost a year, and can honestly say I didn't learn anything new. When you look for a school, find out what programs they will teach you. they'll have several. Make sure lightwave is one of them. They'll probably teach you 3ds max as well, maybe even a high end proggie like SoftImage, or Houdini. Now, if you're the type who picks things up fairly easy, you can go another route. Buy the program, go to a big bookstore, and get at least 3 books on Lightwave. Make sure they cover different topics. I suggest not buying them all at once. that way, you've already gone through a book entirely before you buy a new one, so you know what you already know and can find books with the stuff you don't know. (Follow?) Then, while you're working through those books, buy magazines. There's one or two that focus mainly on lightwave, and how it's being used in the industry. One that I know of is NewTekniques. Learn from them. Find tutorials online, and maybe even a forum like this one. there aren't a lot of lightwavers here that I know of, but there's got to be someplace out there that does. That way, you have 'classmates' to share things with, and learn from. That's about it. You'll learn about as much either way, although at a school you might learn a little faster.