Mike - maybe it was mentioned already in this thread............gmax is free, you can use it for making characters and doing some animating. A lot of people start in 3d by messing round with extras for existing games, customising existing models etc. Here's one link to the download - http://games.softpedia.com/public/cat/4/4-1.shtml but if that's not working a search on google for gmax free brings up loads of alternatives.