My advice is Lightwave. You can do anything you want to do in that app. If you really want to start animating - get Animation Master (99$). There's also an animation set up plugin for LW - sl pricey but the combo is way less than Maya (shudder), 3D Studio Max (horrors). or Rhino. AM uses nurbs to make chars, BTW (similar to Maya in that area). If you want to get confused - try Bryce. Yikes! The other apps mentioned are nice and the price is right but they all fall short after awhile. It all depends on what it is you're trying to do. I tried them all - settled on LW and never looked back.