$7700? Nice gig! Congrats.

"Max 8 is almost like a different program compared to Max 3.1, it rocks"

Well, I think Max's biggest strength since version 6 is it's ParticleFlow system. One of the best particle systems in the biz that I've ever used, outside of some specialized software or Houdini Master. It also has one of the largest user bases, and there's literally tons of free tuts and plugins out there to enhance your experience with it. Not to mention, Max has always been on the cutting edge of rendering technology, particularly GI rendering, with engines like Vray, Brazil, and FinalRender having their start on the Max platform.

Maya is the best for character animation, hands down. However, if you don't know Mel scripting, you don't get the most out of Maya. Mel scripting knowledge is almost a prerequisite to using the software, which makes it less appealing to "artistic types", but is why it's used so often in big movie studios, who have technical directors to guide the artists.

Lightwave is probably one of the best all-around or general purpose 3D apps. It gives you a huge bang for the buck, and while it may not be as strong as Maya or Max for certain things, it can compete with any software feature for feature. I'd say go with this, unless you have a specialized need for one of the others.

XSI is a great one too, and reasonably priced. However, it's more complex to use than any other I think. Just my humble opinions of course.

Message edited on: 03/03/2006 17:32