Well, just to round things out a bit, since the answers here have been mostly pro-lightwave, I also had to choose between the two and decided on Max. There are hundreds of plugins for Max as well, both commercial and freeware, that extend its functionality to rival even that of Maya, especially if you look into Character Studio, Reactor, and Combustion (which I bought as well). I'm an industry professional who uses Maya and Soft (as well as others) at work, but Max is my weapon of choice at home for modeling and animation. I find it extremely flexible and powerful. It costs more to get the "total" package, but I enjoy it a great deal. I have seen Lightwave used in the TV industry, and it's certainly a decent package, too; My advice is to try both and go with your strengths. If you're job hunting, it's likely that experience with either one will apply fairly well towards using the other as needed. Many principles are similar, and employers know that. --