I don't know what to say.  You guys have really given me a lot more depth of response than I dared to hope for.  Thank you all for the thoughtful replies!  Meanwhile I'm busy trying out trials of pretty much everything.  It's too bad Softimage trial has a 30 day limit as it takes longer to really get a sense of whether a given app meets one's needs and fits with the workflow.  I'm tempted to enroll in school just for the educational pricing.  I don't care if I can't make commercial works with it.  It's just something I expect to become a serious hobby.  Moi looks pretty cool too.