I'm aware of 3ds Max. Don't have the money for it. Then there's Lightwave and Maya people have been talking about. I've heard they're industry standards, but what I haven't been able to find out is which one to begin with. I'm looking to get into 3d Modeling, and although someone suggested to start with something small like Blender, would there really be a point in becoming familiar with a less powerful and possibly less compatible software program that'll just be replaced with better software in time? I'm curious of which application I should strive for, and furthermore, any tutorials that might help, for modeling and eventually character design and environmental design. Unfortunately, schooling wouldn't fit with my schedule for the moment.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheap or free doesn't always mean less features or less powerful, as far as I know Blender is compatible with practically every 3d format going & gets any new ones pretty quickly. IMHO Blender would be the perfect place to start to learn modelling.

 Blender is a full featured software suite and has a pretty big future. People learning to model for the first time are learning with Blender due to it being free. 

When you pay more for a specific program, you're paying more because the tool sets in that software are easier to use or you just simply find its interface to be the most comfortable. 

With just Blender alone I could do all that I want to with 3D software but own Curvy 2.0 because it's enjoyable to play around in and looking to save up for Silo because it is reasonably affordable (under $200) and it has the easiest to use and cleanest looking interface out of all the modelers that I've tried.

Another thing is, if you're learning for the first time, you are learning  the most by learning through Blender because Blender takes you through everything from scratch where as the more expensive software can sometimes simplify things to the point where it feels like it did it for you.

 I guess the best example I can give is this. 

With Sculptris I can quickly, cleanly and easily make some pretty decent looking stuff that's completely bump mapped, textured and painted.

But if I went with Sculptris and Sculptris only, I wouldn't be learning modeling.

I think the one main thing to consider is that if you find yourself in a situation where your models are going to have to meet specific requirements for games, video or print, you're going to want to know how to model the prehistoric way so that you have complete control over your texture resolutions, poly counts and such.

Attached Link: face modelling

Attached Link: poles

 Thanks for the link, airflames. I've been doing this for a few months now but the poles thing was a bit beyond my current intellectual capacity and a strain on the ol' noodle but have bookmarked it as well for that rainy day off in the future where it will all suddenly make sense. =)

Took me a few attempts to get my head around it

First learn terminology of 3D, the basic one. Wings 3D is great free app to start with, and get feet wet in 3D. Play around with tools and primitives, get a feel for 3D space. Poles are part of topology, its advanced theme that comes way after you get basic and intermediate level. There is great forum here for Wings 3D, peeps are very helpful. Forget about Maya, Max, etc, those are production apps for professional use, and prices are according to that. As for starting with less "powerful" app, don`t worry about that. Its the artist that make art not the app.

I use Cheetah 3d for all my modeling needs good price and nice interface. But it is Mac only.

Haha. Wow. Thanks for all the help, all. =) I'll be giving Blender a shot definitely, for modeling the "prehistoric way." Have been reading up on it a bit and it seems more resourceful than I thought.

I've been animating pre-existing content for a while but am not too familiar with 3d terminology yet. ... Poles?

As Tantarus rightly points out Poles are for the more advanced modeler - if you start doing charicter stuff it will make more sense then.
You won't go far wrong with blender it has a future

It all depends what suits you and how you work, at the end of the day. There are a lot of techniques to learn that apply to all box-modeling software, poles being among them. You will find that how you advance will depend on how much time and energy you are willing to invest in learning an approach/method. Blender will require much more time and energy than, say, Wings3D or Anim8tor. And you need to assess software also on the features you need vs the features the software offers. Do you really need/want a fluid or cloth sim? Is an arcane interface going to be too off-putting for you?

The most important/costly investment for you is truly your time. Keep that in mind.

Quote - First learn terminology of 3D, the basic one. Wings 3D is great free app to start with, and get feet wet in 3D. Play around with tools and primitives, get a feel for 3D space. Poles are part of topology, its advanced theme that comes way after you get basic and intermediate level. There is great forum here for Wings 3D, peeps are very helpful. Forget about Maya, Max, etc, those are production apps for professional use, and prices are according to that. As for starting with less "powerful" app, don`t worry about that. Its the artist that make art not the app.

I totally agree. I was about to suggest Wings 3D until I started reading all the posts and saw this one. I was directed to Wings 3 months ago when I was 1st starting and once I got the hang of it I was making so much crap I didn't know what to do with.  lol

But that aside, once you get a feel for Wings, do a right click, Import Image plane, select the reference pic of your choice, and build your model around it. After sum1 told me about that lil feature my whole game stradegy changed!

Anyways, it's all I know right now, and with the new features they are working on (a primitive sculpt function with push, pull, and smooth) I see myself using it for the forseeable future.
And BTW, if you tried Blender at all and your mind just about exploded with all the keyboard commands you hafta remember, then Wings is definately for you :o)

Quote - And BTW, if you tried Blender at all and your mind just about exploded with all the keyboard commands you hafta remember, then Wings is definately for you :o)

:sad:  The new Blender has menus for the hotkey-phobic. Have a look.
 
btw, it's spelled 'definitely'...