Quote - I don't really do animation yet, but Carrara can use your Poser figures and has some nice Animation tool.  Will it do everything proabably but might ask in the Carrara forum about what you are wanting to do.  Either here or on Daz.

 

Yes, I second that, depending on your budget, Carrara should definitely also be on your checklist, especially considering that you're using Poser, since Carrara, Poser, Bryce and Canoma all at one point had a common influx of user interface design (Kai Krause's way). If you're familiar with Poser you'll probably be pretty comfortable with Carrara too.

 

I've done some 3D terrain animations lately, nothing like you're describing, but still, if you're interested, check www.thebest3d.com/carrara for some humble examples.

 

If you're going pro with this at some point, Cinema or Maya, SoftImage, 3DS Max.... these may ultimately be the tools you'll use, but who knows. In the end they're just tools.Oh and shame on me for forgetting to mention Lightwave.