I got started originally in 3DS Max/Lightwave when I was a student.  Rigging and weight mapping in 3DS is not fun.  Even with a plugin like BonesPro.  The nice thing about it is the plugins like FumeFX, realflow, etc.  But they cost a lot of extra $$.  For example, on the fxphd interview I saw recently, Blur Studios had a revolt among it's animation department where they demanded to switch to XSI for animation & rigging because 3DS is such a pain in the ass.  I totally understand that sentiment.

I feel like at this point, I can get results I really like using Daz / Blender / Lux.  It'd be really nice to have some of the Max plugins, but not for what they cost.  It's so much nicer just having the genesis figure in Daz and just being able to dial in a morph for it and get busy with the fun part of animation.