Attached Link: http://www3.sympatico.ca/dkrupicz/rocketmen/index.html

I started out using bryce and gradually moved over to 3D max, first by modeling objects in Max and importing them into Bryce, then when my scenes started to get too complex for Bryce to handle reasonably fast I went fully into 3D max for rendering. The hardest thing you might find is the transition between the way the two programs handle materials. (But of course, MAX is the more flexible of the two. And easier to understand IMHO).

Anyways, you might also consider 2D compositing of your 3D elements, using a program such as After Effects or Mainactor. If you have a scene that is a static shot, you can render one frame of the background, and then just render the character in the foreground. Slap one layer on top of the other like a modern day Chuck Jones. It cuts down on A LOT of rendering time... to the point where you will start to be limited more by your ability to animate and edit than by CPU cycles. Not to mention that special effects are a lot ersier to do in 2D... smoke, fire, rain, etc...

anyways, check out my link above for some examples how I've used layers and such in my recent scenes...