I now see that kuroyume has stated that Maya Nucleus is indeed part of the current $7000 for Maya.

Noted.

::::: Opera :::::

Nucleus is included in Maya Unlimited 8.5, it's the name for the unified dynamics engine (fluid, particles, cloth, hair, fur).
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=8824876
http://download.autodesk.com/us/maya/m85demos/Maya85_FB_Videos/nucleus2/nucleus2.html

XSI might be the most practical solution for you. Might not. Can't hurt to try it out. If you get to the point where you need/want more features, you could always upgrade to the unlimited version.

The toolsets looked comparable to me. I think either one of them can do about the same things, with a couple features that the other doesn't have.
Maybe the biggest difference is that there are a million billion trillion plug-ins for Max, a lot of them free and very useful. XSI is more limited in that area. Google, if in doubt.

Characters has always been a focus for XSI, so it has somewhat a lead in that respect, IMO. I'm not a character animator, so maybe I'm not qualified to make that judgement.

hi all,

just bumping this thread up.....
my trial of Max and my purchase of Body Studio are sitting here patiently waiting for me.
meanwhile I am learning Flash and creating my first Flash website. Sheesh.

I should begin my experimentation with Max and Body studio in a week or two, will report back.

Meanwhile, my son Evan has begun at the "other end" of Max, namely modelling. You all probably know about the famous teapot in the life of Max students. Evan just sent me this render, his first day of lighting.

::::: Opera :::::

An update of my own:  Reiss BodyStudio does not appear to work with 64-bit Windows/3ds Max.  Very big disappointment (and not cheap either).

Quote - An update of my own:  Reiss BodyStudio does not appear to work with 64-bit Windows/3ds Max.  Very big disappointment (and not cheap either).

Ouch! That sucks! :(