Your pick for best character animation software?

[pixelmech]

Hi folks,

I'm thinking about doing some more work in 3D animation. I only have experience with Hash Animation:Master which is patch-based, not poly-based. While I love A:M, I'd like to try something different and more "mainstream", and something that is probably poly-based.

The animation I like to do would be character based and story driven. What I would be looking for is software that lends itself to ease of use, including controls for animation and modeling, and something that would give me skills that translate into the real world should I want to consider a move to actually animating for a living (whether on my own or otherwise).

With that in mind, what would you suggest would be a good fit for those goals? Of the popular 3d packages, I have only played a bit with Maya, and that was not much - so I would be starting pretty much from scratch. I do have a fair amount of experience in both animation and 3d modeling concepts, so I do have a background to jump off from.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Blytheye]

I've heard only good things coming from XSI by Softimage in light of animation. In fact, Blur Studios switched over to animating in XSI whilst still keeping lighting and rendering in 3ds Max. You should check out the trial version: http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/free_trial/default.aspx

Henrah

[pixelmech]

Been playing with the Demo, so far seems to have lots of capabilities, although I have experienced a few bugs (VB errors actually) so I wonder about the stability of the software.

The tutorials are not well written, and finding certain menus and functionalities is a chore. I'm hoping the software overcomes that. I can't help but think back to the A:M interface and how easy it is to get around...

[Blytheye]

It is hard to get used to a different UI after getting so acquainted with one, but perseverance will prevail :) It's odd about the VB errors, try updating your drivers to see if that helps, or check out any FAQ's on the website.
Henrah

[samuelspode]

maya , imho.