A pretty good program from Google is SketchUp...and it's free too. They have some great video tutorials on how to use it.

I've also used Wings 3D, as others have mentioned, it is free and relatively simple to use.

Now THAT is utter nonsense. 

While I agree with you that learning the BASICS of 3D space can be accomplished using any 3d package, in about a week, there are an infinite number of approaches to the given problems of A+ animation and visual effects, and the high end ones require YEARS of on hands professional knowledge in each given package.   And that's AFTER you've spent years learning it (either on your own or in a degreed program) well enough to generate a reel proficient enough to get an entry level job.  And then, it will take you another 10+ years of professional on-the-job experienced before you will be good enough to interview for someone like me. 

So, you can be "annoyed" all you want, but my credentials include every gold statue the world awards for visual effects.  Therefore, my background comes from the perspective of the major players, not one guy in their garage.  Adjust the weight you give my advice accordingly.

For example, the multimillion dollar pipeline I built just last year used Maya for the major character animation and LightWave for rendering, fx, environments, and secondary animated characters.  We used Modo, Zbrush, LightWave, Maya, and even SoftImage to model the creatures, characters, environments, and props--and this was generally by the choice of the artist as these were many of the top digital artists in the world, so they've earned a great deal of latitude, IMHO.

Regarding ILM.  They use a very customized version of SoftImage for some tasks.  And it is by no means the same as you will find "off the shelf".  Not even close.  Disney uses Maya with a host of custom API code as well as internal tools.  Digital Domain uses a Maya/LightWave pipeline and is adding another package into their mix right now.  Etc. etc.

So, hobbyist wise, yes, use whatever you enjoy, from Poser to Blender, but if you intend to do this professionally, I recommend you put your efforts into learning the tools and techniques of the trade as it is practiced today.

hehe, then just grab whatever program that is free and easy for you to "get" at first blush. 

     I'm also learning how to work in 3D space. I have Blender and to me it isn't as difficult as most people believe regardless. Those other programs are fine as far as they go but and herein lies the rub...if you can afford to spend the heavy bucks for 'em fine. I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I can't afford a thousand dollars or more for a 'professional' program. In my opinion having to pay that much is ludicrous. I understand a lot of work goes into the coding and such but there are free programs out there that CAN do just as good as any professional. You may not agree and that's fine. To each his or her own. I'll use the ones I like, ones I feel comfortable using. I don't need to spend tons of money. Programs I have are 'freebies' and there's nothing wrong with that.

     Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for the pros who do this kind of work. The animations I've seen are truly awesome. Pixar is a good example. If you've the talent then by all means flaunt it. Here on WC there are some very talented artists. Take the time to view some of the works in the galleries. But keep this in mind...it is what you feel is right for you. Pick and choose. If you want to use the freebies or spend the money. Whatever you want is what's important. All the advice in the world is right here as you can see by the other posts. Take advantage of it. You can't go wrong dude.   

Nor should you! 

Those packages are all priced for BUSINESSES not individuals.  This is why they have cheap student discount versions of all of them.  NEVER pay full price for any of these professional tools until you are a freelancer working for real money, or until you are working professionally at a company that does this work. 

Adobe, Autodesk, etc. all price their software so that they make the same amount of money supporting a thousand high paying business customers as they would with ten thousand low priced amateurs.  Tech support is their main cost, so they minimize that any way they can.

Try any demo you can get.At the end of the day you will find a program that has a tool set that you are comfortable with.

Its like anything you wont know till you try and practice practice practice.

I like Rhino it has a tool set i can get around without much problem and i like the program.

It does come down to personal choice in program.

The pro has the option to use a variety of programs as they have a high level of training and its usually a requirement of there job to be able to use a variety of 3D software.

Make your own choice

So...post some of your work for download already.

heh - IMHO it's pretty insane to pay more for a piece of sofware than for the computer you're running it on . . .

More professional than any other piece of freeware I know of. If you don't want to blow away more money than you did on your last two computers, then Blender is as professional as you can get for free.

Blender's good enough that they've made a couple of movies with it.

. . . but that being said - he did want ease of use - and for that I'd go with Wings3D as others have suggested for modelling.

If you go the Wings3D route, though, keep in mind it's primarily for modelling - it can do rendering and texturing, but they are better done using other software.

I also use AOI (Art of Illusion), an open source software that is easier to use than Blender but does a good job at rendering and texturing.

Looks good.  I ahve yet to be able to figure out any of the 3D programs I have tried. I just can't seem to wrap my head around them. You seem to be getting a knack for it. Keep it up!

OKAY, I'll bite. WTF is up with all the 'ha-ha's'?   Maybe it's because I have to try to interpret your tone, but it's coming off as sarcastic and immature. If I am wrong, I apologize. If I'm right, please take it somewhere else.

I'm leaning towards you're just being sarcastic since you're coming up on your one year mark here and your karma is so low. .

The poster is looking for some advice. Post some shots of what you have done with it. SHow him why it might be worth the investment. However, I think it's been made clear that there are very few here that can afford the 6k asking price, and less than that have access to the 'student version'. SO maybe you could stop pushing what is inaccessable to the poster and talk about an alternative that would be more reasonable.

One more piece of advice,,,cut out all the 'ha-ha's'. It makes you sound like every pain- in- the-ass- little- sister- stereotype I've ever run across.

Maybe it shows zero where you are...but on the WC forum where this thread has crossed over to, it does not.

It's better than anything I could produce in 3D. Very nice.You have talent.  I would love to see what you could do with a wallpaper. I don't know if you're interested in that but I would be curious to see.

Did not mean to offend, just offer some advice. Maybe one day, when you're an old fart like me, you'll run across some up and coming skinner/artist  that you'll find yourself doing the same for.

went with wings 3d in the end, now i just have to make the input handler work properly yay