Does anybody here know how to create 3D computer animations? And what programs do I use to do this?

lightwave, bryce, flash, fireworks.

Which one(s) is the easiest to learn?

What do you want to do?

 

Character animation, city flyby, abstract graphics...?

poser is good for character animation. bryce is for landscape. swift3d does great job as well i think. visit http://www.tokyoplastic.com for AMAZING 3d flash work

What computer programs can you use for these?

poser is good for character animation. bryce is for landscape. swift3d does great job as well i think. visit www.tokyoplastic.com[/url'] for AMAZING 3d flash work

Bryce and Poser are relatively poor packages. People only use them because they're dirt cheap.

hey, if u visit their official gallery, u can find some amazing works.

 

so what do u recommend then sayo

And price isn't really a problem on this wonderful internet we have.

hey, if u visit their official gallery, u can find some amazing works.

Yes, reflecting the skill of the user and (in most cases) a lot of post-render work.

 

I am of the opinion that if you want to do anything with kinematics, fluids, clones etc, then you should get the best head start you can

 

so what do u recommend then sayo

With the above post in mind, Maya for organics, dynamics and powerful editing, Max with Character Studio for figures and crowds.

for general users, i think we have to consider the price and the learning curve as well.

True, however "with post 9 in mind" *cough* it's not difficult to make the software more *cough* accessible.

 

The tutorials that come with Max and Maya are excellent, and they allow you to rapidly get to grips with software that beats the pants off the cheap end of the market.

 

There are some very good free packages though, don't get me wrong - I just don't count Bryce and Poser among them, because they are popular as opposed to good. I will see if I can find the names of 'em all.