Hello everyone,

I work from home working for an online company where I spend most (a few hours tops) assisting customers with their issues related to trouble shooting specified appliactions from my laptop. On my time off (the remaining upteen hours or so left in my day) I have been spending monitoring the foreign exchange making a few pips here and there when the markets seems predictable.

As exciting as my days may seem, I need that challenge that MAYA seems to have 'drawn' me into (pun intended).

I spent a few hours last week at a local bookstore looking for something new and challenging. At first it was Swift 3D then some basic books on animation and cartooning, then I found many awesome books on MAYA, several versions, foundations, and more.

My question is this...before I fork out a few hundred $'s

Is MAYA the goto program for creating animation?

And if so, what is the learning curve from complete beginner to intenrmediate/advanaced learner?

My goal is to create an animated character that will be recognized on the net. I have the time, money and passion I just want to know what the learning curve is and what I'm about to get into before I committ and dive right in.

I'm looking to create something along the lines of ICE AGE, CRAZY FROG and JIMMY NEUTRON.

Can anyone poitn me into the right direction as I'm itchin.

Thanks in advance,


The Ferret