hey everyone

i know that i shouldn't be tempting this without going on some form of basic course, and i have asked connexions (uk) about any courses that are available to teach me 3D graphics and animation, Well there is one college (kidderminster) that i might actually try and get a placement for in the coming weeks, depends on transport and money wise etc

i do not officially own maya as my own original copy, but a good friend of mine is loaning me his copy (we are sharing it etc) but the only downside is, he said as it cost alot of money to buy it, he won't help me learn it, and if i truely wish to want to learn it, i would need to do so by doing my own research/online tutorials etc etc, as a way of payment for him allowing me to use it, (to which is actually a very fair thing to do.....concidering the price.....*gulp*)

i know there is a free maya i can use on the official website, but i dunno if its a 30 day trial thing, or what kind of options it doesn't allow me to use, i'd much rather use that and not get my friend into trouble for lending me his licence, so if you could also tell me if the free maya version is worth getting? or should i stick with my friends copy? :S

anyway,

i was wondering if anyone could help me in learning Maya 8 im a complete newb to this, and i was wondering if anyone could tell me the name of training courses i could go on, or ways for me to learn maya 8, whats best for me to start on? (i've watched alot of previous tutorials about layout/tools and options and stuff, and i've been playing around with shapes and stuff in maya, but im completely stumped on what to do with anything lol

like i say, i do really want to take it on as a career and i hope this can be my first stepping stone to be able to learn this artform, i hope you guys can help me out as much as possible with any and all free newb tutorials as you can please.

i know there are free tutorials on the mainpage of this website, but i have no clue which to download etc etc

Sirchipmunk