Hey there, I'm about as newbie as they come in the world of 3d & Maya I posted a while back about windows98 etc, well I have just upgraded to win2k and grabbed a copy of Maya PLE and am ready to get stuck in!

I'm taking computer science in uni and am really wanting to get into a field for a career using the PC, and seeing as I like to draw, and love cartoons, I thought I'd get stuck into this!

Anyways .... I'm looking for a bit of information and some recommendations. Firstly, the main area I want to get into and learn is animation, making characters and animating them , not really into the art/concept art side of things. What I would like to know is, being just new and starting out, is it wise to narrow down my focus so early, or should I start broad and try to learn as much about everything before I start (I realise Maya is so incredibly huge and theres so many areas of 3d design that can e used with it), or are books on animation etc sufficient enough to learn from and get a broad scope on the basics with? Get all that?

Also, because books on Maya (not to mention Maya itself!) are so expensive, could someone recommend one book, which will basically cover what I will need to know to start using Maya and set me on the right path, something which may be a bit pricy, but will be a really good investment in the long run, with tutorials etc and everything I'll need to know, will have to be aimed at a beginner level tho.

Phew, sorry about that, I tend to blabber on and write too much Any help or words of wisdom from you professionals would be much appreciated