Hi. I have started gmax and now I want to learn a proper program. I have a choice of 3d studio max, lightwave 7 or maya 4. But I dont know what to choose! Please can you help. Thanks a lot. Mofu

Primarly it depends on which software you feel more comfortable with.
Secondarly it depends on what you want to do / what you need it for.

Download the Maya PLE (Personal Learning Edition), and see what its like. Also you can order the free XSI Experience CD which contains a free version of XSI plus tutorials.

Maya is currently the industry standard when it comes to renders / video / fmv''s etc. XSI being a close second. XSI has a bit stronger animation than Maya, but maya makes up for it in other areas like dynamics etc. Max is used in some places for game content creation. Lightwave is not really up there among the big guys (Maya, XSI and Max).

If you ask me, I say go with Maya. In my opinion it is MUCH better than any of the others. It has the best user interface out of any of the packages. In some areas it might be a bit more complicated than max, but generally I find Maya much easier to use, and I can do things much quicker in it. Since you used gmax, then you would get the hang of 3d studio max much quicker, but if I were you I would spend time and learn Maya too, because most likely you will find it better.