Yes I agree the 3DMax is hard, hard to learn and very expensive. But I can recommend you another way. There is a great and so powerful software to achive 3D images/animation and I'm taking about Softimage|XSI. Just go to the Softimage website and check it out. But remember... 3D is not an easy issue to learn. I carry with 1e year of experience and I still learning day by day trying new techniques to enhance my works.
However... a last advice is... "Nothing is impossible" my friend.

"The sky is the limit"... do you agree?

and he would know!

Yep   

Damn!....you know, mine does that too.....bugger of a thing....

I had a computer that just kept going when you turned shut it down. Resistant bugger.

I just felt like saying bugger too   

Bugger-all! My computer does the same!

cool!

I had the same "XP won't shut my computer down" problem, removed some software I wasn't using (misc P2P crap plus a few others) and the problem went away, it shut down when I told it to, and quickly. As far as the 3DS-Max inquiry goes, unless you're a pro designing graphics for big time media, you don't need or want this expensive software. And running stolen versions of Autodesk software will get you caught and in trouble (the software will try to quietly talk thru your firewall to connect to thier server to verify your license while you're not watching). Running stolen software is a lot riskier than it used to be, and stealing property at the value of 3DS-Max is a felony. So... if you really want to learn to do awesome graphics, get yourself POV-Ray and go through the tutorials (many hours, and a great support community) You will see that this software can enable you to do amazing work, including animation. Lots of pros enjoy using this software. K-3D is also good open source 3D software as well as Blender mentioned previously. I wish I had the patience and focus to learn how to really use the software I mentioned, the potential as shown in many image galleries is amazing.

I forgot to mention, POV-Ray is free, and has been around for many years. This is serious software, they have an awesome website - "www.povray.com" There is also a lot of free 3rd party software supporting/enhancing POV-Ray such as a beefed up version called "MegaPOV" (<- highly recommended), and for molecular rendering, there's "MOL-POV". Many more.

okay, this is my last input, I promise. More stuff just keeps popping into my head, unfortunately, mine works slower than most. I many cases there is free/open-source software that is as good or better than the corresponding commercial programs, for example; OpenOffice (free) vs MS Office Pro (~$500). OpenOffice actually has more features than the MS package, and can be set up to automatically handle ALL MS document types. However, if you've been watching the news lately... MS made some very serious legal maneuvers, publicly noting that Linux and open-source software is infringing on many of thier patents. They aren't pursueing legal action yet, but they have now officially sent out a warning. So get the free stuff while you still can!

guys! guess what!
i FINALLY got 3ds max 9!
but i have NO CLUE how to use it...
would one of you nice fellows mind teaching me some stuff?

please?

Wow you found 3,500 dollars huh?     

ehh... you could say that

Did you read the manual that comes with it?

*Edited by moderator ....this is a fast track to the exit. Do NOT offer up 'warez' again ...

No future warnings for you, next one's the door.... permanently.

Tough to do when you don't have a manual.

yea lol i agree with sanchonino

it's probably warez ...

  

It's undeniably warez.

Shame, really. The developers of that program put a lot of effort into it.

but then we would be lying, huh?

open your torrent and search for knowledge.



Now for the obligatory PSA:


Warezors suck ass.

i think you miss understand ; an sorry for any confusion, however i wan'nt offering up anything an did not realise i would get wrist slapped for naming a website