Let's the flame start!
Which 3D package is better and why?

I personally think each 3d package has it's plusses and minuses.
I'm working in max since it's first version. And I definitely
enjoy working in max.
But there is a new love in my 3d life, which is xsi... I don't know XSI as well as I do max but trust me it is worth being studied.
I used to work in maya as well... and I just didn't stick to maya.. had problems with it's rendering when I was using it 3 years ago.. it
had aliasing artifacts and flickering with bump. It was in maya 4 if i remember correctly..
though Maya had some cool unique tools like paint effects and artisan
which are cool even in present.

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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

Hey AndyBa
I've heard a lot about Xsi too, and I'm learning it now, but what kind of new generation software is it, if it can't copy keys for multiple objects?
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Fiery

Who told you XSI can't do it?
It is easily done in the Dope Sheet.
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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

I will go for XSI...

I'm more of a 3ds max guy. Although I use Maya and Silo from time to time. I'm now getting into XSI so my opinion may change.

It interesting if there are any Mirai users left at all.
It was once a really good package... but it was not updated for a very long time.
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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

Maya is the best. It is used in the most and the best movies.
It has a linux version. It's really customizable.

Houdini is perhaps the most used for high-end effects in oscar-winning movies. While the current versions have a very friendly UI, you still need to be a reasonably skilled 3D artist with a technical aptitude to use it to its full potential. Once you do learn Houdini, you can do anything that you can imagine with it.

And yes, it does have good modeling, animation, rigging, compositing, etc. tools; not just dynamics and complex solvers. You can install it on Windows, Mac, Linux... and the there is a free full-featured version available with very few limitations.

Just thought I would clear up some common misconceptions about Houdini. Is Maya better? Absolutely not!. Is it as good or close? I will that for you to decide

3dpro, while I have a decent experience with various high end 3d animation software, Houdini and Blender for the same reason - UI and work flow, remain for me a dark spot in my knowledge of 3d animation programs. And this is in spite of the fact that I have Houdini installed on my Linux machine.
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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand