I make mock action movies as an excuse to test out and advance my skill at visual effects. In my next film, I want to try something out which I have never attempted before- 3D animation. I havea .3DS of the Millenium Falcon (don't ask!) which I want to incorporate into a few clips. These are

- A shot of Earth and the camera pans past the ship (should be easy)
- A shot of the ship with the sky in the background, it moves forwards, the turret moves and shoots
- A shot of the ship landing in a field shot on location, perhaps with the ramp opening

I understand roughly how 3D animation works with a virtual camera and keyframing, but I'd like advice on how to:

- Properly convert the 3DS into a file I can animate with AE
- How to get virtual lights to cast shadows on unlit parts of the model and the background clip I filmed (ie. The field it lands in)
- How to texture the 3D model correctly rather than my hit and miss Photoshop attempts (I have the textures)
- How to animate individual parts of the model, ie. The ramp or turret (if possible)

I am aware that this will most likely involve other programs such as Cinema4D which I am willing to buy if it will allow me to give the film a good look or save a lot of time! Thanks in advance for your advice!

Damn lot of work. Do you have some 3D soft like C4D or 3DSmax?

Hy,
I new to 3d animation.
I new some help of someone who have experience and can guide me.
I would like to make an animation with a 3 years old child models that i will build.I need the models to have a special hat that i have in image on my computer.
The design that i want to make it's a decor of o child room,something with a lot of color for children,something cute.
Can you please help me and tell me about a software that is easy to use that i can make my model and animation.
Thank you so much.
Caroline

Easy soft. I think that all programs like C4D, Maya etc. have similar difficulty level. So I'd propose Blender because it's free. If it mustn't be free then I'd actually propose any other.

Blender is a great program but I suggest XSI just because I'm used to it