Hello, and pardon my daftness. I've recently been delving through the 3d/CGI webcomics and found some of their rendering and detail amazing, so I've decided to also give it a shot. Thing is, I've found about a dozen programs out there that seem to deal with this kind of stuff: Lightwave.. Bryce.. 3D-something-or-other.. Poser.. Maya, etc., and I have no idea what to start with.
Could anyone recommend a good animation/3D rendering program for a novice who's willing to learn to work with it seriously? I'm not expecting to emulate Pixar's animation quite yet

so I just need something that's fairly intuitive and affordable. Any suggestions?
By the way, I was going to settle on Maya. Is there anyone here who's tried it and can give some advice on whether or not to get it? I'd be eternally grateful.
I bid you gratitude in advance. Er.. yeah.
