Adobe After Effects is a longstanding leader in visual effects. While the program's functionality is more geared to post-production effects work, the options allow users to integrate a number of effects and animation technologies all in the same program rather than having to render (output) them first. Editors using other Adobe products such as Premiere Pro will be happy to know that the two programs are very compatible, allowing easy exporting from one to the other. Adobe After Effects CS5 costs around $1,000 (as of 2010). It is relatively easy to learn but may take some time to master and figure out all the features.
Maya is an industry leading 3-D animation, modeling and visual effects software that is used by many professional production companies. The functionality of Maya's animation capabilities are vast, allowing users to integrate live action video with computer-generated graphics and blending the two seamlessly using skinning and modeling. Maya has been used in many big budget motion pictures, and learning to use the program isn't easy. The downside to Maya is the cost--around $5,000 (as of 2010). End users are also required to have a high performance computer to maximize the use of this program.
Blender is a free open source 3-D content creation software. This is by far the best value available for animation software. Blender offers modeling, rigging, animation, UV unwrapping, shading, rendering, compositing, physics and game creation features. Blender is widely popular and there is a huge online community of animators supporting this software. There are also many user created plug-ins that add different elements of functionality to the program. Many Blender created films have gone viral and their animators have landed major studio contracts as a result of their creations.
3D Studio Max is a software suite offered by Autodesk. It offers animation, 3-D modeling, rendering and compositing. 3D Studio Max is used by game developers, visual and special effects artists working on both film and television productions. It requires some training to gain the maximum functionality from the software but is essential to learn for those in the industry. The cost of this software, $3,500 (as of 2010), is high enough to make it less desirable for at home users.