I am looking for any input from any other users that may be using or are familiar with any of these programs. I am currently using Solidworks (3DVIA) Composer to do all of my technical documentation along with animations. My workflow as of now is taking my native Solidworks files and exporting them to Composer files, laying out my animation, exporting as a set of images (.png) 30 frames per second, then stitching them together in Adobe Premiere Pro adding text and audio.

I have now been tasked to take our animations to the next level with fluid flow and other elements that Composer cannot handle. I have done several hours of research and come to the conclusion that these 3 programs are my best options (open to other suggestions of course).

Blender is obviously the easiest for me to get a hold of to try since it is free. I have used the trial for Modo 601 but due to time constraints was not able to really experiment much in the time allotted (mainly image renders not animations). I know Maya is an Autodesk product so may not be as easy of a workflow with Solidworks (of course I could be mistaken).

Another great concern would be training. From what I have seen there isn't much in actual training classes for these programs (at least not in the U.S.). Basically I am looking for the option that works best with Solidworks larger assemblies with the least learning curve. Obviously I would be ok with a steeper curve if the outcome is really worth the extra effort.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has videos or links to videos made from these programs using Solidworks files I would appreciate seeing those as well. I have seen a lot of great looking videos on youtube from all of these programs but it is hard to tell native file types.

Thank You,

Derek Parks