[arscan]

Since this is for fun for you (in the short term at least), did the price tag of Cinema4D come into play when choosing it as your tool? I've been getting into 3D as well as a hobby, and given a choice I'd use Cinema4D because it is popular among professionals in the domain I'm interested in, but that $3k+ price tag is hard for me to justify.

[mikevin]

You could start with Blender. It's very advanced and totally free.

[khedoros]

Blender's pretty awesome. I've been using it since it was Not-a-Number shareware. I think that the "Free Blender" campaign was the first crowdfunding attempt that I ever experienced. It's been awesome watching the program continue to grow and flesh out with pro-level features over time!