3d graphics

I have found that blender is a great linux (and windows) package for doing 3d animation, but it has a very big learning curve. There is extensive documentation that can be downloaded from the blender web site (30+ meg) including a qwuick start. Blender is the kind of package that you need to read the documentation to just get an idea on how to start. It is complex but really, really, powerfull.