Best programs for making 3D art assets?

Hi, my name is Ben Christianson and I'm interested in learning to sculpt, paint, and animate 3d models for use in unity. I have extensive background and history in painting with photoshop, and I'd like to take a crack at modelling. But I see so many different people using so many different programs to work with, and I can't help but wonder which is the best for me.

What works better with unity in modelling and animation? Maya or 3dsmax? I've seen people use both to great success and I'm not sure which would be a smarter choice to smart with. I hear Maya is the industry standard though, and I'd like to learn it despite any learning curves it might have if that's going to be better for me in the long run. What do you guys think? I hope I'm asking this in the right place.

Of course, I'm also interested in learning how to make 2D art assets, but that's another issue entirely I think.

 

Well, I personally love Maya, and I have started a tutorial series covering how to make game assets using Maya LT + Photoshop https://www.youtube.com/user/danielsndgamevideos
Having said that... A lot of people use blender, and it's totally free D: So there is that...

 

That is the question of every week

http://unity3d.com/search?refinement=forum&gq=best programs

 

Bearing in mind that I am very bias... Blender.

 

Thanks for your recommendation, DanielSD! I heard about MayaLT as a good program for indie game developers and I downloaded it last night after seeing a few tutorials. I just subscribed to your channel and will be watching your videos. Yeah, I was kind of worried I was asking an often asked question too, but I figured it'd be better to just ask it anyways.

Sir Tiddlesworth, can I ask why you're biased in favor of blender?

 

Blender is free and is getting up there to be almost on par with most commercial 3d software.

 

What is the best one for 2d?

 

Well, there's a whole bunch of them:

Photoshop

Gimp (free)

Krita (free)

Inkscape (free)

Corel Draw

And many others.

 

For sculpting, check out sculptris. (Free)
http://pixologic.com/sculptris/

Zbrush and mudbox, are two other really good software, for 3d sculpting.
But you have to pay for those two.

But overall, they all work really great.