Best way to learn how to animate/ rig models

I'm curious i wanna create a little project but I haven't upgraded to my unity to 4.0, i'd rather stick with 3.5 so this should mean i need to rig and animate in an external program whats the best way to do this, use a bi pod stretch it to fit the model and attach it, or go about it in some other way, of course the animations will need to be done with the same program I have a student 3Ds max 2008 or 9 license, any where i can learn quickly how to rig and animate, i've done it before but i need to refresh and relearn the process..

 

Plenty of tips.... got Skype?

Sorry...couldn't resist. Honestly, YouTube is teeming with really good instructional vids on Max, Maya as well and Unity. I teach Maya/Thesis Animation and I refer my students to YouTube instructional courses all the time (In their case Maya). I'd search 'Rigging in Max'. For instance, here's a 6 part rigging tut that looked pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpDJtFssYqM

As I tell my students, the tricky part isn't finding the knowledge, it's slowing down and taking the time to go through it. Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the reply, yea alot of ppl cant resist asking me that question.. I checked out the video series not a bad place to start thanks..