question on graphics

:o :?:
I'm doing short stories and I was wondering if anyone could recommend what excellent programs would be best to use for my work? And when it comes to doing animation in any art program, is there a certain format or required frame setting that needs to be used?

need to know what type of animation . . . cartoony, surrealistic or realistic . . .

need to know what the deadline is

need to know what kind of experience you have . . .

All to potimise a better answer for you.

Do not forget to let us know what actually happens i the end.

Dude, Maya learning version, or Max or anything like that would be a good thing to learn on. With Max and Character studio you can create a animatable biped very quickly.

You could create lots of your scene animation on the Biped before you commited to making any nice backgrounds and characters.

Cheers
Wafer