Hi friends,
The best framework to use with game programming for handling animation data is the question which will be answered here in the best possible way.
If your budget is next to nothing, then you can argue that the best is something called Blender.
If you have a budget to work with then you can consider something such as Cinema4D or Lightwave but if you have a slightly larger budget you can get something that is a little snazzier such as MODO.
If you’re looking to obtain a job in the industry and not just stay as an indie or hobbyist then you might very well want to look into Maya, or Maya LT. It’s powerful, and one of the most used software in the industry as far as animation is concerned.
The “best” software entirely depends on what your goals are, I used to use Maya, I used it for approximately 10 years but a couple of years ago I switched to MODO and I haven’t looked back, but it’s a slightly higher price for some, less than Maya but still more than the alternatives or the favourite “free” option ‘Blender’
The thing is, they are ‘all’ capable of doing the same thing with no real loss in quality, some have built in features that others sell via addons, some have little features to speed up your workflow and some will let you customise things with ease while others won’t, but out of the box, if you’re looking for animation, everything I’ve mentioned above will work just fine.
I suggest going through the trial period and covering some training content for the few you like the look of and seeing how you get on with them.
MODO
Maya LT
Cinema 4D
Lightwave
Blender
MODO, Maya and Cinema 4D are pretty easy to work with and learn as far as animation goes, I mean the tools to animate with the software, not actual animation as that is far more complex and harder to learn but if you’re capable or pick things up pretty fast then the interface and workflow of these are not that hard to get your head around.
Hopefully that is what you were asking about… If not, sorry I can’t help as much.
