This is something interesting I read in the linux-magazine.com:

Not so long ago, professional quality 3D
animation required expensive workstations. The software
they ran, for example, Maya (Unlimited Vision), cost
more than $15,000 early in 2002, and the software
technology was hidden behind restictive licenses.

What's the 3D animation process?

The process starts with modeling the shape of the 3D
object. The next stage is texturing, that is, adding
a kind of skin. This step gives the model a natural
looking surface with light reflexes and a surface
structure. UV mapping projects 2D bitmaps (such as wood
grains) onto the 3D surface; in its simplest form,
this is like posting a bill on an advertising column.

The 3D model can then be animated. In the rigging process,
joints are added to the figure. The joints allow the
the artist to move a complex object like a puppetter
moves a puppet. After completing the basic animation
scene, the animator adds special effects, such as water,
fire, or smoke. The scene is then lit by positioning
light sources, just like in conventional movie making.
The post production is concerned with optimizing the
nearly-finished product, coming it with the movie or video
scenes, and adding a soundtrack.

Also: Normally, many different programs are used to create a 3D
animation. First of all, you need a program to create the 3D models. In
most cases, animation and rendering (conversion of finished models to
photo-realistic images) are handled by separate programs. Rendering is
so vastly complext that it typically requires a specialized tool.

Some useful software:

Wings3D, simplifying complex shapes
http://www.wings3d.com

Blender, the only FLOSS program that covers all steps in 3D production
http://blender.org

[Blender's strengths is its speed, which is superior to commercial
products. But Blender mainly uses subwindows that are full of buttons
and slide controls. The itnerface design lacks logical consistency. Even
such simple functions as cut and paste take some getting used to in
Blender, as they use [Alt] + [C] or [Alt] + [V], rather than the more
typical [Ctrl] keys. This is due to the fact that Blender was designed
as an in-house solution for the NeoGeo animation studio.

K3D, one more recent developments in the 3D fields.
K3D's major strength is it's a targeted new development based on current
experience
http://k3d.sourceforge.net

Yafray, currently the most powerful free rendering tool
http://www.yafray.org

Toxic, a rendering tool based on physically exact computing
http://www.toxicengine.org

Aqsis, provider most complete support for RenderMan standard syntax for
3D model definition
http://www.aqsis.org

Povray (documentation, community)
http://povray.org

Jahshaka, might close the gaps in the near future
http://www.jahshaka.org

Cinelerra, another possible candidate to allow studios to handle whole
prodocution cycle for computer-generated movie making with FLOSS
software.
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
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