well, i'm not moderator/admin, but maybe my reply is also useful.
good programs for modeling are:
- Autodesk 3ds max (free student license/non commercial)
- Autodesk Maya (same as above, i'm not really sure, whats the real difference between these two is, traggey probably knows more about it
- Blender (open source, my personal favorite, includes everything. from modeling to rigging, animating, video cutting, has his own game-engine, many plugins, since a few months also motion tracking and other stuff.)
all of these are compatible to the collada-file system.
if you're just interested in 3D-stuff, there's also cinema4D, which is often used by youtuber for their clips. compared to 3ds, maya and blender it seems much easier, especially blender is at the beginning very confusing, also with the new gui.
there are many other programs out there, but i think, those are some of the most popular ones
hope i could help you, have a nice day ;)
Working on a full conv.-mod, first pictures coming soon...
Working with Blender and other Stuff since 2009.
Using HPL-Engine since 2012 (learning..)