I dunno how Inventor is compared to CAD, but I used Inventor alot last year and know how to use it. It's nice; I really like the way the program works. Making the parts seperately, and then assembling them, or making sketchs of them, or whatever, is nice. However, I've recently found out that parts can be made in Max as well as in Inventor.
I really don't know of any other animating programs out there... Max is just awesome when it comes to adding movement things like rotations and bends and stuff.
