[Chris Nowak]

Yeah, I cant ever remember anyone officially clarifying whether or not one may use other software, but I think that they cant really go against it as Its pretty much impossible to tell what program you made a movie with.

I would also like to say, however, that you should give strong consideration to using 3dsmax even if you have more experience with Maya or other programs. It is a very strong 3d program and one of the ones companies use the most. For example, Blizzard uses 3dsmax for their cg scenes, and if you've seen them, especially the ones in Warcraft III, its pretty incredible.

Every company uses something different. Please don't begin the argument that one software is better than the other, cuz not only is it a matter of opinion, until the entire animation industry begins using one program, its not really true for any one program. If you are planning on going into animation it will be incredibly valuable to learn 3dsmax, and thats just how it goes.