Maya?

My friend has expressed interest in creating animated characters and scenery for my project(s).

He says he prefers Maya over other modelling programs, but it seems like many of the tools I've seen referenced are for use with 3d Studio. Will I be at a disadvantage working with Maya, either because of a lack of exporting/importing tools or some other reasons I'm not aware of?

Thanks in advance for any opinions on this matter!

This may be something for the "other tools" section, however.

I assume it won't be a probem to export to directX .x Format from Maya. Then you can use UltimateUnwrap3D to convert from .X to .B3D. I think this is going to be pretty painless. UU3D is cheap and useful.

yeah, Maya is a great tool, but there isn't a decent dedicated exporter like there is for 3dsmax. So you have to go through third party tool. Takes away some flexibility and streamlining away from developing your games.

I second UU3D, the only other tool I ever need for format conversion :)