CompuServe Messages

I've been able to use a Toaster for quite some time now, and I'm interested in getting better in LW. The manual and tutorials I have are NOT very good, and I've absorbed pretty much everything I could from them. My question is, what next? I need someone to show me where to go from here, or maybe a book or two. I've taken all I know from the manuals, but I can't really put that knowledge into creating a really cool animation… I watch Babylon 5 and SeaQuest, and the effects just seem like light-years out of my grasp. Is it just tons of experience that enables you to create such incredible animations? The documentation I have would help for a flying logo, but not much beyond that. I've taped and watched all of these professional animations, and I simply don't know where to start to try to achieve stuff like that. From the articles I've read, it seems that one of these animation masters just sits down for a while and out comes a beautiful spaceship, or whatever. Most materials on LW have concentrated on "wimpy" stuff, like logos. Is there a source I can learn from here? My main obstacle is modeling. Advanced features like spline patches are not well documented at all. What does it take to create wonderful models and animations like the pros? I would appreciate any help. Thanks! –Daniel Maas