that would depend on what u want to do with ur 3d package, max is mainly for games, maya has more sophisticated tools for films and that (but can also do games)

for games, learn max, it is simple enough to get the job done, and it doesnt have many fancy features, the graph editor in it isnt very good either :S

if you want to learn maya, it would take a long time, but the graph editor is very nice i find animating in maya a lot easier

if u need any help with maya animation, just email me

any more questions?