Thanks for all the replies, this character development is primarily for a game on the Wintermute engine, and I dont think I would be very good at character animation along with many of the other posters as they replied above. I would essentialy create a 3d character and make screenshots for use as a 2d sprite as an actor/character in Wintermute. Trouble is you have to create a large variety of characters in various positions (8 for walking, other positions for talking, etc.) and I am not much of an artist, so that is why I am thinking about using the 3d characters, pose them for the needed positions and make the bitmap shots.
I did download a program today for creating Sim characters using their meshes, etc. called Simposeium
http://www.simpose.com/ but I have not tried to use it yet and cannot report on its usage and effectiveness.
I am also looking at the Milkshape 3D as was mentioned above.
Again thanks for the replies I will continue to monitor this thread for any more input from anybody else.
Regards,
Preston D