First I would look into trying all the differnt software out there and there are many modo,3d studio max, maya,rhino etc etc...
I would say go with the one that has the most tutorials you can find out ther for free no need to really take a course if you have an aptitude for this stuff its easy er ish I guess?lol
Hey I have used 3ds max for about 5-6 yrs of and on and I'm just above novice.
Check out
http://www.evermotion.org/ I hang out there a bit and try rendirosity.com lots of tips tutorials etc...
Some examples of what I have done in 3ds max
