Blender is a solid choice for anyone aiming at 3D modeling and animation but it's a bit tough for a beginner as for me (at least it's free and you may find a lot of tutorials and video guides on the web). The great thing about Blender is that it has multiple plugins for third-party software (
Artec Studio in my case) and you don't have to worry about problems with importing/exporting different file formats.
As for SketchUp I've only used the trial version and can't say anything about their tech support. I've heard a lot of good feedback about
3ds max, maybe you should give it a try.