FYI any budding modellers out there may be interested in "SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool" a free 400mb modeling and animation package that integrates straight into XNA (and Half-Life 2).
link to software:
http://www.softimage.com/products/modtool/default.aspx

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softimage_XSI
Read more
link to software:
http://www.softimage.com/products/modtool/default.aspx
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softimage_XSI

