cinema 4d is a nice stable application and its highly underrated (imho) character animation has just had a big upgrade so it has got better. there are more and more users coming to c4d (even thought imho its not a new app ) i know a few architect visualizers that use it and i also know that a few big film studios use it, plus we have a fully intergrated bodypaint.
if you need any more questions answered drop me a line here. i dont do animation but i do everything else
speak soon and take care
dave davidson