I found two good software for beginners (maybe someone may be interresting)

==First :
"3D paint brush" to easily add texture to your "MoI" creation (an exemple is below)
http://www.3dpaintbrush.com/
It open MoI ".3DM" files. You can add texture by drag and drop it and see in real time the texture (I've tried to modify specular and move objet : effect is great). You can then export in .obj .3ds...

There is a backdrop : you must create one object for each texture.

==Second :
Another software I found is "archipelis" you can create organic shape by drawing on a photo (texture are automaticaly applied to the object).

http://www.archipelis.com/

results are not the one from pixar, but learning curve is good and you can create organic shapes in seconds.

To help undestand basic concept of 3D these two softwares seems quite good for student. And of course I think MoI is the best way, to begin with nurbs.


PS : new MoI beta is just great