What I learned from all of this:

Lesson 1: Use the right tool for the job.

My modeller was Bryce3d, which is primarily used to make landscapes. Its rendering engine is incredibly slow, and its modeller is suited for building only the most primitive of 3D shapes. I must have been out of my mind to choose it. The first animation sequence you saw took 3 hours to render.

Scripting was done with macromedia dreamweaver 2. this is a fine program, but I was expecting too much by trying to synchronize animated gif sequences with timeline events. It's timing isnt as solid as I'd hoped.

Lesson 2: Don't animate until you've finished the model.

If you are adding walls as you go, the lighting is inconsistent from sequence to sequence. (duh)