mightcouldb1
Peter Quint on Vimeo.
Watch all of them!
Read “The Magic of Houdini” Its for Houdini 8, but is more or less the same now.
Then watch the SideFX tutorials.
Watch the Gnomon Workshop DVD with Craig Zerouni
Then watch the 3d buzz, and cmivfx stuff.
I suppose digital tutors stuff can be good for introductory things, but I would suggest the Peter Quint tutorials over them.
And most importantly, experiment!
Peter Quint on Vimeo is really wonderful