We have been doing 5-axis work for close to 3 years. We originally bought the Tri-tech head for our Fadal 6030. (
www.5-axis.com) It does a pretty good job for light duty applications, but what it really accomplished, that is noteworthy, is that it opened the eyes of senior management as to the need to get serious about 5-axis. The increases in efficiency were amazing, so within the year we purchased a Hermle C800U. It's been a superb machine, and has completely changed the way we produce our fixtures. We will be receiving our second Hermle (the C40) in late July. We have already been talking about adding a third Hermle (the new C20) for doing detail work (all angled holes, for example)
None of this has been cheap. The Tri-tech head, when all was said and done, cost in the area of $100K (Canadian $'s). The Hermle C800U ran around $400K and our newest machine set us back $550K.
As far as CAM software to program it, cost will be relative to the type of paths you intend to produce. For example, 3+2 programming can be done with the cheaper products like VisualMill or OneCNC for anywhere from $5K to $10K. If you want simultaneous 5-axis, and you want quality toolpaths, you need to look at products like HyperMill, Tebis, UG, Catia, PowerMill, WorkNC or MasterCam. These products, with simultaneous 5-axis modules, will run anywhere from $25K to over $50K, depending on how many different types of toolpaths you need.
As far as post-processors go, the importance of a good post cannot be overemphasized. A great software can be rendered next to useless if the post produces poor tool movements. I have had a couple of posts written by John at
www.postprocessors.com, and have had some really good results. He works with you until you get the results you need, and is reasonably priced, below the industry standard of $1K per axis.
A lot will depend on what you need to do. If full continuous motion is not really needed, then don't use it. We can do both positional and simultaneous, and we do the positional rotations 95% of the time. Save the simultaneous stuff for when it is really needed. You will cut much quicker if your feeds are not dependant on the limitations of the rotating axis, whether a trunnion table of a rotating head.
Hope some of this helps,
Dan