Blender is fantastic. Not only the modelling package is great and free (compared to the alternatives, aren't exactly cheap) and plugins are numerous and really

Blender is fantastic. Not only the modelling package is great and free (compared to the alternatives, aren't exactly cheap) and plugins are numerous and really good on average. Then beyond that, the renderer Cycles is GPU powered, and a beast, also for free. I've been using Blender every day for the last 2 years and I can't recommend it enough. Yes the UI will drive you mad at first until you get the hang of it. It's gotten better, but it's still different, at first.