Blender
Great -
Blender is VERY full featured, tho as many have said before, comes with a somewhat steep learning curve. I would call it more of a hump, as once you understand the paradigm of the interface and learn your hotkeys, one can work rather quickly and efficiently.
Featurewise, it's comparable to all the big names in the industry, and many say it has the best UV toolset of any app out there. The simulation capabilities are just incredible, and great fun.
I don't do much character animation, so I can't really com