The Learning Edition is free! It's either save disabled or creates big watermarks, but it'd be the best way to see if you'd want to shell out. It's made by Alias/Wavefront (although I believe they changed their name recently.) They halved the price last year to $1,000 for the basic edition, if I recall correctly. It's definitely not for beginners. I had the LE for awhile and felt that it was beyond my capabilities. Still, it's one of the most impressive modelling/animation tools around.