Since the introduction of the “Cycles Render”, open source software Blender became a game changer of CG world for those who needs high quality CG image. “Cycles Render” is all new engine of rendering and shading which brings realistic environmental light result. Also there are many useful feature such as camera tracking, fast GPU rendering, node tree editing, etc. And it’s free!
Interface is bit chaotic for newcomer but it’s just a matter of time until you get used to… it’s worth a try!!
Check out Andrew Price’s great tutorials!!