QuoteBlender will just piss you off.
I gotta ask ... is that from personal experience, or just based on what you have read on forums?
I'm not a user of Blender - I've installed it and played with it, but unfortunately do not really allow myself the time to use any 3D software as I know me - it will too quickly become all time consuming.
But I do stop by their forums quite a lot (daily, in fact) and have it installed and have played with a bit, watched a number of tutorials, etc. The artwork that can be created with it is stunning and up to the quality level I've seen from any package. There are some who grumble about the interface, but there are plenty who love it as well. I've even read numerous threads by people coming from Maya and Max who prefer Blender's workflow.
From what I have seen, Blender is *extensively* customizable and very, very capable. There are studios around the world that use it in their workflow and there are studios who specialize in using it almost exclusively. It's used for special effects, commercials, archviz, 3D printing, game asset design, sculpting, etc.
So I wouldn't immediately write it off. It has the distinct advantage of being free, after all.
A few notable Blender artists:
http://www.reynantemartinez.com/http://spelle.cgsociety.org/https://www.artstation.com/artist/andrewpriceAnd some fun Blender Galleries:
http://www.blenderguru.com/articles/top-10-blender-artworks-october-2015/http://www.blenderguru.com/articles/15-amazing-blender-artworks-didnt-get-attention-deserve/http://www.blenderguru.com/articles/top-10-blender-artworks-september-2015/http://www.blenderguru.com/articles/top-10-blender-artworks-august-2015/And a recent open movie project from the Blender Foundation:
http://www.blendernation.com/2015/08/11/cosmos-laundromat-first-cycle/And some articles I ran across on its use in a professional pipeline:
http://timefirevr.com/2015/10/20/blender/http://timefirevr.com/2015/10/28/blender-and-science/http://www.blendernation.com/2011/11/22/oak-ridge-national-laboratory-blender-on-a-supercomputer/Like I said, I'm not an actual user and not a fan-boi, but I do run across what seems to be nearly institutionalized disdain for the product and it often comes from ignorance, so I thought I'd share.
There are a lot of great resources, including
blenderguru.com and
cgcookie.com which feature a ton of free tutorials.
Sorry to drag that off topic, but just in case WASasquatch *does* go looking for software, I'd actually start with Blender.
Regards,
Micheal