Maya Animation Software - Free

For students interested in learning top-end animation software Autodesk's Maya Personal Learning Edition is for you.

Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) is a special version of Autodesk® Maya® software, which provides free access to Maya for non-commercial use. It gives 3D graphics and animation students, industry professionals, and those interested in breaking into the world of computer graphics an opportunity to explore most aspects of the award-winning Autodesk® Maya® Complete software in a non-commercial capacity. The Maya Personal Learning Edition software is available for 32-bit Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional and Apple® Mac OS® X (for Macintosh Power PC or Intel-based Macintosh computers) operating systems. Autodesk Maya PLE is based on Autodesk Maya 8.5.

Note that the software is for personal use only:

The Autodesk Maya PLE restricts users to non-commercial applications through the display of a watermark on images as well as through the use of a special non-commercial file format. If you are a business, school, academic institution, training center or any similar type establishment you should not use the Software or Materials, or any Personal Use Files in, or as part of, any business activity or educational or training program.