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Avid Free DV :  www.avid.com/freedv
A stripped down version of Avid's DV editing software.  The interface is a bit clunky and the free version only allows for 2 tracks of audio, but it has all the basic tools and the price is right.

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Blender 3D:  www.blender.org
Holy crap!  I can't believe this is free.  3D is complicated and may not be for you, but there's little you can't do with this great piece of software.   Full featured modeling, texturing, animation and rendering.

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Wax and WinMorph:  www.debugmode.com
Video animation and compositing.  Nice interface.  A bit limited in scope, but allows for all sorts of effects from simple transitions to chroma key to rotoscoping to particels.

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Audacity:  http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Basic audio editing and conversion tools.

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Open Office:  www.openoffice.org
Word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software may not sound as exciting as making movies, but you have to write your scripts with something.  Open Office's word processor is pro-quality and is compatible with Word and the rest of Microsoft Office.  This program suite is as good as anything that you would  pay for.