Penumbra Level Editor???

[Bek]

yea theres tons of free modelers, i used 3dmax or something when i was dabbling with modeling for a while. blender is generally regarded as the best of the best though. since theyre free, you can try 'em all!

3ds max is most certainly not free Blender is the best free modeler afaik, although it does have the most confusing UI when you first start.

The most common professional programs are 3ds max, maya, modo. But the real fun is in sculpting programs like Zbrush / Mudbox. You can get trials of both, Zbrush is superior to mudbox though.