Everything Red Giant makes is now free for students and educators.

Red Giant has always been good about discounts. Not only does it have a yearly mega sale, but it also is one of the few companies that combines discounts. This means you can combine a student discount with the sale price for even more savings. But for students and educators, that doesn't matter anymore because Red Giant Complete is now free for students and educators at a high school, university, or college.

Complete includes Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, Universe, VFX Suite, and Shooter Suite, which is a broad array of software and plugins that will cover a lot of territory. If you're new to Red Giant and getting to play for the first time, a good place to start is the Magic Bullet Suite. It's a powerful set of color correcting and image processing tools that's great for beginners as well as more advanced users.

The education license will last for 180 days, at which point you'll need to resubmit your academic credentials. Once you've graduated you'll have some time to get up on your feet, but if you start to make a living with the toolset, you should be able to pay for the tools you bill for within six months. Of course, this means professors will have to get in the habit of re-submitting their credentials every semester, but it means nothing when you are getting free access to a top-level plugin suite.

Back in December it was announced that Red Giant and Maxon were merging, and this may have made it easier for Red Giant to offer the free educational license. Regardless, its big news for teachers and students. If you are not a student or faculty member, Red Giant Complete is available monthly for $79 or through an annual subscription for $599, which averages to just under $50/month.

You can find out more info at Red Giant. If you are a student head to its academic page to find out how to qualify.