3d Model Making Software Free
The number and variety of 3D software packages on the market is staggering, but many of the top applications in use by commercial film, gaming, and effects studios cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
It's true that most commercial applications offer time-limited free trials or abbreviated learning editions for students and hobbyists. If you're planning to work in the computer graphics industry one day, these are well worth exploring even if you can't afford a full license, because your skills in the commercial packages are what will ultimately land you a job.
Free 3D Models Available for Download. Thousands of free 3D models available for download. Files available in all major formats - max, fbx, obj, c4d, maya. Unrivaled selection of premium 3D models also available for purchase, prices starting under $5. A free 3D-modeling software for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, Open SCAD focuses more on the CAD aspects of modeling an object rather than the artistic aspect. Unlike many others listed on this page, Open SCAD is not an interactive modeler but a 3D-compiler modeler that reads in the details of the objects to render their 3D models on the screen. SketchUp is a premier 3D design software that truly makes 3D modeling for everyone, with a simple to learn yet robust toolset that empowers you to create whatever you can imagine. CAD, 3D Design and Modeling Software downloads. The source for CAD, 3D Design and Modeling related Shareware, Freeware, Evaluation and Free Full Registered Version software. 3D Model Viewer 0. 3D Model Viewer is dedicated to all 3D Artists who would like to check their models without inserting them in the game and loading the game engine to render.Model Viewer will contain many of features like animations rendering, lighting, different precompiled effects, screenshots maker etc. This is a list of 17 Best Free 3D Modeling Software For Windows. A 3D model can be defined as a model which represents an object in a 3D graphical mode and the process of creating a 3D model is known as 3D modeling. 3D modeling has evolved a lot with the growth of computer technology. It is now commonly used in various industries, such as.
However, plenty of free 3D software suites are out there for hobbyists, independent filmmakers who don't have the budget for expensive software, and budget-conscious freelance professionals who have found all the tools and power they need in cost-free solutions like Blender or SketchUp.
Just because the software is free doesn't necessarily make it any less valuable. This list isn't exhaustive. There are dozens of other free 3D tools available beyond those mentioned here. However, these are the strongest of the bunch.
Blender
What We Like
Interface vastly improved over early versions.
Great for video games and animation.
Nearly on par with expensive professional 3D modeling programs.
What We Don't Like
Less useful in designing architecture and objects like furniture.
Heavy use of shortcuts to execute commands can be daunting for new users learning the software.
Blender is easily the most versatile entry on this list, and in many regards, it compares favorably to top digital content creation tools like Cinema 4D, Maya, and 3Ds Max. To this day, it stands as one of the greatest open-source development projects ever conceived.
Blender is full-featured, offering a complete range of modeling, surfacing, sculpting, painting, animation, and rendering tools.
The software is good enough to have produced numerous impressive short films and is in use by several professional studios.
Blender was criticized early on for having a confusing interface, but don't let outdated complaints steer you away. The software was given a thorough overhaul recently and emerged with a fresh interface and a feature set that aims for parity with the best.
While you don't see Blender in any Hollywood effects pipelines where Autodesk and Houdini are deeply ingrained, Blender has steadily carved out a niche in motion graphics and visualization, similar to where Cinema 4D excels.
Pixologic Sculptris
What We Like
Makes quick editing easy.
Excellent tool for learning the art.
Users can transition to ZBrush without a difficult learning curve.
What We Don't Like
Rendering can be slow at times.
Lacks some useful tools and features found in other software.
Sculptris is a digital sculpting application similar to ZBrush or Mudbox, but with an easier learning curve. Because Sculptris uses dynamic tessellation, it is essentially geometry-independent, meaning it is an ideal learning package for someone with few or no modeling skills who wants to try his hand at sculpting. Sculptris was originally developed independently by Tomas Pettersson, but is now owned and maintained by Pixologic as a free counterpart to ZBrush. Sculptris is aimed at beginners. The website offers video tutorials and an assurance that the skills you learn in Sculptris easily translate to ZBrush.
Sculptris was last updated in 2011. Pixologic still allows downloads but warns that as legacy software, it's no longer maintained or supported.
SketchUp
What We Like
Great for architectural modeling.
Large library of models available.
What We Don't Like
Interface may be a challenge for new users to get used to.
Importing 3D models created in other programs can sometimes be a problem.
SketchUp is an intuitive and accessible modeler, originally developed by Google and now owned by Trimble. SketchUp excels at practical and architectural design and probably has more in common with a CAD package than traditional surface modelers like Maya and Max.
Like Blender, SketchUp has been amazingly well received and has gradually carved out a niche with professionals in the visualization field due to its ease of use and speed.
The software has little in the way of organic modeling tools, but if your primary interest is in architectural modeling, SketchUp is an excellent starting point. You begin by drawing lines and shapes and then stretch and copy them to make whatever you like. You don't have to draw everything, though. SketchUp offers an enormous library of free 3D models to get you started — search the 3D Warehouse for what you need.
Wings 3D
What We Like
Good tool for learning 3D modeling basics.
Supports many other 3D file formats.
What We Don't Like
Doesn't offer features beyond the basics.
No animations.
Wings is a straightforward open-source subdivision surface modeler, which means it has similar modeling capabilities to Maya and Max but none of their other functions.
Because Wings uses traditional (standard) polygon modeling techniques, everything you learn here is applicable in other content-creation packages, making this an ideal starting point for anyone looking to learn how to model for animation, film, and games.
Tinkercad
What We Like
Easy-to-learn interface.
Design tools are online, no software to download.
What We Don't Like
Doesn't fare well with very complex designs.
Requires an internet connection.
Tinkercad is an impressive suite of free, lightweight 3D tools offered by Autodesk as an easy entry point into the world of 3D. Autodesk develops five different applications under the Tinkercad banner, including modeling and sculpting apps, an iPad based creature designer, and a tool to assist with fabrication and 3D printing.
In a way, Tinkercad is AutoDesk's answer to Sculptris and Sketchup and is meant to interest beginners in 3D without the tremendous learning curve of their Autodesk's flagship applications: CAD, Maya, Max, and Mudbox.
Daz Studio
What We Like
Includes lots of props and models to use.
Strong in animation, image, and film creation tasks.
What We Don't Like
Limited sculpting, modeling, and surfacing tools.
Easier to create new models in other 3D software and import for use.
Daz Studio is an image creation tool that comes with a wealth of characters, props, creatures, and buildings that you can arrange and animate to create still images or short films. The software is primarily meant for users who want to create 3D images or films without the overhead of creating all their models and textures by hand.
The software's animation and rendering toolset is fairly robust, and in the right hands, users can create impressive shots. However, without a full range of modeling, surfacing, or sculpting tools built in, your content can become limited unless you're willing to buy 3D assets in the Daz marketplace or create them yourself with a third-party modeling package.
Still, it's a great piece of software for people who just want to jump in and create a 3D image or film without a whole lot of overhead.
Mandelbulb 3D
What We Like
Create impressive fractal objects and scenes.
Can play around with formulas to see what you get.
The website offers downloadable examples to experiment with.
What We Don't Like
Takes some time to acclimate to this software.
Interface is overwhelming at first and not as intuitive as other 3D software.
If you're interested in fractals, Mandelbulb 3D should be right up your alley. The application certainly takes some getting used to, but the result is stellar once you know what you're doing. The 3D fractal environment includes color, lighting, specularity, depth-of-field, and shadow and flow effects used to generate amazing fractal objects. If the concept of fractals is Greek to you, visit the featured artists' section of the Mandelbulb website to see the types of things you can do with this software.
Autodesk Software (Free but Limited)
What We Like
Free top-tier 3D design software if used only non-commercially.
Powerful and feature-rich software tools that are industry standards.
What We Don't Like
Steep learning curve when starting to use these complex software packages.
Software can have hefty system requirements and be resource intensive.
Autodesk offers virtually its entire software line free for non-commercial use to 'students and community members.' However, you don't have to be enrolled in a school to download them. If you want to work in the industry eventually, knowing Autodesk software is a valuable skill, so this is a highly recommended path. The only limitation is that you can't use any of the software in commercial projects. Among the educational downloads are 3DS Max, Maya, Inventor Professional, and AutoCAD.
Sometimes you need more than just words to tell a story. Colors, depth and movement can communicate a message in ways that words simply cannot.
That’s where 3D modeling softwarecomes in.
What are the best free 3D modeling software in 2019?
- K-3D
- Blender
- SketchUp
- Sculptris
- Wings 3D
- Seamless3D
- BricsCAD Shape
These tools, similar tofree CAD software andBIM, enable users to sculpt three-dimensional models of objects and characters and subsequently enhance thosegraphic designcreations with realistic detailing.
3D modeling software is commonly used in entertainment spaces, such as film or video game creation. However, they can also be utilized for building design or marketing and advertising.
And believe it or not, you can get some of those tools for free.
The list we’ve outlined here includes any 3D modeling solution with an available free offering. It should be noted that this does not include products that are only free on a temporary basis, such as limited trial versions for new users. They may only support one user or one project, but they’re truly free offerings. Scaling, however, will often require full investments.
These products alone have well over 350 validated user reviews on G2 Crowd as of August 19, 2018, and only represent a small portion of the 90-plus 3D modeling software offerings listed on our platform. Whenever possible, the products are ranked by user satisfaction score from an in-depth analysis of the best free 3D modeling software.
1. K-3D
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Overview: This free 3D modeling software combines flexible plugins with a data visualization pipeline architecture for transforming data from one format to another. K-3D is a user-friendly and powerful tool that that makes it ideal for amateur and experienced artists alike.
Pricing: K-3D is completely free, which means that users have full access to all features at no cost.
Image courtesy of K-3D
What Users Say
What users like
“[I] tested a number of alternatives. This is the tool with the features, speed and stability for you.”
—K-3D reviewby a user in graphic design
What users dislike
“[It’s a] great program all around; only complaint [is I] just wish it had some sort of quick getting started guide.”
— K-3D review by a user in graphic design
Features:
- Camera mode:This free drawing software offers users the option forpan/tilt, zoom, dolly, modeling and tripod modes.
- 3D primitives:K-3D offers cone, circle, cushion, cylinder, disk, grid, paraboloid, polyhedron, sphere and torus.
- Rendering:This free 3D modeling tool has rendering functionalities and supports a number of different rendering engines.
2. Blender
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Overview: Blender is free and open-source 3D creation software. This tool offers functionality to support 3D pipeline, 3D modeling, animation, rendering, video editing, game creation and more.
Pricing: Blender is completely free, open-source 3D creation suite.
Image courtesy of Blender
What Users Say
What users like
“Definitely the best free and open-source 3D modeling tool out there. The insanely high number of features available makes it as good as other AAA products on the market. It's a great resource for 3D modeling, sculpting, high quality rendering, and animation and game making.'
— Blender reviewby Nicola F.
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What users dislike
“The only thing I dislike is that Blender can be difficult to use in the beginning. If you are new to 3D modeling or coming from another program, you'll need to spend a good amount of time to get used to the interface and hotkeys.”
—Blender reviewby Raphael H.
Recommendations to others considering this product
“It's a steep learning curve, but don't let that turn you away. Spend some time diving into it and you'll be up to speed surprisingly fast. I'm not even the artist of my team and I was able to pick it up only casually playing around with it for a few weeks.”
—Blenderreviewby Kenton H.
Features:
- Sculpting:Blender allows users to sculpt objects with 20 different brush sets and provides multi-res sculpting support and more.
- Cycles:Blender’s rendering engine Cycles has functionalities for lighting, shading, layers and passes, motion blur and more.
- Pipeline:This feature allows files to be imported and exported in a variety of different file types.
- Game creation:The 3D models created with Blender can be segued into game creation. The module in this free 3D modeling software allows you to export your 3D models to any third-party game engine.
3. SketchUp
G2 Crowd star rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars
Overview: SketchUp is ageneral-purpose CAD solution with powerful 3D modeling capabilities. While it is commonly used in fields such as building design, architecture and engineering, this solution enables line drawing, shape rotation, and push and pull surfaces to make a 3D model of anything you desire. SketchUp also offers a free library of pre-existing 3D models to select and work from.
Pricing: SketchUp offers three different pricing plans:
- SketchUp Free: This is an ideal option for simple 3D modeling. This includes SketchUp Free for Web, 10 GB of cloud storage, five seats on the platform and free models from 3D Warehouse.
- SketchUp Shop: This option is available $119/year and is geared toward users who intend to turn their models into real objects. SketchUp for Web, import/export for CAD files and vector images, unlimited storage, unlimited seats for SketchUp, solid tools, tech support and more are available in this plan.
- SketchUp Pro: This pricing plan is available for a flat rate of $695. This gets you SketchUp Pro for Desktop, extensible apps and plugins, LayOut for 2D documentation, import/export for CAD and vector files and a lifelong license.
Image courtesy of SketchUp
What Users Say
What users like
“I love how easy SketchUp is to find, learn, and use. It's a great tool for 3D modeling beginners to get an idea of how to push and pull objects, faces, and manipulate images in a 3D environment easily.”
—SketchUp reviewby Amanda P.
What users dislike
“If compared to other 3D modeling software, SketchUp is less precise and a less powerful modeling tool. In most of the cases, SketchUp fills its duties in architecture. And it's not meant to be a tool for precision modeling, it's a way to sketch up volumes and objects.”
—SketchUp reviewby Matteo P.
Recommendations to others considering this product
“This program really helps the preliminary design of the product or project and when the client sees a 3D model of their design, the more apt they are to want to move forward and are impressed with your skills as a designer.”
—SketchUp reviewby Benjamin W.
Features:
- Sections:Apply names and symbol to various sections in your design to make them easier to find and organize. You can also hide large amounts of geometry in your sections.
- Drawing:Create linework with scaled vector graphics with SketchUp’s drawing functionalities. You can also import .DWG files directly into the platform.
- Documentation:Turn your 3D models into documents. Once you use SketchUp’s 3D modeling capabilities to create your design, you can export it as a PDF.
4. Sculptris
G2 Crowd star rating: 3.9 out of 5.0 stars
Overview: Sculptris is the free and limited version of another 3D modeling tool,ZBrush. This free 3D modeling software is specifically geared toward those who are new to this space.
Pricing: While Sculptris is a completely free 3D modeling solution, users can upgrade to ZBrush for $895/seat.
Image courtesy of Sculptris
What Users Say
What users like
“I like Sculptris because it makes 3D sculpting and designing so easy and user friendly. The website also offers so good free tutorials to help you get started. I also like the different hotkeys that you can turn on and off. I was very impressed with the amount of features that it offers.”
—Sculptris reviewby Beth A.
What users dislike
“Sculptris is very hard to use with just a standard mouse. You really need to add a design pen or special trackpad to get all of the benefits that Sculptris offers. I wish the program offered more tools for sculpting.”
— Sculptris reviewby Martha T.
Recommendations to others considering this product
“Scuptris is a free and easy-to-use software for introducing yourself to digital sculpting. It is not a product that is being actively developed. It is free and openly available from Pixologic but is meant to be a transtional tool for getting people interested enough to want to buy ZBrush.”
— Sculptris review by Richard T.
Features:
- Dynamic Tessellation:This free 3D modeling software allows you to work without concern of your model’s geometry.
- Immersive Interfaces:Sculptris offers an intuitive and clean interface so users can easily access their design toolkits without cluttering up their workspace.
- Navigational Controls:Easily toggle between two different applications with this feature.
5. Wings 3D
G2 Crowd star rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Overview: Wings 3D is an open-source and free 3D modeling software.This tool is designedd for subdivision modeling, which is a method of representing a smooth surface over linear polygon mesh.
Pricing: Wings 3D is an open source and completely free 3D modeling solution, which means users have full access to these features at no additional cost.
Image courtesy of Wings 3D
What Users Say
What users like
“The application provides all of the basic tools like scale, move, rotate, cut, weld, extrude, bevel, and bridge. It also provides advanced tools like plane cut, intersect, inset, bend, sweep, circularize, and sheer. Like Blender, it takes a while to really get to know your way around; but once you get there, there's flat out nothing to touch it.”
— Wings 3D reviewby Jonathan David H.
What users dislike
“There is no support in Wings for animation. However, Wings does bear a lot of similarities and is very comparable to Blender as a very legitimate piece of freeware for 3D artists.”
— Wings 3D review by Jonathan David H.
Recommendations to others considering this product
“This is a piece of freeware at the end of the day. Wings 3D offers a comprehensive modeling toolset, an intuitive interface, support for materials and lights that allows beginners or professionals to create 3D content quickly. There is so much going for it, and the fact it may be overlooked by industry professionals is a moot point given the capabilities of this program.”
— Wings 3D review by Jonathan David H.
Features:
- Modeling Tools:This free 3D modeling software offers modeling tools, including those that support vector and magnet operations.
- Tweak Mode:Wings 3D allows for users to make quick adjustments to mesh.
- Editing Tools:This function allows for the editing of lighting, materials, textures, and vertex colors.
6. Seamless 3D
G2 Crowd star rating: Be the first towrite a review for Seamless 3D
Overview: This open-source and free 3D modeling platform is geared more toward seasoned artists and designers. As this platform has a freeform nature, it requires a bit more patience and practice to master its learning curve.
Pricing: Seamless 3D is an open-source and completely free 3D modeling solution. Users have full access to all features at no additional cost.
Image courtesy of Seamless 3D
What Users Say
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Features
- Import/Export Files:Seamless 3D supports the importing and exporting for a number of different file formats, such as VRML, X3D Obj, BVH motion capture and more.
- Editing Tools:This platform has a number of different editing functionalities, such as WYSIWYG capabilities and an infinite undo and redo option.
- Animation:Animate your 3D models with Single skinned mesh animation using Seamless 3D’s intuitive animation bar.
3d Modeling Software For Beginners
7. BricsCAD Shape
G2 Crowd star rating: Be the first towrite a reviewfor BricsCAD Shape
Overview: BricsCAD Shape is a 3D modeling tool intended to help architects and engineers streamline their design and presentation work. While it is typically used for those industries, this tool also offers the ability to create 3D models of people, landscape, transportation or anything else needed to enhance your design.
Pricing: BricsCAD Shape is a completely free 3D modeling software.
Image courtesy of BricsCAD Shape
What Users Say:
Free 3d Model Making Software
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Features
- Freeform Modeling:BricsCAD Shape offers easy wall creation, along with the tools to create doors, windows and profiles.
- Supplemental 3D Modeling:Create models of people, landscape and more to supplement the the design of your building.
- 3D Model Library:Utilize BricsCAD Shape’s library of preexisting 3D models and import your own.
Next steps for selecting your free 3D modeling software
Decide which features are a requirement in your free 3D modeling software. The features in the solution you select should allow you to effectively reach your business objective.
You should also consider how you would like to deploy your new solution, and if you may considering upgrading to a paid plan further down the line. Once you have chosen, read through some more verified user reviews to allow you to make the best decision for your business.
*Please note: User reviews may have been edited for grammar and spelling.