Comparison of 10 popular 3D modeling software

Wed, Jul 20 2011 8:34:45 PDT by Patrick Lambert filed under features

One of the most asked question by those interested in starting 3D modeling is What's the best modeling software for me? In this short feature I will describe and compare 10 of the most popular packages out there.

3DS MAX
Company: Autodesk Price: $3,495 Site: http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/ 3DS MAX is perhaps the most well known 3D modeling software out there. Made by Autodesk, it's become the standard in the professional world. Many studios use it, and it has a long history behind it, making it one of the most full-featured and complete package you could want. The modeling features are quite complete, with support for polygon, NURBS, and surface modeling. It has full animation support, an extensive texturing editor, a physics engine, scripting called MAXScript, and more. Also, on top of the default Scanline rendering, there are lots of popular rendering plugins for 3DS MAX like VRay, Mental Ray, RenderMan, FinalRender, and more. Finally, because it's such a popular program, there are many plugins out there for it.

Blender
Company: None, open source software Price: Free Site: http://www.blender.org/ Blender is a free, open-source software that was created as an alternative to the expensive packages out there. It's been under development for many years and has now become an impressive product, providing much of the features of something like 3DS MAX including polygon, NURBS and spline

modeling, bone rigging, animation, texturing, shading, and so on. They even have a real-time game engine. One of the negative is that Blender has always had a reputation of having a steep learning curve. The UI is unlike most other software out there. Recently they released version 2.5 which includes a modified interface and makes it a bit less painful to learn. The amount of industry support as far as extra plugins or renderers is more limited than professional software, because Blender is just not used by many studios, but it is a good choice for beginners who don't want to spend any money.

Maya
Company: Autodesk Price: $3,495 Site: http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/ Maya is like the brother or cousin of 3DS MAX. It's very similar in many ways, down to the actual price. The interface is slightly different, so the workflow that one must learn is also different, but otherwise the features are fairly close. In Maya you can do modeling, animation, texturing, and so on. While many studios use 3DS MAX for modeling, Maya tends to be used more for animation. Which package you learn, assuming you want to go for an Autodesk solution, therefore depends on whether you want to concentrate mostly on modeling or on animation.

Hexagon
Company: DAZ 3D Price: $104.97 Site: http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/hexagon Hexagon is an interesting little program, and a personal favorite of mine. First, unlike the previous packages, this one is purely a modeling program. It offers all the modeling options you may want, and can do UV mapping and basic texturing. But it includes no renderer, no animation and no physics engine. Also, the development of the software hasn't been going very fast over the past couple of years. But on the plus side, Hexagon is very intuitive and easy to learn, and is of course a lot less expensive than the more full featured packages. It's a good choice if you need to make models but don't need other features.

Sketchup
Company: Google Price: Free / $495 Site: http://sketchup.google.com/ If Hexagon is easy to learn, Sketchup is trivial. This software is a breeze to learn and use. It uses a different workflow than a traditional modeling program, which makes it very intuitive and easy to model things. Also, it comes with a free version that allows you to access all the features of the software except for export functions, with the Pro version adding those features. However it is much more limited than the previous options. It's only for modeling, and has no renderer, although there are commercial plugins out there for Sketchup. Also it's mostly made for architecture modeling, and it would be hard to do organic modeling.

Carrara
Company: DAZ 3D Price: $149 / $549 Site: http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/carrara Carrara is made by the same company as Hexagon. It's their fully featured package, which includes not only modeling but animation, physics, rendering, and so on. It's a fairly young product, and when compared with something like 3DS MAX, it's just not on the same level, although development is happening quite fast on Carrara. The learning curve is also steeper than Hexagon. One advantage of Carrara is it's made by the same company as DAZ Studio, so if you wish to create scenes using pre-made meshes from DAZ it's easy to integrate into your workflow. Outside of this niche however, it's just not used by many studios out there.

Cinema4D
Company: MAXON Price: $959 / $3,695 Site: http://www.maxon.net/products/cinema-4d-prime/who-should-use-it.html Cinema4D is another high-end, expensive, professional package. Like the Autodesk options, it includes everything from modeling, animation, rigging, rendering, and so on. In contrast to previous programs however, Cinema4D is split into many different modules. People can buy the modules they want, like the Studio, Visualize versions or BodyPaint 3D. Cinema4D is used a lot in the movie and TV industry, and should you be going in that direction, this may be a good choice for you.

LightWave 3D
Company: NewTek Price: $895 Site: http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/ LightWave 3D is another professional package, including both modeling and everything else like texturing, rigging, animation and so on. The main advantage is the reduced price compared with some of the other high-end packages. The workflow is also different, and it has a very dedicated user base. While it's used in less studios than some of the previous choices, it's a tool of choice for some film makers and has been used in some blockbuster movies.

Silo
Company: NeverCenter Price: $159 Site: http://www.nevercenter.com/silo/ Silo is in many ways similar to Hexagon. It's a modeling only program, without any of the extra features like animation or even rendering. One of the interesting feature of Silo is its incredible customizable interface. Like many other produts out there, it has its loyal user base.

ZBrush
Company: Pixologic Price: $595 Site: http://www.pixologic.com/ The last program, ZBrush, is unlike any of the previous choices. Instead of doing polygon or NURBS modeling, ZBrush offers clay like modeling, where you sculpt a mesh. It's a very different way to work, but has become extremely popular is recent years. The interface is also unlike any other programs and can be difficult to adapt yourself to. However, it's become the de facto standard and almost every studio out there uses it. While many of the previous packages actually have sculpting functions built in, ZBrush is specialized in sculpting and painting, and is a superior choice if you wish to specialize yourself in this type of modeling.

http://tideart.com/?id=4e26f595
3D computer graphics software refers to programs used to create 3D computer-generated imagery. This article covers only some of the software used. 3D modelers allow users to create and alter models via their 3D mesh. Users can add, subtract, stretch and otherwise change the mesh to their desire. Models can be viewed from a variety of angles, usually simultaneously. Models can be rotated and the view can be zoomed in and out. 3D modelers can export their models to files, which can then be imported into other applications as long as the metadata is compatible. Many modelers allow importers and exporters to be plugged-in, so they can read and write data in the native formats of other applications. Most 3D modelers contain a number of related features, such as ray tracers and other rendering alternatives and texture mappingfacilities. Some also contain features that support or allow animation of models. Some may be able to generate full-motion video of a series of rendered scenes (i.e. animation). 3ds Max (Autodesk), originally called 3D Studio MAX, is a comprehensive and versatile 3D application used in film, television, video games and architecture for Windows andApple Macintosh (but only running via Parallels or other VM software). It can be extended and customized through its SDK or scripting using a Maxscript. It can use third party rendering options such as Brazil R/S, finalRender and V-Ray. AC3D (Inivis) is a 3D modeling application that began in the 90's on the Amiga platform. Used in a number of industries, MathWorks actively recommends it in many of their aerospace-related [1] articles due to price and compatibility. AC3D does not feature its own renderer, but can generate output files for both RenderMan and POV-Ray among others.

Aladdin4D (DiscreetFX), first created for the Amiga, was originally developed by Adspec Programming. After acquisition by DiscreetFX, it is multi-platform for Mac OS X, Amiga OS 4.1, MorphOS, Linux, AROS and Windows. Animation:Master from HASH, Inc is a modeling and animation package that focuses on ease of use. It is a spline-based modeler. Its strength lies in character animation. Bryce (DAZ Productions) is most famous for landscapes and creating 'painterly' renderings, as well as its unique user interface. Daz3d has stopped its development and it is not compatible with MAC OS 10.7x or higher. It is currently being given away for free via the daz3d website. Carrara (DAZ Productions) is a fully featured 3D toolset for modeling, texturing, scene rendering and animation. Cheetah3D is a proprietary program for Apple Macintosh computers primarily aimed at amateur 3D artists with some medium- and high-end features Cinema 4D (MAXON) is a light (Prime) to full featured (Studio) 3d package dependant on version used. Although used in film usually for 2.5d work, Cinema's largest user base is in the television motion graphics and design/visualisation arenas. Originally developed for the Amiga, it is also available for Mac OS X and Windows. CityEngine (Procedural Inc) is a 3D modeling application specialized in the generation of three dimensional urban environments. With the procedural modeling approach,CityEngine enables the efficient creation of detailed large-scale 3D city models, it is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Cobalt is a parametric-based Computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling software for both the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. It integrates wireframe, freeform surfacing, feature-based solid modeling and photo-realistic rendering (see Ray tracing), and animation. Electric Image Animation System (EIAS3D) is a 3D animation and rendering package available on both Mac OS X and Windows. Mostly known for its rendering quality and rendering speed it does not [2] include a built-in modeler. The popular film Pirates of the Caribbean and the television [3] series Lost used the software. formZ (AutoDesSys, Inc.) is a general purpose solid/surface 3D modeler. Its primary use is for modeling, but it also features photo realistic rendering and object-centric animation support. formZ is used in architecture, interior design, illustration, product design, and set design. It supports plug-ins and scripts, has import/export capabilities and was first released in 1991. It is currently available for both Mac OS X and Windows. Grome is a professional outdoor scene modeler (terrain, water, vegetation) for games and other 3D real-time applications.

Houdini (Side Effects Software) is used for visual effects and character animation. It was used [4] in Disney's feature film The Wild. Houdini uses a non-standard interface that it refers to as a "NODE system". It has a hybrid micropolygon-raytracer renderer, Mantra, but it also has built-in support for commercial renderers like Pixar's RenderMan and mental ray. Inventor (Autodesk) The Autodesk Inventor is for 3D mechanical design, product simulation, tooling creation, and design communication. LightWave 3D (NewTek), first developed for the Amiga, was originally bundled as part of the Video Toaster package and entered the market as a low cost way for TV production companies to create quality CGI for their programming. It first gained public attention with its use in the TV series Babylon [5] [6][7][8] 5 and is used in several contemporary TV series. Lightwave is also used in a variety of modern [9][10] film productions. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. MASSIVE is a 3D animation system for generating crowd-related visual effects, targeted for use in film and television. Originally developed for controlling the large-scale CGI battles in The Lord of the [11] Rings, Massive has become an industry standard for digital crowd control in high-end [citation needed] animation and has been used on several other big-budget films. It is available for various Unix and Linux platforms as well as Windows. Maya (Autodesk) is currently used in the film, television, and gaming industry. Maya has developed over the years into an application platform in and of itself through extendability via its MEL programming language. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Modo (Luxology) is a subdivision modeling, texturing and rendering tool with support for camera motion and morphs/blendshapes.and is now used in the Television Industry It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. Mudbox is a high resolution brush-based 3D sculpting program, that claims to be the first of its type. The software was acquired by Autodesk in 2007, and has a current rival in its field known as ZBrush (see below). NX (Siemens PLM Software) is an integrated suite of software for computer-aided mechanical design (mechanical CAM), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) [12] formed by combining the former Unigraphics and SDRC I-deas software product lines. NX is currently available for the following operating systems: Windows XP and Vista, Apple Mac OS [13] [14] X, and Novell SUSE Linux. Poser (Smith Micro) Poser is a 3D rendering and animation computer program optimized for models that depict the human figure in three-dimensional form and is specialized for adjusting features of preexisting character models via varying parameters. It is also for posing and rendering of models and characters. It includes some specialized tools for walk cycle creation, cloth and hair. RealFlow simulates and renders particle systems of rigid bodies and fluids.

Realsoft3D Real3D Full featured 3D modeling, animation, simulation and rendering software available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Irix. Remo 3D is a commercial 3D modeling tool specialized in creating 3D models for realtime visualization, available for Windows and Linux. Rhinoceros 3D is a commercial modeling tool which has excellent support for freeform NURBS editing. Shade 3D is a commercial modeling/rendering/animation tool from Japan with import/export format support for Adobe, Social Worlds, and QuickTime among others. Silo (Nevercenter) is a subdivision-surface modeler available for Mac OS X and Windows. Silo does not include a renderer. Silo is the bundled in modeler for the Electric Image Animation System suite. SketchUp Pro (Trimble) is a 3D modeling package that features a sketch-based modeling approach which supports 2D and 3D model export functions among other features. A free version is also available that integrates with Google Earth and limits export to Google's "3D Warehouse", where users can share their content. Softimage (Autodesk) (formerly Softimage|XSI) is a 3D modeling and animation package that integrates with mental ray rendering. It is feature-similar to Maya and 3ds Max and is used in the production of professional films, commercials, video games, and other media. Solid Edge ( Siemens PLM Software) is a commercial application for design, drafting, analysis, and simulation of products, systems, machines and tools. All versions include feature-based parametric modeling, assembly modeling, drafting, sheetmetal, weldment, freeform surface design, and data [15] management. Application-programming interfaces enable scripting in Visual Basic and C programming. solidThinking (solidThinking) is a 3D solid/surface modeling and rendering suite which features a construction tree method of development. The tree is the "history" of the model construction process and allows real-time updates when modifications are made to points, curves, parameters or entire objects. SolidWorks (SolidWorks Corporation) is an application used for the design, detailing and validation of products, systems, machines and toolings. All versions include modeling, assemblies, drawing, sheetmetal, weldment, and freeform surfacing functionality. It also has support for scripting in Visual Basic and C. Spore (Maxis) is a game that revolutionized the gaming industry by allowing users to design their own fully functioning creatures with a very rudimentary, easy-to-use interface. The game includes a COLLADA exporter, so models can be downloaded and imported into any other 3D software listed here that supports the COLLADA format. Models can also be directly imported into game development software such as Unity (game engine).

Swift 3D (Electric Rain) is a relatively inexpensive 3D design, modeling, and animation application targeted to entry-level 3D users and Adobe Flash designers. Swift 3D supports vector and rasterbased 3D animations for Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight XAML. Vue (E-on Software) is a tool for creating, animating and rendering natural 3D environments. It was most recently used to create the background jungle environments in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the [16] Caribbean films. ZBrush (Pixologic) is a digital sculpting and animation tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting. It is available for Mac OS X and Windows. It is used to create normal maps for low resolution models to make them look more detailed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_graphics_software https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/3D_Modeling_Programs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_modeling_software