3d software list

[Door Slammers]

Just sharing what I know about 3d modeling software... its by far not all inclusive and I know there are many others that know alot more of them and I do, this is just a list of the ones I am familiar with. Feel free to add any I have not listed

Solid Modeling (used for engineering and 3d printing)

- Autodesk Fusion 360
- Autodesk Inventor
- Solidworks

Surface Modeling (used for rendering a high resolution 2d image of the 3d scene)

- Cheetah 3d (great program and price < $100, mac only) (I use this one alot)

- Cinema 4d (amazing renders, mac or pc) (I used quite a bit last year and liked it)

- Autodesk 3ds max (pc only, interface is tough, not a great begineer program but has all the features you will ever need) (My main 3d program I use right now)

- Autodesk Maya (very popular but I've never went beyond the 30 day trial)

- Blender (can do everything you need but interface can be extremely hard to learn, haven't used it in the last couple years)

- Hexagon 3d. (Modeler only, needs 3rd party renderer) I haven't used this one in years. Low price, may even be free now. I loved the workflow but it crashed alot. I do not think the program is still under active development.

 

[Sandman]

Enroute Equivalent to the now extinct Artcam.

 

[Gene@mpls]

Might want to add that Fusion 360 is free for hobbyists and small company users, and I think that Solidworks has a very low yearly price for veterans.

 

[54warrior]

At my main job, we utilize software called Alibre Design. It is an affordable alternative to Solidworks.

The best thing going right now though, is Fusion 360, which is free for hobbyists and small businesses with <$100k income (i think thats the number?). It has a TON of features.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

- Blender (can do everything you need but interface can be extremely hard to learn, haven't used it in the last couple years)

This has improved quite a bit. The new interface of 2.8 (still in beta, but hopefully stable in Spring of this year) brings it up to parity with what people expect coming from other packages.

This is one that I use for 3D printing and for traditional 2D animation (frame by frame) and as a video editor (this too has improved with this version, but I do have some other add ons that help with it as well).

Houdini would be another one. It does have a free one, Apprentice, as well if I remember correctly. But for non commercial use.

 

[Dale D]

There is also Rhino 7 but ist $995 to purchase.