What is the best 3D modeling software?

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score 125 · Accepted Answer

Blender

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Top Pro

Free and open source

Blender is licensed under the GPL. See More

Top Con

Difficult learning curve

Blender is not a very intuitive 3D modeling software. It has its own ways of doing things, and it is often hard to guess how to achieve simple tasks. See More

studioMagicalFox's Experience

Blender is full featured and free. Initial learning curve is steep but once you get used to it everything makes sense. Automate workflows or refactor the UI with Python. Lots of support from developers and user community. Consider the price of any other comparable tool and using Blender becomes a no-brainer. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD

3D:Yes

Desktop targets:Windows; Macintosh; Linux

Mobile targets:none

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Top Pro

Python extensibility

Blender embeds Python 3, which can be used to write add-ons, tools, extend the interface, rig characters and automate tasks. See More

Top Con

Too many possibilities, no unified workflow

The operations are not optimized enough for specific tasks. See More

CompassionateMacGreine's Experience

Im using it professionally See More

Top Pro

Powerful animation suite

Blender provides a full rigging system, and automates animation by interpolating between keyframe positions. See More

Top Con

Ugly interface

It has a not-so-good interface out-of-the-box. It's hard to see things on it. Sure you can use custom themes, but themes that look good are not always up-to-date. And building your own theme is confusing and time-consuming. It's just my own opinion. If you have got a good theme, you can just ignore this. See More

DecisiveSirtir's Experience

Great, amazing tool! I use it all the time with Unreal Engine. See More

Top Pro

Wide import and export format support

Support lots of modern 3D formats including DAE and FBX - ideal for game developers. See More

Top Con

Poor particle system

The Blender particle system can at times be a little limiting and finicky (and buggy) to get working. Even if it can get most straight forward jobs done, it is far from the most advanced system, and could benefit largely from advancements. See More

Pi-Qui Baltink's Experience

I am a Maya certified animator who now works with blender. I use Maya for particle systems, the rest is done in blender. If you have a Radeon card you can use Radeon Prorender, works fast and really good results. See More

Top Pro

Has a good rendering engine

Blender runs the Cycles path tracing engine under the hood. Cycles is a very powerful rendering engine capable of full path tracing (light fall off, caustics, volumetrics). It is mostly compatible with OpenCL and CUDA rendering, and is implementing mycropolygon displacement features. The upcoming release has a viewport engine called EEVEE whereby you can see and interact with your work in render mode in real time! See More

IndustriousViracocha's Experience

Love the software See More

Top Pro

Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling

HumbleKingu's Experience

Awesome See More

Top Pro

Regular release schedule

Releases are made every ~3 months. See More

Gerhard Eichhorn's Experience

Difficult but powerful. See More

Top Pro

Includes video editing & compositing tools

Blender's node-based compositor has comprehensive video sequencing and post-processing features. See More

Top Pro

Keyboard shortcuts

Good keyboard shortcuts for everything. Keep your left hand on the keyboard and your right hand on the mouse. See More

Top Pro

It has sculpting and 3D painting features

Although blenders 3d painting and sculpting tools (mostly painting) are not at par with specialized software like Substance painter, z brush, or mari; it is more than capable of getting most jobs done if the user takes the time to learn and understand it. See More

Top Pro

Node based modeling support

Top Pro

Very useful for a freelancer

It offers a round solution (it covers many areas and professional fields) for a freelancer, for free, constantly updated, very polished, and allowing high quality results that clients do require. After some learning, it becomes very useful for professional work. See More

Top Pro

Coherent and streamlined workflow / internal use logic

The trick with Blender is to get used to its usage philosophy, as it keeps consistent through all the application. Once you get it, every feature or addition is learnt naturally, almost effortlessly. See More

Top Pro

Has a large community

There's a huge community to help you get started immediately. See More

See All

The Best 1 of 23 OptionsWhy?

My Recommendation for Blender

My Recommendation for Blender

Free and open source

Difficult learning curve

Python extensibility

Too many possibilities, no unified workflow

Powerful animation suite

Ugly interface

Wide import and export format support

Poor particle system

Has a good rendering engine

Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling

Regular release schedule

Includes video editing & compositing tools

Keyboard shortcuts

It has sculpting and 3D painting features

Node based modeling support

Very useful for a freelancer

Coherent and streamlined workflow / internal use logic

Has a large community

22 Other Options Considered

My Recommendation for Modo

My Recommendation for Modo

Unparalleled modeling pipeline.

User-friendly

MeshFusion

Great value

A lot of learning resources exist for this program

My Recommendation for ZBrush

My Recommendation for ZBrush

Powerful brush system allows for lots of creativity

Expensive

Best for hi-poly modeling

UI is far from user friendly

Always evolving and innovating

An odd perspective view

Can easily simplify mesh topology

Hi-poly only

Has low poly modelling tools with 4r7 version

Plays well with others

Best support

My Recommendation for Cinema 4D

My Recommendation for Cinema 4D

Clean UI

Expensive

Easy to learn

Useful content browser

Includes great tools for animation and motion graphics

Sketch & toon

My Recommendation for Wings 3D

My Recommendation for Wings 3D

Doesn't work with a graphics tablet like Wacom.

Free, open source & cross-platform

Fast and easy

My Recommendation for Autodesk Maya

My Recommendation for Autodesk Maya

Myriad of features

Poorly organized interface

Industry standard

Pricey

Combining powerful, realistic rendering with ease of use

Difficult to learn

Extensible

Support

My Recommendation for Lightwave 3D

My Recommendation for Lightwave 3D

Support for Python scripting

Not beginner-friendly

My Recommendation for VECTARY

My Recommendation for VECTARY

Free

You have to be online

Simple UI

Subject to frequent change

Visually stunning

Fast-evolving

Any operating system

Browser based - no install required

Easy-to-learn