What are the best open-source (permissive licensed) 3D modelling software?

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Dec 17, 2021

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5 Options Considered

Best open-source (permissive licensed) 3D modelling software	Price	3D	Platforms
-- Blender	Free	Yes	Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD
-- Wings 3D	-	Yes	-
-- FabricEngine	-	-	-
-- SketchUp	-	-	-
-- Seamless3d	-	-	-

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score 5 · Answer 1

Blender

Top Pro

Free and open source

Blender is licensed under the GPL. See More

Top Con

Difficult learning curve

Blender has a history of being unintuitive, but the 2.8 overhaul made the program far easier for beginners to pick up, and changes continue to be made to further improve the experience. However, there is still a learning curve. See More

Specs

3D:Yes

Platforms:Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD

Technology:C, Python

2D:Yes (as of 2.8)

See All Specs

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

Top Pro

Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling

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

Top Pro

Regular release schedule

Releases are made every ~3 months. 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

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

Has a large community

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

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

Includes video editing & compositing tools

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

Powerful animation suite

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

See All

score 2 · Answer 2

Wings 3D

Dev platforms:Windows, macOS, Linux

Answer 3

FabricEngine

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Answer 4

SketchUp

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score 1 · Answer 5

Seamless3d

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What are the best open-source (permissive licensed) 3D modelling software?

5 Options Considered

Blender

My Recommendation for Blender

My Recommendation for Blender

Free and open source

Difficult learning curve

Python extensibility

Too many possibilities, no unified workflow

Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling

Poor particle system

Regular release schedule

Keyboard shortcuts

Very useful for a freelancer

Has a large community

Coherent and streamlined workflow / internal use logic

It has sculpting and 3D painting features

Node based modeling support

Includes video editing & compositing tools

Has a good rendering engine

Wide import and export format support

Powerful animation suite

Wings 3D

My Recommendation for Wings 3D

My Recommendation for Wings 3D

FabricEngine

My Recommendation for FabricEngine

My Recommendation for FabricEngine

SketchUp

My Recommendation for SketchUp

My Recommendation for SketchUp

Seamless3d

My Recommendation for Seamless3d

My Recommendation for Seamless3d

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