Also, with this basic list, we are focusing on well-developed programs that work on the major operating systems. Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. Blender is a 3D animation software, open-source and free in nature. It is comprised of critical tools like simulation, modelling, video editing, motion tracking, compositing and rigging for making 3D animations. Inbuilt also are these options for animation pipelines in 2D format. Sep 24, 2019 #1 of 18 Best Free Animation Software 2020 Blender is a free and open-source 3D animation software. It consists of all the main tools required for 3D animation, i.e., modelling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and video editing. It also provides options for 2D animation pipeline. 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.
When choosing any 3d software, you need to find one that is easy to learn and use, especially if you're beginner. And you should choose one that is going to perform the task you want to and at the level of quality you want to reach. Most professional 3D software is expensive, however there are always some free software that you can use and create the magic. Below is the list of popular 3D software, free or paid 3D software.
Most of 3D printers require that you use 3D computer graphics software that saves objects in the STL(stereolithography) format.
Free 3D modeling softwares:
Google SketchUp - This Google SketchUp is fun and free, and is known for being easy to use. To build models in SketchUp, you draw edges and faces using a few simple tools that you can learn in a short time. With with Push/Pull tool you can extrude any flat surface into a 3D form. Furthermore, it works together with Google Earth, that you can import a scaled aerial photograph directly from Google Earth, or use SketchUp to build models which can be seen in Google Earth.
3DCrafter - 3Dcrafter is a real-time 3D modeling and animation tool that incorporates an intuitive drag-and-drop approach to 3D modeling. The standard version of 3DCrafter is freeware. Paid versions (3DCrafter Plus and 3Dcrafter Pro) are available.
3Dtin - The simplest 3D software. You can draw directly from your browser.
Anim8or - Anim8or is a 3D modeling and character animation program.
Art of Illusion - Art of Illusion is a free, open source 3D modelling and rendering studio. Art of Illusion is more as a 3D design system for animated computer graphics than as an engineering CAD tool.More information about Hints on Using Art of Illusion for RepRap is available online.
Blender - Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License. Blender was developed as an in-house application by the Dutch animation studio NeoGeo and Not a Number Technologies (NaN). It is a powerful program contains features that are characteristic of high-end 3D software.
BRL-CAD - BRL-CAD is a powerful cross-platform open source solid modeling system that includes interactive geometry editing, high-performance ray-tracing for rendering and geometric analysis, image and signal-processing tools, a system performance analysis benchmark suite, libraries for robust geometric representation. BRL-CAD has been the primary tri-service solid modeling CAD system used by the U.S. military to model weapons systems for vulnerability and lethality analyses for more than 20 years. It became an open source project on 21 December 2004.
Creo Elements/Direct - formerly CoCreate - is a complete design environment that offers direct 3D CAD modeler, along with 2D CAD, CAE and integrated product data management (PDM).
DrawPlus Starter Edition - 100% free and simple, with Accurate vector drawing program, realistic brush, pen, and pencil tools, text on a path, blend modes for advance artistic effects.
FreeCAD - FreeCAD is a general purpose Open Source 3D CAD/MCAD/CAx/CAE/PLM modeler, aimed directly at mechanical engineering and product design but also fits in architecture or other engineering specialties.
GLC Player - GLC player is a free application used to view 3d models (COLLADA 3DXML OBJ 3DS STL OFF COFF Format) and to navigate easily in these models. With the album management, capture and multi-capture capabilities, html export and navigation possibilities GLC_Player is the accurate tools to review a lot of 3D models and to create illustrations. GLC_Player is a cross-platform application (Mac, Linux and Windows). It is lighter than regular modelling software so very handy.
LeoCAD - LeoCAD is a CAD program that can be used to create virtual LEGO models. It has an easy to use interface and currently features over 3000 different types of pieces created by the LDaw community.
Netfabb Studio Basic - Netfabb Studio Basic provides mesh edit, repair and analysis capabilities. Its compact size of only a few megabytes allows a quick download, an easy installation and the handling of STL and slice files within seconds.
K-3D - K-3D is free-as-in-freedom 3D modeling and animation software. It features a plugin-oriented procedural engine for all of its content, making K-3D a very versatile and powerful package. K-3D excels at polygonal modeling, and includes basic tools for NURBS, patches, curves and animation.
OpenSCAD - OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD objects. It is free software and available for Linux/UNIX, MS Windows and Mac OS X. it does not focus on the artistic aspects of 3D modelling but instead on the CAD aspects.
Tinkercad - Tinkercad is a new and faster way of creating designs for your 3D printer. With only three basic tools you can create a wide range of useful things. Once your project is ready simply download the STL file and start your 3D print.
Wings 3D - Wings 3D is a subdivision modeler. It has been developed since 2001. Wings 3D offers a wide range of modeling tools, a customizable interface, support for lights and materials, and a built-in AutoUV mapping facility. There is no support in Wings for animation.
Commercial 3D printing softwares:
3DS Max - High-end commercial 3D modeling tool
Alibre - One of the cheapestCAMprograms.
Free STL software:
MeshLab - Opensource software forprocessingand editing ofunstructured3Dtriangularmeshes. Italso hasan extremely fast slidefunction.
Google SketchUp plugin - Apluginscript to import and export STLfilesfor GoogleSketchUp. Supports bothbinaryandASCIIimport and export.
Netfabb Studio - a free Windowsprogram for3D printingtoview, edit, analyzeandrepair STLfiles.
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For the most part, animation is not an expensive craft to pursue but it does come with some fairly pricey overheads when you’re first getting started out.
If you’re in animation school, chances are you’ve got access to all of the equipment and software you could possibly need. But if you’re interested in kitting out your home setup with animation software, the price tag can quickly rack up. Luckily, there are some free animation software alternatives which are good enough to see you through the majority of animation projects you’ll undertake.
Presenting…
Pencil
OS: Mac, Windows, Linux
When it comes to free and open-source 2D animation programs, Pencil is by far the most well-rounded and comes with a surprising number of features given that it comes with no charge.
Although it looks simple from the clean interface, it is packed with all the main tools you’ll find in some of the Pencil’s paid counterparts. It supports both vector and bitmap images, multiple layers and has its own in-built illustration tools (so you can either import graphics or create them right there and then before animating them).
Synfig Studios
OS: Mac, Windows, Linux
Right up there with Pencil, Synfig is very similar in design but arguably comes with a steeper learning curve; reason being, it throws in even more advanced features, and the results which can be achieved once you master them border on the professional level.
Stykz
OS: Mac, Windows, Linux
Given the above two open-source suites which offer an impressive level functionality, why are we featuring a simple stickman animation tool?
Simply put, Stykz has got a lot of use for anyone who likes to draft things out before getting down to fully-fledged artwork and animating. It’s completely free with no strings attached, works on any platform and can produce fluid .GIFs incredibly quickly (which will no doubt lead on to bigger things).
One particularly neat feature is that it also integrates with Pivot, another node-based (and free) animation tool.
CreaToon
OS: Windows
An entry-level animation program, CreaToon is cut-out based (all graphics are imported) that takes a lot of the headache out of creating cartoon-esque animation. While it isn’t quite as polished as some of the other names on this list, the real-time editing, auto in-frame filling and versatile file format support are real pulls.
Not to be confused with the coding language, Ajax started life back in 2006 and was developed by a 6th grader as a replacement to Adobe’s expensive Flash MX. Intuit quickbooks 2016 17 2 20 570 (r21) download free. From such auspicious beginnings emerged a robust and fully functional animator that is well worth checking out despite its primitive look, especially if you’re an iPad user.
Blender
Open Source 3d Software List Free
OS: Mac, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD
If you’ve heard of Blender, that’s because it’s one of the most widely-used free animation softwares still in active development (even professional animators and video game developers turn to it from time to time). Although it may take some time for beginners to get to grips with, those who manage to put even half the features Blender offers to use will be able to produce very impressive results.
Bryce
OS: Mac, Windows
Although it’s not strictly an animation suite, free terrain generation software (of decent quality) is hard to come by. Bryce has really stepped up to the plate in this department – as a terragen, it’s both as simple and as elaborate as you need it to be depending on the scale of your project and works seamlessly with most other modeling software.
Open Source 3d Software List Free
Incidentally, Bryce is developed by DAZ 3D, who are also responsible for:
DAZ Studio
OS: Mac, Windows
This fantastic modeling and animation software wasn’t always free, but as of 2012, the professional version of DAZ is yours simply for signing up for a free registration account. The rendering engine is lightning fast, and the huge library of pre-created component content will have you creating in no time.
Clara.io
OS: Browser-based
Not only is Clara free, but it’s the only web-based one we can think of that is fully functional (and you don’t need any browser plugins to get it going). Not only does it feature a good system for polygonal modeling and skeletal/keyframe animation, but due to its 80,000+ user base there’s a strong community feel and plenty of people with which to chat shop.
Best Open Source 3d Software
Know of any great free or open source drawing animation software/tools which we’re missing? Do help the animation community out by leaving your suggestions in the comments below. And, if you’re interested in learning more about 3D animation and visual effects, check out NYFA’s 3D Animation & VFX School to begin your journey.