Specialized: DNA | Interior/exterior design | Humanoid characters
This list does not attempt to differentiate between tools that are good for creating ‘organic’ shapes (e.g., Blender) and those that are not (e.g., OpenSCAD).
See this thread (2017 Feb) that mentions BRL-CAD, FreeCAD and other software.
For ‘editing, cleaning, healing, inspecting, rendering, texturing and converting’ 3D triangular meshes, rather than actually creating models.
Apart from fairly extensive built-in pop-up help,
the documentation seems to be limited to some YouTube videos,
and questions are asked and answered using
stackoverflow.
A 64-page document by Lucy Sharp, dated 2017 Nov 13, is available
from
silo.tips
and
DocPlayer.
(It is available locally in the AudiLab sw directory.)
The MeshLab licence is GPL 3.0. As of 2022 Jun 25, the latest version is 2022.02 dated 2022 Feb 28.
Mesh processing is organized around ’filters’. A filter script is built up as filters are applied, and the script can be edited and re-applied. The search icon (at the right-hand end of the main tool bar) or CtrlF can be used to search among the very many available filters.
In addition to the main 3D window there is a ‘Layer Dialog’ window which can be shown or not shown (). (MeshLab’s layers are described in Sharp (2017, pp. 18–19).) In the Layer window are icons for , , , , and . At the top of the window, on the same line as the overall visibility icon, the icons are used to control visibility; the visual indication of whether a particular icon is on or off is subtle. In the bottom part of the window, the icons are used to select tabs in which settings can be adjusted. In particular, the tab is used to toggle the visibility of boundary edges and faces, non-manifold vertices and edges, and a texture border.
Some filters operate by computing vertex or face ‘qualities’,
which can then be used to colourize the mesh. The quality values can be
exported by exporting the mesh in the
.ply format.
‘open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback ... for all major operating systems’. (Open-source since 2002 Oct; at one point there was an odd distinction between the blender3d.org and blender.org sites, one supposedly being for developers, but they seem to have merged.) Very powerful 3-D editor. GPL. As of 2020 Mar 8, latest release is 2.82 dated 2020 Feb 14. Contains a Video Sequence Editor which ‘in 2021 … will undergo significant improvements to meet the challenges of a production environment’ (ref).
Does 3-D CAD using scripts, based either on constructive solid geometry using 3-D primitives, or on the extrusion of 2-D geometries defined in, for example, DXF files created by QCAD or Inkscape. GPL. As of 2022 May 27, the latest release is 2021.01 dated 2021 Jan 31.
The embedded text editor is usable but simplistic. Scripts can be written in an external editor, with the model automatically redisplayed whenever the file is saved. Emacs, for example, has a special mode available for editing OpenSCAD files.
The image on the right demonstrates Boolean operations (union, intersection, and two differences) on an imported STL model (.scad file).
Resources:
A general-purpose parametric 3-D CAD modeller. Based on OpenCasCade, Coin3D, Qt and Python. Features include macro recording, workbenches, ability to run as a server, dynamically loadable extensions. Can be scripted and run from the command line. A finite-element module is available. LGPL. Downloads are available for Linux, MS Windows and Mac OS X. As of 2020 May 8, the stable release is 0.18.4 dated 2019 Oct 26, and the development version is 0.19_pre dated 2019 Nov 3; version 0.18 is in Debian stable and 0.18.4 is in testing.
3-D CAD/CAM; I haven't tried it yet. GPL. Available for Linux and MS Windows. Models can be created and modified using a text editor or graphically. Complex wireframe and surface models can be created but ‘it cannot yet create or modify complex solid bodies’. As of 2020 Mar 8, the latest version is 2.46.04 dated 2020 Feb 24.
‘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’. MGED, its graphics editor, has a command window and a graphics window; it can be run in command-line mode and scripted.
As of 2020 Mar 8, latest version for Linux is dated 2018 Oct 20; latest downloads for Windows and Mac OS are dated 2016 Aug 10.
The following notes are from 2009.
Once installed under Windows, the Start Menu contains programmes called Archer ('an interactive graphical editor, built upon BRL-CAD, that represents the core architecture of Crossbow'), MGED (Multi-device Geometry Editor) and RtWizard (for ray tracing), and manuals for Archer, BRL-CAD (the manual is incomplete and out of date) and MGED. The relationships among these components are obscure to me.
In MGED, to do the usual kinds of rotation, translation and scaling with the mouse requires use of the Shift and Ctrl keys.
Includes ‘subdivision surface based modelling tools, skeleton based animation, and a graphical language for designing procedural textures and materials’. Java. GPL licence. Available for Linux, MS Windows and Mac OS X. As of 2017 May 7, latest version is 3.0.3 dated 2016 Dec 12. I haven't tried it.
Uses a node-based visualization pipeline; it ‘excels at polygonal modeling, and includes basic tools for NURBS, patches, curves and animation’. GPL licence. Available for Linux, MS Windows and Mac OS X. As of 2017 May 7, latest release is 0.8.0.6 dated 2016 Sep 18.
‘White_dune is a graphical VRML97/X3D editor, simple NURBS/Superformula 3D modeller, animation tool and VRML97/X3DV commandline compiler’. GPL licence. As of 2020 Mar 8, latest release is 1.822 dated 2020 Mar 2.
A free-to-use Web-browser-based 3-D ‘design and modeling tool for all’ from Autodesk. Apparently it's very easy to learn but rather limited (Paynter, 2014). I haven't tried it. Autodesk's 123D suite of free tools (Design, Sculpt+, Catch and Make) have been discontinued (ref). Autodesk also sells 3ds Max, Fusion 360, Maya, Maya LT (‘affordable’), AutoCAD, Mudbox, Inventor, etc.
Also from Autodesk. Designed for people doing 3-D printing, and thus intended to be easy to use, as well as providing special features for 3-D printing. Available for MS Windows and Mac OS. Described by Schmidt & Ratto, IEEE CG&A, 2013 Nov/Dec. Includes code by Ryan Schmidt. Zero-cost but not libre. As of 2020 Mar 8, the latest version is 3.5 dated 2018 Apr 17. I haven't tried it.
Ryan Schmidt’s ShapeShop ‘uses state-of-the-art procedural implicit surface technology’ providing ‘a hierachical CAD/CSG workflow, applied to a free-form modeling interface’. Everything (almost?) is done with extrusions or surfaces of revolution, with automatic blending among parts. Many operations are done with gestures rather than clicks. For MS Windows only. Zero-cost, source not available. As of 2020 Mar 8, the latest version is B5 dated 2008.
Free-to-use digital-sculpting tool for MS Windows and Mac OSX, not for Linux, from Pixologic. Meant to lead people to their non-free ZBrush. It ‘is no longer being actively developed … the most current version was released in 2011’.
Commercial, paid by the month; apparently in 2014 it was free. I haven't tried it.
For ‘designing three-dimensional DNA origami nanostructures’. Free and open-source. Has a 2-D interface, or a 3-D interface requiring Autodesk Maya. Embedded rules can be combined with finite-element analysis by CanDo, which can be done using a local copy of Abaqus or Adina, or using an on-line Abaqus server.
‘Graphical user interface program for the design of DNA nanostructures and sequences’. Available only as an executable for MS Windows. Documentation is a 2009 conference paper (DOI:10.1007/978-3-642-03076-5_8).
An interior-design application. GPL licence. Available for Linux, MS Windows and Mac. As of 2024 Jun 29, the latest version is 7.4 dated 2024 May 30. It is relatively easy to to create a 2-D floor plan with vertical dimensions and to see a 3-D preview. 3-D 'photos' and videos can be created that include shadows cast by the sun for a specified date and time. There is a library of furniture and other 3-D objects, and models can be imported using several different file formats (currently OBJ (text), DAE (COLLADA, XML text), 3DS (old Autodesk 3D Studio, binary) and LWS (LightWave, text)). They recommend Art of Illusion and Blender as open-source programmes for creating 3-D models.
For generating models of trees (and grasses and bushes). Written in Java, uses Povray. As of 2020 Mar 8, latest version is 1.9.9 dated 2015-12-24. Includes XML files for various species.
For modelling 3D humanoid characters. Affero GPL. Available for Linux, MS Windows, and sometimes Mac. As of 2024 Nov 12, the latest release was 1.3.0 dated 2024 May 5.
They provide a MakeHuman Plugin For Blender (MPFB) which gives ‘a one click import button that fetches the current character as displayed in MakeHuman into Blender, without the need to first export to a file. The import will handle rigging, proxies, clothes and materials.’
Rigging is defined in MakeHuman but animated in Blender.
User-contributed clothes can be downloaded and used.
A Blender add-on. Final release was 1.8.1 dated 2024 Jun 8, ‘as development has moved onto Charmorph’.
A Blender add-on. As of 2024 Nov 12, the latest release was 0.3.5 dated 2024 Feb 27.