Talk:Comparison of 3D computer graphics software

Revised the version numbers of some of the software as stated on their webpages, as of this writing.

misc shortcomings

I just removed some erroneous data regarding Linux systems, especially since it is trivial to extract a package built for one distro and run it on another - although satisfying dependencies may take a little work.
Should the Operating System section (or a new section) also mention on what CPU architectures it runs?
Is someone planning on filling in the "features" section? Some random thoughts on that:
Command-line?
Polygon/Basic Curves/NURBS
Something really exhausting: import/export formats?
74.85.42.110 (talk) 01:51, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not really sure what the idea was behind adding that section. Someone put it in and never developed it. The problem with something like that is where do you draw the line on features? The first challenge would be deciding if after market plug-ins count as features?BcRIPster (talk) 01:57, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

The Comparison of vector graphics editors article has a similar structure to what I'd like to see here. 74.85.42.110 (talk) 02:12, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Adding the available architectures the software runs on sounds like a necessary thing in such a comparison. Maybe it's best to draw the line to what's delivered when installing. And not counting plug ins that can be installed at any time but don't get delivered when the program is installed. Plugins that come with the software but are packaged and have to be unpacked or 'installed' should also count. Plugin's that have to come from the CD internet or any other place where the program gets installed in a seperate or integrated into the install procedure way should be flagged with something. Features are a tricky question here.

Maybe this can give some clues: http://wiki.cgsociety.org/index.php/Comparison_of_3d_tools

Saw it a while ago on BlenderNation: http://www.blendernation.com/cg-society-3d-comparison-chart/

Thelennonorth (talk) 10:49, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

pointless article, should be deleted

Wikipedia is not a shopping guide, it's an encyclopedia, and the information here cannot ever be complete and up-to-date. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.37.141.122 (talk) 21:39, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Don't agree that it's pointless, do agree that it cannot be complete and up-to-date. Thelennonorth (talk) 10:56, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Not a shopping guide? I've been using it as a Consumer Reports for software all these years. I'm too young and pretty to go to Wikijail!! Yappy2bhere (talk) 03:07, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Why shouldn't a potential purchaser use an encyclopedia to research his/her options? Encyclopedias are not for ivory towers, they are for people to use to find the information they need, including those wishing to select a product. FreeFlow99 (talk) 10:09, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Sketchup

Sketchup Basic isnt mentioned (freeware) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.182.198.201 (talk) 07:03, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Imports/exports

The comparison should mention which imports and exports can be done with the programs. This allows the reader to see which program combinations are possible. Eg sketchup http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=36217 can import 3ds; allowing blender, ... to be combined with it. This program combination is eg handy for when GPS data is to be imbedded to a model —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.176.210.145 (talk) 10:37, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

I added some info, but it appears it will get crowdy fast, perhaps imports and exports column are best divided into subheaders where file formats are placed. A simple yes/no can then be placed per program for each format —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.176.210.145 (talk) 12:13, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

A good approach would be to use the column headers for the programs and rows for the file format.

Because there are a lot of file formats, this can be a good way to structure the support.

Then in each cell, there can be yes, no or some extra info.

Thelennonorth (talk) 13:46, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Why not putting the file formats on a separate table if there are so many? Thelennonorth (talk) 10:55, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

The melange of formats suits me fine, but then I only scan for particular formats I need and the formats I want, and ignore the rest. Sorting them into a large, sparse table would only make it more difficult to compare more relevant features in the existing tables. Still, it would be helpful if 3D formats followed 2D formats in the laundry list (though evidently not so helpful that I'd take the time to do it myself). Yappy2bhere (talk) 03:07, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

On second thought, I think it would be more useful to see them subdivided something like this:

	Wireframe	Animation	Rendering	Imports	Exports
Solid Edge	?	?	?
IGES, STEP, DXF, JT, ACIS (SAT), Microstation, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, Autocad, STL, XML
ProE, SolidWorks, NX, SDRC, Inventor, MDS	PDF, EMS, XGL

|- ! SketchUp | style="background:#9EFF9E;color:black;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;" class="table-yes"|Yes || style="background:#9EFF9E;color:black;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;" class="table-yes"|Yes || style="background:#9EFF9E;color:black;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;" class="table-yes"|Yes | colspan="2" style="padding:0px;" | |- | colspan="2" | JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP, SKP, SKP+KMZ |- | width="50%" | | width="50%" | 3DS, DWG, DXF, DEM, DDF |}

(Does this look right in IE?) Yappy2bhere (talk) 05:00, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Agree.Suggest put this information, including can edit, import or export Open Design Alliance file format .dwg.--Lagoset (talk) 10:01, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

I just expanded the Features table

Formally, that is. It was waaaaay too skinny to be useful, so I twiddled field widths a bit and let the table fill the display width. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how it's done - does anyone know of a policy or rationale addressing this.

Also, does anyone know what the DDF file format is, or why Google included it in SketchUp?

Yappy2bhere (talk) 03:07, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps the expansion could be taken further, to include, for example :

• Keyframe Animation
• NURBS Modelling
• Sub Divisions
• Polygonal Modelling
• Renderers Included
• Particle (or similar tools)
• and so on....

I do not know a lot about such matters, but I am curious to know what others think of this?

JamesGrimshaw (talk) 23:33, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Price should be replaced by license

The "price" column should be replaced by a "license" column to reflect different degrees of "free". An example can be found here: Comparison of raster graphics editors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.196.33.31 (talk) 19:24, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Missing software

This software is missing in the article:

• K-3D
• MakeHuman
• Poser —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.40.182.39 (talk) 11:40, 5 April 2011 (UTC)
• Anim8or
• Sculptris
• Daz Studio — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.22.138.33 (talk) 01:23, 5 February 2017 (UTC)
• FreeCAD — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:6D40:3491:A701:18B4:BCEB:8EDC:FDC (talk) 13:53, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

• Salome based on opencascade — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:6D40:3491:A701:18B4:BCEB:8EDC:FDC (talk) 13:57, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome_(software) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:6D40:3491:A701:18B4:BCEB:8EDC:FDC (talk) 14:27, 7 December 2020 (UTC) Salome_(software)

• OpenSCAD

Comparison of approach

This article tells us nothing about the usability of these products. Differing products use different approaches to take the user from idea to 3D model; it would be useful if these approaches were compared. For example, I started using Sketchup 8 a few months ago as it sounded easy to learn and sufficient for my needs. I soon discovered that to get anywhere I had to load multiple plugins (perhaps my needs were not as simple as I thought). Although many claim that Sketchup 8 is 'intuitive' I did not find it so; it was not obvious how to accomplish all sorts of things. I have just opened Sketchup for the first time in months and got that sinking feeling just looking at the workspace. The vertical axis does not even start off being vertical and the tools to change perspective are enough to make one seasick. Part of the problem is that a 3D model is being represented on a 2D screen and cursor movements in just 2 axes is not enough to describe object commands in 3 axes. Perhaps what I need is a system designed more for engineers where I can design 2D objects on a 2D space that is nicely square on, then extrude 2D shapes with commands rather than cursor movements? It would be nice to have some comparison in this article of these sorts of features between the packages.FreeFlow99 (talk) 10:33, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Split the table in proprietary vs free

Application	Latest release date and version	Developed by	Platforms	Mainly Used For	License
3ds Max	"2016"	Autodesk	Microsoft Windows	Modeling, Animation (Video Games), Lighting, Rendering	Proprietary
AC3D	2014-03-03 v 7.2.17	Inivis	Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling	Proprietary
Bryce	2010-12-23 7.1.0.109	DAZ 3D	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X	Animation, Landscape Modeling, Fractal Geometry	Proprietary
Carrara	2010-04-21 8.0	DAZ 3D	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X	Animation, Modeling	Proprietary
Cheetah 3D	2013-12-30 v 6.3	Dr. Martin Wengenmayer	Mac OS X	Animation, Modeling	Proprietary
Cinema 4D	R17	MAXON	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Amiga OS	Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Visual 3D Effects, Rendering, Simulation	Proprietary
CityEngine	v 2013	Procedural	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux	Procedural Modeling of 3D Cities	Proprietary
Clara.io	2013-07-09	Exocortex	Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer	Modeling, Animation, Rendering	Proprietary
Cobalt	2009-12-11 v8 SP2r3	Ashlar-Vellum	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Animation	Proprietary
Electric Image Animation System	2009-05 v8.0.	EIAS3D	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Animation, Lighting, Rendering, Film, Television, Visual 3D Effects	Proprietary
form-Z / form-Z Renderzone Plus	2013-10-11 7.3	autodessys, Inc.	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Animation, Modeling, Lighting, Render, Fabrication, Set Design	Proprietary
Hexagon	2008-05-20 2.5	DAZ 3D	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X	Subdivision Modeling, UV Mapping	Proprietary
Houdini	2015-01-15 v 14	Side Effects Software	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Visual 3D Effects	Proprietary
IClone	2014 v 6.0	Reallusion	Microsoft Windows	Animation, Film and Television Previz, Videogame Asset Creation, Lighting, Visual 3D Effects	Proprietary
LightWave 3D	2014 v 11.6.2	NewTek	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Amiga OS	Modeling, Animation, Lighting, Rendering, Film and Television Previz, Videogame Asset Creation	Proprietary
MASSIVE	? v 3.5	Massive Software	Microsoft Windows, Linux	Artificial Intelligence in Models	Proprietary
Maya	2014 "2015"	Autodesk	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux	Modeling, Animation (Video), Lighting, Rendering, Visual 3D Effects	Proprietary
Metasequoia	2011-05 2.4.13 (Metasequoia), R2.4a (MetasequoiaLE)	O. Mizno	Microsoft Windows	Modeling	Proprietary
MODO	2014-04-24 v 901	The Foundry	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux	Modeling, Animation, Rendering	Proprietary
Mudbox	v 2015	Autodesk	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux	Lighting, Sculpting (the deformation of the model)	Proprietary
Pro/Engineer	September 2009 2009 Wildfire 5.0	Parametric Technology Corporation	Microsoft Windows, HP-UX, Unix	Modeling	Proprietary
Remo 3D	v 2.5.1	Remograph	Microsoft Windows, Linux	Modeling, Virtual Reality, Real-time modeling, Video Game Creation, Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
Rhinoceros 3D	v 5	McNeel	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X in beta	Modeling, Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
Sculptris	2011-07-22 v Alpha 6	Pixologic	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Sculpting, Texturing	Proprietary
Shade 3D	2014 v 14.1.2	Shade3D	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling, Rendering, Animation	Proprietary
Silo	2008-08-13 v 2.1	Nevercenter	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling	Proprietary
SketchUp / SketchUp Pro	2015-02-5 v 15.3.331 (Win64) v 15.3.330 (Win32) v 15.3.329 (Mac)	Trimble Navigation	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
Softimage	"2015" (Final Release)	Autodesk	Microsoft Windows, Linux	Modeling, Animation, Video Game Creation, Lighting, Rendering, Visual 3d Effects	Proprietary
Solid Edge	2014-08-08 ST7	Siemens PLM Software	Microsoft Windows	Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
solidThinking	2014 v 2014	solidThinking	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling	Proprietary
SolidWorks	2014-09-09 v 2015	Dassault Systèmes	Microsoft Windows	Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
SpaceClaim	2014-11-19 v 2015	SpaceClaim Corporation	Microsoft Windows	Computer Aided Design	Proprietary
Swift 3D	2009-06-03 v6.0 (Final Release)	Electric Rain	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling, Animation	Proprietary
TopSolid	7.9 2014	Missler Software	Microsoft Windows	Computer Aided Design/ Computer Aided Manufacturing	Proprietary
trueSpace	2009-05-25 v 7.61	Caligari Corporation	Microsoft Windows, AmigaOS	Animation, Modeling	Proprietary
E-on Vue	v 2014	E-on Software	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Animation, Landscape Modeling, Lighting	Proprietary
Verto Studio 3D	2012-10-9 v 1.3.1	Michael L. Farrell	Mac OS X, iOS	Mobile Modeling, Texture Mapping, Lighting	Proprietary
ZBrush	2015-01-29 v 4R7	Pixologic	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows	Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Sculpting (the deformation of the model), Rendering	Proprietary

Application	Latest release date and version	Developed by	Platforms	Mainly Used For	License
AOI	2013-09-23 v 3.0	Peter Eastman	Java Virtual Machine supported platforms	Animation, Lighting, Modelling, Rendering	GNU GPLv2
Blender	2015-11-03 v 2.76b	Blender Foundation	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AmigaOS 4, MorphOS	Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Rendering, Video Game Creation, Visual 3D Effects, Sculpting, Basic Post-Production Video Editing, Motion Tracking, Python Scripting, Fluid Simulation, Particles, Physics, Compositing	GNU GPLv2+ / Apache 2.0
POV-Ray	2013-11-06 v 3.7	The POV-Team	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, AmigaOS	Lighting, Visual 3D effects	GNU AGPLv3
Wings3d	2014-04-14 1.5.3	Dan Gudmundsson (maintainer)	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, BSD, Linux	Modeling, Sculpting (the deformation of the model), UV mapping	BSD

References

Discussion

Why? The Banner talk 13:03, 2 February 2019 (UTC)