Comparison of 3D computer graphics software
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
3D computer graphics software refers to packages used to create 3D computer-generated imagery.
General information
[edit]Current software
[edit]This table compares elements of notable software that is currently available, based on the raw software without the inclusion of additional plugins.
Application | Latest release date and version | Developed by | Platforms | Mainly Used For | License |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3ds Max | 2022-06-15 v 2023.1 | Autodesk | Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Animation (Video Games and Movies), FX Simulations, Lighting, Rendering | Proprietary |
AC3D | 2022-04-27 v 9.0 | Inivis | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
Alibre Design | 2022-08-03 v 25 | Alibre, LLC | Microsoft Windows | Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
AutoCAD | 2022-03-28 v 2023 | Autodesk | macOS, Microsoft Windows | 2D Computer Aided Design, 3D Modeling, Basic Rendering, Rudimentary Animation (of Camera, not objects) | Proprietary |
Blender | 2022-12-20 v 3.4.1 | Blender Foundation | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AmigaOS 4, MorphOS | 2D/3D toon Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Node based Material Creation / Texturing / 3D Texture Painting/ UV Mapping, Rendering (Internal, External, 3D Anaglyph and VR), 3D Rigging and Animation, Sculpting, Visual 3D Effects, Basic Post-Production Video Editing, Motion Tracking, Python Scripting, Fluid Simulation, Particles, Physics, Compositing | GPL-2.0-or-later[1] |
Carrara | 2013-08-26 8.5.1.19 | Daz 3D | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Animation, Modeling | Proprietary |
Cheetah 3D | 2021-02-20 v 7.5.1 | Martin Wengenmayer | macOS | Animation, Modeling, Rendering | Proprietary |
Cinema 4D | 2022-04-20 S26 | Maxon | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Amiga OS[2] | Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Visual 3D Effects, Rendering, Simulation | Proprietary |
CityEngine | 2018-09-18 v 2018.1 | Esri | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux | Procedural Modeling of 3D Cities | Proprietary |
Cobalt | 2020-02-04 v11 | Ashlar-Vellum | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Animation | Proprietary |
DesignSpark Mechanical | 2020-07-20 v5.0 | SpaceClaim, RS Components | Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Rapid Prototyping, 3D Printing | Proprietary |
Electric Image Animation System | 2013-06 v9.1.0 | EIAS3D | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows | Animation, Lighting, Rendering, Film, Television, Visual 3D Effects | Proprietary |
FreeCAD | 2022-06-14 v 0.20 | Jürgen Riegel, Werner Mayer, Yorik van Havre | macOS, Microsoft Windows, unix, Linux | CAD, FEA with Calculix, Python Scripting, parametric design, Robot Simulation, CAM, BIM, Import and Export | LGPL-2.0-or-later |
form-Z pro/jr/free | 2020-02-? 9.0.2 | Autodessys, Inc. | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Animation, Modeling, Lighting, Render, Fabrication, Set Design | Proprietary |
Hexagon | 2018-02-16 2.5.2.109 | Daz 3D | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Subdivision Modeling, UV Mapping | Proprietary |
HiCAD | 2017-02-13 v HiCAD 2017 | ISD Software und Systeme | Microsoft Windows | 2D/3D Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Automatic drawing generation, BIM, Animation, HELiOS PDM integration, API scripting | Proprietary |
Houdini | 2022-07-20 v 19.5 | Side Effects Software | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux | Animation, Lighting, Modeling, Visual 3D Effects | Proprietary |
iClone | 2019-12-17 v 7.71.3626.1 | Reallusion | Microsoft Windows | Animation, Film and Television Previz, Videogame Asset Creation, Lighting, Visual 3D Effects | Proprietary |
Inventor | 2021-01 v 2021.2.1 | Autodesk | Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Rapid Prototyping, 3D Printing | Proprietary |
LightWave 3D | 2020-08-07 v 2020.0.2 | NewTek | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Amiga OS[3] | 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 | 2024-08-13 v 2025.2 | Autodesk | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux | Modeling, NURBS Modeling Sculpting, Rigging, Skinning, Retargeting, Animation, Lighting, Rendering, Bifrost Fluids, Python Scripting, Bifrost Ocean Simulation System, UV Mapping, MASH procedural effects, Time and Graph Editor, Arnold renderer, Color management Polygon modeling, Visual 3D Effects | Proprietary |
Metasequoia | 2022-12-23 4.8.4b | tetraface Inc. | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Modeling | Proprietary |
MODO | 2022-06-21 16v2 | The Foundry | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux | Modeling, Animation, Rendering | Proprietary |
Mudbox | 2022-04-18 2023 | Autodesk | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux | Lighting, Sculpting (the deformation of the model) | Proprietary |
OpenSCAD | 2021-01-31 v 2021.01 | Marius Kintel, Claire Wolf | macOS, Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux | CAD, Scripting, parametric design, CSG | GPL-2.0-or-later |
PTC Creo (formerly Pro/Engineer) | 2020 v 7.0 | Parametric Technology Corporation | Microsoft Windows, HP-UX, Unix | Modeling, Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
Remo 3D | 2024-02-17 v 3.1 | Remograph | Microsoft Windows, Linux | Modeling, Virtual Reality, Real-time modeling, Video Game Creation, Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
Rhinoceros 3D | 2020-12-08 v 7 | McNeel | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Modeling, Computer Aided Design, scripting with grasshopper, many Plug in for Simulation, CAM, BIM, Rendering, and more | Proprietary |
Salome | 2020-12-01 v 9.6 | Open Cascade EDF CEA | Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux | CAD, Scripting, parametric design, CSG, Meshing, Pre-Post for CAE | LGPL-2.1-or-later |
Shade 3D | 2022-11-08 v 23.1 | FORUM 8 | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design, Rendering, Animation | Proprietary |
Silo | 2022-11-03 v 2023.0 | Nevercenter | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
SketchUp Pro | 2021-01-05 [4] v 21.0.1 (Win64) v 16.1.1450 (Win32) | Trimble Navigation | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
Solid Edge | 2020-06-? 2021 ST13 | Siemens Digital Industries Software | Microsoft Windows | Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
SolidWorks | 2022-07-11 v SolidWorks 2022 SP3.1 | Dassault Systèmes | Microsoft Windows | Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
SpaceClaim | 2020-08-08 v 2020.R2 | Ansys | Microsoft Windows | Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
E-on Vue | 2021-12-09 v 2021.2 | E-on Software (part of Bentley Systems) | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Animation, Landscape Modeling, Lighting | Proprietary |
Verto Studio 3D | 2021-02-12 v2.5.0 | Michael L. Farrell | macOS, iOS | Mobile Modeling, Texture Mapping, Lighting | Proprietary |
Wings 3D | 2020-12-20 v 2.2.6 | Dan Gudmundsson (maintainer) | macOS, Microsoft Windows, BSD, Linux | Modeling, Sculpting (the deformation of the model), UV mapping | BSD |
ZBrush | 2022-02-07 v 2022.0.5 | Pixologic | macOS, Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Sculpting (the deformation of the model), Rendering | Proprietary |
Inactive software
[edit]There are many discontinued software applications.
Application | Latest release date and version | Developed by | Platforms | Mainly Used For | License |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bryce | 2010-12-23 7.1.0.109 | Daz 3D | Microsoft Windows (32-bit), Mac OS X (10.7 and above) | Animation, Landscape Modeling, Fractal Geometry | Proprietary |
Clara.io | redesigned in 2015-03-31 | Exocortex | Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer | Modeling, Animation, Rendering | Proprietary |
POV-Ray | 2013-11-09 v3.7.0 | The POV-Team | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, AmigaOS | Lighting, Visual 3D effects | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
SketchUp Make | 2017-11-14 [4] v 18.0.16975 (Win64) v 18.0.16976 (Mac64) | Trimble Navigation | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows | Modeling, Computer Aided Design | Proprietary |
Softimage | 2014-04-14 "2015" (Final Release) | Autodesk | Microsoft Windows, Linux | Modeling, Animation, Video Game Creation, Lighting, Rendering, Visual 3d Effects | Proprietary |
solidThinking Evolve (predecessor of Altair Inspire Studio) | ?-? v 9.0 | Altair Engineering | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
trueSpace | 2009-05-25 v 7.61 | Caligari Corporation | Microsoft Windows, AmigaOS | Animation, Modeling | Proprietary |
VistaPro | 2005 v 4.2 | Hypercube Engineering, Monkey Byte Development | Microsoft Windows | Landscape Modeling | Proprietary |
Operating system support
[edit]The operating systems on which the editors can run natively (without emulation or compatibility layers), meaning which operating systems have which editors specifically coded for them (not, for example, Wings 3D for Windows running on Linux with Wine).
Name | Windows | macOS | Linux | Unix | BSD | iOS | Android | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3ds Max | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
AC3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Art of Illusion | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Java virtual machine |
AutoCAD | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | [os 1] |
Carrara | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Cheetah 3D | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Amiga OS |
Clara.io | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ChromeOS |
DesignSpark Mechanical | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
Electric Image Animation System | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
form-Z | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
HiCAD | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
Houdini | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
IClone | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
LightWave 3D | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | [os 2] |
MakeHuman | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Massive | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped[os 3] | No | No | No | |
Metasequoia | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Modo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
POV-Ray | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | [os 4] |
Remo 3D | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
Shade | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Silo | Yes | Yes | dropped in 2.5 | No | No | No | No | |
SketchUp | Yes | Yes | SketchUp for Web[5] | ? | ? | Yes | Viewer only | |
Softimage | Yes | No | XSI 2.0 and later | dropped | No | No | No | |
Solid Edge | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
solidWorks | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
solidThinking | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
SpaceClaim | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
trueSpace | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Amiga OS} |
Verto Studio 3D | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
E-on Vue | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Wings 3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
ZBrush | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Features
[edit]Modeling | 3D Painting | Animation | Rendering | 3D Tracking | Compositing | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Some |
AC3D | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No |
Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Electric Image Animation System | dropped[6] | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | R16 or later | No |
Clara.io | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
Cobalt | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
HiCAD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Houdini | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
IClone | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Lightwave 3D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
MakeHuman | parameter-based | No | No | No | No | No |
Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped (Maya Live) | dropped (Maya Composer, Maya Fusion, and Maya Composite) |
Metasequoia | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Modo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Remo 3D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Shade | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Softimage | Yes | 3.7 or later | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Solid Edge | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
SketchUp Make | Yes[7][8] | ? | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | No | No |
SketchUp Pro | Yes[7][8] | ? | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | No | No |
Wings3D | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | ? |
I/O
[edit]Image, video, and audio files
[edit]Imports | Exports | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EXR | DDS | KTX | others | EXR | DDS | KTX | others | |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | ? | BMP, Cineon, TGA, JPG, PNG, Cineon, Radiance HDR, SGI, RLA, RPF, AVI, MPEG and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV, YUV | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Art of Illusion | No | No | No | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, HDR, SVG[9] | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HDR, QuickTime |
AC3D | ? | Yes | ? | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF | ? | Yes | ? | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF |
Blender | Yes | Yes | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV |
Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, TIFF, PSD, MOV | ? | ? | ? | PNG, BMP, AVI and QuickTime GIF, TIFF, MOV |
Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | ? | Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD | Yes | Yes | ? | Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD |
Clara.io | Yes[10] | Yes[10] | ? | PNG, JPG | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM | ? | ? | ? | BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM |
Houdini | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
IClone | ? | ? | ? | JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, AVI, WMV, MP3, WAV, popVideo | ? | ? | ? | JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, WMV, AVI, MP4, popVideo, FLV, iWidget |
Lightwave 3D | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, AI, EPS, BMP, IFF, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV |
MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Maya | Yes | ? | ? | Ai, Aiff, Pix, AVI, Cineon, EPS, GIF, Jpeg, Swf, Maya IFF, Maya16 IFF, MacPaint, PSD, PNG, Quantel, Quickdraw, MOV, RLA, SVG, SGI, SGI16, SGI Movie, TGA, TIF, BMP, HDR | Yes | Yes | ? | Maya IFF, AVI, QT, GIF, Softimage, RLA, BMP, TIF, SGI RGB, Alias PIX, Jpeg, EPS, Cineon, Quantel, TGA, Macpaint, PSD, PNG, Quickdraw |
Metasequoia | EX version only | Yes | No | BMP, JPG, PNG, IFF, TGA, PPM, TIFF, PSD, Radiance HDR | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Modo | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, SGI, EPS, AI, PSD | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF, MOV, MWV, PSD |
Remo 3D | ? | Yes | ? | BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PNM, SGI (RGB), TGA, TIF | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, SGI (RGB), TIF, XPM |
Shade | Yes | (DDS Converter plugin) | ? | ? | Yes | (DDS Converter plugin) | ? | QuickTime VR, Piranesi EPix |
Softimage | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP |
SketchUp Pro | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP, MOV(on Mac), AVI (on Windows)[11] |
E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
General 3D files
[edit]Imports | Exports | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FBX | Other formats | Web, mobile, and VR[io 1] | FBX | Other formats | glTF | Web, mobile, and VR[io 1] | |
3ds Max | Yes | 3DS, PRJ, AI, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ, SHP, SKP, TRC | VRML | Yes | 3DS, AI, ASE, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ | ? | M3G, VRML97 |
AC3D[12][13] | Yes | 3DS, AC3D, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, OFF, Pointfield, Points, Terragen, Triangle, Vector | VRML 1.0, glTF | ? | 3DS, 3D Studio ASE, AC3D, Dive, DVS, DXF, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, Triangle | ? | VRML 1.0, VRML 2.0, X3D |
Blender[14] | Yes | COLLADA, 3DS, PLY, OBJ, SVG | X3D, glTF | Yes | COLLADA, PLY, OBJ, SVG, PC2 | Yes | X3D |
Electric Image Animation System | Yes | 3DS, OBJ, LWO, MDD | ? | 3DS, OBJ, LWO | No | ||
Cinema 4D | Yes | OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, LWO/LWS | VRML 1, VRML 2 | Yes | OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, W3D | Yes | VRML 1, VRML 2 |
Clara.io | Yes | OBJ, Collada, 3DS, LWO, GEO, PLY, SHP, XGL, ZGL, AC, BLEND, CSM, LWS | VRML, Three.js | Yes | OBJ, Collada | Yes | Three.js, Babylon.js |
Cobalt | ? | 3DS, AI, ASCII Text | VRML | ? | AI, ASCII Text, RAW Triangle | ? | Shockwave 3D, VRML |
Houdini | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ||
IClone | Yes | OBJ, SKP (via 3DXChange) | Yes | OBJ (via 3DXChange) | ? | ||
Lightwave 3D | Yes | 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO, VideoScape | VRML, VRML97 | Yes | 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO | ? | VRML, VRML97 |
MakeHuman | No | N/A | Yes | COLLADA, MHX, OBJ, STL | ? | ||
Maya | Yes | Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, MEL, OBJ | VRML2 | Yes | Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, Mel, OBJ, GE2, RTG | ? | VRML2 |
Metasequoia[15][16] | EX version only | 3DS, COB,[io 2] LWO, OBJ, ROK (Rokkaku Daiō), SUF (DoGA CGA System) | glTF | EX version only | 3DS, PMD, OBJ, COLLADA[io 3] | Yes | [io 4] |
Modo | Yes | LXO, LWO2, LWOB, 3DS, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA | Yes | LXO, LWO, PLT, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA | Yes | X3D | |
Remo 3D | Yes | 3DC, 3DS, AC, Collada, OpenFlight, LWO, LWS, OBJ, P3D, PLY, STA, SHP | OSG[io 5] | Yes | 3DS, AC, Collada, DOT, OpenFlight, OBJ, P3D, STL | ? | OSG[io 5] |
Shade | Yes | OBJ, SketchUp, XML; (Pro) 3DS, COLLADA, LWO | Yes | COLLADA, DXF, OBJ, XML; (Pro) 3DS, LWO | glTF Converter for Shade3D plugin | VRML 2.0, Flash (SWF) | |
Softimage | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | ||
Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ||||
SketchUp Make | ? | SKP, 3DS[11] | ? | COLLADA, SKP | ? | ||
SketchUp Pro | ? | SKP, 3DS[11] | Yes | COLLADA, SKP, EPS, EPX (removed v16+), 3DS, OBJ | ? | PDF, VRML | |
E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Wings3D | ? | 3DS, AI, EPS, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D | dropped in 1.3.1 | 3DS, COLLADA, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D | ? | VRML 2.0 |
Game and renderer files
[edit]Imports | Exports | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OpenFlight (FLT) | other 3D game files | 3D renderer files | OpenFlight (FLT) | OGRE | other 3D game files | 3D renderer files | |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | No | ||||
AC3D[12][13] | No | Quake III BSP, Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Irrlicht irrmesh, Renderware, SMF | No | Yes | DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Quake II (MD2), Quake Map, SMF, Unreal Tournament | POV-Ray POV, RenderMan RIB | |
Blender | dropped | dropped | (blender2ogre addon) | POV-Ray POV | |||
Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Cinema 4D | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Clara.io | ? | DirectX X, Irrlicht irrmesh | POV-Ray POV | ? | ? | Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Doom 3 (MD5) | |
Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Houdini | ? | ? | ? | ||||
IClone | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Lightwave 3D | ? | Quake II (MD2) | ? | ? | Quake II (MD2) | ||
MakeHuman | No | ? | Yes | Doom 3 (MD5) | |||
Maya | Yes | Yes | No | Mental Ray MI, RenderMan RIB | |||
Metasequoia | No | [io 6] | No | No | DirectX X[io 6] | RenderMan RIB[io 7] | |
Modo | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Remo 3D | ? | DirectX X, Quake II (MD2) | ? | ||||
Shade | ? | ? | ? | DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Blue Mars | RenderMan RIB | ||
Softimage | ? | ? | ? | ||||
Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ||||
SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | ||||
SketchUp Pro | ? | ? | ? | dotXSI | |||
E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | BZFlag, DirectX X, Renderware | Kerkythea, POV-Ray POV |
Cache and animation files
[edit]Imports | Exports | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Geometry Cache | Point Cache | Particle Cache | Animation | ||||||||
Alembic (*.abc) | Maya Cache (*.mc) [io 8] | 3ds Max PC2 [io 8] | LightWave MDD | Maya Particle Data (*.pda / *.pdb) | Houdini BGEO | RealFlow BIN | Krakatoa PRT | Biovision Hierarchy (*.bvh) | Alembic (*.abc) | others | |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
AC3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Blender | Yes | No | Mesh Cache Modifier[17] | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | BVH | |
Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Cinema 4D | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
Clara.io | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | BVH |
Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Houdini | Yes | via FBX importer | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ||
IClone | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | BVH |
Lightwave 3D | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Partio Node [18] | No[18] | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Maya | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
Metasequoia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Modo | Yes | ? | ? | MDD Deformer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
Remo 3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Shade | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | BVH |
Softimage | (Exocortex Crate) | ? | ? | Point Oven | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | (Exocortex Crate) | |
Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
SketchUp Pro | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
CAD files
[edit]Imports | Exports | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
STL | DXF | DWG | others | STL | DXF | DWG | others | |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGE, IGS, IGES, IPT, WIRE, IAM, LS, VW, LP, SAT, Catia V4/V5, JT, ProE, RVT, PRT, SolidWorks,[io 9] STEP, WIRE | Yes | Yes | Yes | ATR, BLK, DF, IGS, LAY, LP, SAT, VW |
AC3D | Yes | Yes | No | LDraw (Lego), SOF Airfoil | Yes | Yes | No | Inventor, LDraw (Lego) |
Blender | Yes | Yes[io 10] | No | Yes | Yes[io 10] | No | ||
Electric Image Animation System | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ||
Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ||
Clara.io | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ||
Cobalt | ? | Yes | Yes | ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CCAD, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, Pro/E, Rhino 3DM, Spline, STP (STEP) | ? | Yes | Yes | ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, PDF, Pro/E, STP (STEP) |
Houdini | External[19] | No | External[19] | No | ||||
IClone | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Lightwave 3D | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Maya | Windows and Mac only[20] | Windows only[20] | IGES, StudioTools Wire | Windows and Mac only[21] | Windows only[21] | IGES, StudioTools Wire, Open Inventor2 | ||
Metasequoia | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Modo | Yes | Yes | No | SolidWorks[io 9] | Yes | Yes | No | |
Remo 3D | Yes | Yes | No | DW (Designer Workshop) | Yes | No | No | |
Shade | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
Solid Edge | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGES, STEP, JT, ACIS (SAT), ProE, SolidWorks,[io 9] NX, SDRC, Microstation, Inventor, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, XML, MDS | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGES, STEP, EMS, JT, XGL, XML, Parasolid, CATIA (V4/V5), ACIS (SAT), Microstation |
SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
SketchUp Pro | Yes | Yes[11] | Yes[11] | Yes | Yes[11] | Yes[11] | ||
E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Wings3D | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
Point clouds and photogrammetry files
[edit]Imports | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ASTM E57 | LASer (LAS) | Leica Cyclone PTS/PTX/PTG | Autodesk ReCap RCS/RCP | VisualSFM NVM | |
3ds Max | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Blender | ? | (Blender LiDAR Importer addon / Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon) | ? | ? | (Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon) |
Houdini | Lidar Import geometry node | ? | ? | ? |
GIS and DEM files
[edit]Imports | Exports | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USGS DEM | USGS SDTS (DDF) | LandXML | GeoTIFF | Shapefile | OSM | others | ||
3ds Max | Yes[22] | Yes[22] | Yes[22] | ? | ? | ? | ||
AC3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Blender | ? | ? | ? | (Blender GIS addon) | ? | |||
Bryce | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | VistaPro DEM | USDS DEM |
Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Cinema 4D | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | VistaPro DEM | |
Clara.io | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Houdini | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes[io 11][23] | ||
IClone | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Lightwave 3D | (Ground Control plugin) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Maya | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Metasequoia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Modo | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Remo 3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Shade | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
SketchUp Make | Yes[11] | Yes[11] | ? | ? | ? | ? | SKP+KMZ | SKP+KMZ[11] |
SketchUp Pro | Yes[11] | Yes[11] | ? | ? | ? | ? | SKP+KMZ | SKP+KMZ |
E-on Vue | Yes[24] | Yes[24] | ? | Yes[24] | ? | ? | DTED[24] | |
Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
- ^ a b VRML, Java 3D, Adobe Flash, Shockwave 3D, Acrobat 3D, OpenSceneGraph, USDZ, WebGL-related formats, etc...
- ^ Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object format
- ^ Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its RDS (Ray Dream Studio), and SCE (SoftF/X Model) exporters and 4.7.0 dropped its COB (Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object), DoGA CGA System SUF, and AMF exporters.
- ^ Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped the VRML 1.0 (WRL), and Three.js JMF exporters.
- ^ a b OSG, OSGB, OSGT, OSGX, IVE and OSGA
- ^ a b Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its PlayStation RSD importer and exporter.
- ^ Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped its POV-Ray POV exporter.
- ^ a b Maya Cache and 3ds Max PC2 format are also used with FBX format.
- ^ a b c SLDPRT and SLDASM
- ^ a b via AutoCAD DXF addon
- ^ via Game Development Toolset
Supported primitives
[edit]Application | Polygon | Spline/Bézier Surface | Voxel / Volume | Metaball | Point Clouds | Particles | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Triangles | Quads | N-gons | Torus / Donut | NURBS regular patch | NURBS trimmed surface | Bicubic Bézier patch | |||||
Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | soc-2014-nurbs branch | No | 2.83 and later | Yes | 3.1 and later | Yes |
Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 3D Texture | Yes | No | Yes |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Patch Objects | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | R20 and later | Yes | ? | Yes |
LightWave | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | (LWCAD plugin) | No | OpenVDB primitives[25] | Yes | No | Yes | |
Shade 3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | CAD mode | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Application | Curves | Bone | Text | Camera | Light | Speaker | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Linear | Quadratic Bézier | Cubic Bézier | B-spline | Cardinal spline | Hermite spline | TCB spline | Smooth-step | Akima spline | NURBS | ||||||
Blender | Bézier curve without subdivision | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Maya | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
3ds Max | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Cinema 4D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped in R23[26] |
LightWave | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | only in Graph Editor | only in Graph Editor | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Shade 3D | ? | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sound Object |
Modeling
[edit]Application | Hard surface Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Non-destructive Modeling | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Polygon Modeling | Subdivision Modeling | Base-mesh Creation | Sketch Modeling | Sculpting | Cloth Sculpting | Hand Retopology | Automatic Retopology | Boolean | Bevel | Modifier | Procedural | |
Maya | Yes | Yes | (SOuP BMesh) | No | Yes | No | Yes | 2020 and later | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
3ds Max | Yes | Yes | (Form) | No | Paint Deform | No | Yes | 2021.3 and later | Yes | Yes | Yes | Max Creation Graph |
Blender | Yes | Yes | Skin Modifier | Trim Brush with Union/Join mode | Yes | 2.83 and later | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Geometry Nodes |
ZBrush | ZModeler | ZModeler | ZSphere and ZSketch | MeshBalloon | Yes | 2021 and later | Yes | ZRemesher | 4R8 and later | ? | No | No |
Curvy 3D | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
Lookdev / Shader writing
[edit]Application | PBR viewport | Viewport effects | Interactive GI Rendering | Integrated Compositing | Text editor for shader writing | Material Nodes | Turntable Rendering |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maya | Yes | Some | Arnold | No | ? | Hypershade, Node Editor, ShaderFX | Yes[27] |
3ds Max | Yes | Some | Arnold | (State Set) | OSL Map[28] | Slate Material Editor, ShaderFX | Easy Turntable script |
MODO | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | Nodal Shading | Render Turntable[29] |
Blender | Eevee (2.80 and later) | Cycles | Yes | Text Editor | Yes | Turnaround Camera addon | |
Gaffer | No | No | external renderers | Yes | OSLCode Node | No | No |
Marmoset Toolbag | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Uber PBR shaders only | Yes[30] |
Substance Designer | Yes | YEBIS | NVIDIA Iray | ? | ? | MDL graph | ? |
Lighting
[edit]Application | Alembic Importer | USD Importer | Rendering Engine | Volume Rendering for clouds | Interactive Rendering | Isolating light contribution | Light Lister | IES Light | Physical Sun & Sky | Sun Positioning by location and times | Light Portal | Shadow Catcher | IBL and Environment texture | Highlight Placement | Light Mixer | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lat Long | sIBL | Light Extraction[31] | |||||||||||||||
Maya | Yes | USD Extension for Maya | Maya Hardware 2.0 | ? | Yes | No[32] | Light Editor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | (Place Highlight Tool for Maya) | No |
Maya Software | ? | ? | Light Linking | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Env Sphere | ? | ? | No | |||||
Arnold | Yes | Yes | Light Linking | Ai Photometric Light | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Light Mixer imager | |||||
3ds Max | Yes | (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) | Quicksilver | ? | Yes | No[33] | Light Lister | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Place Highlight | No |
Scanline | ? | ? | Light Exclude/Include | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | sIBL-GUI software | ? | No | |||||
ART | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | |||||
Arnold | Yes | Yes | Light Group[34] | Ai Photometric Light | Yes | Sun Positioner[35] | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Light Mixer imager | |||||
Blender | 2.78 and later | 3.0 and later | Workbench | Some | Yes | View Layers[36] | Property Chart Addon / Gaffer addon | No | ? | Sun Position addon | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Look At Gizmo (with Ctrl key) | No |
EEVEE | Some | Yes | No | Yes | No | Shader Node[37] | Yes | ? | ? | No | |||||||
Cycles | Yes | Yes | Light Groups (3.2 and later) | 2.80 and later[38] | Yes | from 2.75 | from 2.79 | Yes | sIBL_GUI for Blender addon/ Add Environment nodes addon | ? | No | ||||||
MODO | Yes | 14.1 and later | MODO Renderer / mPath | Yes | Yes | Light Linking[39] | ? | Photometric Light | Directional Light[40] | Portal | Shadow Catcher | Yes | mm_sIBLToModoEnvironment script | ? | ? | No | |
LightWave | 11.6 and later | No | LightWave Renderer | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Photometric Light | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | original loader script, where most sIBL features were invented[41] | ? | ? | No |
Houdini | Yes | Solaris | Mantra (PT) / Karma | Yes | Yes | Light categories | Light bank | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Shadow Matte | Yes | ? | ? | Solaris | ? |
Cinema 4D | Yes | R23 and later | CineRender | Yes | Yes | Exclude/Include | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | from R18 | Yes | ? | ? | Lighting Tool | ? |
Redshift CPU | Yes | Yes | Light Group AOVs | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Matte Options | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Path-tracing Rendering
[edit]Application | CPU rendering | GPU rendering | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OpenCL | NVIDIA CUDA / OptiX | AMD HIP | SYCL / Intel DPC++ | Apple Metal | Texture Streaming (Out-of-Core) | ||
V-Ray | Yes | V-Ray GPU (formerly V-Ray RT) | No | No | No | Yes[42] | |
RenderMan | Yes | No | 24 and later[43] | No | No | No | ? |
Arnold | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Redshift | No | No | Yes | Redshift for AMD (alpha version) | No | Yes | ? |
Modo mPath | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
Houdini Karma | Yes | No | 19 and later | No | No | No | No |
Blender Cycles | Yes | dropped in 3.0 | Yes | 3.0 and later | 3.3 and later | 3.1 and later | 2.80 and later[44] |
Application | MIPMAP generation | Adaptive Tessellation | Instancing | Camera Culling | Deep Pixel Rendering | Fisheye Stereo for Fulldome | Omnidirectional stereo for HMD | Deforming Motion Blur |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
V-Ray | img2tiledexr | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Domemaster Stereo Shader | 3.2 and later | Yes |
RenderMan | txmake | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes[45] | Yes |
Arnold | maketx | Yes[46] | Yes | ? | Yes | Domemaster Stereo Shader | 5 and later | Yes |
Houdini Karma | icp | ? | Yes[47] | ? | Yes[47] | ? | 15.5 and later | Yes |
Blender Cycles | No | 2.78 and later | Yes | Camera Cull | No | 2.78 and later | 2.78 and later | Yes |
Level of Detail (LoD) Generation/Baking
[edit]Application | LoD Generation | Texture Baking | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Automatic | Normal Map | Ambient Occlusion (AO) Map | Light Map | ||
Tangent Space Normal Map | Non-directional (Traditional) | Directional | |||
Maya (Turtle renderer) | "Generate LOD Meshes" | Yes | Yes | Yes | RNM (Radiosity Normal Map), and SH (Spherical harmonics) coefficients |
Enlighten | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes |
Blender | AssetGen addon | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
See also
[edit]- Comparison of raster graphics editors
- Comparison of vector graphics editors
- Comparison of computer-aided design editors
- Comparison of CAD, CAM and CAE file viewers
References
[edit]- ^ License - blender.org
- ^ Cinema 4D
- ^ LightWave 3D
- ^ a b "Release Notes | SketchUp Knowledge Base". help.sketchup.com. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
- ^ Getting Started with SketchUp for Web. Trimble
- ^ EIAS3D releases EIAS 9 CG Channel November 6, 2012
- ^ a b c d e f "SketchUp Features". Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
- ^ a b SketchUp User Guide: Creating a 3D Model
- ^ 7. Textures
- ^ a b Clara.io: 65,000 Users, New Features and Premium Subscriptions. Exocortex. August 11, 2014
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Using SketchUp Data with Other Modeling Programs or Tools | SketchUp Knowledge Base". help.sketchup.com. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
- ^ a b AC3D Features Summary
- ^ a b AC3D 8.3
- ^ "Importing & Exporting Files". Blender. Blender Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- ^ Compare editions. tetraface
- ^ バージョンアップ履歴 (in Japanese). tetraface
- ^ Mesh Cache Modifier. Blender Foundation
- ^ a b Partio Node. NewTek
- ^ a b Geometry file formats. Side Effects
- ^ a b Supported data import formats. Autodesk.
- ^ a b Supported data export formats. Autodesk.
- ^ a b c Importing LandXML/DEM Models. Autodesk
- ^ Game Development Toolset. Side Effects
- ^ a b c d E-on ships Vue Infinite 2015 and Vue xStream 2015. CG Channel. July 2, 2015.
- ^ Primitive Type - OpenVDB. NewTek
- ^ R23 - Removed features (Virtual Walkthrough, ProRender, Sound System) MAXON
- ^ Create a turntable animation Autodesk
- ^ 3ds Max integrates OSL: GDC Day 1, fxguide, March 21, 2018
- ^ Render Commands, Foundry
- ^ Getting Started with Toolbag 2, Marmoset LLC, December 1, 2015
- ^ Auto HDRI Light Gen for Maya Creates Practical Lighting Setups from HDR Images, Lesterbanks, April 30, 2013
- ^ Viewport 2.0 limitations Autodesk
- ^ Kelly L. Murdock's Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Complete Reference Guide, P.685, Kelly Murdock, 2015
- ^ Light Groups Solid Angle
- ^ Sun Positioner and Physical Sky Autodesk
- ^ The composition of the passes is required.
- ^ Blender 2.8 Eevee Tutorial Shadow Catcher. BlenderNation. June 3, 2019
- ^ Bf-blender-cvs - 48155c210a3 - master: Cycles: Add Support for IES files as textures for light strength, Blender Foundation, May 27, 2018
- ^ Shader The Foundry
- ^ Directional Light The Foundry
- ^ "Software". www.hdrlabs.com. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ Advancements in V-Ray RT GPU, p.15
- ^ Pixar RenderMan LookDev and XPU. fxguide. September 14, 2021.
- ^ Bf-blender-cvs - c621832d3d3 - master: Cycles: CUDA support for rendering scenes that don't fit on GPU., Blender Foundation, January 3, 2018
- ^ Features Archived 2016-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Pixar
- ^ Subdivision Settings, Solid Angle
- ^ a b Karma Renderer FAQs