For a free 3D CAD tool, PTC Cocreate Modeling Personal Edition is a powerful program. It is an explicit 3D CAD software. The modeled features of a part can be modified but they are history-free.
Its modeling function is surprisingly good for something that is free. It even has such advanced functions as draft-angling and shelling. […]
The first 3D program that I have used was Imagine 3D. It was a DOS program which I had on a 486 PC. I picked up Imagine3D in order to model and animate my Final Year Project as an Industrial Design student. The project is as shown below.
That was back in the mid 1990’s. Time […]
Daz Studio is a free software for posing 3D humans. It is similar in concept to Poser.
This software comes pre-included with the 3Delight renderer. Additionally, its capability can be further enhanced by purchasing or downloading add-ons such as new characters and props. It can also import and export Wavefront Obj 3D files. If you are […]
Qtpfsgui is a free and open source software program that aids in the HDR imaging process. HDR refers to High Dynamic Range. HDRI refers to High Dynamic Range Imaging. HDR images are useful for 3D rendering as they can be used as vastly superior Environmental Maps. The usage of HDR (or HDRI) environment maps often […]
Yafaray is a re-coding of Yafray. It is meant to be a continuation and progression of Yafray.
With Yafray, the integration with Blender is quite straightforward. However, with Yafaray is it not the case.
As of this writing, you will need a patched version of Blender to work with Yafaray. Also, you will need to have the […]
Kerkythea is a free rendering program. Unlike Blender 3D, it is purely designed for rendering and it is very good at that.
Kerkythea’s interface is fairly easy to understand. If you want a good renderer but find Blender’s interface too intimidating to understand, Kerkythea Rendering System may be the right tool for you.
Kerkythea comes with libraries […]
I do not have Photoshop at home. Basically, GIMP does what I need to do in terms of 2D image editing and illustration.
It has most of the tools and functions expected of a full-fledged image editor. These includes layers, paths, tons of filters and very useful selection tools. It also has the very useful feathering […]
Alibre Express is a free but lite version of a Parametric Solid 3D CAD program. Despite being free, it is powerful enough for designing products with a small number of parts.
It is similar in concept to other mechanical and product design parametric CAD programs such as Solidworks and Pro-engineer. Like the expensive counterparts, it can […]
Inkscape is a 2D drawing tool that is freely available as an open source program. For industrial design, it can be used to create 2D illustrations of product concepts.
Because it is vector-based, the images created are resolution independent. This means that, the illustrations will not lose their sharpness even when they are being enlarged. This […]
Caligari recently released Truespace 7+ for free. Truespace is a powerful 3D application with a very pretty interface.
It can produce quite attractive rendering and animation. It also sports NURBS tools which are useful for product modelling.
Unfortunately, the free base package does not appear to support file formats essential for data transfer. It does not support […]
