May 22, 2019 Thanks to a wide range of powerful 3D tools Modo is great for modeling, rendering, and 3D animation. The editing options are intuitive and simple making Modo one of the easiest 3D modeling software. You can start learning it with our free tutorial. Looking for 3D modeling software or 3D design software? Check out our guide to the best 3D software for model makers – some of the programs are even free.
Creating 3D models and printing them is no longer an obscure techy concept for computer engineers, but it still requires a decent amount of experience to create 3D models effectively. Like all things, working with 3D models is easier with good equipment — software in this case.
Whether you’re starting with CAD Software or looking for 3D model software specifically, there are plenty of options available. Here are the major categories:
- CAD software: computer-aided design software helps engineers design new models of 3D projects. It is most commonly used in the manufacturing industry.
- 3D model software: computer software that is used to mold different types of 3D models creatively. This is most commonly used in the entertainment industry.
One important thing to note: not all of the following software options include tools that allow you to slice or repair files. You may need to find separate software for those functions. If you’re in a hurry to create your 3D models, and less concerned about learning how to build and print, you may want to talk to a freelancer first.
Get Some Help on Your First 3D Model
If you need 3d printing services, but you don’t have the time (or the money) to learn the software, you can always use a freelancer to do the work for you.
Fivver is a website where people from all around the world post their services for sale on a platform. It’s simple and affordable freelance.
If you need an affordable but high-quality 3D Modeling expert, I’d recommend Fivver. You’ll get better results, and you’ll save a ton of money.
Want Good 3D Models? Start with Good Software
3D printers can be complicated devices (to put it mildly). Read all the reviews before you buy. Overly-complex programs can be more frustrating than helpful, especially for beginners.
And ask yourself the questions below — make sure that you have clear answers before you purchase anything.
Which Industry Are You Working In?
Answer this question before you do anymore window shopping: what industry will you be working in? Different industries use different tools.
Work with the software known to be the industry standard; it makes collaboration with others a lot easier.
What Type Of 3D Models Will You Be Creating?
There are many different types of models that you can create. Some software will have different features than other software and are better suited for creating specific models.
Figure out which types of models you will be creating most often and pick software, to begin with, that is geared towards those models.
Do You Need CAD Software to Create 3D Models?
While they are incredibly similar, there is a big difference between CAD Software and 3D model software. CAD Software is used by engineers to create drawings of 3D models.
These are often used for manufacturing processes where precision is of the utmost importance. 3D model software is more commonly implemented by designers and other people who work in the creative industry.
These are the types of software that you see being used to create all of the video games and movies you watch today. If you are looking for software that will be more compatible with creative work, then you should use software made specifically to create 3D models.
If you need something that will be very precise, then use CAD software.
Work With Professionals
If you are just getting started in an industry, then often the best thing that you can do to get your feet wet is to ask around. The internet doesn’t have all the answers.
If you have coworkers who are talented and have been working in the industry for a decent amount of time, ask them what their recommendations are.
They will often be able to tell you what they wish they had learned when they were first starting out. Follow their advice, and you should be golden.
1. Morphi
3d Modeling is going big in New York City, and this new software from Morphi; there is just further proof of that. It is an app that is designed to be used on tablets primarily. You are able to create 3D models intuitively.
The software is included with a full library of different models. It is a free download for the base version of the application. There are additional models and tools available for purchase on the app store as well.
If you happen to be enrolled in school, they have a student discount for the purchases.
This software is both simple and powerful and includes developing in both artificial and virtual reality. Use your tablet, Mac, or Windows computer to create any 3D model you need.
It is intuitive enough that almost anyone should be able to pick it up and start using it easily.
2. Blockscad
Create 3d Models with this software that was made for use in educational settings. The developers of Blockscad made it to be a transition point for beginners to learn more in-depth Software later on.
The various commands will be represented visually in a way that is incredibly easy to keep things organized.
There are a ton of YouTube channels, including some by the developers themselves, that have tutorials on how to use the software, so it is accessible for anyone to learn.
It only costs $149 a year.
The blocks-based interface is one of the easiest for beginners to get started with. It is so easy that even children can get started using it. The technology that powers the software was first created for use in the educational industry.
It includes cloud options, so you will not have to ever worry about losing your files. Easily visualize all of the models that you need in 3D.
3. Leopoly
Create 3d Models on the cloud with this modeling software first invented in Hungary. Made to be supremely simple as far as the learning curve goes, there are tons of options with Leopoly.
If you are looking for software to use as a designer, it is a great starting point. This software also includes the ability to design and virtual reality as well. People of all experience levels will find something useful with this tool.
Take advantage of the powerful digital sculpting tool and use it to show how creative you are. The software even includes a polygon mesh-based sculpting application called shapelab.
4. 3D Slash
3D Slash was invented by a one man in 2013 who was inspired after watching his children play mine craft. It uses little blocks similar to the video game.
It includes all of the tools that you need to model things in 3D, though with a resolution up to 0.1 mm.
If you are looking for software that will be as easy to use as building something out of Legos or enjoying playing mine craft yourself, then this is a great starting place to learn.
If you are an educator who is worried about intimidating a student trying to break into this industry, this is a great choice for them. This is the type of software that goes to show you that learning and creating can still be fine.
It is very easy to get started and has the depth and advanced features you need to work in-depth on projects. There is a whole suite of features included to enable the function of teams for school settings.
5. Tinkercad
This is top-of-the-line modeling software that allows you to create 3D images, and it is available for free. It’s primarily aimed at people who have no experience working with this type of software.
The model library includes a set of basic shapes that you can start from to work with.
It is integrative with third-party printing services. It is limited in its design because of its simplicity, but it is user-friendly for computer averse.
6. Freecad
This is open-source software that lets you create parametric 3D models. It is fairly straightforward, but that very characteristic makes it perfect for people that are just getting started working with parametric models.
You can easily work through your model’s history so you can go back if there are ever any mistakes. This tool also can function great as a training tool later on in your professional life.
Take whatever the idea that you have is in your head and put it into reality within a couple of minutes. You can use this to work with code, electronics, or models.
It is very intuitive and easy to use and includes many tools inspired by Minecraft because of the ease of use of that game and how complex you can make it.
7. Sketchup Make
First released in the year 2000, Sketchup Make has been used for architectural design for nearly 20 years now. It is free and includes a wide selection of tools for anyone that is involved in the construction industry who needs to plan their next architectural project.
Few things will allow you to go from the drawing board to a final model quicker. It is incredibly versatile and has a great range of functionality. If you want to become a serious cat developer, this is the place to be.
If you need positioning centric information to help with your models, then this is the software to use. You will be able to easily implement any of the ideas that you are struggling to design without the difficulty.
8. Sculptris
Sculptors, a product of Pixologic, will love this application. It lets you use sculpting as the basis of your 3D model manipulation. You can use any type of mesh or brushstroke.
Working with the software on a device with touchscreen functionality will fail almost as if you are working with something out of clay. It is great for creating new characters in your next big media project.
It is no longer actively developed, but you can download it as long as you have a compatible operating system.
This is probably the software that is the most creative on this list. It is made for people who work in the creative industry and perfect for people who want to create models for movies or video games.
Experience the moldability of clay as you create new characters for your next big project with the 3D sculpting feature. Once you have created the model that you are satisfied with, you can start using the 3D painting to add any type of textures or colors onto the surface of your 3D match.
Easiest 3d Modeling Software Free
9. Fusion 360
If you are looking for a cloud-based 3D CAD program, then Fusion 360 from Autodesk is your tool. The cloud allows teams from all over the world to work together on the same project with ease.
The entire history of the model will be stored remotely, including every change made by every user. There are an incredible amount of options available with enough tools for any professional.
It is a subscription-based service though, so you will be paying for it monthly.
This is a perfect solution for educators. It comes complete with online curriculum created by industry professionals, but written for the novice.
Their online courses are constantly evolving along with the industry — designed by educators who work in universities around the world, each course has been battle tested in a classroom setting.
10. Vectary
This 3D model software was first designed as a tool that you could use to create 3D models and share them. It includes mesh modeling, subdivision modeling, and parametric plug-ins for a rather comprehensive solution for beginners who have limited experience with this type of modeling.
Save your projects in the cloud so you can retrieve them anytime from anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection, and share your creations realtime with others around the world.
Collaborate on the next augmented reality project you have with people from around the world on this great design platform. You do not need to download anything at all — it’s all browser based.
They have an extensive library of models and templates. It can create photorealistic renders and HCR environments more accurately than almost any other competing software in its class.
11. Onshape
This cloud-based CAD software has some of the most advanced features of all the tools on this list. The people who designed it created an application perfect for collaborative work.
If you need to work on a project with others, it’s important to actually learn how to use this software. The real-time analytics feature in the software makes it so that you can track things as they progress.
This is probably one of the most comprehensive software packages on this list. It has an extensive range of features that few professionals will ever exhaust.
12. Meshmixer
This free software belongs to the Autodesk software family. It has some key differences from typical software because it does not allow you to create things from the beginning.
It will allow you to help with different tasks such as animation, severing, fulfilling, and more. It even includes the ability to AutoCorrect issues with your models.
Meshmixer uses advanced technology to make 3D scanning easy by using triangle meshes. Your models and then use the re-meshing tool to finish things up.
Microsoft word for macbook air. It is free and available on both Windows and Mac operating systems, so it is one of the most accessible software options for beginners. And while we have you, be sure to check out our latest post on WordPress themes.
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The community of 3D printing and modeling may have become much larger in the past few years, but most 3D models shared online nowadays are limited to a few file formats. One of these file formats is STL. Most popular free video editing software. Despite its ubiquity, STL files are notoriously difficult to edit. Should you find yourself with an STL file format that you’d like to tweak and play around with, what software should you use? What exactly is the STL file format, and why is it so important?
What is the STL file format?
STL stands for “Stereolithography” and is considered one of the simplest 3D file formats. It’s also one of the oldest, developed in the 1980s and was originally meant to simplify the transfer of data from 3D CAD models to a 3D printer.
A characteristic of the STL file format, which makes it one of the simpler options, is that it approximates a 3D surface as a triangular mesh. Thus, instead of a truly smooth surface, an STL object is composed of a high number of very small, non-overlapping triangles. This technique is known as tessellation and is considered one of the oldest methods of simplifying a smooth surface in 3D space.
3d Modeling Online
By increasing the number and decreasing the size of the triangles that form the tessellated pattern, the resolution of a 3D file in the STL format can be enhanced. Naturally, a file that holds a higher resolution model will be larger. However, the accuracy at which an STL file can approximate a surface will always be at a lower fidelity compared to file formats that represent 3D surfaces using smooth splines, such as OBJ.
What are the benefits of STL?
The STL file format has been widely used for sharing of models within the 3D printing community. They may have limitations in terms of resolution and fidelity, but so do 3D printers. In fact, STL has become such a preferred file format that most 3D printers and slicer software used nowadays have been designed to work with STL files.
Since STL files are simple and have small file sizes, they are more easily shared and downloaded than other, high-fidelity alternatives. In most cases, users of 3D printers can just download a finished model off of file-sharing websites and print them at home. Beginners to 3D printing typically start this way before developing the skills to come up with their own models.
What are STL editors, and why use them?
While downloading finished models is certainly a quick and convenient way to get into 3D printing, some people may want to edit the features of a model to suit their needs. There could also be circumstances when you only need to print a part of a model. Not all models are perfect, so you may even find yourself needing to repair that model you just downloaded.
3d Slash
There are two different types of STL editing and modeling software. The first is based on CAD and is made for general 3D modeling. This technology has been the standard for industrial and professional 3D modeling and allows for extremely accurate measurement and modeling in 3D space. Since the resolution of 3D printers is limited, CAD software is considered overpowered for use in modeling for 3D printers. Thus, although CAD-based software platforms do an excellent job, editing STL files do not quite utilize the full potential of this type of software.
3D modeling software specially made for 3D printing are called mesh editing software. Instead of precise software representation, a mesh editing software instead reduces these objects into shells with no internal filling. This simplifies the modeling process, although the model can be quickly converted to solid objects right before printing. Within the 3D printing community, mesh editing software is considered more appropriate for STL editing.
The top 5 best free STL editors
1. FreeCAD
FreeCAD is one of the most feature-rich CAD design software platforms. Best of all, the software is open source and completely free. FreeCAD uses parametric modeling principles and has been widely used by both professionals and beginners.
With FreeCAD, you can add features, make measurements, and separate components of an existing STL file. Since FreeCAD was originally meant for mechanical and engineering design, it allows for extremely fine and precise edits. However, it’s very difficult to use FreeCAD for sculpting, so smooth surfaces can be challenging.
Even if you don’t already have an existing STL file, you can still use FreeCAD to come up with your own 3D sketches and model them in 3D space. It does take some time to get used to the FreeCAD platform and to learn how to use its functions, but it’s not so difficult to be inaccessible for beginners. One major flaw of the open source platform of FreeCAD is that it can be full of bugs, although this could be easily remedied by sticking to the latest stable version.
2. Blender
Blender is another free 3D printing software that is a little more sophisticated than FreeCAD. It has been touted as a software that can support the whole 3D design pipeline and is best suited for individual designers and small design firms. With a wide suite of excellent features, Blender has been used to for modeling, animation, video rendering, film and visual effects, and 3D simulation.
A huge part of why Blender has been able to extend its range of capabilities is that it’s completely community-driven. Users can introduce new features, make minor or major changes to the code, or implement bug fixes. Best of all, Blender is completely free, even if you use it for commercial purposes.
Although modeling is just one of the major functions of Blender, it has a very rich set of features. You can build your own models from 2D sketches or edit an existing STL file. Aside from the usual features, including STL repair, removal and addition of components, and partial masking of models, Blender has much more advanced sculpting capabilities. With twenty different brush types and dynamic sculpting, you can pretty much generate any type of smooth surface. You can grab and pinch areas, flatten sections, inflate and deflate a model, or sculpt the model like clay.
We wouldn’t classify Blender as beginner-friendly, but its learning curve is pretty friendly. With so many features, it will take some time before you can unlock the full potential of Blender. As far as 3D printing software go, Blender is one of the most comprehensive.
3. SketchUp
The SketchUp software platform, which used to be owned by Google, is now with Trimble but still retains the user-friendly characteristic for which it became famous for. You have the option of downloading the free SketchUp Make version or upgrading to the paid SketchUp Pro version. The good news is that you can use the free version to edit STL files, but you’ll need to make sure to download and install the SketchUp STL plugin first.
The simplicity of SketchUp is its strong suit. It’s very easy to learn, and its interface will feel familiar to anyone who’s ever used a graphic design program. However, this ease-of-use comes at the price of a limited feature set. The STL editing capabilities of SketchUp are pretty much limited to dragging edges and vertices and adding or deleting individual triangles. It has no built-in STL repair function, but you can still do it manually by using the Solid Inspector tool and correcting any hitches yourself.
Despite the limited features of SketchUp, it remains one of the most widely used 3D design software worldwide. It’s highly recommended for beginners. Even people with no 3D modeling experience can learn the fundamentals of SketchUp within a few minutes.
4. MeshLab
MeshLab, as its name implies, is a software platform for editing 3D triangular meshes. It’s also open source, which helps give it a rich set of functions and features. If you need modeling software specifically for 3D printing, MeshLab is one of the best options for editing, cleaning, rendering, and texturing mesh-based models.
You will need an existing STL file to make the most use out of MeshLab. It can combine different meshes of a 3D scan, remove parts of an existing, and automatically repair a 3D model. However, it cannot be used to build your own models from scratch. You can also simplify the triangular faces of a model, thereby reducing geometry complexity for easier file sharing.
MeshLab isn’t exceptionally user-friendly, but their website has several tutorials that can help get you started. They also have a dedicated community of developers that can provide support if you need bug fixes or if you just have any general questions or clarifications.
5. MeshMixer
In the field of free mesh editing programs, few can equal the quality of MeshMixer. Aside from having a huge set of the necessary mesh editing features, MeshMixer is also very user-friendly. Adobe premiere pro cc 12 1 download. It even has a built-in slicer tool so you can prepare your model for printing and send it directly to your 3D printer via MeshMixer.
The development team behind MeshMixer calls it the “Swiss Army knife” of 3D meshes. It does have just about everything you need, so we’re inclined to agree. You can combine meshes, drag edges and vertices, make measurements, smooth meshes, and even do free-form sculpting. The software comes with a couple of automated features that can help identify problems with your STL file such as holes, misaligned surface, and paper-thin walls.
By combining ease-of-use and an impressive array of features, MeshMixer is considered by many to be the best free mesh editing software. It’s only available for Windows and Mac, though, so Linux users will have to look elsewhere.
Final thoughts
If you’ve gotten into 3D printing, then you probably have dozens to hundreds of STL files lying around in your computer. While printing them as they were modeled originally is fine, the next logical step you need to take is to learn how to edit existing models. This is best done with an STL editor. If you’re still a beginner, then we recommend starting with an STL editor that you can download for free.
As you can see from our list of the best free STL editors, being free for use has not hindered these software platforms from having excellent quality. With impressive features and intelligently designed interfaces, it’s almost unbelievable that they are free.
Warning; 3D printers should never be left unattended. They can pose a firesafety hazard.