Best free 3D modelling applications for you

This is an awesome example of 25 best 3D modelling applications for completely free of cost that we are presenting you. However, to give you the clear concept, you need to know, what is 3D modelling and how it has been used.

What is 3D Modelling

In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the procedure of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of an object (either inanimate or living) via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model. Theoretically, 3 Dimensions refers to substance that are constructed on three plans (X, Y and Z). The process of making 3D graphics can be divided into three basic phases: 3D modeling, 3D animation and 3D rendering.

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Where it is used

The 3D modeling is used in a variety of industries like films, animation and gaming, interior designing and architecture. They are also used in the medical industry for the interactive representations of anatomy. A wide number of 3D software is also used in constructing digital representation of mechanical models or parts before they are actually manufactured.CAD/CAM related software are used in such fields, and with these software, not only can you construct the parts, but also assemble them, and observe their functionality. 3D modelling is also used in the field of Industrial Design, wherein products are 3D modeled before representing them to the clients. In Media and Event industries, 3D modelling is used in Stage/Set Design.

So, here is the list of 25 best free 3d modeling applications for you :-

1. Blender: Blender Foundation is a Dutch public benefit corporation, established to support and make easy the projects on blender.org. A free 3D modeling and animation application which can be utilized for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating interactive 3D applications.
2. K-3D: It is free-as-in-freedom 3D modeling and animation software. It features a plugin-oriented procedural engine for all of its content, making K-3D a very versatile and powerful package. K-3D excels at polygonal modeling, and includes basic tools for NURBS, patches, curves and animation.
3. Art of Illusion: Art of Illusion is a free, open source 3D modelling and renderingstudio.
4. SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool: Free 3D modeling and animation software for aspiring game developers and modders. The Mod Tool is a free version of XSI for non-commercial game creation.
5. Zmodeler: ZModeler (or Zanoza Modeler) is a 3D modeling application developed by Oleg Melashenko. It is aimed at modelers who model for computer games. ZModeler is capable of complex modeling, even though it does not support important modeling functions such as extruding, or beveling.
6. TopMod3d: It is a free, open source, portable, platform independent topological mesh modeling system that allows users to create high genus 2-manifold meshes.
7. SketchUp 6: SketchUp is software that you can use to create, share and present 3D models. Whether you want to design a new deck for your house, build models forGoogle Earth, or teach geometry to your fifth-graders, you can use SketchUp to see your ideas in 3D. And when you’re done, you can export an image, make a movie or print out a view of what you made.
8. AutoQ3D Community – 3D Editor: AutoQ3D Community is an easy, light and fast 3D model editor tool that uses the full power of your PC´s graphics hardware, allowing you to rapidly prototype your 3D designs.
9. Anim8or: Anim8or is a 3D modeling and character animation program which allows users to create and modify 3D models with built-in primitives such as spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, etc.; mesh-edit and subdivision; splines, extrusion, lathing, modifiers, bevel and warps.
10. Seamless3d: Seamless3d is free open source 3d modelling software which designed for the artist who is realistic about the time it takes to learn any tool that’s going to offer creative freedom.
11. BRL-CAD: BRL-CAD is a powerful cross-platform constructive solid geometry solid modeling system that includes an interactive geometry editor, ray-tracing for rendering & geometric analyses, network distributed framebuffer support, image & signal-processing tools.
12. 3DPlus: With 3DPlus you can create outstanding 3D designs in just a few minutes – with no need for any complicated VRML or other programming. 3DPlus is the amazing 3D design software that enables you to create stunning 3D graphics for your home, school or business – no experience required.
13. 3D Canvas: 3D Canvas is a real-time 3D modeling and animation tool that incorporates an intuitive drag-and-drop approach to 3D modeling. Complex models can be constructed from simple 3D primitives, or created using 3D Canvas’ Object Building Tools. Modeling tools are provided to deform, sculpt, and paint 3D objects.
14. EDrawings: eDrawings is a freeware utility which will give the user the power to view, create and share 3D models and 2D drawings. eDrawings offers unique capabilities like point-and-click animations that make it easy for anyone with a PC to interpret and understand 2D and 3D design data.
15. Blink 3D: Blink 3D is an authoring tool for creating 3D environments. The 3D environments are immersive, just like today’s modern games and can be viewed using the a Blink 3D Viewer on the Web or locally.
16. Minos: MINOS extends the capabilities of your existing 2D-or 3D-wireframe-based systems, so you can take advantage of all the benefits solid modeling offers right away.
17. FreeCAD: It is a basic 3D CAD with advanced Motion Simulation capabilities. It is suitable for anyone interested in learning 3D CAD and Motion Simulation for free before using more sophisticated packages. Its motion simulation capabilities are comparable to the best and can provide accurate answers to engineers and scientists in diverse fields.
18. Bishop3D: Bishop3D is an interactive modeler and animation tool for the popular freeware raytracer POV-Ray™, a world-class renderer for creating three-dimensional photo-realistic images.
19. K3DSurf: K3DSurf is a program to visualize and manipulate Mathematical models in three, four, five and six dimensions.
20. DesignWorkshop Lite: DesignWorkshop is a three-dimensional modeling program for architectural design and related endeavors.
21. GDesign 2.0: GDesign 2.0 is a 2D/3D free generative art application for Windows. With GDesign you can interactively build, test, and edit complex models.
22. Sweet Home 3D: Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application that helps you place your furniture. On a house 2D plan, with a 3D preview. Sweet Home 3D helps people to design their interior quickly.
23. TrueSpace: TrueSpace7.6 is a fully-featured 3D authoring package that will let you model, texture, light, animate and render 3D content. As well as traditional images and movies, you can also make 3D content for online shared spaces, and for Virtual Earth.
24. Alibre Design Xpress: Alibre Design Xpress is a rich and capable 3D solid modeler for creating mechanical parts, assemblies and 2D drawings – and is free. Alibre Design Xpress equips the person needing basic 3D design capabilities.
25. 3DVIA Shape: 3DVia Shape is a free online 3D modeling application that eases you to create, publish and share ideas in 3D.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.sketchup-ur-space.com

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SketchUp Section Cut or Floor Plan to AutoCAD

This tutorial will walk you through the steps of exporting a section cut from a SketchUp model to a 2D line drawing in AutoCAD.

1. Draw a large rectangle on the plane of where you want the section to be. It can be vertical, horizontal, or even at an odd angle. The reason for doing it this way instead of using SketchUp’s built in section cut tool is that this way eliminates the empty spaces where a mass has been cut, revealing the geometry below. Example: If part of a floor is cut through, the floor should appear to be solid instead of showing any lines from the top of the walls on the floor below. It isn’t that difficult to remove the extraneous lines from the section cut tool if your model is simple, but when it gets more complex, it can become confusing as to which lines should actually be hidden.

2. The next step involves intersecting the geometry, but before doing this, make sure all parts of your model are not grouped, but that the cutting plane you drew earlier is in a group. Now select all of the model geometry, and intersect the faces with the model (right click > intersect faces > with model). This will draw a line anywhere the plane cuts through the model.

 

 

3. Delete the cutting plane and you’re left with the model and the intersected lines. Now all of the geometry that is being cut through has to be deleted. The easiest way to do this is to switch the camera to parallel projection (camera > parallel projection), switch to one of the head one views, such as top down for a plan view, or one of the side views for a section (camera > standard views > top/front/back/etc…), and drag a box around all of the geometry that has to be erased. You may have to zoom in closer to some areas to make sure there aren’t any small lines left over.

 

Tip: Since this technique is not restricted to just one cutting plane, you can use as many as you want to create stepped-sections (when parts of the model are cut through in different areas). Example here (profile view of a cut of a floor plan)

4. Now that the model is cut at the right spot, it’s time to export it to AutoCAD. Your view should be set to one that shows the model in a head on orientation, and make sure the camera is set to parallel projection. If the cut is a floor plan, you’d select top down view in the camera menu. If it is a section, you’d switch to one of the side views to get the right angle.

  

5. Center the model in the view, and then go to file > export > 2d graphic, and select AutoCAD DWG file in the export type drop-down menu. You may have to adjust the AutoCAD version in the options menu depending on which one you have installed. Make sure that the full scale option is checked, assuming you want the scale of the drawing to stay the same when exported.

 

6. Save and then open up the file in Autocad. You’ve successfully exported a section or floor plan from your SketchUp model to AutoCAD. You can now adjust the line weights to your heart’s content.

 

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Published By

Arka Roy

www.sketchup-ur-space.com

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Geometric introduces eDrawings Professional for Solid Edge version 8.0

Geometric Limited, a trusted name for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) & Offshore Product Development (OPD) solutions, just unveils eDrawings Professional for Solid Edge version 8.0 giving support for Solid Edge ST3 and eDrawings 2011.

eDrawings is considered as first email facilitated collaboration tool utilized for sharing and understanding of 2D and 3D product design data.

The newly launched version contains the following exclusive features :-

• Support for Solid Edge ST3
• Stamp feature is improved along with extra support for PNG and TIFF file format
• eDrawings viewer version has been advanced to eDrawings 2011
• Triad to Move/Constrain component movement to a coordinate axis or plane, or to rotate components about a coordinate axis
• Look for or Filter component names from the components tree

System requirement
Solid Edge V19, V20, ST, ST2 & Solid Edge ST3

For a free 15-day trial, please visit http://edrawings.geometricglobal.com/.

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Sketchup4architect

Arrival of eDrawings RapidFire Lite version 8.0

Geometric Limited, a pioneer company in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Global Engineering Services recently released eDrawings RapidFire Lite version 8.0. This new version will provide a great support for DGN files.

eDrawings is an email facilitated collaboration tool to be applied for easy sharing and representations of 2D and 3D product design data.

The new version of eDrawings RapidFire Lite comes up with some exclusive features which are described below :-
• Support for Microstation (*.dgn) files
• eDrawings viewer version is being upgraded to eDrawings 2011
• view, publish and share the cad files in STEP/STP, IGES/IGS, DWG, DXF, Rhino and STL file formats
• View, print, publish and share DWG (*.dwg) & DXF (*.dxf) CAD files. Support for DWG upto AutoCAD 2009
• Triad to progress/restrict component movement to a coordinate axis or plane, or to revolve components about a coordinate axis
• Explore or sort out component names from the components tree

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Sketchup4architect