3d-resources

3D Resources: Software, Assets, Tutorials & Tools for 3D Artists

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A curated collection of free and paid 3D resources: software, assets, textures, HDRIs, tutorials, plugins, and learning material for Blender, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Maya, ZBrush, Unreal Engine, and more. Covers 3D modeling, animation, VFX, rendering, game development, motion graphics, and digital art.

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Heads up: links rot, licenses drift, prices age. Flag anything off via GitHub.

Contents

Assets & Libraries Poly Haven · Quixel Megascans · Sketchfab - [Model Libraries: Free & General](#model-libraries-free--general) (33 items)
General-purpose 3D model libraries with free downloads. - [Model Libraries: Specialized](#model-libraries-specialized) (18 items)
Specialty model sources: characters, scans, anatomy, museums. - [Model Libraries: Architecture & Furniture](#model-libraries-architecture--furniture) (10 items)
Arch-viz, furniture, and BIM asset libraries. - [Asset Marketplaces](#asset-marketplaces) (9 items)
General asset marketplaces across multiple engines and tools. - [Free Asset Giveaways](#free-asset-giveaways) (1 item)
Recurring free asset drops. Bookmark these. - [Software-Specific Asset Libraries](#software-specific-asset-libraries) (10 items)
Official asset libraries tied to specific DCCs. - [HDRIs](#hdris) (9 items)
HDR environment maps for lighting and reflections. - [Textures & Materials: Free PBR Libraries](#textures--materials-free-pbr-libraries) (27 items)
Free PBR texture libraries for materials authoring. - [Textures: Specialized](#textures-specialized) (7 items)
Specialty texture sources: displacement, patterns, sprites, terrain. - [Textures: Premium](#textures-premium) (3 items)
Professional paid texture libraries. - [Stock Images & References](#stock-images--references) (12 items)
Free and public-domain stock images, and 2D references. - [Stock Footage](#stock-footage) (4 items)
Free and archival video footage sources. - [Audio: SFX & Music Libraries](#audio-sfx--music-libraries) (14 items)
Free and paid SFX and music libraries for games, reels, and film. - [Fonts](#fonts) (18 items)
Font libraries, pairing tools, and type references. - [Icons](#icons) (24 items)
Icon libraries and animation sets. - [Game Assets](#game-assets) (44 items)
Free and paid game-ready asset sources. Cross-listed from §7.
Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing Blender · Houdini · Cinema 4D - [Blender: Plugins & Addons](#blender-plugins--addons) (157 items)
Notable addons extending Blender. - [Blender: Tutorials](#blender-tutorials) (11 items)
Blender learning resources, beginner to advanced. - [Houdini: Getting Started](#houdini-getting-started) (5 items)
Beginner-friendly Houdini intros. - [Houdini: Essential Learning Resources](#houdini-essential-learning-resources) (6 items)
Long-form Houdini learning hubs. - [Houdini: VEX & Coding](#houdini-vex--coding) (8 items)
VEX, Python, OpenCL, and scripting in Houdini. - [Houdini: FX & Simulations](#houdini-fx--simulations) (2 items)
Vellum, FLIP, Pyro, and other simulation workflows. - [Houdini: Rigging & Animation (KineFX)](#houdini-rigging--animation-kinefx) (2 items)
KineFX rigging, animation, and crowds. - [Houdini: Grooming](#houdini-grooming)
Hair and fur grooming workflows. - [Houdini: Miscellaneous Tutorials](#houdini-miscellaneous-tutorials) (15 items)
Additional Houdini tutorials across topics. - [Houdini: Plugins & Tools](#houdini-plugins--tools) (22 items)
Toolkits, pipeline tools, and HDAs. - [Houdini: Courses & Free Content](#houdini-courses--free-content) (1 item)
Structured courses for Houdini. - [Houdini: Communities](#houdini-communities) (8 items)
Forums, Discords, and tip archives. - [Cinema 4D: Learning](#cinema-4d-learning) (2 items)
C4D tutorials and learning hubs. - [Cinema 4D: Plugins](#cinema-4d-plugins) (2 items)
C4D addons and bridges. - [Cinema 4D: Tips & Workflows](#cinema-4d-tips--workflows) (2 items)
Productivity blogs and shader workflow tricks. - [3ds Max: Plugins](#3ds-max-plugins) (1 item)
3ds Max plugins. - [Fusion 360: Learning](#fusion-360-learning)
Fusion 360 courses. - [Material Creation Tools](#material-creation-tools) (22 items)
Texture authoring, procedural materials, and baking tools.
Animation & Rigging Mixamo · Rokoko · Cascadeur - [Animation: YouTube Channels](#animation-youtube-channels) (8 items)
Channels covering 2D/motion animation technique. - [Animation: Courses](#animation-courses)
Structured animation courses. - [AI Motion Capture & Animation](#ai-motion-capture--animation) (13 items)
AI-powered mocap and character animation tools.
Lighting, Rendering & Shaders Redshift · Arnold · V-Ray - [3D Lighting: Fundamentals](#3d-lighting-fundamentals) (5 items)
Core lighting tutorials for beginners and generalists. - [3D Lighting: Redshift-Specific](#3d-lighting-redshift-specific) (5 items)
Redshift lighting tutorials, primarily in C4D. - [3D Lighting: Production](#3d-lighting-production) (3 items)
Production-focused lighting talks. - [Rendering & Shader Theory](#rendering--shader-theory) (229 items)
Foundational rendering and shader theory references. - [Renderer-Specific Learning](#renderer-specific-learning) (3 items)
Deep-dives for specific render engines.
VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production Houdini · Nuke · EmberGen - [Virtual Production](#virtual-production) (6 items)
Real-time engines and hardware stacks for virtual production. - [Tech Art](#tech-art) (13 items)
Tech art breakdowns, procedural art, and tutorials. - [Compositing Learning, Books & Industry](#compositing-learning-books--industry) (14 items)
Nuke creators, comp theory books, VFX breakdown sites, and industry magazines.
Motion Graphics & Video After Effects · Cavalry · DaVinci Resolve - [Motion Graphics: YouTube Channels](#motion-graphics-youtube-channels) (1 item)
Motion design learning channels. - [Motion Graphics: Courses](#motion-graphics-courses)
Structured motion graphics courses. - [After Effects: Learning & Templates](#after-effects-learning--templates) (2 items)
AE expressions, templates, and workflow resources. - [Fusion (DaVinci Resolve): Learning](#fusion-davinci-resolve-learning) (3 items)
Fusion references and EXR workflow. - [Motion Graphics: Inspiration](#motion-graphics-inspiration) (29 items)
Showcases, style frames, title sequences, ad references. - [Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities](#motion-graphics-tools--utilities) (15 items)
MG-specific tools and utilities. - [Video Editing: Courses](#video-editing-courses)
Editing-specific courses.
Game Development Unity · Unreal Engine · Godot - [Godot: Official Resources](#godot-official-resources) (4 items)
Official documentation and asset libraries. - [Godot: Key Plugins & Addons](#godot-key-plugins--addons) (9 items)
Essential Godot addons. - [Godot: Learning](#godot-learning) (8 items)
Godot-focused learning channels and courses. - [Godot: Communities](#godot-communities) (3 items)
Godot forums and chat. - [Unity Engine: Resources](#unity-engine-resources) (445 items)
Unity community add-ons, tools, and learning resources. - [XR, AR & VR: Resources](#xr-ar--vr-resources) (24 items)
AR/VR/XR SDKs, frameworks, tools, and references across ARKit, ARCore, WebXR, and VR platforms. - [Unreal Engine: Resources](#unreal-engine-resources) (184 items)
Unreal Engine resources and marketplace picks. - [Game Dev Tools: Level Design](#game-dev-tools-level-design) (13 items)
Level editors and blockout tools. - [Game Dev Tools: Dialogue & Narrative](#game-dev-tools-dialogue--narrative) (6 items)
Dialogue, narrative scripting, and IF tools. - [Game Dev Tools: Audio Middleware](#game-dev-tools-audio-middleware) (4 items)
Adaptive audio and spatial audio middleware. - [Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer](#game-dev-tools-networking--multiplayer) (16 items)
Multiplayer frameworks and game servers. - [Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX](#game-dev-tools-sprite--vfx) (35 items)
Sprite animation, 2D VFX, texture packers. - [Game Dev Tools: AI & Procedural Generation](#game-dev-tools-ai--procedural-generation) (6 items)
WFC, noise, procedural pipelines, economy design. - [Game Dev Tools: Physics Engines](#game-dev-tools-physics-engines) (7 items)
Open-source physics engines. - [Game Dev Tools: Version Control](#game-dev-tools-version-control) (3 items)
Version control for binary-heavy game projects. - [Game Dev Tools: Analytics & Playtesting](#game-dev-tools-analytics--playtesting) (1 item)
Analytics and playtesting services. - [Game Design & Theory](#game-design--theory) (23 items)
Design fundamentals, patterns, and references. - [Game Dev: YouTube Channels](#game-dev-youtube-channels) (18 items)
Channels covering game dev technique, design, and industry. - [Game Dev: Courses](#game-dev-courses) (2 items)
Structured game dev courses. - [Game Dev: Communities](#game-dev-communities) (13 items)
Reddit, Discord, forums, indie job boards. - [Game Jams](#game-jams) (5 items)
Recurring game jams.
Art, Design & Visual Storytelling Photoshop · Procreate · Krita - [Concept Art & Illustration: Channels](#concept-art--illustration-channels) (26 items)
Channels on concept art, figure drawing, painting. - [Concept Art & Illustration: Courses](#concept-art--illustration-courses)
Structured concept art and design courses. - [Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists](#drawing--painting-for-3d-artists) (18 items)
Gesture, figure, digital painting fundamentals for 3D artists. - [Photography: Reference & Fundamentals](#photography-reference--fundamentals) (11 items)
Photography knowledge directly applicable to 3D lighting and composition. - [Cinematography & Camera Work](#cinematography--camera-work) (11 items)
Shot composition, camera techniques, lighting for film/CG. - [Composition & Visual Storytelling](#composition--visual-storytelling) (6 items)
Composition theory, color theory, visual hierarchy. - [Animation Principles](#animation-principles) (7 items)
The 12 principles of animation and related fundamentals. - [Design Principles & Typography](#design-principles--typography) (7 items)
Typography, visual hierarchy, design fundamentals. - [Color Theory & Tools](#color-theory--tools) (13 items)
Color palettes, generators, matching, and theory tools. - [Design Tools](#design-tools) (27 items)
Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities. - [General Inspiration](#general-inspiration) (18 items)
Blogs, feeds, and curated inspiration sources. - [2D Art References & Inspiration](#2d-art-references--inspiration) (5 items)
2D animation sheets, cloth, anime model sheets. - [Pre-Production, Storyboarding & Script Tools](#pre-production-storyboarding--script-tools) (28 items)
Storyboard apps, previs tools, script breakdown, reference managers, moodboarding, and direction-theory channels.
AI & Machine Learning for CG ComfyUI · Stable Diffusion · Runway - [Machine Learning for CG](#machine-learning-for-cg) (4 items)
ML fundamentals and courses for CG artists. - [Image Generation](#image-generation) (36 items)
text-to-image models and platforms. - [Video Generation](#video-generation) (16 items)
AI video generation platforms and models. - [3D Generation](#3d-generation) (16 items)
AI tools for generating 3D models from text or images. - [Texture & Material Generation](#texture--material-generation) (6 items)
AI-generated PBR textures and materials. - [ComfyUI Ecosystem](#comfyui-ecosystem) (6 items)
Node-based AI generation. ComfyUI and its ecosystem. - [AI-Assisted CG Tools](#ai-assisted-cg-tools) (23 items)
AI tools that augment traditional CG workflows. - [AI Audio & Music](#ai-audio--music) (9 items)
AI music generation, voice, TTS, and SFX. - [Open-Source Models (HuggingFace)](#open-source-models-huggingface) (3 items)
Notable open-source generative models. - [Research Papers](#research-papers) (90 items)
Research papers on ML for CG, generative 3D, neural rendering, and related topics. Each entry: title (the plain-English summary), year, and venue/links in the description.
Tools, Pipeline & Utilities USD · RealityCapture · RizomUV - [USD (Universal Scene Description)](#usd-universal-scene-description) (15 items)
OpenUSD resources, specifications, and guides. - [Scene & Pipeline Tools](#scene--pipeline-tools) (39 items)
Production pipelines, render management, look dev. - [Gaussian Splatting & NeRF](#gaussian-splatting--nerf) (34 items)
Neural and splatting reconstruction. - [Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning](#photogrammetry--3d-scanning) (130 items)
Photogrammetry, LiDAR, and Gaussian splat capture. - [Retopology & Mesh Tools](#retopology--mesh-tools) (14 items)
Retopology and mesh processing. - [UV Tools](#uv-tools) (6 items)
UV unwrapping, packing, and UDIM tools. - [Rigging & Animation Tools](#rigging--animation-tools) (9 items)
Auto-rig, retargeting, and animation middleware. - [Matchmoving & Camera Tracking](#matchmoving--camera-tracking) (10 items)
Camera tracking, object tracking, and camera matching tools. - [Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities](#miscellaneous-3d-tools--utilities) (36 items)
Assorted CG utilities and specialty tools. - [Plugin & Addon Marketplaces](#plugin--addon-marketplaces) (51 items)
Per-software plugin marketplaces. - [Conversion Tools](#conversion-tools) (36 items)
Format conversion across image, video, audio, and 3D. - [Pipeline Standards](#pipeline-standards) (10 items)
Interchange formats and standards. - [Pipeline Overview](#pipeline-overview) (3 items)
Industry-to-software quick reference.
Learning, Community & Industry ArtStation · 80 Level · fxguide - [YouTube Channels: Motion Graphics & Cinema 4D](#youtube-channels-motion-graphics--cinema-4d) (28 items)
Motion design / C4D focused creators. - [YouTube Channels: Blender](#youtube-channels-blender) (43 items)
Blender-focused creators. - [YouTube Channels: Houdini](#youtube-channels-houdini) (26 items)
Houdini-focused channels. - [YouTube Channels: Sculpting & Characters](#youtube-channels-sculpting--characters) (11 items)
Character and sculpting focused creators. - [Paid Tutorial Platforms](#paid-tutorial-platforms) (93 items)
Subscription and course-based learning platforms. - [Patreon Creators](#patreon-creators) (18 items)
Creators on Patreon offering tutorials, files, and tips. - [3D Communities & Forums](#3d-communities--forums) (153 items)
Cross-DCC CG communities. - [3D Inspiration & Showcase](#3d-inspiration--showcase) (45 items)
Showcases, portfolios, and visual reference hubs. - [Architecture & Visualization](#architecture--visualization) (3 items)
Arch-viz inspiration and BIM. - [Salary & Career Data](#salary--career-data) (3 items)
Salary data and studio review spreadsheets. - [Industry Trends 2025-2026](#industry-trends-2025-2026) (6 items)
Current technology and market trends in CG.
Software Reference - [3D Software: Free](#3d-software-free) (18 items)
Free and open-source 3D software. - [3D Software: Free Tier](#3d-software-free-tier) (8 items)
Freemium 3D software with free tier available. - [3D Software: Paid](#3d-software-paid) (32 items)
Professional paid 3D software. - [CAD Software](#cad-software) (17 items)
Computer-aided design tools. - [2D & Animation Software](#2d--animation-software) (60 items)
Digital painting, illustration, 2D animation. - [VFX & Compositing Software](#vfx--compositing-software) (26 items)
VFX, compositing, and real-time simulation tools. - [Render Engines](#render-engines) (38 items)
Production render engines across CPU, GPU, biased, and unbiased path tracers. - [Video Editing Software](#video-editing-software) (27 items)
NLEs and post-production software. - [Audio Software](#audio-software) (35 items)
Audio editing, mixing, sound design, and SFX generation. - [Design Software](#design-software) (32 items)
UI/UX, vector, raster design apps. - [Viewers & File Utilities](#viewers--file-utilities) (14 items)
Image, video, and 3D file viewers. - [Game Engines: Free & Open Source](#game-engines-free--open-source) (61 items)
Free and open-source game engines. - [Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers](#game-engines-commercial-free-tiers) (12 items)
Commercial engines with generous free tiers. - [Material & Texture Creation Software](#material--texture-creation-software) (15 items)
Material authoring, texture baking, and PBR painting tools. - [Photogrammetry & Scanning Software](#photogrammetry--scanning-software) (17 items)
Photogrammetry, structure-from-motion, and 3D scanning apps. - [Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software](#matchmoving--camera-tracking-software) (4 items)
3D camera tracking, matchmove, and lens-distortion tools. - [Retopology & UV Software](#retopology--uv-software) (12 items)
Standalone retopology, remeshing, and UV unwrapping/packing tools. - [Virtual Production Software](#virtual-production-software) (25 items)
Virtual production, broadcast graphics, and real-time stage tooling. - [Level Design & Map Editing Software](#level-design--map-editing-software) (9 items)
Standalone level editors and tile/grid map authoring tools. - [Pipeline & Production Management Software](#pipeline--production-management-software) (61 items)
Production tracking, render farm management, asset pipeline orchestration. - [Misc 3D Utilities Software](#misc-3d-utilities-software) (21 items)
Reference, scattering, simulation, and specialty 3D utilities. - [Scientific & Medical Visualization Software](#scientific--medical-visualization-software) (46 items)
Molecular, volumetric, medical, astronomy, CFD, GIS, and data viz tools — plus DCC bridges and educators. - [Software Reference: Legacy & Defunct](#software-reference-legacy--defunct) (4 items)
Historically significant 3D, VFX, rendering, and post software that is discontinued, sunset, or archival. - [AI Image & Texture Generation Software](#ai-image--texture-generation-software) (29 items)
AI image generation and AI texture/material generation tools. - [AI Video Generation Software](#ai-video-generation-software) (15 items)
AI text-to-video and image-to-video generation tools. - [AI 3D Generation Software](#ai-3d-generation-software) (14 items)
AI text-to-3D, image-to-3D, and 3D-asset generation tools. - [AI Audio & Music Generation Software](#ai-audio--music-generation-software) (8 items)
AI music, voice, and SFX generation tools. - [AI Motion Capture Software](#ai-motion-capture-software) (8 items)
Markerless and AI-driven motion capture and pose estimation tools. - [AI-Assisted CG Software](#ai-assisted-cg-software) (7 items)
AI upscaling, cleanup, generative assist, and AI-powered DCC features.

Assets & Libraries

Models, textures, HDRIs, audio, stock. Everything downloadable. Asset-first lookup lives here.

Model Libraries: Free & General

General-purpose 3D model libraries with free downloads.

Model Libraries: Specialized

Specialty model sources: characters, scans, anatomy, museums.

Model Libraries: Architecture & Furniture

Arch-viz, furniture, and BIM asset libraries.

Asset Marketplaces

General asset marketplaces across multiple engines and tools.

Free Asset Giveaways

Recurring free asset drops. Bookmark these.

Software-Specific Asset Libraries

Official asset libraries tied to specific DCCs.

HDRIs

HDR environment maps for lighting and reflections.

Textures & Materials: Free PBR Libraries

Free PBR texture libraries for materials authoring.

Textures: Specialized

Specialty texture sources: displacement, patterns, sprites, terrain.

Textures: Premium

Professional paid texture libraries.

Stock Images & References

Free and public-domain stock images, and 2D references.

Stock Footage

Free and archival video footage sources.

Audio: SFX & Music Libraries

Free and paid SFX and music libraries for games, reels, and film.

Fonts

Font libraries, pairing tools, and type references.

Icons

Icon libraries and animation sets.

Game Assets

Free and paid game-ready asset sources. Cross-listed from §7.

Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing

Per-DCC learning plus texturing and material-authoring toolchain. Per-renderer learning lives in §4.

Blender: Plugins & Addons

Notable addons extending Blender.

Software Description License Tags Best For
MicMac Free open-source photogrammetric suite that can be used in a variety of 3D reconstruction scenarios.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		 Open Source    

Related:

Blender: Tutorials

Blender learning resources, beginner to advanced.

Houdini: Getting Started

Beginner-friendly Houdini intros.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Houdini Apprentice Free learning version of Houdini.
See also: Software Reference → 3D Software: Free Tier		 Free NC Free NC · Learning Version Learning Houdini for free

Related:

Houdini: Essential Learning Resources

Long-form Houdini learning hubs.

Houdini: VEX & Coding

VEX, Python, OpenCL, and scripting in Houdini.

Houdini: FX & Simulations

Vellum, FLIP, Pyro, and other simulation workflows.

Houdini: Rigging & Animation (KineFX)

KineFX rigging, animation, and crowds.

Houdini: Grooming

Hair and fur grooming workflows.

Houdini: Miscellaneous Tutorials

Additional Houdini tutorials across topics.

Houdini: Plugins & Tools

Toolkits, pipeline tools, and HDAs.

Houdini: Courses & Free Content

Structured courses for Houdini.

Houdini: Communities

Forums, Discords, and tip archives.

Cinema 4D: Learning

C4D tutorials and learning hubs.

Cinema 4D: Plugins

C4D addons and bridges.

Cinema 4D: Tips & Workflows

Productivity blogs and shader workflow tricks.

3ds Max: Plugins

3ds Max plugins.

Fusion 360: Learning

Fusion 360 courses.

Material Creation Tools

Texture authoring, procedural materials, and baking tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Agama Materials Software for creating PBR materials and painting 3d models. You can create materials and use them for painting models, or you can use pre-made textures.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Paid    
ArmorPaint Open-source texture painting.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Open Source Open Source · Painter-alt OSS texture painting
AwesomeBump Generate normal, height, specular or ambient occlusion textures from a single image.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Open Source    
Filter Forge Node-based filter editor with library of thousands of textures and photo effects; standalone or Photoshop/Affinity plugin.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Paid Procedural · PS Plugin Procedural textures and photo filters
Game Texture Viewer Fast, reliable, and simple tool for viewing PBR texture sets.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free    
Live Normal An Android and iOS app for generating materials on the go. You take a photo, and Live Normal creates a tile-able texture and generates texture maps ready for a PBR engine of your choice.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Freemium    
Mari Foundry’s high-resolution 3D texture painting app, film-VFX standard for hero assets.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		 Indie perpetual $149; Individual $299/yr; Studio $1,289/yr Paid Industry Standard · Hero Texturing Film-VFX texture painting at hero resolution
Material Maker Open-source procedural texture generator (Substance Designer alternative).
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Open Source Open Source · SD Alternative Procedural PBR materials, free
Materialize Free texture map generation from a single image.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free Free · Map Generation Generating normal/height/AO maps
Quixel Mixer Create photorealistic, tileable, materials in seconds with mixing and painting.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free    
Substance Designer Node-based procedural texturing.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Paid Procedural · Industry Standard Procedural PBR materials
Substance Painter Industry-standard 3D texture painting with smart materials.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Paid Industry Standard · PBR Painter 3D texture painting
Texelpaint3D Paint directly on 3D model faces without UV unwrapping. 1-pixel-per-triangle workflow.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free No-UV · Early Access UV-free 3D painting
TextureLab Tool designed to make procedural texture generation.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free    
xNormal Free high-poly to low-poly baking (normals, AO, cavity).
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		   Free Baking · Free Texture baking

Related:

CAD Software

Also in Software Reference → CAD Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
AutoCAD Industry-standard 2D/3D CAD. $210/mo Paid Industry Standard · 2D/3D Drafting Architecture, engineering, drafting
Bitbybit Browser parametric CAD via visual nodes (Rete, Blockly) or Monaco code editor. OCCT, JSCAD, Manifold backends.   Freemium Browser · Parametric Parametric web CAD, generative geometry, 3D printing
BricsCAD AutoCAD-compatible DWG CAD; offers both perpetual and subscription licensing. Lite from €314; Pro $1,752 perpetual; Ultimate from €1,176/yr Paid DWG-Compatible · Cross-Platform DWG-compatible CAD on Mac/Linux
CATIA Dassault Systèmes CAD for aerospace and automotive.   Paid Aerospace · Automotive Aerospace, automotive
FreeCAD Free open-source parametric CAD.   Open Source Parametric · Open Source Parametric CAD, engineering
Fusion 360 Personal Autodesk’s CAD/CAM free for personal hobbyist use.   Free NC CAD/CAM · Personal Free Hobbyist CAD, 3D printing
LibreCAD Free open-source 2D CAD.   Open Source 2D CAD · Drafting 2D drafting
Onshape Free Cloud-based CAD with free hobbyist tier (public projects).   Freemium Cloud CAD · Collaborative Collaborative CAD, hobbyists
OpenSCAD Code-based CAD for parametric design.   Open Source Script-Based · Parametric Script-based CAD
PTC Creo Parametric mechanical CAD with simulation, generative design, and additive workflows. Quote-based; perpetual ~$2,200–$16,000; subs $200–$1,500/mo Paid Parametric CAD · Industry Standard High-end mechanical engineering
Rhino NURBS-focused 3D modeling for architecture and product design. $995 perpetual Paid NURBS · Grasshopper NURBS modeling, architecture
Shapr3D Touch-first parametric/direct CAD on iPad, Vision Pro, Mac, and Windows. Pro $299/yr Paid Touch-first · Cross-Platform Tablet-first concept and product CAD
Siemens NX High-end product engineering CAD/CAM/CAE; NX X is the cloud SaaS variant. Quote-based (perpetual, subscription, or token) Paid PLM · Industry Standard Enterprise PLM and engineering
SolidWorks Mechanical CAD for engineers. $2,820/yr Paid Mechanical CAD · Simulation Mechanical engineering
Solvespace Parametric 3D CAD modeling tool.   Open Source Parametric · Lightweight Lightweight parametric CAD

Material & Texture Creation Software

Also in Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Agama Materials Software for creating PBR materials and painting 3d models. You can create materials and use them for painting models, or you can use pre-made textures.   Paid    
ArmorPaint Open-source texture painting.   Open Source Open Source · Painter-alt OSS texture painting
AwesomeBump Generate normal, height, specular or ambient occlusion textures from a single image.   Open Source    
Filter Forge Node-based filter editor with library of thousands of textures and photo effects; standalone or Photoshop/Affinity plugin.   Paid Procedural · PS Plugin Procedural textures and photo filters
Game Texture Viewer Fast, reliable, and simple tool for viewing PBR texture sets.   Free    
Live Normal An Android and iOS app for generating materials on the go. You take a photo, and Live Normal creates a tile-able texture and generates texture maps ready for a PBR engine of your choice.   Freemium    
Mari Foundry’s high-resolution 3D texture painting app, film-VFX standard for hero assets. Indie perpetual $149; Individual $299/yr; Studio $1,289/yr Paid Industry Standard · Hero Texturing Film-VFX texture painting at hero resolution
Material Maker Open-source procedural texture generator (Substance Designer alternative).   Open Source Open Source · SD Alternative Procedural PBR materials, free
Materialize Free texture map generation from a single image.   Free Free · Map Generation Generating normal/height/AO maps
Quixel Mixer Create photorealistic, tileable, materials in seconds with mixing and painting.   Free    
Substance Designer Node-based procedural texturing.   Paid Procedural · Industry Standard Procedural PBR materials
Substance Painter Industry-standard 3D texture painting with smart materials.   Paid Industry Standard · PBR Painter 3D texture painting
Texelpaint3D Paint directly on 3D model faces without UV unwrapping. 1-pixel-per-triangle workflow.   Free No-UV · Early Access UV-free 3D painting
TextureLab Tool designed to make procedural texture generation.   Free    
xNormal Free high-poly to low-poly baking (normals, AO, cavity).   Free Baking · Free Texture baking

Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

Also in Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DF Zephyr Free lite version (up to 50 photos). Freemium Free Lite · 50 Photos Lite photogrammetry
3DF Zephyr Free Free version of 3DF Zephyr photogrammetry software for personal use. It comes with some limitations. Free Free · Personal Use Free photogrammetry
Agisoft Metashape Professional photogrammetry with GIS features. Paid GIS Features · Pro Pro photogrammetry + GIS
CloudCompare A 3D point cloud (and triangular mesh) processing software. Open-source and designed for visualizing and editing LiDAR and photogrammetry data. Good for alignment, meshing, cleanup, segmentation, a Open Source Open Source · Point Cloud Point cloud and mesh processing
COLMAP A general-purpose Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS) pipeline with a graphical and command-line interface. Open Source Photogrammetry · Open Source Photogrammetry SfM/MVS reconstruction
KIRI Engine Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry. Freemium Cross-platform · Mobile Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry
Learning Object-Compositional Neural Radiance Field for Editable Scene Rendering Yang et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex   nerf · scene-editing  
Meshroom (AliceVision) Free, open-source photogrammetry. Node-based, GPU-accelerated. Open Source Open Source · Node-based Open-source photogrammetry
MicMac Free open-source photogrammetric suite that can be used in a variety of 3D reconstruction scenarios. Open Source    
Open Scan Tools A collection of open-source tools for photogrammetry, depth-sensing, and 3D reconstruction workflows. Nice rendering options for xray style. Open Source Open Source · Toolkit Open-source scan toolkit
PCL (Point Cloud Library) Large-scale open project for 2D/3D image and point cloud processing. Open Source Point Clouds · Open Source Point cloud processing
Polycam Mobile photogrammetry (iOS LiDAR + photo, Android photo). Cloud processing. Freemium Mobile · LiDAR Mobile photogrammetry
Postshot Desktop Gaussian Splatting tool. Train, clean, edit, export. Freemium Desktop · Splat Editor Desktop Gaussian splat
Quixel Megascans World’s largest photogrammetry 2D and 3D asset library. Now it is free for the Epic Games accounts (only UE projects). Free Asset Library · Epic Games Photogrammetry asset library
RealityCapture Fast, high-quality photogrammetry (now Epic Games). PPI pricing. Freemium Epic Games · High-Quality Production photogrammetry
Scaniverse (Niantic) Free mobile scanning, Gaussian splat support. Free Free Mobile · Gaussian Splat Mobile scan, Gaussian splat
SINE: Semantic-driven Image-based NeRF Editing with Prior-guided Editing Field Bao et al., CVPR 2023| github | bibtex   nerf · scene-editing  

Retopology & UV Software

Also in Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3D Coat Sculpt, retopo, UV, and PBR paint suite from Pilgway. Voxel and surface sculpt, AUTOPO auto-retopo, manual quad retopo, UV unwrap, bake. ~$379 perpetual (Educational $99) Paid Sculpt + Retopo · PBR Paint Sculpt + retopo + UV + PBR paint in one app
AutoRemesher Open-source auto-retopology tool intended to convert source meshes into clean, animation-friendly all-quad geometry.   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
Cozy Blanket iPad sculpt-to-retopo app. Clay sculpt plus auto-quad retopology for game/film topology, from Naam. ~$80 perpetual Paid iPad Sculpt · Auto Retopo iPad sculpt + auto-retopo
Headus UVLayout Standalone UV editor, flatten-based.   Paid Flatten-based · Classic Flatten-based UV editor
Instant Meshes Free, open-source auto-retopology.   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
RizomUV Fast UV unwrapping, auto-seam, auto-pack. Standalone or bridge.   Paid Industry Standard · Standalone Fast pro UV unwrapping
Topogun Standalone retopology and baking.   Paid Retopo + Bake · Classic Retopo + baking
UVPackmaster Advanced UV packing, UDIM support. Blender addon + standalone.   Paid UDIM · Packing UV packing + UDIM
Valence 3D iPad UV unwrap and texture paint app from Naam. Pairs with Cozy Blanket for full iPad asset workflow. ~$30 perpetual Paid iPad UV · iPad Paint iPad UV + texture paint

Animation & Rigging

Technical animation, rigging, motion capture. Animation principles/theory live in §8.

Animation: YouTube Channels

Channels covering 2D/motion animation technique.

Animation: Courses

Structured animation courses.

AI Motion Capture & Animation

AI-powered mocap and character animation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cascadeur Physics-based AI animation with AutoPosing. Unreal plugin.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Freemium Physics-based · AutoPosing Physics-based character animation
DeepMotion Game-ready character animation from video. BVH/FBX export.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Freemium Game-Ready · BVH/FBX Game-ready AI mocap
Free Mo Cap Free open-source motion capture system (traditional, not AI).
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Open Source Open Source · Mocap Open-source mocap
Live Link Face (Apple) Free facial mocap via iPhone into Unreal/Maya/Blender.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free Free · iPhone Face Capture iPhone facial mocap
Move AI Highest-accuracy AI mocap with multi-camera triangulation.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Paid High Accuracy · Multi-Camera Multi-camera AI mocap
Plask Browser-based mocap with hand tracking and standard format export.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Freemium Browser · Hand Tracking Browser-based AI mocap
Rokoko Vision Free AI mocap from webcam or video.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Freemium Free Tier · Webcam/Video Free AI mocap
Viggle AI Character animation from video or image input.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Freemium Video→Animation · AI AI character animation from input media

Related:

AI Motion Capture Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cascadeur Physics-based AI animation with AutoPosing. Unreal plugin. Freemium Physics-based · AutoPosing Physics-based character animation
DeepMotion Game-ready character animation from video. BVH/FBX export. Freemium Game-Ready · BVH/FBX Game-ready AI mocap
Free Mo Cap Free open-source motion capture system (traditional, not AI). Open Source Open Source · Mocap Open-source mocap
Live Link Face (Apple) Free facial mocap via iPhone into Unreal/Maya/Blender. Free Free · iPhone Face Capture iPhone facial mocap
Move AI Highest-accuracy AI mocap with multi-camera triangulation. Paid High Accuracy · Multi-Camera Multi-camera AI mocap
Plask Browser-based mocap with hand tracking and standard format export. Freemium Browser · Hand Tracking Browser-based AI mocap
Rokoko Vision Free AI mocap from webcam or video. Freemium Free Tier · Webcam/Video Free AI mocap
Viggle AI Character animation from video or image input. Freemium Video→Animation · AI AI character animation from input media

Lighting, Rendering & Shaders

3D lighting, rendering theory, shader theory, and renderer-specific learning. Render engine software lives in §12.

3D Lighting: Fundamentals

Core lighting tutorials for beginners and generalists.

3D Lighting: Redshift-Specific

Redshift lighting tutorials, primarily in C4D.

3D Lighting: Production

Production-focused lighting talks.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Foundry Katana Look-development and lighting orchestration tool for film/episodic VFX, scaling to massive scenes via deferred evaluation.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Paid Industry Standard · Lookdev/Lighting Film lookdev and lighting at scale

Related:

Rendering & Shader Theory

Foundational rendering and shader theory references.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Houdini Procedural node-based DCC for VFX, simulation, and FX.
See also: Software Reference → 3D Software: Paid		 Indie $269/yr, Core $1995, FX $4495 Paid Industry Standard · Procedural FX Procedural FX, simulation, VFX
JanusVR Webpages as collaborative 3D webspaces interconnected by portals.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		        
Polygonjs Node-based WebGL design tool, used for procedural geometry, particles, materials
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		        

Related:

Renderer-Specific Learning

Deep-dives for specific render engines.

Render Engines

Also in Software Reference → Render Engines

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
aerialod A free interactive path tracing renderer for height maps.   Free    
AMD Blender USD Hydra With Pixar’s USD system emerging as a tool for 3D graphics pipelines and interchange, this addon is meant to add first class support for USD and the USD Hydra rendering system to Blender.   Free USD · Blender USD Hydra in Blender
Arnold (Autodesk) CPU/GPU hybrid production renderer, bundled with Maya/3ds Max. With Maya/3ds Max sub Paid Film-grade · CPU/GPU Hybrid Film VFX, lighting
Corona (Chaos) CPU renderer for arch-viz and interiors. ~$30/mo Paid CPU-only · Interiors Arch-viz, interiors
Cycles CPU/GPU path tracer. Bundled free with Blender.   Open Source Open Source · Path-tracing General purpose
D5 Render Real-time GPU renderer for arch-viz. Free version available Freemium Real-time · Arch-Viz Arch-viz
Enscape Chaos real-time rendering plugin for Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, Vectorworks. Subscription only since mid-2025. Solo $574.80/yr; Premium $634.80/yr Paid Real-time · Archviz Plugin Real-time archviz inside CAD/BIM
Guerrilla Render Production renderer used on feature films.   Free Production · Free Film production
Indigo Renderer Glare Technologies unbiased GPU/CPU renderer with multi-GPU, denoising, and SSS. ~$650 perpetual full license Paid Unbiased · GPU/CPU Photoreal stills, archviz
Karma (SideFX) CPU/GPU USD-native renderer, bundled with Houdini. With Houdini license Paid USD-native · Houdini Film VFX, USD pipeline
KeyShot (Luxion) CPU real-time ray tracing for product visualization. $995+ perpetual Paid Product Viz · Real-time Product viz, industrial design
Krakatoa AWS Thinkbox volumetric particle renderer for 3ds Max and Maya; free + open source (Apache 2.0) since 2022.   Open Source Free OSS · Particles Volumetric particle rendering
Light Tracer Render Provides you with everything you need to create photorealistic renderings interactively, in both desktop Web browsers and Windows application.   Freemium    
Lumion Real-time architectural visualization renderer with cloud rendering bundled. View $229–$299/yr; Pro $1,149/yr; Studio $1,499/yr Paid Real-time · Archviz Real-time archviz
LuxCore Free open-source CPU/GPU unbiased renderer.   Open Source Open Source · Physically Accurate Physically accurate rendering
Marmoset Toolbag Real-time GPU renderer for game art and baking. $189 perpetual Paid Game Art · Baking Game art baking, presentation
Maxwell Render Next Limit unbiased physically-correct renderer; plugins for Studio, Rhino, SketchUp, C4D, Maya, 3ds Max, ArchiCAD, form·Z. Paid perpetual + maintenance Paid Unbiased · Photoreal Photoreal archviz and product viz
MoonRay DreamWorks’ open-source MCRT production renderer used on feature films.   Open Source DreamWorks · Open Source Open-source film production renderer
Octane (OTOY) GPU unbiased renderer with free tier. Free tier available Freemium GPU Unbiased · Photoreal Photoreal, arch-viz
Radeon ProRender Physically-based engine, product by AMD.   Free Renderer · Free AMD-backed PBR renderer
Radeon ProRender (AMD) AMD’s GPU path tracer, free and cross-vendor.   Free GPU-agnostic · Free Cross-platform, GPU-agnostic
Redshift (Maxon) GPU-biased production renderer. Included with Maxon One Paid GPU-biased · Production Production rendering, motion graphics
RenderMan (Pixar) Pixar’s CPU/GPU hybrid production renderer. Free for non-commercial.   Free NC Free NC · Pixar Pipeline Film production
Twinmotion (Epic) Real-time GPU renderer from Epic for arch-viz. Free version available Freemium Real-time · Epic Games Arch-viz
V-Ray (Chaos) CPU/GPU hybrid renderer for arch-viz and product viz. ~$60/mo Paid Arch-Viz · Industry Standard Arch-viz, product viz

VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production

VFX tools learning, compositing, virtual production stacks, and tech art channels. Software tables live in §12.

Virtual Production

Real-time engines and hardware stacks for virtual production.

Software Description License Tags Best For
disguise Virtual production solutions.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid LED Walls · Workflow LED wall virtual production
Notch Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid Live Events · Real-time Live events, real-time graphics
Pixotope Virtual production software.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid VP Software · Real-time Virtual production
Vizrt Broadcast graphics.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid Broadcast · Graphics Broadcast graphics
Zero Density Real-time VFX engine for broadcast and virtual production.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid Real-time VFX · Broadcast Broadcast VP

Related:

Tech Art

Tech art breakdowns, procedural art, and tutorials.

Compositing Learning, Books & Industry

Nuke creators, comp theory books, VFX breakdown sites, and industry magazines.

VFX & Compositing Software

Also in Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
After Effects Motion graphics and compositing.   Paid Motion Graphics · Adobe Suite Motion design, light VFX
Boris FX Optics Photo and film stylization plugin and standalone. Filters, grain, lens FX, color. $9.99/mo or $149/yr; perpetual $199 Paid Stylize · Lens FX Film/photo stylization
Boris FX Particle Illusion Standalone particle generator. Free version; Pro features available inside Continuum.   Freemium Free · Particle Library Quick particle FX library
Continuum Boris FX broadcast/post effects collection. Titles, particles, image restoration, color. $32–$112/mo; perpetual $365–$2,195 by host Paid Plugin Suite · Broadcast Broadcast finishing and titling
DaVinci Resolve Fusion Node-based compositing, free with Resolve.   Freemium Node-based · Free with Resolve Compositing, VFX
Effekseer Real-time VFX editor and runtime.   Open Source Real-time VFX · Games Game VFX particles
EmberGen Real-time volumetric fluid sim (fire, smoke, explosions).   Paid Real-time Sim · Fire/Smoke Game VFX, real-time effects
GeoGen (JangaFX) Real-time terrain generation.   Paid Terrain Gen · Real-time Game environments
IlluGen Real-time procedural node-based generator for tiling noise, normal maps, flowmaps, 3D FX meshes, caustics, masks, distortions.   Paid Real-time · Procedural Materials Real-time VFX and tech-art asset/material generation
KeenTools Face and geometry tracking plus FaceBuilder for Blender, Nuke, AE, Houdini. $18/mo or $179/yr per plugin (Studio $499/yr floating) Paid Face Tracking · VFX Face/geo tracking for VFX
LiquiGen Real-time liquid simulation.   Paid Real-time Sim · Liquids Game fluid effects
MadMapper Projection mapping software.   Paid Projection Mapping · Live Projection mapping
Magic Animator Web-based animation creator.   Freemium Web · Quick Anim Quick animated graphics
Mocha Pro Boris FX planar tracker for VFX. Roto, object removal, screen replacement, lens distortion. $48/mo or $325/yr; perpetual from $765 Paid Industry Standard · Planar Tracking Planar tracking, roto, screen replacement
Natron (community fork) Free open-source node compositor, Nuke-like.   Open Source Node-based · Nuke-like Indie VFX compositing
Nuke (Foundry) Industry-standard compositing. Non-Commercial free version available.   Paid Industry Standard · Node-based Film VFX compositing
Red Giant Complete Maxon-owned VFX/motion suite. Trapcode, Magic Bullet, VFX Suite, Universe. $85/mo or $639/yr Paid Plugin Suite · Motion Graphics Motion graphics and VFX in AE/Premiere/Resolve
Resolume Live visuals and VJ software.   Paid VJ · Live Visuals VJ, live visuals
Sapphire Boris FX 270+ VFX/transition plugins for AE, Premiere, Resolve, Nuke, Flame, Avid, OFX hosts. $80/mo or $545/yr; perpetual $1,865+ Paid Plugin Suite · VFX VFX and transition plugins across hosts
Silhouette Boris FX node-based roto/paint compositor with AI-driven matte tools. $165/mo or $875/yr; perpetual standalone $2,195 Paid Industry Standard · Roto/Paint Feature-film roto and paint
TOOLL3 Graph-based procedural real-time motion graphics for live performance or rendering.   Open Source Real-Time · Procedural  
TouchDesigner Node-based real-time visual programming for interactive media, installations, and live visuals.   Freemium Real-time · Node-based Interactive installations, live visuals, projection mapping

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

Also in Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DEqualizer High-end matchmoving (major VFX studios). Paid High-End · Studio Standard High-end matchmove
fSpy Free, open-source single-image camera matching → Blender. Open Source Free · Blender Bridge Free single-image cam match
PFTrack Professional matchmoving, object tracking, mesh generation. Paid Matchmove · Pro Pro matchmove
SynthEyes Camera tracking with lens distortion solving. Paid Lens Distortion · Pro Camera tracking + distortion

Virtual Production Software

Also in Software Reference → Virtual Production Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
ARwall LED virtual production stages and ARFX Pro plugin. Paid Indie VP · LED Stages Indie LED VP
Aximmetry Virtual production and broadcast compositor with Unreal integration. Free Community tier. Freemium Free Tier · Unreal Indie/community VP compositor
Brainstorm InfinitySet Virtual set and AR for broadcast. Paid Virtual Sets · AR Broadcast virtual sets
disguise Virtual production solutions. Paid LED Walls · Workflow LED wall virtual production
grandMA3 Industry-standard lighting control console and software for live shows, theatre, and broadcast. Paid Lighting Console · Show Control Stage lighting control, show programming
Notch Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production. Paid Live Events · Real-time Live events, real-time graphics
Pixotope Virtual production software. Paid VP Software · Real-time Virtual production
Vizrt Broadcast graphics. Paid Broadcast · Graphics Broadcast graphics
Zero Density Real-time VFX engine for broadcast and virtual production. Paid Real-time VFX · Broadcast Broadcast VP

Motion Graphics & Video

Motion graphics tools, inspiration, AE / Fusion learning, and video editing. Stock footage lives in §1 Assets.

Motion Graphics: YouTube Channels

Motion design learning channels.

Motion Graphics: Courses

Structured motion graphics courses.

After Effects: Learning & Templates

AE expressions, templates, and workflow resources.

Fusion (DaVinci Resolve): Learning

Fusion references and EXR workflow.

Motion Graphics: Inspiration

Showcases, style frames, title sequences, ad references.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Friction Free open-source motion graphics and 2D vector animation. After Effects-style workflow.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Open Source Open Source · AE-alt Open-source motion graphics
Natron (community fork) Free open-source node compositor, Nuke-like.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 Open Source Node-based · Nuke-like Indie VFX compositing
TOOLL3 Graph-based procedural real-time motion graphics for live performance or rendering.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 Open Source Real-Time · Procedural  

Related:

Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities

MG-specific tools and utilities.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Effekseer Real-time VFX editor and runtime.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		   Open Source Real-time VFX · Games Game VFX particles
MadMapper Projection mapping software.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		   Paid Projection Mapping · Live Projection mapping
Magic Animator Web-based animation creator.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		   Freemium Web · Quick Anim Quick animated graphics
Mocha Pro Boris FX planar tracker for VFX. Roto, object removal, screen replacement, lens distortion.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software, Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 $48/mo or $325/yr; perpetual from $765 Paid Industry Standard · Planar Tracking Planar tracking, roto, screen replacement
Red Giant Complete Maxon-owned VFX/motion suite. Trapcode, Magic Bullet, VFX Suite, Universe.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 $85/mo or $639/yr Paid Plugin Suite · Motion Graphics Motion graphics and VFX in AE/Premiere/Resolve
Resolume Live visuals and VJ software.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		   Paid VJ · Live Visuals VJ, live visuals
TouchDesigner Node-based real-time visual programming for interactive media, installations, and live visuals.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		   Freemium Real-time · Node-based Interactive installations, live visuals, projection mapping

Related:

Video Editing: Courses

Editing-specific courses.

2D & Animation Software

Also in Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Aseprite Pixel art editor with animation tools (source on GitHub).   Open Source Pixel Art · Sprite Animation Pixel art, sprite animation, game assets
Autograph USD-based motion graphics, compositing, and VFX (After Effects alternative). Free for individuals incl. commercial use. Originally Left Angle, now Maxon.   Free USD · Free Commercial 2D/3D motion design and compositing
Cavalry Procedural 2D motion design (After Effects alternative). Free tier available.   Freemium Procedural · Data-Driven Data-driven motion graphics
Clip Studio Paint Industry-standard illustration and comics with animation timeline.   Paid Manga · Frame-by-Frame Manga, illustration, frame-by-frame animation
Clipnote Studio Simple animation software!   Free 2D Anim · Free Frame-by-frame 2D animation
DragonBones Open source 2D skeletal animation. Flash-origin workflow, runtimes for multiple engines.   Open Source Open Source · 2D Skeletal 2D skeletal animation (OSS)
Friction Free open-source motion graphics and 2D vector animation. After Effects-style workflow.   Open Source Open Source · AE-alt Open-source motion graphics
GraphicsGale Pixel art and sprite animation tool (free).   Free Pixel Art · Free Pixel art/sprite animation
Krita Free open-source digital painting. Brush engine, animation, HDR.   Open Source Digital Painting · Animation Digital painting, concept art, 2D animation
LibreSprite LibreSprite is an open source fork of Aseprite.   Open Source    
Lightcube Pixel art editor for Windows w/ PSD, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF support.   Paid Windows · PSD Support Windows pixel art w/ PSD
Memao Sprite Sheet Creator Build your own pixel characters using ready-made art. Customize and export in seconds for any project.   Paid Pixel Art · Sprites Pixel character sprite sheets
Moho (Smith Micro) 2D vector and bone-rigged animation.   Paid Bone Rigging · Vector Animation Character animation, motion graphics
OpenToonz Studio Ghibli’s animation engine, open-sourced.   Open Source Ghibli Pipeline · Traditional 2D Traditional 2D animation
Pencil2D Free lightweight 2D animation.   Open Source Lightweight · Hand-drawn Simple hand-drawn animation
Pickle Pixel art editor.   Paid Pixel Art · Editor Pixel art editing
Pixa.Pics Browser pixel-art tool w/ vectorization.   Freemium Browser · Vectorization Browser pixel art
Pixel Composer (itch.io) Node-based 2D VFX and compositing for pixel art.   Paid Node-based · Pixel VFX Pixel art effects, game VFX
Pixelator Turn any image into pixel art.   Paid Image→Pixel · Conversion Image→pixel art
Pixelorama Free pixel art editor (made in Godot).   Open Source Pixel Art · Godot-built Pixel art for games
PixelOver Convert artwork to pixel art with animation, bone rigging, and pixel-perfect transforms. ~$20 (free demo) Paid Artwork→Pixel · Rigging Artwork → pixel art conversion
Pixen (GitHub) Pixel Art Editor for OSX   Open Source    
Pixen (site) Paid, works on macOS and iOS. Superb OS integration, create pixel art on a tablet using pressure-sensitive drawing.   Paid    
Pro Motion Paid with trial, works on Windows. Advanced features tailored to creating pixel art for games.   Paid    
Procreate IPad painting app. Procreate Dreams for animation.   Paid iPad-native · Storyboarding Mobile illustration, storyboards
PyxelEdit Pixel art editor for tilesets, levels, animations.   Paid Tilesets · Pixel Art Pixel art tilesets/levels
Rebelle 8 Pro Natural-media painting app simulating real watercolor, oil, acrylic, ink with fluid dynamics.   Paid Natural Media · Watercolor Sim Realistic traditional-media digital painting
REXPaint Free ASCII art editor with layers, animation, and palette tools. Built for roguelike and terminal art.   Free ASCII Art · Roguelike ASCII art, roguelike mockups
Rive Interactive animation for apps and web.   Freemium Interactive · UI Animation UI animation, interactive graphics
Spine (Esoteric Software) 2D skeletal animation w/ mesh deformation, IK, skins/attachments. Runtimes for Unity/Unreal/Godot/web. Used on Cult of the Lamb, Return to Monkey Island, Tinykin.   Paid Skeletal · Game Runtimes Skeletal 2D animation for games
SpriteMancer 2D VFX and sprite animation.   Paid 2D VFX · Sprites 2D game VFX
Spriter Pro Modern tool for sprite animation (2D bone rigging).   Paid Sprite Animation · Paid 2D sprite animation
Synfig Studio Free open-source 2D vector animation.   Open Source Vector · Cutout Cutout/bone animation
Tahoma2D 2D and stop-motion animation (OpenToonz fork w/ modernized UI and features).   Open Source OpenToonz Fork · Stop Motion 2D / stop motion
TexturePacker Sprite sheet packing, multi-engine export.   Paid Sprite Sheets · Multi-Engine Sprite sheet packing
Toon Boom Harmony Professional 2D animation (studio standard).   Paid Studio Standard · TV Animation TV animation, feature film
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro Industry-standard storyboarding software.   Paid Storyboarding · Animatics Pre-production, animatics

Video Editing Software

Also in Software Reference → Video Editing Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Apple Compressor Encoding and delivery companion app for Final Cut Pro. $49.99 perpetual Paid FCP Encode · Mac FCP encode/deliver
Apple Motion Motion graphics app and FCP template authoring tool from Apple. $49.99 perpetual Paid FCP Companion · Mac FCP motion graphics + titles
Avid Media Composer Long-standing film/TV finishing NLE. Standard for collaborative editorial in features and broadcast post. From $23.99/mo (Ultimate $79.99/mo) Paid Industry Standard · Film/TV Film and TV editorial
Avidemux Simple OSS cut/filter/encode tool. Not a full NLE.   Open Source Open Source · Utility Quick cuts + reencodes
CapCut Desktop ByteDance’s free desktop/mobile editor, dominant in social workflows.   Freemium Free · Social-first Social/short-form editing
Clipchamp Microsoft’s browser editor bundled with Windows 11.   Freemium Bundled w/ Windows · Browser Quick Windows editing
DaVinci Resolve Free professional editing, color grading, Fusion, Fairlight audio.   Freemium Free Pro · Full Post Pipeline Color grading, editing, full post pipeline
DaVinci Resolve Studio Paid Resolve with neural engine, advanced noise reduction, HDR grading, and multi-user collaboration. $295 perpetual Paid Pro Tier · One-time Buy Full pro post pipeline w/ collaboration
Descript Transcript-driven video and podcast editor. Edits by editing the text. Free / $15/mo Creator / $30/mo Pro Freemium Transcript Edit · Podcast Podcast and talking-head editing
Filmora Wondershare beginner-friendly editor; watermarked free tier. ~$80/yr Freemium Beginner · Templates Beginner editing
Final Cut Pro Apple-native NLE with magnetic timeline.   Paid Mac-only · Magnetic Timeline Mac-based editing
GoZen Free open-source video editor built with Godot (alpha).   Open Source Godot-built · Alpha Lightweight editing, Godot integration
HitFilm Artlist-owned editor + VFX combo. Free tier plus Pro paid version. Free / $7.99/mo Pro Freemium Editor + VFX · Free Tier Editor + VFX in one app
iMovie Apple’s free consumer editor for macOS and iOS/iPadOS.   Free Free · Apple Consumer Mac/iOS editing
Kdenlive Free open-source NLE.   Open Source Open Source · Cross-Platform Linux/cross-platform editing
Lightworks Pro NLE with free tier (1080p export) and paid Pro/Create tiers. Used on feature films historically. Free / $9.99/mo Create / $23.99/mo Pro Freemium Free Tier · Pro NLE Pro NLE on a budget
OBS Software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content efficiently.   Open Source Capture · Open Source Screen capture and streaming
OpenShot Award-winning free and open-source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.   Open Source Open Source · Beginner-Friendly Cross-platform beginner editing
Premiere Elements One-time-purchase consumer Premiere variant. ~$99 perpetual Paid One-time Buy · Consumer Consumer Adobe editing without subscription
Premiere Pro Industry-standard NLE from Adobe.   Paid Industry Standard · Adobe Suite Broadcast, film editing
Shotcut Free open-source video editor.   Open Source Lightweight · Beginner-Friendly Quick edits, beginners
VEED Browser editor with auto-subtitles, AI tools, and screen recording. Free / $12/mo Lite / $24/mo Pro Freemium Browser · Auto-Subs Browser-based quick edits + subtitles
Vegas Movie Studio Consumer/prosumer Vegas variant for hobbyist editing. ~$79 perpetual Paid Consumer · Windows Hobbyist Windows editing
Vegas Pro Magix Windows NLE with track-based timeline, HDR, and AI-assisted tools. From $19.99/mo (perpetual $599) Paid Windows Pro NLE · Track-based Windows-only pro editing
VSDC Free Video Editor Windows non-linear editor, free + Pro tier.   Freemium Free · Windows Free Windows editing

Audio Software

Also in Software Reference → Audio Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Ableton Live Session and arrangement DAW. Standard for electronic music and live performance. Intro $99 / Standard $439 / Suite $749 Paid Electronic Std · Live Electronic music + live
Adobe Audition Professional audio workstation.   Paid Audio Restoration · Adobe Suite Podcast, sound design, restoration
Ardour OSS multitrack DAW.   Open Source Open Source · GPL Free multitrack DAW
Audacity Free open-source audio editor and recorder.   Open Source Open Source · Recording Voice recording, SFX editing, podcast
Bfxr Retro and chiptune SFX generator (browser and desktop).   Open Source Retro/8-bit · Generator 8-bit game sound effects
Bitwig Studio DAW with deep modular Grid synthesis engine.   Paid Modular Grid · Cross-Platform Modular DAW
Cakewalk by BandLab Full Sonar successor, free on Windows.   Free Free · Windows Free Windows DAW
Cubase Steinberg DAW with strong MIDI and scoring.   Paid Steinberg · MIDI/Scoring MIDI/scoring DAW
Dolby Atmos Renderer Reference Dolby Atmos production renderer.   Paid Atmos · Reference Reference Atmos production
FabFilter Pro Suite Pro EQ, compressor, reverb, and limiter plugins (Pro-Q, Pro-L).   Paid Pro Plugins · Mixing Pro mixing/mastering plugins
Fairlight Professional audio built into DaVinci Resolve.   Freemium Film Post · Free with Resolve Film audio post, Foley
FL Studio Pattern-based DAW with lifetime free updates. From $99 Paid Lifetime Updates · Pattern DAW Pattern-based production
Flux Spat Revolution IRCAM-derived object-based spatializer for immersive mixing.   Paid IRCAM · Spatial Object-based spatial mixing
FMOD Industry-standard adaptive audio. Free for indie <$200k.   Freemium Industry Standard · Indie-Free Adaptive game audio
FotoSketcher Windows freeware that converts photos to sketch, painting, and pastel renders. Batchable.   Free Freeware · Photo Stylize Quick stylize batches
GameSynth (Tsugi) Node-based procedural SFX generator for games.   Paid Procedural SFX · Games Procedural game SFX
iZotope RX Industry-standard audio restoration suite. From $399 Paid Audio Repair · Industry Std Audio repair/restoration
Krotos Performance-driven foley and monster vox plugins (Reformer, Dehumaniser).   Paid Foley · Creature Vox Foley + creature sound
LMMS Free FL-style DAW, cross-platform.   Open Source Open Source · FL-style Free FL-style production
Logic Pro Apple pro DAW for macOS and iPad. $199.99 perpetual (Mac) / $4.99/mo (iPad) Paid Apple · macOS macOS pro DAW
Max/MSP (Cycling ‘74) Visual patcher for audio, MIDI, and video (Jitter).   Paid Visual Patcher · Cycling 74 Pro visual DSP/multimedia
Pro Tools Industry standard for post-production audio mixing and finishing. From $9.99/mo (Studio $34.99/mo, Ultimate $99/mo) Paid Industry Standard · Post Mixing Audio post mixing/finishing
Pure Data (Pd) Open-source visual programming environment for audio, MIDI, and multimedia.   Open Source Visual DSP · BSD Visual DSP patching
Reaper Full DAW with $60 personal license. $60 personal license Paid Full DAW · Affordable Music production, sound design
Sonic Pi Code-based music livecoding environment, education-friendly.   Open Source Livecoding · Education Livecoding music education
Sound Particles CGI-style 3D sound design with thousands of simultaneous sources. Big in immersive/film audio.   Paid 3D Sound · Immersive 3D sound design
Soundly Desktop SFX platform with curated library and local library management. Free tier (3000+ sounds), Pro $14.99/mo Freemium SFX Library · Desktop SFX browsing, sound library management
Steam Audio Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free.   Free Spatial Audio · Valve Free Spatial game audio
Strudel Browser TidalCycles port (JS).   Open Source Browser · Tidal Port Browser pattern livecoding
Studio One PreSonus drag-flow DAW.   Paid PreSonus · Drag Workflow Modern drag-flow DAW
SuperCollider Server-based audio synthesis and livecoding language.   Open Source Livecoding · GPL Algorithmic synthesis + livecoding
TidalCycles Haskell-based pattern livecoding for algoraves.   Open Source Algoraves · Pattern Pattern-based livecoding
VCV Rack Open-source Eurorack modular synthesizer emulator. Free core; paid Pro and premium modules. Free core / $149 Pro Open Source Modular Synth · Eurorack Software modular synthesis
Wavewright Modular music sandbox inspired by analog synthesizers (Early Access).   Free Modular Synth · Early Access Sound design, music experimentation
Wwise AAA audio middleware with free tier.   Freemium AAA · Free Tier AAA game audio

Game Development

Engines, per-engine resources, game dev tools, game assets (dual-listed from §1), design theory, learning, communities, and jams. Engine software tables live in §12.

Godot: Official Resources

Official documentation and asset libraries.

Godot: Key Plugins & Addons

Essential Godot addons.

Godot: Learning

Godot-focused learning channels and courses.

Godot: Communities

Godot forums and chat.

Unity Engine: Resources

Unity community add-ons, tools, and learning resources.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Visual Studio (Windows) Official supported IDE for Unity in Windows platform. Mac version here.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium unity-plugin  

Related:

XR, AR & VR: Resources

AR/VR/XR SDKs, frameworks, tools, and references across ARKit, ARCore, WebXR, and VR platforms.

Software Description License Tags Best For
8th Wall Niantic’s WebAR platform. Markerless world tracking, image targets, face effects via the browser. No app required. Paid WebAR · Niantic Marketing WebAR, branded AR experiences
Mozilla Hubs Open-source social VR rooms in the browser. Forked and maintained by community after Mozilla sunset. Open Source WebXR · Social Social VR, virtual events, meetings

Related:

Unreal Engine: Resources

Unreal Engine resources and marketplace picks.

Game Dev Tools: Level Design

Level editors and blockout tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
LDtk Modern 2D level editor by Dead Cells creator.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Open Source 2D Levels · Dead Cells Creator 2D level design
Mappy Free tilemap editor.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Free    
OGMO Editor 3 Generic level editor.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Open Source    
Sprite Fusion A free level design tool to craft beautiful 2D tilemaps right in your browser using any tileset.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Free    
Tiled General-purpose tilemap editor. TMX format.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Open Source Tilemap Editor · TMX Tilemap editing
TrenchBroom Quake-style level editor, great for blockouts.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Open Source Blockouts · Quake-style Blockouts, Quake-style levels

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Dialogue & Narrative

Dialogue, narrative scripting, and IF tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Articy:draft Professional narrative design middleware.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Paid Middleware · Pro Professional narrative middleware

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Audio Middleware

Adaptive audio and spatial audio middleware.

Software Description License Tags Best For
FMOD Industry-standard adaptive audio. Free for indie <$200k.
See also: Software Reference → Audio Software		 Freemium Industry Standard · Indie-Free Adaptive game audio
Steam Audio Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free.
See also: Software Reference → Audio Software		 Free Spatial Audio · Valve Free Spatial game audio
Wwise AAA audio middleware with free tier.
See also: Software Reference → Audio Software		 Freemium AAA · Free Tier AAA game audio

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer

Multiplayer frameworks and game servers.

Software Description License Tags Best For
build dynamic matchmaking with PubNub ~ epicgames [multiplayer].
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Free    
Epic Online Services Free multiplayer, matchmaking, voice chat.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Free Free EOS · Matchmaking/Voice Free multiplayer services
Nakama Open-source game server (social, matchmaking, leaderboards).
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Social Server · Matchmaking Social game server
Photon Engine Cloud multiplayer (PUN, Fusion, Quantum SDKs).
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium Cloud Multiplayer · Unity/Unreal Cloud multiplayer
SmartFoxServer 2X A SDK for rapidly developing multiplayer games and applications with Adobe Flash/Flex/Air, Unity, HTML5, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Android, Java, Windows 8, C++.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium    

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX

Sprite animation, 2D VFX, texture packers.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
LibreSprite LibreSprite is an open source fork of Aseprite.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Open Source    
Lightcube Pixel art editor for Windows w/ PSD, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF support.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid Windows · PSD Support Windows pixel art w/ PSD
Pickle Pixel art editor.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid Pixel Art · Editor Pixel art editing
Pixa.Pics Browser pixel-art tool w/ vectorization.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Freemium Browser · Vectorization Browser pixel art
Pixelator Turn any image into pixel art.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid Image→Pixel · Conversion Image→pixel art
Pixelorama Free pixel art editor (made in Godot).
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Open Source Pixel Art · Godot-built Pixel art for games
PixelOver Convert artwork to pixel art with animation, bone rigging, and pixel-perfect transforms.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 ~$20 (free demo) Paid Artwork→Pixel · Rigging Artwork → pixel art conversion
Pixen (GitHub) Pixel Art Editor for OSX
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Open Source    
Pro Motion Paid with trial, works on Windows. Advanced features tailored to creating pixel art for games.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid    
PyxelEdit Pixel art editor for tilesets, levels, animations.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid Tilesets · Pixel Art Pixel art tilesets/levels
SpriteMancer 2D VFX and sprite animation.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid 2D VFX · Sprites 2D game VFX
TexturePacker Sprite sheet packing, multi-engine export.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		   Paid Sprite Sheets · Multi-Engine Sprite sheet packing

Related:

Game Dev Tools: AI & Procedural Generation

WFC, noise, procedural pipelines, economy design.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Houdini Engine (SideFX product) Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Paid Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine Procedural pipeline in-engine

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Physics Engines

Open-source physics engines.

Game Dev Tools: Version Control

Version control for binary-heavy game projects.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Perforce Helix Core Industry standard for large assets (free ≤5 users).
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users Large-asset VCS
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control Artist-friendly binary version control.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated Artist-friendly VCS

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Analytics & Playtesting

Analytics and playtesting services.

Game Design & Theory

Design fundamentals, patterns, and references.

Game Dev: YouTube Channels

Channels covering game dev technique, design, and industry.

Game Dev: Courses

Structured game dev courses.

Game Dev: Communities

Reddit, Discord, forums, indie job boards.

Game Jams

Recurring game jams.

Game Engines: Free & Open Source

Also in Software Reference → Game Engines: Free & Open Source

Software Description License Tags Best For
A Frame An easy web framework for building 3D/AR/VR experiences. Open Source WebXR · JavaScript Web AR/VR experiences
Armory3D Blender-integrated Haxe game engine. Open Source Blender-Integrated · Haxe Blender-integrated game engine
axys A fork of Cocos2d-x-4.0, it has Full Support OpenAL for all platforms, single texture multi GPU texture handler and C++ 17. Open Source    
Babylon.js JavaScript 3D engine/framework for browser games and apps.   Browser · JavaScript Browser 3D apps/games
Bevy Rust data-driven ECS game engine. Open Source Rust · ECS ECS architecture, data-driven games
Blend4Web JavaScript framework for interactive 3D in browsers. Blender integration.   Browser · Blender Integration Browser 3D from Blender
Blitz3D 3D BASIC-like programming language for fast 3D desktop games. Open Source BASIC · Legacy BASIC 3D desktop games
Ceramic Haxe cross-platform 2D framework. Exports to Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, HTML5/WebGL, Unity.   Haxe · Cross-Platform 2D 2D cross-platform (Haxe)
Cocos Creator TypeScript mobile/web game engine. Open Source Mobile/Web · TypeScript Mobile/web games (huge in China)
Cocos2d X C++ OpenGL 2D/3D engine with JS and Lua bindings. Targets all major mobile and desktop platforms. Open Source C++ · Mobile Cross-platform 2D/3D mobile games
CopperCube CopperCube is an all-in-one 3D game engine. Very easy to use. Free No-Code · All-in-One No-code 3D games
Dash A free and open 3D game engine written in D. Open Source D Language · Niche D-language 3D
Defold Lua-based 2D mobile game engine by King. Open Source 2D Mobile · King (Candy Crush) 2D mobile games
Diligent Engine Modern cross-platform low-level graphics library supporting D3D11/12, OpenGL/GLES, and Vulkan. Open Source Low-Level · Multi-API Low-level cross-API graphics
Ebitengine Go 2D game engine. Open Source Go · 2D Simple 2D games
Flax Engine High-fidelity 3D engine. Free for small studios. Open Source High-Fidelity · C# + C++ High-fidelity 3D, free for small studios
FNA C# XNA reimplementation for ports. Open Source XNA Port · Shipping Games XNA reimplementation for ports
Folded Paper Engine Blender-to-Godot game mechanics engine/plugins. 2.5D/FPS/TPS controls, triggers, inventory, holdable items. Open Source Blender-to-Godot · No-Code Blender-Godot mechanics
Fusee A multiplatform 3D C# real-time engine with strong emphasis on content transformation. Open Source C# · Multiplatform C# multiplatform 3D
Fyrox Rust 3D engine with scene editor. Open Source Rust · Scene Editor 3D games with scene editor
gameplay A free, open-source, cross-platform, 2D + 3D game framework written in C++. It is aimed towards indie game developers who are creating desktop and mobile games. Open Source    
Godot 4 MIT-licensed 2D/3D engine. GDScript, C#, C++. Open Source MIT-licensed · 2D + 3D 2D/3D indie games, MIT-licensed
Harfang 3D C++ 3D visualization library usable in Python, Lua, and Go. Open Source C++ · Visualization 3D visualization
Heaps.io Haxe engine. Dead Cells, Northgard. Open Source Haxe · Dead Cells Shipping 2D/3D indie games
Irrlicht Open source high-performance realtime 3D engine (C++).   C++ · Classic Engine C++ realtime 3D (classic)
jMonkeyEngine 3 3D open-source game engine for Java developers. Open Source Java · 3D Java 3D games
JPCT 3D engine for desktop Java and Android. Free Java · Android Java/Android 3D
Juno Framework for making 2D games with chunky pixels in Lua. Open Source Lua · Pixel Art Pixel-art 2D in Lua
Leadwerks Easy-to-learn game engine for 3D and VR. Free Beginner-Friendly · VR Beginner 3D/VR
Love2D Lua 2D game framework. Open Source Lua · Jam-Friendly 2D prototyping, game jams
LumixEngine 3D game engine built on C++. Open Source C++ · Lightweight C++ 3D engine
Lums 2D/3D framework written in C++11. Efficient and modern. Heavy development. Open Source C++11 · WIP Modern C++11 framework
Macroquad Rust minimal 2D/3D with WASM support. Open Source Rust · WASM Minimal 2D/3D, WASM support
Magnum (site) Lightweight modular 2D/3D graphics/game engine written in C++11. Open Source C++11 · Modular Lightweight modular C++ graphics
MonoGame C# XNA successor (Celeste, Stardew Valley). Open Source XNA Successor · C# XNA successor
Neo Axis Engine Integrated development environment with built-in 3D and 2D game engine. Open Source IDE-Integrated · C# Integrated 2D/3D IDE
O3DE AAA-grade Linux Foundation open-source engine. Open Source AAA-grade · Linux Foundation AAA-grade, Linux Foundation
Ogre Open source graphical rendering engine (C++). Open Source C++ · Rendering Engine C++ rendering engine
Overload 3D game engine with editor. Open Source C++ · Editor 3D engine with editor
Panda3D Python-based 3D engine (originated at Disney VR Studio, now CMU ETC).   Python · Disney Origin Python 3D games
Pixel Vision 8 Teaches retro game development with streamlined workflows. 8-bit fantasy console. Open Source Fantasy Console · 8-bit 8-bit fantasy console
PixiJS Newcomer HTML5 game renderer - first released in early 2013. A main appeal of the engine is its use of WebGL for faster performance. If WebGL isn’t supported, the engine falls back to standard Open Source    
Raylib Minimal C library for learning game programming. Open Source Library (not engine) · C Learning game programming, no engine overhead
Screen 13 Easy-to-use Vulkan rendering engine with render graph for Rust. Open Source Rust · Vulkan Rust Vulkan rendering
Solar2D Lua 2D mobile framework (formerly Corona SDK). Open Source 2D Mobile · Lua 2D mobile games
SpriteBuilder Open source game development suite for macOS.   Mac-only · 2D 2D games on Mac
Stride C# 3D game engine (formerly Xenko). Open Source C# · 3D 3D games
Superpowers HTML5 Collaborative 2D/3D Game Maker Open Source games · opensource-alt  
Three.js JavaScript 3D library. The standard for web 3D.   Browser · Standard JS 3D Web 3D graphics (broad)
Torque3D C++ engine with decades of Torque technology lineage.   C++ · Legacy C++ game engine
UPBGE (GitHub) Integrated game engine in Blender. Open Source Blender-Integrated · Python Blender-integrated game engine
UPBGE (site) Open-source 3D game engine forked from old Blender Game Engine, deployed with Blender itself. GitHub Open Source    
Urho3D Cross-platform rendering and game engine. Open Source C++ · Cross-Platform Cross-platform 2D/3D
ursina A game engine powered by Python and Panda3D. Open Source Python · Prototyping Easy Python game prototyping
Whitestorm.js (GitHub) 3D JavaScript framework for building apps and games. Open Source JavaScript · Browser Browser 3D apps
Wonderland Engine WebXR-focused engine with visual editor. Targets VR, AR, and standard browser 3D. Free for indies. Freemium WebXR · Editor WebXR apps, browser VR/AR

Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers

Also in Software Reference → Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers

Software Description License Tags Best For
Construct 3 Browser-based no-code 2D engine with visual scripting. Freemium No-code · Browser No-code 2D games, browser-based
CryEngine High-fidelity 3D engine, pay-what-you-want. Freemium High-Fidelity · PWYW High-fidelity 3D
Evergine Enterprise-focused graphics engine for 3D business and industry applications. Open Source Enterprise · Industrial Enterprise 3D apps
GameMaker GML-based 2D engine (Undertale, Hotline Miami). Freemium 2D Focus · Indie Proven 2D games
GDevelop Open-source event-based no-code 2D. Open Source No-code · Open Source Open-source no-code 2D
PlayCanvas JavaScript browser-based 3D engine. Freemium Browser-Based · JavaScript Browser-based 3D games
Ren’Py Python visual novel engine (industry standard). Open Source Visual Novels · Industry Standard Visual novels
RPG Maker MZ JavaScript-based RPG creation. Paid RPG Focus · JavaScript RPG creation
SceneKit Apple proprietary 3D game engine (available on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and watchOS). Free Apple-Native · Proprietary Apple ecosystem 3D games
Unbound SDF-based game development platform. Non-destructive real-time editing, Lua 5.3 scripting, FBX/glTF export. Early Access. Freemium SDF-Native · Early Access SDF-native game creation
Unity Cross-platform engine with massive asset store ecosystem (current major release Unity 6). Freemium Cross-Platform · XR Mobile, AR/VR, cross-platform
Unreal Engine 5 AAA engine from Epic. Free until $1M revenue, then royalty. Freemium AAA · Virtual Production AAA, film, virtual production

Level Design & Map Editing Software

Also in Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
LDtk Modern 2D level editor by Dead Cells creator. Open Source 2D Levels · Dead Cells Creator 2D level design
Mappy Free tilemap editor. Free    
OGMO Editor 3 Generic level editor. Open Source    
Sprite Fusion A free level design tool to craft beautiful 2D tilemaps right in your browser using any tileset. Free    
Tiled General-purpose tilemap editor. TMX format. Open Source Tilemap Editor · TMX Tilemap editing
TrenchBroom Quake-style level editor, great for blockouts. Open Source Blockouts · Quake-style Blockouts, Quake-style levels

Art, Design & Visual Storytelling

Fundamentals. Concept art, composition, color, typography, photography, cinematography, animation principles. The craft underpinning 3D work.

Concept Art & Illustration: Channels

Channels on concept art, figure drawing, painting.

Concept Art & Illustration: Courses

Structured concept art and design courses.

Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists

Gesture, figure, digital painting fundamentals for 3D artists.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Pixen (site) Paid, works on macOS and iOS. Superb OS integration, create pixel art on a tablet using pressure-sensitive drawing.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Paid    
Rebelle 8 Pro Natural-media painting app simulating real watercolor, oil, acrylic, ink with fluid dynamics.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Paid Natural Media · Watercolor Sim Realistic traditional-media digital painting

Related:

Photography: Reference & Fundamentals

Photography knowledge directly applicable to 3D lighting and composition.

Cinematography & Camera Work

Shot composition, camera techniques, lighting for film/CG.

Composition & Visual Storytelling

Composition theory, color theory, visual hierarchy.

Animation Principles

The 12 principles of animation and related fundamentals.

Design Principles & Typography

Typography, visual hierarchy, design fundamentals.

Color Theory & Tools

Color palettes, generators, matching, and theory tools.

Design Tools

Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Adobe Express Quick Adobe design tool.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Freemium Web · Adobe Quick design
Adobe Illustrator Industry-standard vector graphics editor; available on iPad.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 $22.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Vector Vector illustration, logos, layout
Adobe InDesign Page layout and publishing for print and digital.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 $20.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Layout Editorial layout and publishing
Adobe Photoshop Industry-standard raster image editor and compositor; available on iPad.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 Single App $22.99/mo; Photography Plan $19.99/mo Paid Industry Standard · Raster Photo editing, matte painting, texture work
ArcBrush Node-based non-destructive image editor for generating asset variants and export formats; optional credit-based AI features.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Freemium Node-based · Non-destructive Node-based batch image editing
Clip Studio Paint Manga, comic, and illustration app with strong inking and animation toolset.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 PRO from $0.99/mo or $26.99/yr; EX from $2.49/mo or $76.99/yr Paid Manga/Comics · Illustration Manga, comics, illustration, 2D animation
Eagle Visual asset organizer.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Paid Asset Organizer · Visual Asset organization
Graphite Open-source 2D vector and raster graphics editor with procedural node-based workflow. In active development.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Open Source Procedural · Open Source Procedural design, non-destructive vector
Krita Free open-source digital painting app from KDE; v5.3 and v6.0 shipped March 2026.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Open Source Free OSS · Painting Digital painting, concept art
Modyfi Browser-based creative suite.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		   Freemium Browser Suite · Creative Creative suite in browser
Procreate iPad-only digital painting app; one-time purchase, no subscription.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 $12.99 one-time Paid One-Time Purchase · iPad iPad illustration and painting
Sketch Mac-native UI/UX design tool with web previews and collaboration.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 Standard $12/editor/mo; Mac one-time $120/seat Paid UI/UX · Mac-native UI/UX design on Mac

Related:

General Inspiration

Blogs, feeds, and curated inspiration sources.

2D Art References & Inspiration

2D animation sheets, cloth, anime model sheets.

Pre-Production, Storyboarding & Script Tools

Storyboard apps, previs tools, script breakdown, reference managers, moodboarding, and direction-theory channels.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Boords Browser storyboard, animatic, and script sync for teams. Paid Browser · Team Team browser storyboarding
Celtx Browser script + breakdown + pre-prod. Paid Browser · Pre-prod Browser pre-prod
Cinetracer Real-time cinematography simulation on Unreal Engine. Lights, lenses, cameras. Paid Cinematography Sim · Unreal-based Pre-shoot lens/lighting blocking
Eagle Local image and video asset manager with tags. Paid Local DAM · Tags Local reference DAM
Fade In Pro screenwriting at a lower price point. Paid Screenwriting · Affordable Affordable pro screenwriting
Final Draft Industry-standard screenwriting with breakdown tagging. Paid Industry Std · Screenwriting Pro screenwriting
FrameForge Storyboard Studio 3D previs/storyboard hybrid with accurate lens and camera simulation. Paid 3D Storyboard · Lens-Accurate 3D techvis-aware storyboarding
Highland Fountain-native Mac screenwriter. Paid Fountain · Mac Mac Fountain screenwriting
Kuadro Minimal floating image viewer for references. Free Free · Lightweight Lightweight ref viewer
Milanote Visual notes and moodboards for creative planning. Freemium Moodboards · Cloud Visual moodboards
Movie Magic Scheduling Industry-standard scheduling and stripboards. Paid Industry Std · Schedule Film scheduling
PureRef Floating reference canvas. Standard for artists. Freemium Pay What You Want · Std Artist Tool Reference canvas
ShotPro iOS and desktop 3D storyboard and previs. Paid iOS · 3D Storyboard 3D iOS storyboarding
Storyboard Pro (Toon Boom) Industry-standard storyboarding with animatic, camera, and audio timeline. Paid Industry Std · Storyboard Pro storyboard + animatic
Storyboarder (Wonder Unit) Free, fast sketch-first boarding tool with Shot Generator. Open Source Free · MIT Free sketch-first storyboarding
StudioBinder Cloud production suite. Script breakdown, shotlists, storyboards, call sheets. Paid Pre-Prod Suite · Cloud Full pre-production suite
WriterDuet Realtime collaborative screenwriting in the browser. Freemium Collab · Browser Collab screenwriting

Related:

Design Software

Also in Software Reference → Design Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Adobe Express Quick Adobe design tool.   Freemium Web · Adobe Quick design
Adobe Illustrator Industry-standard vector graphics editor; available on iPad. $22.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Vector Vector illustration, logos, layout
Adobe InDesign Page layout and publishing for print and digital. $20.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Layout Editorial layout and publishing
Adobe Photoshop Industry-standard raster image editor and compositor; available on iPad. Single App $22.99/mo; Photography Plan $19.99/mo Paid Industry Standard · Raster Photo editing, matte painting, texture work
Affinity Unified vector, photo, and layout app. Free, by Canva.   Free Free (Canva) · Vector + Raster Illustration, photo editing, page layout
ArcBrush Node-based non-destructive image editor for generating asset variants and export formats; optional credit-based AI features.   Freemium Node-based · Non-destructive Node-based batch image editing
Clip Studio Paint Manga, comic, and illustration app with strong inking and animation toolset. PRO from $0.99/mo or $26.99/yr; EX from $2.49/mo or $76.99/yr Paid Manga/Comics · Illustration Manga, comics, illustration, 2D animation
Eagle Visual asset organizer.   Paid Asset Organizer · Visual Asset organization
Figma Collaborative UI/UX design with free tier.   Freemium Collaborative · UI/UX UI design, prototyping, design systems
FontLab 8 Professional font editor.   Paid Font Editor · Pro Type design, font editing
GIMP Free open-source image editor.   Open Source Open Source · Photoshop-alt Texture editing, photo manipulation
Google Drawings Free browser-based diagramming and simple vector tool. Collaborative.   Free Browser · Collaborative Quick diagrams, collaborative sketches
Graphite Open-source 2D vector and raster graphics editor with procedural node-based workflow. In active development.   Open Source Procedural · Open Source Procedural design, non-destructive vector
Inkscape Free open-source vector editor.   Open Source Vector · SVG SVG editing, illustration
Krita Free open-source digital painting app from KDE; v5.3 and v6.0 shipped March 2026.   Open Source Free OSS · Painting Digital painting, concept art
Lunacy Free graphic design app from Icons8. Native Sketch file support, built-in icons/illustrations/photos, AI tools.   Free Sketch-alt · Free UI design, Sketch file editing on Win/Linux
Microsoft Paint Built-in Windows raster editor. Now ships with layers, transparency, and Cocreator AI.   Free Windows-native · Lightweight Quick raster edits, mockups
Modyfi Browser-based creative suite.   Freemium Browser Suite · Creative Creative suite in browser
Origami Studio Free interaction design and prototyping tool by Meta. Patch-based logic, Figma import.   Free Prototyping · Meta Interaction prototyping, motion specs
Paint.NET Free Windows raster editor with layers, plugins, and unlimited undo. Sits between Microsoft Paint and Photoshop.   Free Windows-native · Layers Quick raster edits, texture tweaks, photo touch-ups
Penpot Open-source design platform. Native SVG/CSS/HTML output. Cloud-hosted or self-host. Figma alternative.   Open Source Open Source · Figma-alt Open-source collaborative UI/UX design
Picsart Photo and video editor with AI tools. Web, mobile, and desktop.   Freemium AI Tools · Mobile Quick edits, social content, AI photo tools
Pixelmator Full-featured image editing app for the Mac.   Paid Mac-native · Image Editor Mac image editing
PixiEditor Universal 2D graphics editor. Procedural graphics w/ node graph, image editing, vectors, pixel art, animations.   Open Source Unified · Node-based Unified 2D editor
PowerPoint Microsoft presentation app. Used as a quick-draft motion/layout tool for storyboards and diagrams.   Paid Presentations · Microsoft Presentations, quick layout/storyboards
Procreate iPad-only digital painting app; one-time purchase, no subscription. $12.99 one-time Paid One-Time Purchase · iPad iPad illustration and painting
Sketch Mac-native UI/UX design tool with web previews and collaboration. Standard $12/editor/mo; Mac one-time $120/seat Paid UI/UX · Mac-native UI/UX design on Mac
Unicorn Studio Browser-based interactive scene and motion design for the web. No-code, exports to embed.   Freemium Web Motion · No-code Interactive web hero scenes, motion-driven landing pages
Vectorpea Free browser-based vector editor by Photopea team. Opens AI/SVG/PDF/EPS/CDR.   Free Browser · Illustrator-alt Quick vector editing in-browser

AI & Machine Learning for CG

Generative AI and ML tools across image, video, 3D, texture, audio. AI mocap lives in §3 (dual-listed).

Machine Learning for CG

ML fundamentals and courses for CG artists.

Image Generation

text-to-image models and platforms.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Adobe Firefly 3 Commercial-safe, deep Creative Cloud integration.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Commercial-Safe · Adobe CC Commercial-safe Adobe workflows
Aga Miko/pixel Character Generator Generating retro pixel game characters with Generative Adversarial Networks. Dataset “TinyHero” included.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source    
Ashawkey/stable Dreamfusion A pytorch implementation of text-to-3D dreamfusion, powered by stable diffusion.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source    
DALL-E 3 (OpenAI) Text-to-image with strong semantic accuracy.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid OpenAI · Semantic Semantic accuracy
FLUX 1.1 Pro (Black Forest Labs) Production-grade open model plus Fill/Canny/Depth tools.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Production-Grade · Open Model Production-grade image gen
Google Gemini Image Gen High realism, fast, large-scale production.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Google · Realism Fast large-scale gen
Grok Aurora (xAI) Photorealistic image gen integrated into Grok.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid xAI · Photoreal Photorealism in Grok
HunyuanDiT (Tencent) Open-source DiT-based, strong Chinese text.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source Tencent · DiT Chinese text rendering
Ideogram 2.0 Best-in-class typography and text rendering, canvas mode.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Typography · Text Rendering Typography in images
Jimeng / Dreamina (ByteDance) High quality, integrated with video pipeline.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium ByteDance · Video Pipeline Integrated image + video pipeline
Kolors (Kuaishou) Open-source, bilingual Chinese/English.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Bilingual Bilingual open model
Krea AI Real-time generation, upscaling, and style transfer platform.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Real-time · Upscaling Real-time + upscaling
Leonardo AI Real-time generation with artistic control.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Real-time · Controlled Controlled artistic generation
Midjourney v7 Industry-leading artistic coherence and stylized output.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Artistic · Subscription Artistic and stylized imagery
MusicGen Meta’s tool for generating music
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source    
Playground v3 Mixed-mode design canvas for graphic design.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Design Canvas · Mixed-mode Graphic design canvas
Recraft V3 Design-oriented gen. Vector, icons, brand assets.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Design Focus · Vector Design assets, vectors
Snowpixel Generate Images/Videos/Animations/Audio/Music/3D Objects with Text and/or Image. Upload your own data to create custom models.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium    
Stable Animation SDK Text-to-animation tool for developers by Stability AI [dev platform]
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid    
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Open-source diffusion (Large, Medium, Turbo sizes).
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Self-Host Self-hosted image gen
UneeQ Digital Humans 3D character lib synced
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid    

Related:

Video Generation

AI video generation platforms and models.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cog Video X Tsinghua/Zhipu open-source, multiple sizes.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Tsinghua Research open-source video gen
Genmo Mochi 1 Open-source video gen model.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Genmo Open-source video gen
Hailuo AI / MiniMax “Director” model. Strong motion and character consistency.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Director Model · Character Consist Directed motion
Haiper Ex-DeepMind team, animation and video-to-video modes.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Ex-DeepMind · V2V Video-to-video
HunyuanVideo 1.5 Open-source 8.3B params, runs on 14GB VRAM.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · 14GB VRAM Self-hosted video gen
Kling 3.0 Up to 5min clips, strong human motion. Motion Brush control.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium 5min Clips · Motion Brush Long clips, human motion
LTX Video Open-source, real-time generation speeds.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Real-time Real-time open-source video gen
Luma Dream Machine Fast generations with good camera motion.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Fast · Camera Motion Fast video gen
Pika 2.0 Extended video gen with improved consistency.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Extended Gen · Stylized Stylized video
PixVerse Style-specific modes (anime, 3D, realistic), character consistency.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Style Modes · Consistency Style-specific video gen
Runway Gen-4 Character consistency across shots, controllable camera.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium Character Consistency · Camera Control Character consistency
Sora (OpenAI) Up to ~20s clips with strong temporal coherence.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Paid OpenAI · 20s Clips Coherent video clips
Veo 3.1 (Google DeepMind) Top leaderboard, native audio, 60s+ clips.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Paid Top Leaderboard · Native Audio Top-quality video gen
Vidu 16s clips, strong human motion (Shengshu).
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Freemium 16s · Human Motion Long human-motion clips
Wan 2.2 (Alibaba) Cinematic MoE diffusion, 8GB+ VRAM. Open source.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · MoE Diffusion Cinematic open-source video gen

Related:

3D Generation

AI tools for generating 3D models from text or images.

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DTopia Open-source text-to-3D pipeline (coarse → refined).
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Coarse→Refined · Open Source Text-to-3D open-source
InstantMesh Fast single-image-to-3D reconstruction.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Fast · Image→3D Fast image→3D
Kaedim Image-to-3D with hybrid AI plus artist cleanup for production quality.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Paid Hybrid AI+Artist · Production Production-quality via hybrid AI+artist
Luma Genie Text/image to 3D, integrated with Dream Machine.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium Luma · Integrated Luma-integrated 3D gen
Meshy v4 Production-reliable, improved topology and PBR textures.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium Production-Reliable · PBR Production-ready AI 3D
Rodin Gen-2 (Hyper3D) 10B params, photorealistic, free generation tier.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium 10B Params · Free Tier Photorealistic AI 3D
Sloyd Procedural 3D generation with parametric control.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium Procedural · Parametric Parametric procedural 3D
Spline AI Generate 3D objects and textures from text prompts in-editor.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium In-Editor · Text→3D In-editor AI 3D
Stability SPAR3D Open-source single-image 3D reconstruction.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Stability AI · Open Source Single-image open-source 3D
TRELLIS.2 (Microsoft) Full PBR materials, complex topologies.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Microsoft · PBR + Open Source PBR AI 3D (open source)
Tripo v3.0 Sculpture-level precision, clean quad topology.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Freemium Clean Quads · Sculpt-level Clean topology AI 3D
TripoSR Tripo/Stability collab. Fast open-source image-to-3D.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Fast Fast open-source image→3D
Unique3D High-quality mesh from single image (NeurIPS 2024).
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Single-Image · NeurIPS Single-image open-source 3D
Wonder3D++ Cross-domain diffusion, textured meshes in 2-3min.
See also: Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software		 Open Source Fast · Textured Mesh Fast textured mesh gen

Related:

Texture & Material Generation

AI-generated PBR textures and materials.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Adobe Firefly Textures Prompt-to-edit texture workflows.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Adobe · Prompt-to-Edit Adobe-integrated AI textures
InstaMAT Material authoring with AI workflows (Substance alternative).
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Substance-alt · AI Workflows AI-assisted material authoring
Meshy Textures Integrated with 3D pipeline.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Meshy Pipeline · Integrated Textures tied to Meshy 3D
Poly AI-generated PBR textures and materials, tileable with full map sets.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium AI PBR · Tileable AI PBR textures
Ponzu AI texture gen from text prompts for uploaded meshes.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Freemium Mesh-aware · Text→Tex Mesh-aware AI textures
Scenario Game-ready PBR materials, full map sets.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Game-Ready · Full Maps Game-ready AI materials

ComfyUI Ecosystem

Node-based AI generation. ComfyUI and its ecosystem.

Software Description License Tags Best For
ComfyUI Node-based AI generator for image/video/3D/audio.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Open Source Node-based · Multi-modal Node-based AI workflows

Related:

AI-Assisted CG Tools

AI tools that augment traditional CG workflows.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Autodesk Flow Studio (Wonder Dynamics) AI VFX, auto CG characters in live footage, USD export.
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Paid Auto CG Chars · USD Export AI CG characters in live plates
Blockade Labs Skybox AI AI-generated 360° skyboxes/HDRIs from text.
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Freemium AI Skybox · 360° AI skyboxes/HDRIs
Gigapixel AI [$] : is the only photo enlargement product available that can actually add detail back to your upscaled photo.
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Paid    
Magnific AI AI upscaler with “creativity” slider. Reimagines/adds detail (2-16x).
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Paid Creative Upscale · 2-16x Creative AI upscaling
Rosebud AI Vibe coding platform for creating 3D games and interactive web apps with AI.
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Freemium AI Game Builder · Vibe Coding  
Topaz Photo AI / Video AI Best-in-class upscaling, denoising, sharpening.
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Paid Upscale · Denoise Upscale/denoise
Unity Muse Unity’s suite of AI products
See also: Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software		 Paid Unity AI Suite  

Related:

AI Audio & Music

AI music generation, voice, TTS, and SFX.

Software Description License Tags Best For
ACE Studio AI singing voice synthesizer with expression control.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Freemium Singing · Expression AI singing synthesis
AIVA AI composition, good for orchestral/cinematic scoring.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Freemium Orchestral · Scoring Orchestral/cinematic scoring
DiffRhythm Open-source full-song gen with vocals from lyrics.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Lyrics→Song Open-source song gen with vocals
ElevenLabs Voice cloning, narration, music generation.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Freemium Voice Cloning · TTS Voice cloning, TTS
F5 TTS Open-source zero-shot voice cloning TTS.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Open Source Zero-Shot · Voice Clone Zero-shot voice cloning
Fish Audio Open-source TTS with voice cloning, fast and multilingual.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Open Source Open Source · Multilingual Open-source TTS
Suno v5 Full song generation, 100M+ users.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Freemium Song Gen · 100M users Full song generation
Udio Strong electronic/pop, licensed for commercial use.
See also: Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software		 Freemium Electronic/Pop · Commercial Commercial-licensed AI music

Related:

Open-Source Models (HuggingFace)

Notable open-source generative models.

Research Papers

Research papers on ML for CG, generative 3D, neural rendering, and related topics. Each entry: title (the plain-English summary), year, and venue/links in the description.

AI Image & Texture Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
Adobe Firefly 3 Commercial-safe, deep Creative Cloud integration. Paid Commercial-Safe · Adobe CC Commercial-safe Adobe workflows
Adobe Firefly Textures Prompt-to-edit texture workflows. Paid Adobe · Prompt-to-Edit Adobe-integrated AI textures
Aga Miko/pixel Character Generator Generating retro pixel game characters with Generative Adversarial Networks. Dataset “TinyHero” included. Open Source    
Ashawkey/stable Dreamfusion A pytorch implementation of text-to-3D dreamfusion, powered by stable diffusion. Open Source    
ComfyUI Node-based AI generator for image/video/3D/audio. Open Source Node-based · Multi-modal Node-based AI workflows
DALL-E 3 (OpenAI) Text-to-image with strong semantic accuracy. Paid OpenAI · Semantic Semantic accuracy
FLUX 1.1 Pro (Black Forest Labs) Production-grade open model plus Fill/Canny/Depth tools. Freemium Production-Grade · Open Model Production-grade image gen
Google Gemini Image Gen High realism, fast, large-scale production. Freemium Google · Realism Fast large-scale gen
Grok Aurora (xAI) Photorealistic image gen integrated into Grok. Paid xAI · Photoreal Photorealism in Grok
HunyuanDiT (Tencent) Open-source DiT-based, strong Chinese text. Open Source Tencent · DiT Chinese text rendering
Ideogram 2.0 Best-in-class typography and text rendering, canvas mode. Freemium Typography · Text Rendering Typography in images
InstaMAT Material authoring with AI workflows (Substance alternative). Paid Substance-alt · AI Workflows AI-assisted material authoring
Jimeng / Dreamina (ByteDance) High quality, integrated with video pipeline. Freemium ByteDance · Video Pipeline Integrated image + video pipeline
Kolors (Kuaishou) Open-source, bilingual Chinese/English. Open Source Open Source · Bilingual Bilingual open model
Krea AI Real-time generation, upscaling, and style transfer platform. Freemium Real-time · Upscaling Real-time + upscaling
Leonardo AI Real-time generation with artistic control. Freemium Real-time · Controlled Controlled artistic generation
Meshy Textures Integrated with 3D pipeline. Freemium Meshy Pipeline · Integrated Textures tied to Meshy 3D
Midjourney v7 Industry-leading artistic coherence and stylized output. Paid Artistic · Subscription Artistic and stylized imagery
MusicGen Meta’s tool for generating music Open Source    
Playground v3 Mixed-mode design canvas for graphic design. Freemium Design Canvas · Mixed-mode Graphic design canvas
Poly AI-generated PBR textures and materials, tileable with full map sets. Freemium AI PBR · Tileable AI PBR textures
Ponzu AI texture gen from text prompts for uploaded meshes. Freemium Mesh-aware · Text→Tex Mesh-aware AI textures
Recraft V3 Design-oriented gen. Vector, icons, brand assets. Freemium Design Focus · Vector Design assets, vectors
Scenario Game-ready PBR materials, full map sets. Paid Game-Ready · Full Maps Game-ready AI materials
Snowpixel Generate Images/Videos/Animations/Audio/Music/3D Objects with Text and/or Image. Upload your own data to create custom models. Freemium    
Stable Animation SDK Text-to-animation tool for developers by Stability AI [dev platform] Paid    
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Open-source diffusion (Large, Medium, Turbo sizes). Open Source Open Source · Self-Host Self-hosted image gen
UneeQ Digital Humans 3D character lib synced Paid    

AI Video Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cog Video X Tsinghua/Zhipu open-source, multiple sizes. Open Source Open Source · Tsinghua Research open-source video gen
Genmo Mochi 1 Open-source video gen model. Open Source Open Source · Genmo Open-source video gen
Hailuo AI / MiniMax “Director” model. Strong motion and character consistency. Freemium Director Model · Character Consist Directed motion
Haiper Ex-DeepMind team, animation and video-to-video modes. Freemium Ex-DeepMind · V2V Video-to-video
HunyuanVideo 1.5 Open-source 8.3B params, runs on 14GB VRAM. Open Source Open Source · 14GB VRAM Self-hosted video gen
Kling 3.0 Up to 5min clips, strong human motion. Motion Brush control. Freemium 5min Clips · Motion Brush Long clips, human motion
LTX Video Open-source, real-time generation speeds. Open Source Open Source · Real-time Real-time open-source video gen
Luma Dream Machine Fast generations with good camera motion. Freemium Fast · Camera Motion Fast video gen
Pika 2.0 Extended video gen with improved consistency. Freemium Extended Gen · Stylized Stylized video
PixVerse Style-specific modes (anime, 3D, realistic), character consistency. Freemium Style Modes · Consistency Style-specific video gen
Runway Gen-4 Character consistency across shots, controllable camera. Freemium Character Consistency · Camera Control Character consistency
Sora (OpenAI) Up to ~20s clips with strong temporal coherence. Paid OpenAI · 20s Clips Coherent video clips
Veo 3.1 (Google DeepMind) Top leaderboard, native audio, 60s+ clips. Paid Top Leaderboard · Native Audio Top-quality video gen
Vidu 16s clips, strong human motion (Shengshu). Freemium 16s · Human Motion Long human-motion clips
Wan 2.2 (Alibaba) Cinematic MoE diffusion, 8GB+ VRAM. Open source. Open Source Open Source · MoE Diffusion Cinematic open-source video gen

AI 3D Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DTopia Open-source text-to-3D pipeline (coarse → refined). Open Source Coarse→Refined · Open Source Text-to-3D open-source
InstantMesh Fast single-image-to-3D reconstruction. Open Source Fast · Image→3D Fast image→3D
Kaedim Image-to-3D with hybrid AI plus artist cleanup for production quality. Paid Hybrid AI+Artist · Production Production-quality via hybrid AI+artist
Luma Genie Text/image to 3D, integrated with Dream Machine. Freemium Luma · Integrated Luma-integrated 3D gen
Meshy v4 Production-reliable, improved topology and PBR textures. Freemium Production-Reliable · PBR Production-ready AI 3D
Rodin Gen-2 (Hyper3D) 10B params, photorealistic, free generation tier. Freemium 10B Params · Free Tier Photorealistic AI 3D
Sloyd Procedural 3D generation with parametric control. Freemium Procedural · Parametric Parametric procedural 3D
Spline AI Generate 3D objects and textures from text prompts in-editor. Freemium In-Editor · Text→3D In-editor AI 3D
Stability SPAR3D Open-source single-image 3D reconstruction. Open Source Stability AI · Open Source Single-image open-source 3D
TRELLIS.2 (Microsoft) Full PBR materials, complex topologies. Open Source Microsoft · PBR + Open Source PBR AI 3D (open source)
Tripo v3.0 Sculpture-level precision, clean quad topology. Freemium Clean Quads · Sculpt-level Clean topology AI 3D
TripoSR Tripo/Stability collab. Fast open-source image-to-3D. Open Source Open Source · Fast Fast open-source image→3D
Unique3D High-quality mesh from single image (NeurIPS 2024). Open Source Single-Image · NeurIPS Single-image open-source 3D
Wonder3D++ Cross-domain diffusion, textured meshes in 2-3min. Open Source Fast · Textured Mesh Fast textured mesh gen

AI Audio & Music Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
ACE Studio AI singing voice synthesizer with expression control. Freemium Singing · Expression AI singing synthesis
AIVA AI composition, good for orchestral/cinematic scoring. Freemium Orchestral · Scoring Orchestral/cinematic scoring
DiffRhythm Open-source full-song gen with vocals from lyrics. Open Source Open Source · Lyrics→Song Open-source song gen with vocals
ElevenLabs Voice cloning, narration, music generation. Freemium Voice Cloning · TTS Voice cloning, TTS
F5 TTS Open-source zero-shot voice cloning TTS. Open Source Zero-Shot · Voice Clone Zero-shot voice cloning
Fish Audio Open-source TTS with voice cloning, fast and multilingual. Open Source Open Source · Multilingual Open-source TTS
Suno v5 Full song generation, 100M+ users. Freemium Song Gen · 100M users Full song generation
Udio Strong electronic/pop, licensed for commercial use. Freemium Electronic/Pop · Commercial Commercial-licensed AI music

AI-Assisted CG Software

Also in Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software

Software Description License Tags Best For
Autodesk Flow Studio (Wonder Dynamics) AI VFX, auto CG characters in live footage, USD export. Paid Auto CG Chars · USD Export AI CG characters in live plates
Blockade Labs Skybox AI AI-generated 360° skyboxes/HDRIs from text. Freemium AI Skybox · 360° AI skyboxes/HDRIs
Gigapixel AI [$] : is the only photo enlargement product available that can actually add detail back to your upscaled photo. Paid    
Magnific AI AI upscaler with “creativity” slider. Reimagines/adds detail (2-16x). Paid Creative Upscale · 2-16x Creative AI upscaling
Rosebud AI Vibe coding platform for creating 3D games and interactive web apps with AI. Freemium AI Game Builder · Vibe Coding  
Topaz Photo AI / Video AI Best-in-class upscaling, denoising, sharpening. Paid Upscale · Denoise Upscale/denoise
Unity Muse Unity’s suite of AI products Paid Unity AI Suite  

Tools, Pipeline & Utilities

Viewers, converters, USD, plugin marketplaces, pipeline standards, and miscellaneous CG utilities.

USD (Universal Scene Description)

OpenUSD resources, specifications, and guides.

Scene & Pipeline Tools

Production pipelines, render management, look dev.

Software Description License Tags Best For
CGAL A software project that provides easy access to efficient and reliable geometric algorithms in the form of a C++ library.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Geometry Lib · Open Source Computational geometry algorithms
CGRU CG tools pack that includes AFANASY, a free open-source render farm manager.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Open-source render farm
Coalition Render-farm manager from Mercenaries Engineering (makers of Guerilla Render).
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Guerilla-adjacent Small-studio render farm
Flamenco (Blender render farm) Blender Foundation’s free render-farm manager.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
Flamenco (flamenco.io) From the Blender Foundation
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
ftrack Production tracking.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Paid Production Tracking · Pro Production tracking
Gaffer (GafferHQ compositing) Gaffer is a great toolbox, it’s a VFX application that enables look developers, lighters, and compositors to easily build, tweak, iterate, and render scenes.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Look Dev · Open Source Look dev / lighting / compositing
Godot Game Tools Made easy importing mixamo animations. tools to ease the creation/import process of assets into Godot Game Engine and others.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		      
Kitsu (CGWire) Production tracker.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Open Source · Tracking Open-source production tracking
Medieval Fantasy City Generator This application generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size. City Viewer : is a 3d-visualizer for MFCD. See other generators from
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		      
Open3D Modern library for 3D data processing. Point clouds, meshes, voxels, reconstruction.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source 3D Data Processing · Open Source 3D data processing (Python/C++)
OpenCue (docs) Open-source render management.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Render farm management
OpenTimelineIO (site) (repo) - Editorial timeline.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Editorial · Open Source Editorial timeline interchange
Pandora Open-Source Renderfarm-Manager.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Indie render farm management
Prism Pipeline Animation and VFX pipeline.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium Pipeline · Free Core Indie/small studio pipeline
TerraForge3D A procedural terrain generation and procedural modeling toolkit.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source    
Tik Manager (GitHub) Artist friendly asset and pipeline manager.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Open Source Pipeline · Open Source Asset/pipeline management for small teams
Tik Manager (site) Artist-friendly asset and pipeline manager.
See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software		 Freemium Pipeline · Asset Mgmt Asset/pipeline management

Related:

Gaussian Splatting & NeRF

Neural and splatting reconstruction.

Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning

Photogrammetry, LiDAR, and Gaussian splat capture.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3DF Zephyr Free lite version (up to 50 photos).
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Freemium Free Lite · 50 Photos Lite photogrammetry
3DF Zephyr Free Free version of 3DF Zephyr photogrammetry software for personal use. It comes with some limitations.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Free Free · Personal Use Free photogrammetry
Agisoft Metashape Professional photogrammetry with GIS features.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Paid GIS Features · Pro Pro photogrammetry + GIS
Artec Studio Capture and alignment software for Artec handheld scanners.   Paid Handheld Scanners · Artec Artec handheld scan workflow
CloudCompare A 3D point cloud (and triangular mesh) processing software. Open-source and designed for visualizing and editing LiDAR and photogrammetry data. Good for alignment, meshing, cleanup, segmentation, a
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Open Source Open Source · Point Cloud Point cloud and mesh processing
COLMAP A general-purpose Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS) pipeline with a graphical and command-line interface.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Open Source Photogrammetry · Open Source Photogrammetry SfM/MVS reconstruction
Depthkit Depth-sensor volumetric capture toolkit.   Paid Depth Sensor · Volumetric Depth-sensor volumetric capture
FARO SCENE Capture and process FARO Focus scan data.   Paid FARO · Point Cloud FARO Focus pipeline
Geomagic Wrap Convert point clouds to polygon meshes (Oqton, formerly 3D Systems).   Paid Scan to Mesh · Geomagic Point cloud to mesh
HDR Light Studio Interactive HDRI editing and relighting tool for 3D. Bridges to Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Modo, Blender.   Paid HDRI Editor · DCC Bridges HDRI relighting in 3D
Hugin Free OSS panorama stitcher built on Panorama Tools.   Open Source Open Source · Free Stitcher Free panorama stitching
KIRI Engine Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Freemium Cross-platform · Mobile Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry
Learning Object-Compositional Neural Radiance Field for Editable Scene Rendering Yang et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		     nerf · scene-editing  
Leica Cyclone Point cloud registration and processing for Leica scanners.   Paid Leica · Point Cloud Leica scan pipeline
Luminance HDR Cross-platform OSS HDR merge and tonemap.   Open Source Open Source · Tonemap Open-source HDR merge/tonemap
Meshroom (AliceVision) Free, open-source photogrammetry. Node-based, GPU-accelerated.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Open Source Open Source · Node-based Open-source photogrammetry
Open Scan Tools A collection of open-source tools for photogrammetry, depth-sensing, and 3D reconstruction workflows. Nice rendering options for xray style.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Open Source Open Source · Toolkit Open-source scan toolkit
OpenDroneMap / WebODM Open source drone photogrammetry stack.   Open Source Open Source · Drone Open drone photogrammetry
PCL (Point Cloud Library) Large-scale open project for 2D/3D image and point cloud processing.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Open Source Point Clouds · Open Source Point cloud processing
Pix4D Survey and mapping photogrammetry suite.   Paid Drone · Mapping Drone photogrammetry
Polycam Mobile photogrammetry (iOS LiDAR + photo, Android photo). Cloud processing.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Freemium Mobile · LiDAR Mobile photogrammetry
Postshot Desktop Gaussian Splatting tool. Train, clean, edit, export.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Freemium Desktop · Splat Editor Desktop Gaussian splat
PTGui Pro Industry-standard panorama stitcher. Full HDR/bracketed support, mask painting, viewpoint correction. ~€169 PTGui, ~€339 Pro Paid Industry Standard · HDR Stitcher Pro panorama stitching for HDRI
Quixel Megascans World’s largest photogrammetry 2D and 3D asset library. Now it is free for the Epic Games accounts (only UE projects).
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Free Asset Library · Epic Games Photogrammetry asset library
RealityCapture Fast, high-quality photogrammetry (now Epic Games). PPI pricing.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Freemium Epic Games · High-Quality Production photogrammetry
Scaniverse (Niantic) Free mobile scanning, Gaussian splat support.
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		   Free Free Mobile · Gaussian Splat Mobile scan, Gaussian splat
SINE: Semantic-driven Image-based NeRF Editing with Prior-guided Editing Field Bao et al., CVPR 2023| github | bibtex
See also: Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software		     nerf · scene-editing  
Trimble RealWorks Survey-grade point cloud registration and modeling.   Paid Trimble · Survey Survey-grade scan processing

Related:

Retopology & Mesh Tools

Retopology and mesh processing.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3D Coat Sculpt, retopo, UV, and PBR paint suite from Pilgway. Voxel and surface sculpt, AUTOPO auto-retopo, manual quad retopo, UV unwrap, bake.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		 ~$379 perpetual (Educational $99) Paid Sculpt + Retopo · PBR Paint Sculpt + retopo + UV + PBR paint in one app
AutoRemesher Open-source auto-retopology tool intended to convert source meshes into clean, animation-friendly all-quad geometry.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
Cozy Blanket iPad sculpt-to-retopo app. Clay sculpt plus auto-quad retopology for game/film topology, from Naam.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		 ~$80 perpetual Paid iPad Sculpt · Auto Retopo iPad sculpt + auto-retopo
Instant Meshes Free, open-source auto-retopology.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
Topogun Standalone retopology and baking.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Paid Retopo + Bake · Classic Retopo + baking

Related:

UV Tools

UV unwrapping, packing, and UDIM tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Headus UVLayout Standalone UV editor, flatten-based.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Paid Flatten-based · Classic Flatten-based UV editor
RizomUV Fast UV unwrapping, auto-seam, auto-pack. Standalone or bridge.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Paid Industry Standard · Standalone Fast pro UV unwrapping
UVPackmaster Advanced UV packing, UDIM support. Blender addon + standalone.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		   Paid UDIM · Packing UV packing + UDIM
Valence 3D iPad UV unwrap and texture paint app from Naam. Pairs with Cozy Blanket for full iPad asset workflow.
See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software		 ~$30 perpetual Paid iPad UV · iPad Paint iPad UV + texture paint

Related:

Rigging & Animation Tools

Auto-rig, retargeting, and animation middleware.

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking

Camera tracking, object tracking, and camera matching tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3DEqualizer High-end matchmoving (major VFX studios).
See also: Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software		   Paid High-End · Studio Standard High-end matchmove
fSpy Free, open-source single-image camera matching → Blender.
See also: Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software		   Open Source Free · Blender Bridge Free single-image cam match
KeenTools Face and geometry tracking plus FaceBuilder for Blender, Nuke, AE, Houdini.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 $18/mo or $179/yr per plugin (Studio $499/yr floating) Paid Face Tracking · VFX Face/geo tracking for VFX
Mocha Pro Boris FX planar tracker for VFX. Roto, object removal, screen replacement, lens distortion.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software, Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		 $48/mo or $325/yr; perpetual from $765 Paid Industry Standard · Planar Tracking Planar tracking, roto, screen replacement
PFTrack Professional matchmoving, object tracking, mesh generation.
See also: Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software		   Paid Matchmove · Pro Pro matchmove
Silhouette Boris FX node-based roto/paint compositor with AI-driven matte tools.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 $165/mo or $875/yr; perpetual standalone $2,195 Paid Industry Standard · Roto/Paint Feature-film roto and paint
SynthEyes Camera tracking with lens distortion solving.
See also: Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software		   Paid Lens Distortion · Pro Camera tracking + distortion

Related:

Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities

Assorted CG utilities and specialty tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Blockbench Free low-poly/voxel 3D modeler.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Free Low-poly · Voxel Low-poly / voxel modeling
darktable Open-source RAW photo editor for reference/texture processing.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source RAW Editor · Open Source RAW processing
Dust3D Open-source quick base mesh generation.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Base Meshes · Open Source Base mesh generation
Gaea Terrain generation tool (free community edition).
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Freemium Terrain Gen · Free Community Terrain generation
Gl Ch Ao S.P RealTime 3D Strange Attractors scout on GPU.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Strange Attractors · GPU  
Hesiod Free open-source node-based procedural terrain/heightmap generator.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Terrain Gen · Node-based Procedural terrain
IFS Renderer Free GPU-accelerated fractal renderer with HDR/EXR export.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Free Fractals · HDR/EXR Fractal rendering
Lightmap HDR Light Studio Lighting software.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Paid HDR Lighting · Interactive Interactive HDR lighting
Mandelbulb3D (thargor6 fork) A program designed for the Windows platform for generating 3D views of different fractals.
See also: Software Reference → 3D Software: Free		   Open Source Fractals · Windows  
Massive Software Crowd simulation.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Paid Crowds · Pro Crowd simulation
MeshLab Open-source mesh processing, essential for photogrammetry cleanup.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Mesh Processing · Photogrammetry Mesh processing
OBS Studio Free screen recording/streaming. Essential for tutorials.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Recording · Streaming Screen recording, streaming
Photopea Free browser-based Photoshop alternative with full PSD support.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Free PSD · Browser Quick PSD editing
Pixie Pixie is a photorealistic renderer that uses a Pixar’s RenderMan-like interface.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source RenderMan-like · Renderer  
Plasticity (site) CAD-style modeling with artist-friendly UX.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Paid CAD-style · Artist UX CAD-style modeling for artists
PureRef Industry-standard reference board tool.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		 Pay what you want Freemium Industry Standard · PWYW Reference board
ShareX Free Windows screen capture with recording and annotation.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Screen Capture · Windows Screen capture, annotation
Storm HydroFX Fluid simulation.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Paid Fluids · FX Fluid simulation
tlRender Timeline render, is an early stage project for rendering editorial timelines.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		   Open Source Timeline · Editorial  

Related:

Plugin & Addon Marketplaces

Per-software plugin marketplaces.

Conversion Tools

Format conversion across image, video, audio, and 3D.

Software Description License Tags Best For
fre:ac Free, open-source batch audio converter.
See also: Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities		 Open Source Audio Batch · Open Source Batch audio conversion
HandBrake Free, open-source H.265/AV1 video encoder.
See also: Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities		 Open Source H.265/AV1 · Open Source Video encoding
Luminance HDR HDR workflow. Merge brackets, tonemap, convert EXR/HDR/RGBE.
See also: Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities		 Open Source HDR Workflow · EXR HDR workflow
Shutter Encoder FFmpeg GUI with professional presets.
See also: Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities		 Free FFmpeg GUI · Pro Presets Pro video encoding GUI
XnConvert Batch image converter, 80+ actions.
See also: Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities		 Free Batch · 80+ Actions Batch image conversion

Related:

Pipeline Standards

Interchange formats and standards.

Pipeline Overview

Industry-to-software quick reference.

Viewers & File Utilities

Also in Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities

Software Description License Tags Best For
Connecter Free and visual creative assets management for 3d, AEC and design professionals. Free    
DJV Free professional image sequence viewer. Open Source Image Sequences · Film Pipeline EXR/DPX playback, film pipeline
f3d Fast 3D file viewer (glTF, STL, OBJ, USD, etc.). Open Source 3D Preview · USD Support Quick 3D file preview
fre:ac Free, open-source batch audio converter. Open Source Audio Batch · Open Source Batch audio conversion
glb.gallery Interactive 3D model gallery builder from GLB files, embeddable. Freemium Embeddable · GLB 3D portfolio, model showcase
HandBrake Free, open-source H.265/AV1 video encoder. Open Source H.265/AV1 · Open Source Video encoding
Luminance HDR HDR workflow. Merge brackets, tonemap, convert EXR/HDR/RGBE. Open Source HDR Workflow · EXR HDR workflow
mrViewer Image sequence and EXR viewer. Open Source EXR Viewer · VFX Pipeline VFX pipeline review
OpenEXR Viewer Official EXR tools. Open Source Official EXR · ASWF EXR inspection
OpenRV Open-source media review and playback player. Foundation of Autodesk RV, donated to ASWF. Open Source Review Player · ASWF Sequence review, dailies playback
Shutter Encoder FFmpeg GUI with professional presets. Free FFmpeg GUI · Pro Presets Pro video encoding GUI
XnConvert Batch image converter, 80+ actions. Free Batch · 80+ Actions Batch image conversion
XnView MP Free image viewer and converter (500+ formats). Free Batch Convert · 500+ Formats Batch conversion, texture browsing
xStudio Open-source playback and review tool by DNEG. Notes, sessions, and pipeline integration for dailies. Open Source Review Player · ASWF Dailies review, annotation

Pipeline & Production Management Software

Also in Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
build dynamic matchmaking with PubNub ~ epicgames [multiplayer].   Free    
5th Kind CORE Secure media and production management used on major features. Asset sharing + tracking.   Paid Secure Media · Feature Films Secure feature-film production mgmt
Anchorpoint Git/Perforce GUI built for artists. Handles large binary assets cleanly. Free / from $14/mo Freemium Git/Perforce GUI · Artist VCS Artist-friendly VCS frontend
Articy:draft Professional narrative design middleware.   Paid Middleware · Pro Professional narrative middleware
AYON (Ynput) Open-source VFX/animation pipeline platform; successor to OpenPype (archived).   Open Source Open Pipeline · VFX Studio Open-source studio pipeline
Cerebro Russian-origin production tracker with built-in messenger and review.   Paid Tracker + Chat · Studio Tool Tracker + messenger combo
CGAL A software project that provides easy access to efficient and reliable geometric algorithms in the form of a C++ library.   Open Source Geometry Lib · Open Source Computational geometry algorithms
CGRU CG tools pack that includes AFANASY, a free open-source render farm manager.   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Open-source render farm
Cinesync Backlight synced remote review for distributed teams.   Paid Backlight · Synced Review Synced remote review
Coalition Render-farm manager from Mercenaries Engineering (makers of Guerilla Render).   Open Source Render Farm · Guerilla-adjacent Small-studio render farm
Colorfront On-set dailies and transcode platform used on major features.   Paid On-Set Dailies · Feature Films On-set dailies + transcode
Deadline (AWS Thinkbox) Render farm manager. Free since v10.1.23. Deadline 10 in maintenance mode (Nov 2025); AWS pushing managed Deadline Cloud.   Free Render Farm · Free On-prem render farm management
Diversion Cloud version control built for large binary art repositories. Free tier / paid plans Freemium Cloud VCS · Large Binaries Cloud binary VCS
Epic Online Services Free multiplayer, matchmaking, voice chat.   Free Free EOS · Matchmaking/Voice Free multiplayer services
Filestage Generic creative review and approval workflow.   Paid Review Workflow · Generic Multi-format creative review
FilmLight Daylight Dailies and conform sibling of Baselight, from FilmLight.   Paid FilmLight · Dailies/Conform Dailies + conform
Flamenco (Blender render farm) Blender Foundation’s free render-farm manager.   Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
Flamenco (flamenco.io) From the Blender Foundation   Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
Foundry Katana Look-development and lighting orchestration tool for film/episodic VFX, scaling to massive scenes via deferred evaluation.   Paid Industry Standard · Lookdev/Lighting Film lookdev and lighting at scale
Frame.io Adobe-owned review and collaboration platform for video and motion teams. Free / from $15/mo Freemium Adobe · Cloud Review Cloud review/approval
ftrack Production tracking.   Paid Production Tracking · Pro Production tracking
Gaffer (GafferHQ compositing) Gaffer is a great toolbox, it’s a VFX application that enables look developers, lighters, and compositors to easily build, tweak, iterate, and render scenes.   Open Source Look Dev · Open Source Look dev / lighting / compositing
Godot Game Tools Made easy importing mixamo animations. tools to ease the creation/import process of assets into Godot Game Engine and others.        
Golaem (Autodesk) Crowd simulation for Maya. Now bundled into Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection; built into Maya 2026. Bundled in Autodesk M&E Collection ($335/mo or $2,700/yr) Paid Crowd Sim · Maya Maya crowd simulation
Hansoft (Perforce) Agile PM for games and VFX studios.   Paid Perforce · Agile PM Agile PM for games/VFX
Houdini Engine (SideFX product) Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot.   Paid Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine Procedural pipeline in-engine
Kitsu (CGWire) Production tracker.   Open Source Open Source · Tracking Open-source production tracking
Massive AI-driven crowd simulation pioneered on Lord of the Rings; Massive Prime + plugins for Maya/Max.   Paid Industry Standard · Crowd Sim Feature-film crowd simulation
Medieval Fantasy City Generator This application generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size. City Viewer : is a 3d-visualizer for MFCD. See other generators from        
Nakama Open-source game server (social, matchmaking, leaderboards).   Open Source Social Server · Matchmaking Social game server
Open3D Modern library for 3D data processing. Point clouds, meshes, voxels, reconstruction.   Open Source 3D Data Processing · Open Source 3D data processing (Python/C++)
OpenCue (docs) Open-source render management.   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Render farm management
OpenTimelineIO (site) (repo) - Editorial timeline.   Open Source Editorial · Open Source Editorial timeline interchange
Ornatrix (Ephere) Hair, fur, and feather plugin for 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, and Unreal.   Paid Grooming · Multi-Host Cross-host grooming
Pandora Open-Source Renderfarm-Manager.   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Indie render farm management
Perforce Helix Core Industry standard for large assets (free ≤5 users).   Freemium Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users Large-asset VCS
Photon Engine Cloud multiplayer (PUN, Fusion, Quantum SDKs).   Freemium Cloud Multiplayer · Unity/Unreal Cloud multiplayer
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control Artist-friendly binary version control.   Freemium Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated Artist-friendly VCS
Prism Pipeline Animation and VFX pipeline.   Freemium Pipeline · Free Core Indie/small studio pipeline
Royal Render Per-node render farm manager for VFX/animation pipelines.   Paid Render Farm · Studio Studio render farm management
SmartFoxServer 2X A SDK for rapidly developing multiplayer games and applications with Adobe Flash/Flex/Air, Unity, HTML5, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Android, Java, Windows 8, C++.   Freemium    
Snowtrack Git-like version control aimed at artists.   Free Beta · Artist VCS Lightweight artist VCS
SyncSketch Autodesk browser-based review and annotation for animation and VFX. Free / from $17/mo Freemium Autodesk · Browser Review Browser review/annotate
TerraForge3D A procedural terrain generation and procedural modeling toolkit.   Open Source    
Tik Manager (GitHub) Artist friendly asset and pipeline manager.   Open Source Pipeline · Open Source Asset/pipeline management for small teams
Tik Manager (site) Artist-friendly asset and pipeline manager.   Freemium Pipeline · Asset Mgmt Asset/pipeline management
Tractor (Pixar) Pixar’s render queue/dispatch system, bundled with RenderMan licensing.   Paid RenderMan · Render Farm RenderMan-centric farm dispatch
Visual Studio (Windows) Official supported IDE for Unity in Windows platform. Mac version here.   Freemium unity-plugin  
Yeti (Peregrine Labs) Maya plugin for fur, feathers, and procedural instancing.   Paid Grooming · Maya Plugin Hero grooms and procedural instancing in Maya

Misc 3D Utilities Software

Also in Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Blockbench Free low-poly/voxel 3D modeler.   Free Low-poly · Voxel Low-poly / voxel modeling
darktable Open-source RAW photo editor for reference/texture processing.   Open Source RAW Editor · Open Source RAW processing
Dust3D Open-source quick base mesh generation.   Open Source Base Meshes · Open Source Base mesh generation
Gaea Terrain generation tool (free community edition).   Freemium Terrain Gen · Free Community Terrain generation
Gl Ch Ao S.P RealTime 3D Strange Attractors scout on GPU.   Open Source Strange Attractors · GPU  
Hesiod Free open-source node-based procedural terrain/heightmap generator.   Open Source Terrain Gen · Node-based Procedural terrain
IFS Renderer Free GPU-accelerated fractal renderer with HDR/EXR export.   Free Fractals · HDR/EXR Fractal rendering
JanusVR Webpages as collaborative 3D webspaces interconnected by portals.        
Lightmap HDR Light Studio Lighting software.   Paid HDR Lighting · Interactive Interactive HDR lighting
Massive Software Crowd simulation.   Paid Crowds · Pro Crowd simulation
MeshLab Open-source mesh processing, essential for photogrammetry cleanup.   Open Source Mesh Processing · Photogrammetry Mesh processing
OBS Studio Free screen recording/streaming. Essential for tutorials.   Open Source Recording · Streaming Screen recording, streaming
Photopea Free browser-based Photoshop alternative with full PSD support.   Free PSD · Browser Quick PSD editing
Pixie Pixie is a photorealistic renderer that uses a Pixar’s RenderMan-like interface.   Open Source RenderMan-like · Renderer  
Plasticity (site) CAD-style modeling with artist-friendly UX.   Paid CAD-style · Artist UX CAD-style modeling for artists
Polygonjs Node-based WebGL design tool, used for procedural geometry, particles, materials        
PureRef Industry-standard reference board tool. Pay what you want Freemium Industry Standard · PWYW Reference board
ShareX Free Windows screen capture with recording and annotation.   Open Source Screen Capture · Windows Screen capture, annotation
Storm HydroFX Fluid simulation.   Paid Fluids · FX Fluid simulation
tlRender Timeline render, is an early stage project for rendering editorial timelines.   Open Source Timeline · Editorial  
VNyan Take your 3d VTubing to the next level   Free VTubing · Free 3D VTubing

Learning, Community & Industry

Cross-cutting learning hubs, communities, inspiration showcases, industry context, career data, and arch-viz.

YouTube Channels: Motion Graphics & Cinema 4D

Motion design / C4D focused creators.

YouTube Channels: Blender

Blender-focused creators.

YouTube Channels: Houdini

Houdini-focused channels.

YouTube Channels: Sculpting & Characters

Character and sculpting focused creators.

Subscription and course-based learning platforms.

Patreon Creators

Creators on Patreon offering tutorials, files, and tips.

3D Communities & Forums

Cross-DCC CG communities.

3D Inspiration & Showcase

Showcases, portfolios, and visual reference hubs.

Architecture & Visualization

Arch-viz inspiration and BIM.

Salary & Career Data

Salary data and studio review spreadsheets.

Current technology and market trends in CG.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Blender Free open-source 3D creation suite. Modeling, sculpting, animation, rendering, compositing, VFX.
See also: Software Reference → 3D Software: Free		 Open Source Open Source · Full Pipeline Full 3D pipeline, indie production

Related:

Software Reference

All software. Full license, pricing, platform, and tag data. Canonical source.

3D Software: Free

Free and open-source 3D software.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Blender Free open-source 3D creation suite. Modeling, sculpting, animation, rendering, compositing, VFX.
See also: Learning, Community & Industry → Industry Trends 2025-2026		 Open Source Open Source · Full Pipeline Full 3D pipeline, indie production
Cables.gl Node-based visual programming for browser graphics and interactive WebGL. Patch editor exports to JS. Freemium Browser · Node-Based Creative coding, interactive web visuals, projection mapping
Clavicula Intuitive and free 3D modeling software for everyone. Free    
Goxel Create voxel graphics. Export to obj, pyl, png, magica voxel, qubicle. Open Source    
MagicaCSG SDF modeling with real-time booleans. Free SDF · Windows-only Concept design, rapid prototyping
MagicaVoxel GPU voxel editor with path tracing. Free Voxel · Path Tracing Voxel art, indie game assets
Mandelbulb3D (original) Free software application created for 3D fractal imaging. GitHub Free    
Mandelbulb3D (thargor6 fork) A program designed for the Windows platform for generating 3D views of different fractals.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		 Open Source Fractals · Windows  
SculptGL WebGL browser sculpting with dynamic topology. Free Browser · Dynamic Topology Quick sculpts, organic modeling
Sculptris Original free digital sculpting from Pixologic (predecessor to ZBrush Core). Free Free · Introductory Sculpt Free introductory sculpting
SDF Modeler Experimental SDF-based non-destructive procedural 3D modeler. Free SDF · Non-destructive SDF modeling, procedural boolean workflows
TerreSculptor Terrain creation and editing software. It is freeware. Free    
Tinkercad Browser-based CSG modeling. Free Browser · Education STEM education, 3D printing beginners
TreeIt Easy to use real time 3D tree generator for the simple creation. Free    
VRoid Studio Anime-style 3D character creator. Free Anime Characters · VTuber VTubers, anime characters
Wings 3D Subdivision surface modeler. Open Source Subdiv Modeling · Lightweight Polygon modeling for games

Related:

3D Software: Free Tier

Freemium 3D software with free tier available.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Bezi Collaborative browser 3D design tool. Figma-style multiplayer editing for 3D scenes, prototypes, UI in 3D space. Free tier, Pro $12/mo Freemium Browser · Multiplayer Team 3D design, spatial UI mockups
Cascadeur AI-assisted physics-based keyframe character animation; free for non-commercial use. Indie $19/mo or $96/yr (rent-to-own perpetual) Free NC AI Anim · Free NC Action/fight character animation
Gravity Sketch VR-first 3D design and modeling. Cloud sync via LandingPad; iPad companion. Free personal use, Studio $35/user/mo Freemium VR · Concept Concept design, automotive, footwear, industrial design in VR
Houdini Apprentice Free learning version of Houdini.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Houdini: Getting Started		   Free NC Free NC · Learning Version Learning Houdini for free
Spline Browser-based 3D design with real-time collaboration. Exports to web, video, code. AI features for prompt-to-3D. Free tier, Super $9/mo, Business $24/mo Freemium Browser · Collaborative Interactive web 3D, UI mockups, product viz
Vectary Browser-based 3D for e-commerce and product visualization. Pro AI $15/mo (annual) Freemium Browser · E-commerce Product viz, e-commerce
Womp3D Playful browser-based 3D modeler for product design. Free tier, Pro $12.99/mo Freemium Browser · Product Design Product design, 3D printing
World Machine Command tools like erosion and advanced colormaps to create terrain heightmaps, meshes, and textures for your game or 3D scene. You can use the Basic Edition for free.   Freemium    

3D Software: Paid

Professional paid 3D software.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3DCoat Voxel sculpting, retopology, and UV toolkit. EUR 299 perpetual Paid Voxel Sculpt · Retopo Voxel sculpting, retopology
3Design Parametric jewelry CAD with rendering.   Paid Jewelry CAD · Parametric Parametric jewelry design + render
Avid Maestro Avid’s virtual sets, AR, and data-driven graphics platform for live news and sports.   Paid Avid · Virtual Sets Avid broadcast virtual sets
Browzwear VStitcher Enterprise 3D garment design and tech-pack pipeline.   Paid Enterprise · Tech Packs Enterprise fashion pipeline
ChyronHego (Chyron) PRIME graphics engine. News and sports lower-thirds, AR/VR studio.   Paid Broadcast Graphics · PRIME Broadcast lower-thirds + AR studio
Cinema 4D Maxon’s motion-graphics and procedural 3D DCC; ships with Redshift and 5 Team Render nodes. $69.91/mo annual (Maxon One bundle $99.91/mo) Paid Industry Standard · Motion Graphics Motion graphics, broadcast, design-led 3D
Clo3D Fashion-focused garment design and cloth simulation. Subscription Paid Fashion · Garment Sim Fashion design, cloth simulation
Crocotile 3D Use 2d tiles to create 3d models!   Paid Pixel/Tile 3D · Indie 2D-tile to 3D modeling
Daz 3D Character-focused 3D software w/ large marketplace of figures and morphs. Free core app.   Paid Characters · Huge Marketplace Character-centric scenes
Faceware Studio Real-time face capture and streaming software.   Paid Face Cap · Real-time Real-time face capture
Houdini Procedural node-based DCC for VFX, simulation, and FX.
See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → Rendering & Shader Theory		 Indie $269/yr, Core $1995, FX $4495 Paid Industry Standard · Procedural FX Procedural FX, simulation, VFX
JewelCAD Long-standing dedicated jewelry CAD package.   Paid Jewelry CAD · Classic Jewelry CAD
LightWave 3D Veteran modeling, animation, and rendering DCC with a long film/broadcast legacy.   Paid Veteran DCC · Broadcast/VFX Broadcast, motion graphics, indie VFX
Lumiscaphe Patchwork 3D Real-time automotive configurator and viz, OEM clientele.   Paid Auto Config · Real-time Real-time auto config
Marmoset Toolbag Real-time PBR viewer, baker, and renderer. Common in game/jewelry portfolios.   Paid PBR Viewer · Baking PBR portfolio rendering + baking
Marvelous Designer Cloth simulation and garment design software. Subscription Paid Garment Sim · Cloth Cloth simulation, garment design
MatrixGold (Gemvision) Rhino-based parametric jewelry CAD. Successor to Matrix/RhinoGold.   Paid Jewelry CAD · Rhino-based Parametric jewelry CAD
Maya Film-industry animation and VFX DCC. $255/mo (Indie $330/yr) Paid Industry Standard · Film Animation Film VFX, CG animation
Modo Foundry’s 3D modeling, texturing, rendering package.   Paid Foundry · Modeling Focus Modeling, product viz
Moi3D NURBS modeler for industrial and product design. $295 perpetual (90-day trial) Paid NURBS · Perpetual License NURBS modeling, industrial design
Nomad Sculpt Mobile digital sculpting for iPad and Android. $19.99 one-time (mobile) Paid iPad Sculpt · One-time Purchase Mobile sculpting
Optitex 2D/3D pattern-making and virtual fit.   Paid Pattern + Fit · Industrial 2D/3D pattern + virtual fit
Plasticity NURBS/CAD-style modeler tuned for artists and concept work; perpetual license w/ 12-month maintenance. Indie/Studio perpetual; Indie→Studio upgrade $125 Paid NURBS · Concept/Hard-Surface Hard-surface concept, product design
Reallusion Character Creator Character creation and auto-rigging pipeline feeding iClone, Unreal, Unity, Blender, Omniverse. From $8.30/mo (3D Suite 365 $49.92/mo with iClone) Paid Character Pipeline · Auto-Rig Production-ready character pipelines
Reallusion iClone Real-time character animation and cinematic creation; pairs with Character Creator. $59/mo or $199/yr (perpetual $599) Paid Real-time · Character Anim Real-time previs, indie cinematics
SketchUp Architectural and interior-design-oriented 3D modeler. Go $10.75/mo, Pro $33.25/mo, Studio $68.25/mo (annual) Paid Arch-Viz · Easy Learning Curve Architecture, interior design
Style3D 3D garment design and cloth simulation. Clo3D/Marvelous competitor with FBX/OBJ export to standard CG pipelines. Subscription Paid Fashion · Garment Sim 3D garment design, cloth simulation, fashion-to-CG pipeline
Substance 3D Modeler Adobe’s VR and desktop sculpting tool. $49.99/mo collection Paid VR Sculpt · Adobe Suite VR/desktop sculpting
Unreal MetaHuman Animator iPhone/HMC-driven facial performance capture targeting MetaHuman characters. Free with Unreal.   Free MetaHuman · Free w/ Unreal MetaHuman facial performance
ZBrush Industry-standard digital sculpting from Maxon. ~$27/mo annual Paid Industry Standard · iPad Version Sculpting, characters

Related:

CAD Software

Computer-aided design tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
AutoCAD Industry-standard 2D/3D CAD. $210/mo Paid Industry Standard · 2D/3D Drafting Architecture, engineering, drafting
Bitbybit Browser parametric CAD via visual nodes (Rete, Blockly) or Monaco code editor. OCCT, JSCAD, Manifold backends.   Freemium Browser · Parametric Parametric web CAD, generative geometry, 3D printing
BricsCAD AutoCAD-compatible DWG CAD; offers both perpetual and subscription licensing. Lite from €314; Pro $1,752 perpetual; Ultimate from €1,176/yr Paid DWG-Compatible · Cross-Platform DWG-compatible CAD on Mac/Linux
CATIA Dassault Systèmes CAD for aerospace and automotive.   Paid Aerospace · Automotive Aerospace, automotive
FreeCAD Free open-source parametric CAD.   Open Source Parametric · Open Source Parametric CAD, engineering
Fusion 360 Personal Autodesk’s CAD/CAM free for personal hobbyist use.   Free NC CAD/CAM · Personal Free Hobbyist CAD, 3D printing
LibreCAD Free open-source 2D CAD.   Open Source 2D CAD · Drafting 2D drafting
Onshape Free Cloud-based CAD with free hobbyist tier (public projects).   Freemium Cloud CAD · Collaborative Collaborative CAD, hobbyists
OpenSCAD Code-based CAD for parametric design.   Open Source Script-Based · Parametric Script-based CAD
PTC Creo Parametric mechanical CAD with simulation, generative design, and additive workflows. Quote-based; perpetual ~$2,200–$16,000; subs $200–$1,500/mo Paid Parametric CAD · Industry Standard High-end mechanical engineering
Rhino NURBS-focused 3D modeling for architecture and product design. $995 perpetual Paid NURBS · Grasshopper NURBS modeling, architecture
Shapr3D Touch-first parametric/direct CAD on iPad, Vision Pro, Mac, and Windows. Pro $299/yr Paid Touch-first · Cross-Platform Tablet-first concept and product CAD
Siemens NX High-end product engineering CAD/CAM/CAE; NX X is the cloud SaaS variant. Quote-based (perpetual, subscription, or token) Paid PLM · Industry Standard Enterprise PLM and engineering
SolidWorks Mechanical CAD for engineers. $2,820/yr Paid Mechanical CAD · Simulation Mechanical engineering
Solvespace Parametric 3D CAD modeling tool.   Open Source Parametric · Lightweight Lightweight parametric CAD

Related:

2D & Animation Software

Digital painting, illustration, 2D animation.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Aseprite Pixel art editor with animation tools (source on GitHub).   Open Source Pixel Art · Sprite Animation Pixel art, sprite animation, game assets
Autograph USD-based motion graphics, compositing, and VFX (After Effects alternative). Free for individuals incl. commercial use. Originally Left Angle, now Maxon.   Free USD · Free Commercial 2D/3D motion design and compositing
Cavalry Procedural 2D motion design (After Effects alternative). Free tier available.   Freemium Procedural · Data-Driven Data-driven motion graphics
Clip Studio Paint Industry-standard illustration and comics with animation timeline.   Paid Manga · Frame-by-Frame Manga, illustration, frame-by-frame animation
Clipnote Studio Simple animation software!   Free 2D Anim · Free Frame-by-frame 2D animation
DragonBones Open source 2D skeletal animation. Flash-origin workflow, runtimes for multiple engines.   Open Source Open Source · 2D Skeletal 2D skeletal animation (OSS)
Friction Free open-source motion graphics and 2D vector animation. After Effects-style workflow.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Inspiration		   Open Source Open Source · AE-alt Open-source motion graphics
GraphicsGale Pixel art and sprite animation tool (free).   Free Pixel Art · Free Pixel art/sprite animation
Krita Free open-source digital painting. Brush engine, animation, HDR.   Open Source Digital Painting · Animation Digital painting, concept art, 2D animation
LibreSprite LibreSprite is an open source fork of Aseprite.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Open Source    
Lightcube Pixel art editor for Windows w/ PSD, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF support.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid Windows · PSD Support Windows pixel art w/ PSD
Memao Sprite Sheet Creator Build your own pixel characters using ready-made art. Customize and export in seconds for any project.   Paid Pixel Art · Sprites Pixel character sprite sheets
Moho (Smith Micro) 2D vector and bone-rigged animation.   Paid Bone Rigging · Vector Animation Character animation, motion graphics
OpenToonz Studio Ghibli’s animation engine, open-sourced.   Open Source Ghibli Pipeline · Traditional 2D Traditional 2D animation
Pencil2D Free lightweight 2D animation.   Open Source Lightweight · Hand-drawn Simple hand-drawn animation
Pickle Pixel art editor.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid Pixel Art · Editor Pixel art editing
Pixa.Pics Browser pixel-art tool w/ vectorization.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Freemium Browser · Vectorization Browser pixel art
Pixel Composer (itch.io) Node-based 2D VFX and compositing for pixel art.   Paid Node-based · Pixel VFX Pixel art effects, game VFX
Pixelator Turn any image into pixel art.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid Image→Pixel · Conversion Image→pixel art
Pixelorama Free pixel art editor (made in Godot).
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Open Source Pixel Art · Godot-built Pixel art for games
PixelOver Convert artwork to pixel art with animation, bone rigging, and pixel-perfect transforms.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		 ~$20 (free demo) Paid Artwork→Pixel · Rigging Artwork → pixel art conversion
Pixen (GitHub) Pixel Art Editor for OSX
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Open Source    
Pixen (site) Paid, works on macOS and iOS. Superb OS integration, create pixel art on a tablet using pressure-sensitive drawing.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists		   Paid    
Pro Motion Paid with trial, works on Windows. Advanced features tailored to creating pixel art for games.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid    
Procreate IPad painting app. Procreate Dreams for animation.   Paid iPad-native · Storyboarding Mobile illustration, storyboards
PyxelEdit Pixel art editor for tilesets, levels, animations.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid Tilesets · Pixel Art Pixel art tilesets/levels
Rebelle 8 Pro Natural-media painting app simulating real watercolor, oil, acrylic, ink with fluid dynamics.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists		   Paid Natural Media · Watercolor Sim Realistic traditional-media digital painting
REXPaint Free ASCII art editor with layers, animation, and palette tools. Built for roguelike and terminal art.   Free ASCII Art · Roguelike ASCII art, roguelike mockups
Rive Interactive animation for apps and web.   Freemium Interactive · UI Animation UI animation, interactive graphics
Spine (Esoteric Software) 2D skeletal animation w/ mesh deformation, IK, skins/attachments. Runtimes for Unity/Unreal/Godot/web. Used on Cult of the Lamb, Return to Monkey Island, Tinykin.   Paid Skeletal · Game Runtimes Skeletal 2D animation for games
SpriteMancer 2D VFX and sprite animation.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid 2D VFX · Sprites 2D game VFX
Spriter Pro Modern tool for sprite animation (2D bone rigging).   Paid Sprite Animation · Paid 2D sprite animation
Synfig Studio Free open-source 2D vector animation.   Open Source Vector · Cutout Cutout/bone animation
Tahoma2D 2D and stop-motion animation (OpenToonz fork w/ modernized UI and features).   Open Source OpenToonz Fork · Stop Motion 2D / stop motion
TexturePacker Sprite sheet packing, multi-engine export.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX		   Paid Sprite Sheets · Multi-Engine Sprite sheet packing
Toon Boom Harmony Professional 2D animation (studio standard).   Paid Studio Standard · TV Animation TV animation, feature film
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro Industry-standard storyboarding software.   Paid Storyboarding · Animatics Pre-production, animatics

Related:

VFX & Compositing Software

VFX, compositing, and real-time simulation tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
After Effects Motion graphics and compositing.   Paid Motion Graphics · Adobe Suite Motion design, light VFX
Boris FX Optics Photo and film stylization plugin and standalone. Filters, grain, lens FX, color. $9.99/mo or $149/yr; perpetual $199 Paid Stylize · Lens FX Film/photo stylization
Boris FX Particle Illusion Standalone particle generator. Free version; Pro features available inside Continuum.   Freemium Free · Particle Library Quick particle FX library
Continuum Boris FX broadcast/post effects collection. Titles, particles, image restoration, color. $32–$112/mo; perpetual $365–$2,195 by host Paid Plugin Suite · Broadcast Broadcast finishing and titling
DaVinci Resolve Fusion Node-based compositing, free with Resolve.   Freemium Node-based · Free with Resolve Compositing, VFX
Effekseer Real-time VFX editor and runtime.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Real-time VFX · Games Game VFX particles
EmberGen Real-time volumetric fluid sim (fire, smoke, explosions).   Paid Real-time Sim · Fire/Smoke Game VFX, real-time effects
GeoGen (JangaFX) Real-time terrain generation.   Paid Terrain Gen · Real-time Game environments
IlluGen Real-time procedural node-based generator for tiling noise, normal maps, flowmaps, 3D FX meshes, caustics, masks, distortions.   Paid Real-time · Procedural Materials Real-time VFX and tech-art asset/material generation
KeenTools Face and geometry tracking plus FaceBuilder for Blender, Nuke, AE, Houdini.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 $18/mo or $179/yr per plugin (Studio $499/yr floating) Paid Face Tracking · VFX Face/geo tracking for VFX
LiquiGen Real-time liquid simulation.   Paid Real-time Sim · Liquids Game fluid effects
MadMapper Projection mapping software.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		   Paid Projection Mapping · Live Projection mapping
Magic Animator Web-based animation creator.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		   Freemium Web · Quick Anim Quick animated graphics
Mocha Pro Boris FX planar tracker for VFX. Roto, object removal, screen replacement, lens distortion.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities, Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 $48/mo or $325/yr; perpetual from $765 Paid Industry Standard · Planar Tracking Planar tracking, roto, screen replacement
Natron (community fork) Free open-source node compositor, Nuke-like.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Inspiration		   Open Source Node-based · Nuke-like Indie VFX compositing
Nuke (Foundry) Industry-standard compositing. Non-Commercial free version available.   Paid Industry Standard · Node-based Film VFX compositing
Red Giant Complete Maxon-owned VFX/motion suite. Trapcode, Magic Bullet, VFX Suite, Universe.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		 $85/mo or $639/yr Paid Plugin Suite · Motion Graphics Motion graphics and VFX in AE/Premiere/Resolve
Resolume Live visuals and VJ software.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		   Paid VJ · Live Visuals VJ, live visuals
Sapphire Boris FX 270+ VFX/transition plugins for AE, Premiere, Resolve, Nuke, Flame, Avid, OFX hosts. $80/mo or $545/yr; perpetual $1,865+ Paid Plugin Suite · VFX VFX and transition plugins across hosts
Silhouette Boris FX node-based roto/paint compositor with AI-driven matte tools.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 $165/mo or $875/yr; perpetual standalone $2,195 Paid Industry Standard · Roto/Paint Feature-film roto and paint
TOOLL3 Graph-based procedural real-time motion graphics for live performance or rendering.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Inspiration		   Open Source Real-Time · Procedural  
TouchDesigner Node-based real-time visual programming for interactive media, installations, and live visuals.
See also: Motion Graphics & Video → Motion Graphics: Tools & Utilities		   Freemium Real-time · Node-based Interactive installations, live visuals, projection mapping

Related:

Render Engines

Production render engines across CPU, GPU, biased, and unbiased path tracers.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
aerialod A free interactive path tracing renderer for height maps.   Free    
AMD Blender USD Hydra With Pixar’s USD system emerging as a tool for 3D graphics pipelines and interchange, this addon is meant to add first class support for USD and the USD Hydra rendering system to Blender.   Free USD · Blender USD Hydra in Blender
Arnold (Autodesk) CPU/GPU hybrid production renderer, bundled with Maya/3ds Max. With Maya/3ds Max sub Paid Film-grade · CPU/GPU Hybrid Film VFX, lighting
Corona (Chaos) CPU renderer for arch-viz and interiors. ~$30/mo Paid CPU-only · Interiors Arch-viz, interiors
Cycles CPU/GPU path tracer. Bundled free with Blender.   Open Source Open Source · Path-tracing General purpose
D5 Render Real-time GPU renderer for arch-viz. Free version available Freemium Real-time · Arch-Viz Arch-viz
Enscape Chaos real-time rendering plugin for Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, Vectorworks. Subscription only since mid-2025. Solo $574.80/yr; Premium $634.80/yr Paid Real-time · Archviz Plugin Real-time archviz inside CAD/BIM
Guerrilla Render Production renderer used on feature films.   Free Production · Free Film production
Indigo Renderer Glare Technologies unbiased GPU/CPU renderer with multi-GPU, denoising, and SSS. ~$650 perpetual full license Paid Unbiased · GPU/CPU Photoreal stills, archviz
Karma (SideFX) CPU/GPU USD-native renderer, bundled with Houdini. With Houdini license Paid USD-native · Houdini Film VFX, USD pipeline
KeyShot (Luxion) CPU real-time ray tracing for product visualization. $995+ perpetual Paid Product Viz · Real-time Product viz, industrial design
Krakatoa AWS Thinkbox volumetric particle renderer for 3ds Max and Maya; free + open source (Apache 2.0) since 2022.   Open Source Free OSS · Particles Volumetric particle rendering
Light Tracer Render Provides you with everything you need to create photorealistic renderings interactively, in both desktop Web browsers and Windows application.   Freemium    
Lumion Real-time architectural visualization renderer with cloud rendering bundled. View $229–$299/yr; Pro $1,149/yr; Studio $1,499/yr Paid Real-time · Archviz Real-time archviz
LuxCore Free open-source CPU/GPU unbiased renderer.   Open Source Open Source · Physically Accurate Physically accurate rendering
Marmoset Toolbag Real-time GPU renderer for game art and baking. $189 perpetual Paid Game Art · Baking Game art baking, presentation
Maxwell Render Next Limit unbiased physically-correct renderer; plugins for Studio, Rhino, SketchUp, C4D, Maya, 3ds Max, ArchiCAD, form·Z. Paid perpetual + maintenance Paid Unbiased · Photoreal Photoreal archviz and product viz
MoonRay DreamWorks’ open-source MCRT production renderer used on feature films.   Open Source DreamWorks · Open Source Open-source film production renderer
Octane (OTOY) GPU unbiased renderer with free tier. Free tier available Freemium GPU Unbiased · Photoreal Photoreal, arch-viz
Radeon ProRender Physically-based engine, product by AMD.   Free Renderer · Free AMD-backed PBR renderer
Radeon ProRender (AMD) AMD’s GPU path tracer, free and cross-vendor.   Free GPU-agnostic · Free Cross-platform, GPU-agnostic
Redshift (Maxon) GPU-biased production renderer. Included with Maxon One Paid GPU-biased · Production Production rendering, motion graphics
RenderMan (Pixar) Pixar’s CPU/GPU hybrid production renderer. Free for non-commercial.   Free NC Free NC · Pixar Pipeline Film production
Twinmotion (Epic) Real-time GPU renderer from Epic for arch-viz. Free version available Freemium Real-time · Epic Games Arch-viz
V-Ray (Chaos) CPU/GPU hybrid renderer for arch-viz and product viz. ~$60/mo Paid Arch-Viz · Industry Standard Arch-viz, product viz

Related:

Video Editing Software

NLEs and post-production software.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Apple Compressor Encoding and delivery companion app for Final Cut Pro. $49.99 perpetual Paid FCP Encode · Mac FCP encode/deliver
Apple Motion Motion graphics app and FCP template authoring tool from Apple. $49.99 perpetual Paid FCP Companion · Mac FCP motion graphics + titles
Avid Media Composer Long-standing film/TV finishing NLE. Standard for collaborative editorial in features and broadcast post. From $23.99/mo (Ultimate $79.99/mo) Paid Industry Standard · Film/TV Film and TV editorial
Avidemux Simple OSS cut/filter/encode tool. Not a full NLE.   Open Source Open Source · Utility Quick cuts + reencodes
CapCut Desktop ByteDance’s free desktop/mobile editor, dominant in social workflows.   Freemium Free · Social-first Social/short-form editing
Clipchamp Microsoft’s browser editor bundled with Windows 11.   Freemium Bundled w/ Windows · Browser Quick Windows editing
DaVinci Resolve Free professional editing, color grading, Fusion, Fairlight audio.   Freemium Free Pro · Full Post Pipeline Color grading, editing, full post pipeline
DaVinci Resolve Studio Paid Resolve with neural engine, advanced noise reduction, HDR grading, and multi-user collaboration. $295 perpetual Paid Pro Tier · One-time Buy Full pro post pipeline w/ collaboration
Descript Transcript-driven video and podcast editor. Edits by editing the text. Free / $15/mo Creator / $30/mo Pro Freemium Transcript Edit · Podcast Podcast and talking-head editing
Filmora Wondershare beginner-friendly editor; watermarked free tier. ~$80/yr Freemium Beginner · Templates Beginner editing
Final Cut Pro Apple-native NLE with magnetic timeline.   Paid Mac-only · Magnetic Timeline Mac-based editing
GoZen Free open-source video editor built with Godot (alpha).   Open Source Godot-built · Alpha Lightweight editing, Godot integration
HitFilm Artlist-owned editor + VFX combo. Free tier plus Pro paid version. Free / $7.99/mo Pro Freemium Editor + VFX · Free Tier Editor + VFX in one app
iMovie Apple’s free consumer editor for macOS and iOS/iPadOS.   Free Free · Apple Consumer Mac/iOS editing
Kdenlive Free open-source NLE.   Open Source Open Source · Cross-Platform Linux/cross-platform editing
Lightworks Pro NLE with free tier (1080p export) and paid Pro/Create tiers. Used on feature films historically. Free / $9.99/mo Create / $23.99/mo Pro Freemium Free Tier · Pro NLE Pro NLE on a budget
OBS Software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content efficiently.   Open Source Capture · Open Source Screen capture and streaming
OpenShot Award-winning free and open-source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.   Open Source Open Source · Beginner-Friendly Cross-platform beginner editing
Premiere Elements One-time-purchase consumer Premiere variant. ~$99 perpetual Paid One-time Buy · Consumer Consumer Adobe editing without subscription
Premiere Pro Industry-standard NLE from Adobe.   Paid Industry Standard · Adobe Suite Broadcast, film editing
Shotcut Free open-source video editor.   Open Source Lightweight · Beginner-Friendly Quick edits, beginners
VEED Browser editor with auto-subtitles, AI tools, and screen recording. Free / $12/mo Lite / $24/mo Pro Freemium Browser · Auto-Subs Browser-based quick edits + subtitles
Vegas Movie Studio Consumer/prosumer Vegas variant for hobbyist editing. ~$79 perpetual Paid Consumer · Windows Hobbyist Windows editing
Vegas Pro Magix Windows NLE with track-based timeline, HDR, and AI-assisted tools. From $19.99/mo (perpetual $599) Paid Windows Pro NLE · Track-based Windows-only pro editing
VSDC Free Video Editor Windows non-linear editor, free + Pro tier.   Freemium Free · Windows Free Windows editing

Related:

Audio Software

Audio editing, mixing, sound design, and SFX generation.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Ableton Live Session and arrangement DAW. Standard for electronic music and live performance. Intro $99 / Standard $439 / Suite $749 Paid Electronic Std · Live Electronic music + live
Adobe Audition Professional audio workstation.   Paid Audio Restoration · Adobe Suite Podcast, sound design, restoration
Ardour OSS multitrack DAW.   Open Source Open Source · GPL Free multitrack DAW
Audacity Free open-source audio editor and recorder.   Open Source Open Source · Recording Voice recording, SFX editing, podcast
Bfxr Retro and chiptune SFX generator (browser and desktop).   Open Source Retro/8-bit · Generator 8-bit game sound effects
Bitwig Studio DAW with deep modular Grid synthesis engine.   Paid Modular Grid · Cross-Platform Modular DAW
Cakewalk by BandLab Full Sonar successor, free on Windows.   Free Free · Windows Free Windows DAW
Cubase Steinberg DAW with strong MIDI and scoring.   Paid Steinberg · MIDI/Scoring MIDI/scoring DAW
Dolby Atmos Renderer Reference Dolby Atmos production renderer.   Paid Atmos · Reference Reference Atmos production
FabFilter Pro Suite Pro EQ, compressor, reverb, and limiter plugins (Pro-Q, Pro-L).   Paid Pro Plugins · Mixing Pro mixing/mastering plugins
Fairlight Professional audio built into DaVinci Resolve.   Freemium Film Post · Free with Resolve Film audio post, Foley
FL Studio Pattern-based DAW with lifetime free updates. From $99 Paid Lifetime Updates · Pattern DAW Pattern-based production
Flux Spat Revolution IRCAM-derived object-based spatializer for immersive mixing.   Paid IRCAM · Spatial Object-based spatial mixing
FMOD Industry-standard adaptive audio. Free for indie <$200k.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Audio Middleware		   Freemium Industry Standard · Indie-Free Adaptive game audio
FotoSketcher Windows freeware that converts photos to sketch, painting, and pastel renders. Batchable.   Free Freeware · Photo Stylize Quick stylize batches
GameSynth (Tsugi) Node-based procedural SFX generator for games.   Paid Procedural SFX · Games Procedural game SFX
iZotope RX Industry-standard audio restoration suite. From $399 Paid Audio Repair · Industry Std Audio repair/restoration
Krotos Performance-driven foley and monster vox plugins (Reformer, Dehumaniser).   Paid Foley · Creature Vox Foley + creature sound
LMMS Free FL-style DAW, cross-platform.   Open Source Open Source · FL-style Free FL-style production
Logic Pro Apple pro DAW for macOS and iPad. $199.99 perpetual (Mac) / $4.99/mo (iPad) Paid Apple · macOS macOS pro DAW
Max/MSP (Cycling ‘74) Visual patcher for audio, MIDI, and video (Jitter).   Paid Visual Patcher · Cycling 74 Pro visual DSP/multimedia
Pro Tools Industry standard for post-production audio mixing and finishing. From $9.99/mo (Studio $34.99/mo, Ultimate $99/mo) Paid Industry Standard · Post Mixing Audio post mixing/finishing
Pure Data (Pd) Open-source visual programming environment for audio, MIDI, and multimedia.   Open Source Visual DSP · BSD Visual DSP patching
Reaper Full DAW with $60 personal license. $60 personal license Paid Full DAW · Affordable Music production, sound design
Sonic Pi Code-based music livecoding environment, education-friendly.   Open Source Livecoding · Education Livecoding music education
Sound Particles CGI-style 3D sound design with thousands of simultaneous sources. Big in immersive/film audio.   Paid 3D Sound · Immersive 3D sound design
Soundly Desktop SFX platform with curated library and local library management. Free tier (3000+ sounds), Pro $14.99/mo Freemium SFX Library · Desktop SFX browsing, sound library management
Steam Audio Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Audio Middleware		   Free Spatial Audio · Valve Free Spatial game audio
Strudel Browser TidalCycles port (JS).   Open Source Browser · Tidal Port Browser pattern livecoding
Studio One PreSonus drag-flow DAW.   Paid PreSonus · Drag Workflow Modern drag-flow DAW
SuperCollider Server-based audio synthesis and livecoding language.   Open Source Livecoding · GPL Algorithmic synthesis + livecoding
TidalCycles Haskell-based pattern livecoding for algoraves.   Open Source Algoraves · Pattern Pattern-based livecoding
VCV Rack Open-source Eurorack modular synthesizer emulator. Free core; paid Pro and premium modules. Free core / $149 Pro Open Source Modular Synth · Eurorack Software modular synthesis
Wavewright Modular music sandbox inspired by analog synthesizers (Early Access).   Free Modular Synth · Early Access Sound design, music experimentation
Wwise AAA audio middleware with free tier.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Audio Middleware		   Freemium AAA · Free Tier AAA game audio

Design Software

UI/UX, vector, raster design apps.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Adobe Express Quick Adobe design tool.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Freemium Web · Adobe Quick design
Adobe Illustrator Industry-standard vector graphics editor; available on iPad.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 $22.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Vector Vector illustration, logos, layout
Adobe InDesign Page layout and publishing for print and digital.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 $20.99/mo annual single-app Paid Industry Standard · Layout Editorial layout and publishing
Adobe Photoshop Industry-standard raster image editor and compositor; available on iPad.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 Single App $22.99/mo; Photography Plan $19.99/mo Paid Industry Standard · Raster Photo editing, matte painting, texture work
Affinity Unified vector, photo, and layout app. Free, by Canva.   Free Free (Canva) · Vector + Raster Illustration, photo editing, page layout
ArcBrush Node-based non-destructive image editor for generating asset variants and export formats; optional credit-based AI features.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Freemium Node-based · Non-destructive Node-based batch image editing
Clip Studio Paint Manga, comic, and illustration app with strong inking and animation toolset.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 PRO from $0.99/mo or $26.99/yr; EX from $2.49/mo or $76.99/yr Paid Manga/Comics · Illustration Manga, comics, illustration, 2D animation
Eagle Visual asset organizer.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Paid Asset Organizer · Visual Asset organization
Figma Collaborative UI/UX design with free tier.   Freemium Collaborative · UI/UX UI design, prototyping, design systems
FontLab 8 Professional font editor.   Paid Font Editor · Pro Type design, font editing
GIMP Free open-source image editor.   Open Source Open Source · Photoshop-alt Texture editing, photo manipulation
Google Drawings Free browser-based diagramming and simple vector tool. Collaborative.   Free Browser · Collaborative Quick diagrams, collaborative sketches
Graphite Open-source 2D vector and raster graphics editor with procedural node-based workflow. In active development.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Open Source Procedural · Open Source Procedural design, non-destructive vector
Inkscape Free open-source vector editor.   Open Source Vector · SVG SVG editing, illustration
Krita Free open-source digital painting app from KDE; v5.3 and v6.0 shipped March 2026.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Open Source Free OSS · Painting Digital painting, concept art
Lunacy Free graphic design app from Icons8. Native Sketch file support, built-in icons/illustrations/photos, AI tools.   Free Sketch-alt · Free UI design, Sketch file editing on Win/Linux
Microsoft Paint Built-in Windows raster editor. Now ships with layers, transparency, and Cocreator AI.   Free Windows-native · Lightweight Quick raster edits, mockups
Modyfi Browser-based creative suite.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		   Freemium Browser Suite · Creative Creative suite in browser
Origami Studio Free interaction design and prototyping tool by Meta. Patch-based logic, Figma import.   Free Prototyping · Meta Interaction prototyping, motion specs
Paint.NET Free Windows raster editor with layers, plugins, and unlimited undo. Sits between Microsoft Paint and Photoshop.   Free Windows-native · Layers Quick raster edits, texture tweaks, photo touch-ups
Penpot Open-source design platform. Native SVG/CSS/HTML output. Cloud-hosted or self-host. Figma alternative.   Open Source Open Source · Figma-alt Open-source collaborative UI/UX design
Picsart Photo and video editor with AI tools. Web, mobile, and desktop.   Freemium AI Tools · Mobile Quick edits, social content, AI photo tools
Pixelmator Full-featured image editing app for the Mac.   Paid Mac-native · Image Editor Mac image editing
PixiEditor Universal 2D graphics editor. Procedural graphics w/ node graph, image editing, vectors, pixel art, animations.   Open Source Unified · Node-based Unified 2D editor
PowerPoint Microsoft presentation app. Used as a quick-draft motion/layout tool for storyboards and diagrams.   Paid Presentations · Microsoft Presentations, quick layout/storyboards
Procreate iPad-only digital painting app; one-time purchase, no subscription.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 $12.99 one-time Paid One-Time Purchase · iPad iPad illustration and painting
Sketch Mac-native UI/UX design tool with web previews and collaboration.
See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 Standard $12/editor/mo; Mac one-time $120/seat Paid UI/UX · Mac-native UI/UX design on Mac
Unicorn Studio Browser-based interactive scene and motion design for the web. No-code, exports to embed.   Freemium Web Motion · No-code Interactive web hero scenes, motion-driven landing pages
Vectorpea Free browser-based vector editor by Photopea team. Opens AI/SVG/PDF/EPS/CDR.   Free Browser · Illustrator-alt Quick vector editing in-browser

Related:

Viewers & File Utilities

Image, video, and 3D file viewers.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Connecter Free and visual creative assets management for 3d, AEC and design professionals. Free    
DJV Free professional image sequence viewer. Open Source Image Sequences · Film Pipeline EXR/DPX playback, film pipeline
f3d Fast 3D file viewer (glTF, STL, OBJ, USD, etc.). Open Source 3D Preview · USD Support Quick 3D file preview
fre:ac Free, open-source batch audio converter.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Conversion Tools		 Open Source Audio Batch · Open Source Batch audio conversion
glb.gallery Interactive 3D model gallery builder from GLB files, embeddable. Freemium Embeddable · GLB 3D portfolio, model showcase
HandBrake Free, open-source H.265/AV1 video encoder.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Conversion Tools		 Open Source H.265/AV1 · Open Source Video encoding
Luminance HDR HDR workflow. Merge brackets, tonemap, convert EXR/HDR/RGBE.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Conversion Tools		 Open Source HDR Workflow · EXR HDR workflow
mrViewer Image sequence and EXR viewer. Open Source EXR Viewer · VFX Pipeline VFX pipeline review
OpenEXR Viewer Official EXR tools. Open Source Official EXR · ASWF EXR inspection
OpenRV Open-source media review and playback player. Foundation of Autodesk RV, donated to ASWF. Open Source Review Player · ASWF Sequence review, dailies playback
Shutter Encoder FFmpeg GUI with professional presets.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Conversion Tools		 Free FFmpeg GUI · Pro Presets Pro video encoding GUI
XnConvert Batch image converter, 80+ actions.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Conversion Tools		 Free Batch · 80+ Actions Batch image conversion
XnView MP Free image viewer and converter (500+ formats). Free Batch Convert · 500+ Formats Batch conversion, texture browsing
xStudio Open-source playback and review tool by DNEG. Notes, sessions, and pipeline integration for dailies. Open Source Review Player · ASWF Dailies review, annotation

Game Engines: Free & Open Source

Free and open-source game engines.

Software Description License Tags Best For
A Frame An easy web framework for building 3D/AR/VR experiences. Open Source WebXR · JavaScript Web AR/VR experiences
Armory3D Blender-integrated Haxe game engine. Open Source Blender-Integrated · Haxe Blender-integrated game engine
axys A fork of Cocos2d-x-4.0, it has Full Support OpenAL for all platforms, single texture multi GPU texture handler and C++ 17. Open Source    
Babylon.js JavaScript 3D engine/framework for browser games and apps.   Browser · JavaScript Browser 3D apps/games
Bevy Rust data-driven ECS game engine. Open Source Rust · ECS ECS architecture, data-driven games
Blend4Web JavaScript framework for interactive 3D in browsers. Blender integration.   Browser · Blender Integration Browser 3D from Blender
Blitz3D 3D BASIC-like programming language for fast 3D desktop games. Open Source BASIC · Legacy BASIC 3D desktop games
Ceramic Haxe cross-platform 2D framework. Exports to Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, HTML5/WebGL, Unity.   Haxe · Cross-Platform 2D 2D cross-platform (Haxe)
Cocos Creator TypeScript mobile/web game engine. Open Source Mobile/Web · TypeScript Mobile/web games (huge in China)
Cocos2d X C++ OpenGL 2D/3D engine with JS and Lua bindings. Targets all major mobile and desktop platforms. Open Source C++ · Mobile Cross-platform 2D/3D mobile games
CopperCube CopperCube is an all-in-one 3D game engine. Very easy to use. Free No-Code · All-in-One No-code 3D games
Dash A free and open 3D game engine written in D. Open Source D Language · Niche D-language 3D
Defold Lua-based 2D mobile game engine by King. Open Source 2D Mobile · King (Candy Crush) 2D mobile games
Diligent Engine Modern cross-platform low-level graphics library supporting D3D11/12, OpenGL/GLES, and Vulkan. Open Source Low-Level · Multi-API Low-level cross-API graphics
Ebitengine Go 2D game engine. Open Source Go · 2D Simple 2D games
Flax Engine High-fidelity 3D engine. Free for small studios. Open Source High-Fidelity · C# + C++ High-fidelity 3D, free for small studios
FNA C# XNA reimplementation for ports. Open Source XNA Port · Shipping Games XNA reimplementation for ports
Folded Paper Engine Blender-to-Godot game mechanics engine/plugins. 2.5D/FPS/TPS controls, triggers, inventory, holdable items. Open Source Blender-to-Godot · No-Code Blender-Godot mechanics
Fusee A multiplatform 3D C# real-time engine with strong emphasis on content transformation. Open Source C# · Multiplatform C# multiplatform 3D
Fyrox Rust 3D engine with scene editor. Open Source Rust · Scene Editor 3D games with scene editor
gameplay A free, open-source, cross-platform, 2D + 3D game framework written in C++. It is aimed towards indie game developers who are creating desktop and mobile games. Open Source    
Godot 4 MIT-licensed 2D/3D engine. GDScript, C#, C++. Open Source MIT-licensed · 2D + 3D 2D/3D indie games, MIT-licensed
Harfang 3D C++ 3D visualization library usable in Python, Lua, and Go. Open Source C++ · Visualization 3D visualization
Heaps.io Haxe engine. Dead Cells, Northgard. Open Source Haxe · Dead Cells Shipping 2D/3D indie games
Irrlicht Open source high-performance realtime 3D engine (C++).   C++ · Classic Engine C++ realtime 3D (classic)
jMonkeyEngine 3 3D open-source game engine for Java developers. Open Source Java · 3D Java 3D games
JPCT 3D engine for desktop Java and Android. Free Java · Android Java/Android 3D
Juno Framework for making 2D games with chunky pixels in Lua. Open Source Lua · Pixel Art Pixel-art 2D in Lua
Leadwerks Easy-to-learn game engine for 3D and VR. Free Beginner-Friendly · VR Beginner 3D/VR
Love2D Lua 2D game framework. Open Source Lua · Jam-Friendly 2D prototyping, game jams
LumixEngine 3D game engine built on C++. Open Source C++ · Lightweight C++ 3D engine
Lums 2D/3D framework written in C++11. Efficient and modern. Heavy development. Open Source C++11 · WIP Modern C++11 framework
Macroquad Rust minimal 2D/3D with WASM support. Open Source Rust · WASM Minimal 2D/3D, WASM support
Magnum (site) Lightweight modular 2D/3D graphics/game engine written in C++11. Open Source C++11 · Modular Lightweight modular C++ graphics
MonoGame C# XNA successor (Celeste, Stardew Valley). Open Source XNA Successor · C# XNA successor
Neo Axis Engine Integrated development environment with built-in 3D and 2D game engine. Open Source IDE-Integrated · C# Integrated 2D/3D IDE
O3DE AAA-grade Linux Foundation open-source engine. Open Source AAA-grade · Linux Foundation AAA-grade, Linux Foundation
Ogre Open source graphical rendering engine (C++). Open Source C++ · Rendering Engine C++ rendering engine
Overload 3D game engine with editor. Open Source C++ · Editor 3D engine with editor
Panda3D Python-based 3D engine (originated at Disney VR Studio, now CMU ETC).   Python · Disney Origin Python 3D games
Pixel Vision 8 Teaches retro game development with streamlined workflows. 8-bit fantasy console. Open Source Fantasy Console · 8-bit 8-bit fantasy console
PixiJS Newcomer HTML5 game renderer - first released in early 2013. A main appeal of the engine is its use of WebGL for faster performance. If WebGL isn’t supported, the engine falls back to standard Open Source    
Raylib Minimal C library for learning game programming. Open Source Library (not engine) · C Learning game programming, no engine overhead
Screen 13 Easy-to-use Vulkan rendering engine with render graph for Rust. Open Source Rust · Vulkan Rust Vulkan rendering
Solar2D Lua 2D mobile framework (formerly Corona SDK). Open Source 2D Mobile · Lua 2D mobile games
SpriteBuilder Open source game development suite for macOS.   Mac-only · 2D 2D games on Mac
Stride C# 3D game engine (formerly Xenko). Open Source C# · 3D 3D games
Superpowers HTML5 Collaborative 2D/3D Game Maker Open Source games · opensource-alt  
Three.js JavaScript 3D library. The standard for web 3D.   Browser · Standard JS 3D Web 3D graphics (broad)
Torque3D C++ engine with decades of Torque technology lineage.   C++ · Legacy C++ game engine
UPBGE (GitHub) Integrated game engine in Blender. Open Source Blender-Integrated · Python Blender-integrated game engine
UPBGE (site) Open-source 3D game engine forked from old Blender Game Engine, deployed with Blender itself. GitHub Open Source    
Urho3D Cross-platform rendering and game engine. Open Source C++ · Cross-Platform Cross-platform 2D/3D
ursina A game engine powered by Python and Panda3D. Open Source Python · Prototyping Easy Python game prototyping
Whitestorm.js (GitHub) 3D JavaScript framework for building apps and games. Open Source JavaScript · Browser Browser 3D apps
Wonderland Engine WebXR-focused engine with visual editor. Targets VR, AR, and standard browser 3D. Free for indies. Freemium WebXR · Editor WebXR apps, browser VR/AR

Related:

Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers

Commercial engines with generous free tiers.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Construct 3 Browser-based no-code 2D engine with visual scripting. Freemium No-code · Browser No-code 2D games, browser-based
CryEngine High-fidelity 3D engine, pay-what-you-want. Freemium High-Fidelity · PWYW High-fidelity 3D
Evergine Enterprise-focused graphics engine for 3D business and industry applications. Open Source Enterprise · Industrial Enterprise 3D apps
GameMaker GML-based 2D engine (Undertale, Hotline Miami). Freemium 2D Focus · Indie Proven 2D games
GDevelop Open-source event-based no-code 2D. Open Source No-code · Open Source Open-source no-code 2D
PlayCanvas JavaScript browser-based 3D engine. Freemium Browser-Based · JavaScript Browser-based 3D games
Ren’Py Python visual novel engine (industry standard). Open Source Visual Novels · Industry Standard Visual novels
RPG Maker MZ JavaScript-based RPG creation. Paid RPG Focus · JavaScript RPG creation
SceneKit Apple proprietary 3D game engine (available on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and watchOS). Free Apple-Native · Proprietary Apple ecosystem 3D games
Unbound SDF-based game development platform. Non-destructive real-time editing, Lua 5.3 scripting, FBX/glTF export. Early Access. Freemium SDF-Native · Early Access SDF-native game creation
Unity Cross-platform engine with massive asset store ecosystem (current major release Unity 6). Freemium Cross-Platform · XR Mobile, AR/VR, cross-platform
Unreal Engine 5 AAA engine from Epic. Free until $1M revenue, then royalty. Freemium AAA · Virtual Production AAA, film, virtual production

Material & Texture Creation Software

Material authoring, texture baking, and PBR painting tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Agama Materials Software for creating PBR materials and painting 3d models. You can create materials and use them for painting models, or you can use pre-made textures.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Paid    
ArmorPaint Open-source texture painting.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Open Source Open Source · Painter-alt OSS texture painting
AwesomeBump Generate normal, height, specular or ambient occlusion textures from a single image.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Open Source    
Filter Forge Node-based filter editor with library of thousands of textures and photo effects; standalone or Photoshop/Affinity plugin.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Paid Procedural · PS Plugin Procedural textures and photo filters
Game Texture Viewer Fast, reliable, and simple tool for viewing PBR texture sets.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free    
Live Normal An Android and iOS app for generating materials on the go. You take a photo, and Live Normal creates a tile-able texture and generates texture maps ready for a PBR engine of your choice.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Freemium    
Mari Foundry’s high-resolution 3D texture painting app, film-VFX standard for hero assets.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		 Indie perpetual $149; Individual $299/yr; Studio $1,289/yr Paid Industry Standard · Hero Texturing Film-VFX texture painting at hero resolution
Material Maker Open-source procedural texture generator (Substance Designer alternative).
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Open Source Open Source · SD Alternative Procedural PBR materials, free
Materialize Free texture map generation from a single image.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free Free · Map Generation Generating normal/height/AO maps
Quixel Mixer Create photorealistic, tileable, materials in seconds with mixing and painting.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free    
Substance Designer Node-based procedural texturing.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Paid Procedural · Industry Standard Procedural PBR materials
Substance Painter Industry-standard 3D texture painting with smart materials.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Paid Industry Standard · PBR Painter 3D texture painting
Texelpaint3D Paint directly on 3D model faces without UV unwrapping. 1-pixel-per-triangle workflow.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free No-UV · Early Access UV-free 3D painting
TextureLab Tool designed to make procedural texture generation.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free    
xNormal Free high-poly to low-poly baking (normals, AO, cavity).
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Material Creation Tools		   Free Baking · Free Texture baking

Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

Photogrammetry, structure-from-motion, and 3D scanning apps.

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DF Zephyr Free lite version (up to 50 photos).
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Freemium Free Lite · 50 Photos Lite photogrammetry
3DF Zephyr Free Free version of 3DF Zephyr photogrammetry software for personal use. It comes with some limitations.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Free Free · Personal Use Free photogrammetry
Agisoft Metashape Professional photogrammetry with GIS features.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Paid GIS Features · Pro Pro photogrammetry + GIS
CloudCompare A 3D point cloud (and triangular mesh) processing software. Open-source and designed for visualizing and editing LiDAR and photogrammetry data. Good for alignment, meshing, cleanup, segmentation, a
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Open Source Open Source · Point Cloud Point cloud and mesh processing
COLMAP A general-purpose Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS) pipeline with a graphical and command-line interface.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Open Source Photogrammetry · Open Source Photogrammetry SfM/MVS reconstruction
KIRI Engine Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Freemium Cross-platform · Mobile Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry
Learning Object-Compositional Neural Radiance Field for Editable Scene Rendering Yang et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		   nerf · scene-editing  
Meshroom (AliceVision) Free, open-source photogrammetry. Node-based, GPU-accelerated.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Open Source Open Source · Node-based Open-source photogrammetry
MicMac Free open-source photogrammetric suite that can be used in a variety of 3D reconstruction scenarios.
See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Blender: Plugins & Addons		 Open Source    
Open Scan Tools A collection of open-source tools for photogrammetry, depth-sensing, and 3D reconstruction workflows. Nice rendering options for xray style.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Open Source Open Source · Toolkit Open-source scan toolkit
PCL (Point Cloud Library) Large-scale open project for 2D/3D image and point cloud processing.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Open Source Point Clouds · Open Source Point cloud processing
Polycam Mobile photogrammetry (iOS LiDAR + photo, Android photo). Cloud processing.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Freemium Mobile · LiDAR Mobile photogrammetry
Postshot Desktop Gaussian Splatting tool. Train, clean, edit, export.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Freemium Desktop · Splat Editor Desktop Gaussian splat
Quixel Megascans World’s largest photogrammetry 2D and 3D asset library. Now it is free for the Epic Games accounts (only UE projects).
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Free Asset Library · Epic Games Photogrammetry asset library
RealityCapture Fast, high-quality photogrammetry (now Epic Games). PPI pricing.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Freemium Epic Games · High-Quality Production photogrammetry
Scaniverse (Niantic) Free mobile scanning, Gaussian splat support.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		 Free Free Mobile · Gaussian Splat Mobile scan, Gaussian splat
SINE: Semantic-driven Image-based NeRF Editing with Prior-guided Editing Field Bao et al., CVPR 2023| github | bibtex
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning		   nerf · scene-editing  

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

3D camera tracking, matchmove, and lens-distortion tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DEqualizer High-end matchmoving (major VFX studios).
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 Paid High-End · Studio Standard High-end matchmove
fSpy Free, open-source single-image camera matching → Blender.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 Open Source Free · Blender Bridge Free single-image cam match
PFTrack Professional matchmoving, object tracking, mesh generation.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 Paid Matchmove · Pro Pro matchmove
SynthEyes Camera tracking with lens distortion solving.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking		 Paid Lens Distortion · Pro Camera tracking + distortion

Retopology & UV Software

Standalone retopology, remeshing, and UV unwrapping/packing tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3D Coat Sculpt, retopo, UV, and PBR paint suite from Pilgway. Voxel and surface sculpt, AUTOPO auto-retopo, manual quad retopo, UV unwrap, bake.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools		 ~$379 perpetual (Educational $99) Paid Sculpt + Retopo · PBR Paint Sculpt + retopo + UV + PBR paint in one app
AutoRemesher Open-source auto-retopology tool intended to convert source meshes into clean, animation-friendly all-quad geometry.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools		   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
Cozy Blanket iPad sculpt-to-retopo app. Clay sculpt plus auto-quad retopology for game/film topology, from Naam.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools		 ~$80 perpetual Paid iPad Sculpt · Auto Retopo iPad sculpt + auto-retopo
Headus UVLayout Standalone UV editor, flatten-based.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools		   Paid Flatten-based · Classic Flatten-based UV editor
Instant Meshes Free, open-source auto-retopology.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools		   Open Source Free · Auto Retopo Auto-retopology
RizomUV Fast UV unwrapping, auto-seam, auto-pack. Standalone or bridge.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools		   Paid Industry Standard · Standalone Fast pro UV unwrapping
Topogun Standalone retopology and baking.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools		   Paid Retopo + Bake · Classic Retopo + baking
UVPackmaster Advanced UV packing, UDIM support. Blender addon + standalone.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools		   Paid UDIM · Packing UV packing + UDIM
Valence 3D iPad UV unwrap and texture paint app from Naam. Pairs with Cozy Blanket for full iPad asset workflow.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools		 ~$30 perpetual Paid iPad UV · iPad Paint iPad UV + texture paint

Related:

Virtual Production Software

Virtual production, broadcast graphics, and real-time stage tooling.

Software Description License Tags Best For
ARwall LED virtual production stages and ARFX Pro plugin. Paid Indie VP · LED Stages Indie LED VP
Aximmetry Virtual production and broadcast compositor with Unreal integration. Free Community tier. Freemium Free Tier · Unreal Indie/community VP compositor
Brainstorm InfinitySet Virtual set and AR for broadcast. Paid Virtual Sets · AR Broadcast virtual sets
disguise Virtual production solutions.
See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production		 Paid LED Walls · Workflow LED wall virtual production
grandMA3 Industry-standard lighting control console and software for live shows, theatre, and broadcast. Paid Lighting Console · Show Control Stage lighting control, show programming
Notch Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production.
See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production		 Paid Live Events · Real-time Live events, real-time graphics
Pixotope Virtual production software.
See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production		 Paid VP Software · Real-time Virtual production
Vizrt Broadcast graphics.
See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production		 Paid Broadcast · Graphics Broadcast graphics
Zero Density Real-time VFX engine for broadcast and virtual production.
See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production		 Paid Real-time VFX · Broadcast Broadcast VP

Related:

Level Design & Map Editing Software

Standalone level editors and tile/grid map authoring tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
LDtk Modern 2D level editor by Dead Cells creator.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Open Source 2D Levels · Dead Cells Creator 2D level design
Mappy Free tilemap editor.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Free    
OGMO Editor 3 Generic level editor.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Open Source    
Sprite Fusion A free level design tool to craft beautiful 2D tilemaps right in your browser using any tileset.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Free    
Tiled General-purpose tilemap editor. TMX format.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Open Source Tilemap Editor · TMX Tilemap editing
TrenchBroom Quake-style level editor, great for blockouts.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Level Design		 Open Source Blockouts · Quake-style Blockouts, Quake-style levels

Related:

Pipeline & Production Management Software

Production tracking, render farm management, asset pipeline orchestration.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
build dynamic matchmaking with PubNub ~ epicgames [multiplayer].
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer		   Free    
5th Kind CORE Secure media and production management used on major features. Asset sharing + tracking.   Paid Secure Media · Feature Films Secure feature-film production mgmt
Anchorpoint Git/Perforce GUI built for artists. Handles large binary assets cleanly. Free / from $14/mo Freemium Git/Perforce GUI · Artist VCS Artist-friendly VCS frontend
Articy:draft Professional narrative design middleware.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Dialogue & Narrative		   Paid Middleware · Pro Professional narrative middleware
AYON (Ynput) Open-source VFX/animation pipeline platform; successor to OpenPype (archived).   Open Source Open Pipeline · VFX Studio Open-source studio pipeline
Cerebro Russian-origin production tracker with built-in messenger and review.   Paid Tracker + Chat · Studio Tool Tracker + messenger combo
CGAL A software project that provides easy access to efficient and reliable geometric algorithms in the form of a C++ library.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Geometry Lib · Open Source Computational geometry algorithms
CGRU CG tools pack that includes AFANASY, a free open-source render farm manager.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Open-source render farm
Cinesync Backlight synced remote review for distributed teams.   Paid Backlight · Synced Review Synced remote review
Coalition Render-farm manager from Mercenaries Engineering (makers of Guerilla Render).
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Guerilla-adjacent Small-studio render farm
Colorfront On-set dailies and transcode platform used on major features.   Paid On-Set Dailies · Feature Films On-set dailies + transcode
Deadline (AWS Thinkbox) Render farm manager. Free since v10.1.23. Deadline 10 in maintenance mode (Nov 2025); AWS pushing managed Deadline Cloud.   Free Render Farm · Free On-prem render farm management
Diversion Cloud version control built for large binary art repositories. Free tier / paid plans Freemium Cloud VCS · Large Binaries Cloud binary VCS
Epic Online Services Free multiplayer, matchmaking, voice chat.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer		   Free Free EOS · Matchmaking/Voice Free multiplayer services
Filestage Generic creative review and approval workflow.   Paid Review Workflow · Generic Multi-format creative review
FilmLight Daylight Dailies and conform sibling of Baselight, from FilmLight.   Paid FilmLight · Dailies/Conform Dailies + conform
Flamenco (Blender render farm) Blender Foundation’s free render-farm manager.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
Flamenco (flamenco.io) From the Blender Foundation
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Blender Blender render farm
Foundry Katana Look-development and lighting orchestration tool for film/episodic VFX, scaling to massive scenes via deferred evaluation.
See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → 3D Lighting: Production		   Paid Industry Standard · Lookdev/Lighting Film lookdev and lighting at scale
Frame.io Adobe-owned review and collaboration platform for video and motion teams. Free / from $15/mo Freemium Adobe · Cloud Review Cloud review/approval
ftrack Production tracking.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Paid Production Tracking · Pro Production tracking
Gaffer (GafferHQ compositing) Gaffer is a great toolbox, it’s a VFX application that enables look developers, lighters, and compositors to easily build, tweak, iterate, and render scenes.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Look Dev · Open Source Look dev / lighting / compositing
Godot Game Tools Made easy importing mixamo animations. tools to ease the creation/import process of assets into Godot Game Engine and others.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		        
Golaem (Autodesk) Crowd simulation for Maya. Now bundled into Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection; built into Maya 2026. Bundled in Autodesk M&E Collection ($335/mo or $2,700/yr) Paid Crowd Sim · Maya Maya crowd simulation
Hansoft (Perforce) Agile PM for games and VFX studios.   Paid Perforce · Agile PM Agile PM for games/VFX
Houdini Engine (SideFX product) Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: AI & Procedural Generation		   Paid Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine Procedural pipeline in-engine
Kitsu (CGWire) Production tracker.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Open Source · Tracking Open-source production tracking
Massive AI-driven crowd simulation pioneered on Lord of the Rings; Massive Prime + plugins for Maya/Max.   Paid Industry Standard · Crowd Sim Feature-film crowd simulation
Medieval Fantasy City Generator This application generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size. City Viewer : is a 3d-visualizer for MFCD. See other generators from
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		        
Nakama Open-source game server (social, matchmaking, leaderboards).
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer		   Open Source Social Server · Matchmaking Social game server
Open3D Modern library for 3D data processing. Point clouds, meshes, voxels, reconstruction.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source 3D Data Processing · Open Source 3D data processing (Python/C++)
OpenCue (docs) Open-source render management.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Render farm management
OpenTimelineIO (site) (repo) - Editorial timeline.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Editorial · Open Source Editorial timeline interchange
Ornatrix (Ephere) Hair, fur, and feather plugin for 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, and Unreal.   Paid Grooming · Multi-Host Cross-host grooming
Pandora Open-Source Renderfarm-Manager.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Render Farm · Open Source Indie render farm management
Perforce Helix Core Industry standard for large assets (free ≤5 users).
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Version Control		   Freemium Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users Large-asset VCS
Photon Engine Cloud multiplayer (PUN, Fusion, Quantum SDKs).
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer		   Freemium Cloud Multiplayer · Unity/Unreal Cloud multiplayer
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control Artist-friendly binary version control.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Version Control		   Freemium Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated Artist-friendly VCS
Prism Pipeline Animation and VFX pipeline.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Freemium Pipeline · Free Core Indie/small studio pipeline
Royal Render Per-node render farm manager for VFX/animation pipelines.   Paid Render Farm · Studio Studio render farm management
SmartFoxServer 2X A SDK for rapidly developing multiplayer games and applications with Adobe Flash/Flex/Air, Unity, HTML5, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Android, Java, Windows 8, C++.
See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer		   Freemium    
Snowtrack Git-like version control aimed at artists.   Free Beta · Artist VCS Lightweight artist VCS
SyncSketch Autodesk browser-based review and annotation for animation and VFX. Free / from $17/mo Freemium Autodesk · Browser Review Browser review/annotate
TerraForge3D A procedural terrain generation and procedural modeling toolkit.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source    
Tik Manager (GitHub) Artist friendly asset and pipeline manager.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Open Source Pipeline · Open Source Asset/pipeline management for small teams
Tik Manager (site) Artist-friendly asset and pipeline manager.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		   Freemium Pipeline · Asset Mgmt Asset/pipeline management
Tractor (Pixar) Pixar’s render queue/dispatch system, bundled with RenderMan licensing.   Paid RenderMan · Render Farm RenderMan-centric farm dispatch
Visual Studio (Windows) Official supported IDE for Unity in Windows platform. Mac version here.
See also: Game Development → Unity Engine: Resources		   Freemium unity-plugin  
Yeti (Peregrine Labs) Maya plugin for fur, feathers, and procedural instancing.   Paid Grooming · Maya Plugin Hero grooms and procedural instancing in Maya

Related:

Misc 3D Utilities Software

Reference, scattering, simulation, and specialty 3D utilities.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Blockbench Free low-poly/voxel 3D modeler.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Free Low-poly · Voxel Low-poly / voxel modeling
darktable Open-source RAW photo editor for reference/texture processing.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source RAW Editor · Open Source RAW processing
Dust3D Open-source quick base mesh generation.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Base Meshes · Open Source Base mesh generation
Gaea Terrain generation tool (free community edition).
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Freemium Terrain Gen · Free Community Terrain generation
Gl Ch Ao S.P RealTime 3D Strange Attractors scout on GPU.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Strange Attractors · GPU  
Hesiod Free open-source node-based procedural terrain/heightmap generator.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Terrain Gen · Node-based Procedural terrain
IFS Renderer Free GPU-accelerated fractal renderer with HDR/EXR export.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Free Fractals · HDR/EXR Fractal rendering
JanusVR Webpages as collaborative 3D webspaces interconnected by portals.
See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → Rendering & Shader Theory		        
Lightmap HDR Light Studio Lighting software.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Paid HDR Lighting · Interactive Interactive HDR lighting
Massive Software Crowd simulation.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Paid Crowds · Pro Crowd simulation
MeshLab Open-source mesh processing, essential for photogrammetry cleanup.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Mesh Processing · Photogrammetry Mesh processing
OBS Studio Free screen recording/streaming. Essential for tutorials.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Recording · Streaming Screen recording, streaming
Photopea Free browser-based Photoshop alternative with full PSD support.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Free PSD · Browser Quick PSD editing
Pixie Pixie is a photorealistic renderer that uses a Pixar’s RenderMan-like interface.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source RenderMan-like · Renderer  
Plasticity (site) CAD-style modeling with artist-friendly UX.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Paid CAD-style · Artist UX CAD-style modeling for artists
Polygonjs Node-based WebGL design tool, used for procedural geometry, particles, materials
See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → Rendering & Shader Theory		        
PureRef Industry-standard reference board tool.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		 Pay what you want Freemium Industry Standard · PWYW Reference board
ShareX Free Windows screen capture with recording and annotation.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Screen Capture · Windows Screen capture, annotation
Storm HydroFX Fluid simulation.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Paid Fluids · FX Fluid simulation
tlRender Timeline render, is an early stage project for rendering editorial timelines.
See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		   Open Source Timeline · Editorial  
VNyan Take your 3d VTubing to the next level   Free VTubing · Free 3D VTubing

Scientific & Medical Visualization Software

Molecular, volumetric, medical, astronomy, CFD, GIS, and data viz tools — plus DCC bridges and educators.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
3D Slicer Medical image computing platform. Segmentation, 3D reconstruction, surgical planning.   Open Source Medical Imaging · Open Source Medical image segmentation
Ansys EnSight Large-dataset CFD/CAE visualization.   Paid Ansys · Large Data Large CFD datasets
Avogadro Cross-platform chemistry builder and editor.   Open Source Chemistry · Educational Chemistry building
Discovery Studio Visualizer BIOVIA pharma-oriented molecular viewer. Free download.   Free Pharma · Free Pharma molecular viewing
Drishti ANU volume exploration and presentation tool.   Open Source Volume · Academic Volume rendering / presentation
FieldView Intelligent Light CFD visualization.   Paid CFD · Aerospace CFD visualization
Gaia Sky ESA Gaia mission 3D star explorer.   Open Source ESA Gaia · VR Gaia star catalog exploration
Google Earth Studio Browser animation tool over Google Earth imagery.   Free Earth Animation · Browser Earth-overlay animation
Horos Open DICOM viewer for macOS. OsiriX fork.   Open Source DICOM · Mac Mac DICOM viewing
ImageJ / Fiji Microscopy image analysis with 3D viewer plugins.   Open Source Microscopy · Plugins Microscopy + bioimage analysis
Inviwo Interactive Visualization Workshop. Node-graph scientific viz.   Open Source Node Graph · Academic Node-based scientific viz
ITK-SNAP Semi-automatic medical image segmentation.   Open Source Medical · Segmentation Medical segmentation
Jmol / JSmol Java/JS molecular viewer suitable for web embedding.   Open Source Web Embed · Java Web-embeddable molecule viewer
kepler.gl Uber’s WebGL geospatial data visualization.   Open Source WebGL · Geo Dataviz Geo dataviz
Mol* RCSB PDB’s WebGL molecular viewer, successor to NGL.   Open Source WebGL · RCSB PDB Web molecular viz
MolView Web-based molecule sketcher and 3D viewer.   Open Source Browser · Educational Browser molecule sketching
NASA Eyes Browser 3D solar system and mission explorer.   Free NASA · Browser NASA mission exploration
NGL Viewer WebGL molecular viewer, Jupyter-friendly.   Open Source WebGL · Jupyter Jupyter molecular viz
ParaView Kitware large-scale scientific visualization, VTK frontend.   Open Source Kitware · Large Data Large-scale scientific viz
PyMOL Python-scriptable molecular viewer. Industry standard for protein figures and animations. Open Source fork free / Schrödinger commercial license Mixed Molecular · Python Protein/molecule visualization
QGIS Open desktop GIS with 3D map view.   Open Source GIS · Open Source Open desktop GIS
SpaceEngine Procedural universe. Used by VFX teams for plates and reference. ~$25 perpetual Paid Procedural Universe · VFX Plates Procedural universe simulation
Stellarium Planetarium for desktop and web.   Open Source Planetarium · Free Sky simulation
Tecplot 360 CFD post-processing standard.   Paid CFD · Engineering CFD post-processing
UCSF ChimeraX UCSF next-gen molecular visualization with VR support. Replaces Chimera.   Free Academic · VR-ready Molecular viz + VR
Universe Sandbox Physics-based space sandbox. ~$30 perpetual Paid Physics · Education Physics-based astrophysics demos
VMD UIUC molecular dynamics trajectory visualizer.   Free Molecular Dynamics · Academic MD trajectory visualization
VolView Browser-based DICOM volume renderer (Kitware).   Open Source Browser · DICOM Browser DICOM volume
WorldWide Telescope Astronomy visualization with sky and 3D modes.   Open Source Astronomy · MIT Astronomy education
YASARA Molecular modeling and simulation suite. Free view-only, paid full versions.   Freemium MD + Viz · Commercial Molecular dynamics + viz

Related:

Software Reference: Legacy & Defunct

Historically significant 3D, VFX, rendering, and post software that is discontinued, sunset, or archival.

Software Description License Tags Best For
USAnimation / Toonz (legacy) Softimage → Digital Video → Dwango. Open-sourced as OpenToonz 2016. Ghibli’s pipeline. Open Source Now OpenToonz · Ghibli Ghibli pipeline lineage

Related:

AI Image & Texture Generation Software

AI image generation and AI texture/material generation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Adobe Firefly 3 Commercial-safe, deep Creative Cloud integration.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid Commercial-Safe · Adobe CC Commercial-safe Adobe workflows
Adobe Firefly Textures Prompt-to-edit texture workflows.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Paid Adobe · Prompt-to-Edit Adobe-integrated AI textures
Aga Miko/pixel Character Generator Generating retro pixel game characters with Generative Adversarial Networks. Dataset “TinyHero” included.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source    
Ashawkey/stable Dreamfusion A pytorch implementation of text-to-3D dreamfusion, powered by stable diffusion.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source    
ComfyUI Node-based AI generator for image/video/3D/audio.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → ComfyUI Ecosystem		 Open Source Node-based · Multi-modal Node-based AI workflows
DALL-E 3 (OpenAI) Text-to-image with strong semantic accuracy.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid OpenAI · Semantic Semantic accuracy
FLUX 1.1 Pro (Black Forest Labs) Production-grade open model plus Fill/Canny/Depth tools.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Production-Grade · Open Model Production-grade image gen
Google Gemini Image Gen High realism, fast, large-scale production.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Google · Realism Fast large-scale gen
Grok Aurora (xAI) Photorealistic image gen integrated into Grok.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid xAI · Photoreal Photorealism in Grok
HunyuanDiT (Tencent) Open-source DiT-based, strong Chinese text.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source Tencent · DiT Chinese text rendering
Ideogram 2.0 Best-in-class typography and text rendering, canvas mode.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Typography · Text Rendering Typography in images
InstaMAT Material authoring with AI workflows (Substance alternative).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Paid Substance-alt · AI Workflows AI-assisted material authoring
Jimeng / Dreamina (ByteDance) High quality, integrated with video pipeline.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium ByteDance · Video Pipeline Integrated image + video pipeline
Kolors (Kuaishou) Open-source, bilingual Chinese/English.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Bilingual Bilingual open model
Krea AI Real-time generation, upscaling, and style transfer platform.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Real-time · Upscaling Real-time + upscaling
Leonardo AI Real-time generation with artistic control.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Real-time · Controlled Controlled artistic generation
Meshy Textures Integrated with 3D pipeline.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Freemium Meshy Pipeline · Integrated Textures tied to Meshy 3D
Midjourney v7 Industry-leading artistic coherence and stylized output.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid Artistic · Subscription Artistic and stylized imagery
MusicGen Meta’s tool for generating music
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source    
Playground v3 Mixed-mode design canvas for graphic design.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Design Canvas · Mixed-mode Graphic design canvas
Poly AI-generated PBR textures and materials, tileable with full map sets.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Freemium AI PBR · Tileable AI PBR textures
Ponzu AI texture gen from text prompts for uploaded meshes.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Freemium Mesh-aware · Text→Tex Mesh-aware AI textures
Recraft V3 Design-oriented gen. Vector, icons, brand assets.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium Design Focus · Vector Design assets, vectors
Scenario Game-ready PBR materials, full map sets.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Texture & Material Generation		 Paid Game-Ready · Full Maps Game-ready AI materials
Snowpixel Generate Images/Videos/Animations/Audio/Music/3D Objects with Text and/or Image. Upload your own data to create custom models.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Freemium    
Stable Animation SDK Text-to-animation tool for developers by Stability AI [dev platform]
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid    
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Open-source diffusion (Large, Medium, Turbo sizes).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Self-Host Self-hosted image gen
UneeQ Digital Humans 3D character lib synced
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Image Generation		 Paid    

Related:

AI Video Generation Software

AI text-to-video and image-to-video generation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cog Video X Tsinghua/Zhipu open-source, multiple sizes.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Tsinghua Research open-source video gen
Genmo Mochi 1 Open-source video gen model.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Genmo Open-source video gen
Hailuo AI / MiniMax “Director” model. Strong motion and character consistency.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Director Model · Character Consist Directed motion
Haiper Ex-DeepMind team, animation and video-to-video modes.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Ex-DeepMind · V2V Video-to-video
HunyuanVideo 1.5 Open-source 8.3B params, runs on 14GB VRAM.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Open Source Open Source · 14GB VRAM Self-hosted video gen
Kling 3.0 Up to 5min clips, strong human motion. Motion Brush control.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium 5min Clips · Motion Brush Long clips, human motion
LTX Video Open-source, real-time generation speeds.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Real-time Real-time open-source video gen
Luma Dream Machine Fast generations with good camera motion.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Fast · Camera Motion Fast video gen
Pika 2.0 Extended video gen with improved consistency.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Extended Gen · Stylized Stylized video
PixVerse Style-specific modes (anime, 3D, realistic), character consistency.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Style Modes · Consistency Style-specific video gen
Runway Gen-4 Character consistency across shots, controllable camera.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium Character Consistency · Camera Control Character consistency
Sora (OpenAI) Up to ~20s clips with strong temporal coherence.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Paid OpenAI · 20s Clips Coherent video clips
Veo 3.1 (Google DeepMind) Top leaderboard, native audio, 60s+ clips.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Paid Top Leaderboard · Native Audio Top-quality video gen
Vidu 16s clips, strong human motion (Shengshu).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Freemium 16s · Human Motion Long human-motion clips
Wan 2.2 (Alibaba) Cinematic MoE diffusion, 8GB+ VRAM. Open source.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → Video Generation		 Open Source Open Source · MoE Diffusion Cinematic open-source video gen

AI 3D Generation Software

AI text-to-3D, image-to-3D, and 3D-asset generation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
3DTopia Open-source text-to-3D pipeline (coarse → refined).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Coarse→Refined · Open Source Text-to-3D open-source
InstantMesh Fast single-image-to-3D reconstruction.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Fast · Image→3D Fast image→3D
Kaedim Image-to-3D with hybrid AI plus artist cleanup for production quality.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Paid Hybrid AI+Artist · Production Production-quality via hybrid AI+artist
Luma Genie Text/image to 3D, integrated with Dream Machine.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium Luma · Integrated Luma-integrated 3D gen
Meshy v4 Production-reliable, improved topology and PBR textures.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium Production-Reliable · PBR Production-ready AI 3D
Rodin Gen-2 (Hyper3D) 10B params, photorealistic, free generation tier.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium 10B Params · Free Tier Photorealistic AI 3D
Sloyd Procedural 3D generation with parametric control.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium Procedural · Parametric Parametric procedural 3D
Spline AI Generate 3D objects and textures from text prompts in-editor.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium In-Editor · Text→3D In-editor AI 3D
Stability SPAR3D Open-source single-image 3D reconstruction.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Stability AI · Open Source Single-image open-source 3D
TRELLIS.2 (Microsoft) Full PBR materials, complex topologies.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Microsoft · PBR + Open Source PBR AI 3D (open source)
Tripo v3.0 Sculpture-level precision, clean quad topology.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Freemium Clean Quads · Sculpt-level Clean topology AI 3D
TripoSR Tripo/Stability collab. Fast open-source image-to-3D.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Open Source · Fast Fast open-source image→3D
Unique3D High-quality mesh from single image (NeurIPS 2024).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Single-Image · NeurIPS Single-image open-source 3D
Wonder3D++ Cross-domain diffusion, textured meshes in 2-3min.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → 3D Generation		 Open Source Fast · Textured Mesh Fast textured mesh gen

AI Audio & Music Generation Software

AI music, voice, and SFX generation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
ACE Studio AI singing voice synthesizer with expression control.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Freemium Singing · Expression AI singing synthesis
AIVA AI composition, good for orchestral/cinematic scoring.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Freemium Orchestral · Scoring Orchestral/cinematic scoring
DiffRhythm Open-source full-song gen with vocals from lyrics.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Open Source Open Source · Lyrics→Song Open-source song gen with vocals
ElevenLabs Voice cloning, narration, music generation.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Freemium Voice Cloning · TTS Voice cloning, TTS
F5 TTS Open-source zero-shot voice cloning TTS.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Open Source Zero-Shot · Voice Clone Zero-shot voice cloning
Fish Audio Open-source TTS with voice cloning, fast and multilingual.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Open Source Open Source · Multilingual Open-source TTS
Suno v5 Full song generation, 100M+ users.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Freemium Song Gen · 100M users Full song generation
Udio Strong electronic/pop, licensed for commercial use.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI Audio & Music		 Freemium Electronic/Pop · Commercial Commercial-licensed AI music

AI Motion Capture Software

Markerless and AI-driven motion capture and pose estimation tools.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Cascadeur Physics-based AI animation with AutoPosing. Unreal plugin.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Freemium Physics-based · AutoPosing Physics-based character animation
DeepMotion Game-ready character animation from video. BVH/FBX export.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Freemium Game-Ready · BVH/FBX Game-ready AI mocap
Free Mo Cap Free open-source motion capture system (traditional, not AI).
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Open Source Open Source · Mocap Open-source mocap
Live Link Face (Apple) Free facial mocap via iPhone into Unreal/Maya/Blender.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Free Free · iPhone Face Capture iPhone facial mocap
Move AI Highest-accuracy AI mocap with multi-camera triangulation.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Paid High Accuracy · Multi-Camera Multi-camera AI mocap
Plask Browser-based mocap with hand tracking and standard format export.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Freemium Browser · Hand Tracking Browser-based AI mocap
Rokoko Vision Free AI mocap from webcam or video.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Freemium Free Tier · Webcam/Video Free AI mocap
Viggle AI Character animation from video or image input.
See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation		 Freemium Video→Animation · AI AI character animation from input media

AI-Assisted CG Software

AI upscaling, cleanup, generative assist, and AI-powered DCC features.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Autodesk Flow Studio (Wonder Dynamics) AI VFX, auto CG characters in live footage, USD export.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Paid Auto CG Chars · USD Export AI CG characters in live plates
Blockade Labs Skybox AI AI-generated 360° skyboxes/HDRIs from text.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Freemium AI Skybox · 360° AI skyboxes/HDRIs
Gigapixel AI [$] : is the only photo enlargement product available that can actually add detail back to your upscaled photo.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Paid    
Magnific AI AI upscaler with “creativity” slider. Reimagines/adds detail (2-16x).
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Paid Creative Upscale · 2-16x Creative AI upscaling
Rosebud AI Vibe coding platform for creating 3D games and interactive web apps with AI.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Freemium AI Game Builder · Vibe Coding  
Topaz Photo AI / Video AI Best-in-class upscaling, denoising, sharpening.
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Paid Upscale · Denoise Upscale/denoise
Unity Muse Unity’s suite of AI products
See also: AI & Machine Learning for CG → AI-Assisted CG Tools		 Paid Unity AI Suite  

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read the guidelines before submitting a pull request.

Attribution

Sources & contributors Curated by [Devanshu Tak](https://devanshutak.xyz). Built with help from: - [Houdini Nerd](https://discord.gg/E9zA9Ft) by Christopher Rutledge - [Best 3D Resources](https://annethai.notion.site/) by Anne Thai - Community contributions via [GitHub](https://github.com/devanshutak25/3d-resources) - Compiled with the help of [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) **Automated ingest sources:** - [80 Level](https://80.lv) - [Gumroad](https://gumroad.com) - [itch.io](https://itch.io) - YouTube channels & playlists
GitHub awesome-lists mined (70) - [agarcialeon/awesome-unity](https://github.com/agarcialeon/awesome-unity) - [agmmnn/awesome-blender](https://github.com/agmmnn/awesome-blender) - [aishwaryanr/awesome-generative-ai-guide](https://github.com/aishwaryanr/awesome-generative-ai-guide) - [Alinshans/awesome-cg](https://github.com/Alinshans/awesome-cg) - [AtakanFire/Awesome-Unreal-Engine](https://github.com/AtakanFire/Awesome-Unreal-Engine) - [awesome-NeRF/awesome-NeRF](https://github.com/awesome-NeRF/awesome-NeRF) - [AxiomeCG/awesome-threejs](https://github.com/AxiomeCG/awesome-threejs) - [bcmi/Awesome-Generative-Image-Composition](https://github.com/bcmi/Awesome-Generative-Image-Composition) - [bcmi/Awesome-Image-Composition](https://github.com/bcmi/Awesome-Image-Composition) - [bertjiazheng/Awesome-CAD](https://github.com/bertjiazheng/Awesome-CAD) - [bluesfdw/awesome-CAD](https://github.com/bluesfdw/awesome-CAD) - [brabadu/awesome-fonts](https://github.com/brabadu/awesome-fonts) - [brandonhimpfen/awesome-generative-ai](https://github.com/brandonhimpfen/awesome-generative-ai) - [calinou/awesome-gamedev](https://github.com/calinou/awesome-gamedev) - [camilleroux/awesome-generative-art](https://github.com/camilleroux/awesome-generative-art) - [cgwire/awesome-cg-vfx-pipeline](https://github.com/cgwire/awesome-cg-vfx-pipeline) - [cjroth/awesome-vr](https://github.com/cjroth/awesome-vr) - [Coop56/awesome-unreal](https://github.com/Coop56/awesome-unreal) - [cutbypham/awesome-davinci-resolve](https://github.com/cutbypham/awesome-davinci-resolve) - [dharmeshkakadia/awesome-AR](https://github.com/dharmeshkakadia/awesome-AR) - [Domeee/awesome-augmented-reality](https://github.com/Domeee/awesome-augmented-reality) - [drwpow/awesome-oss-fonts](https://github.com/drwpow/awesome-oss-fonts) - [ellisonleao/magictools](https://github.com/ellisonleao/magictools) - [ericjang/awesome-graphics](https://github.com/ericjang/awesome-graphics) - [eug/awesome-opengl](https://github.com/eug/awesome-opengl) - [filipecalegario/awesome-generative-ai](https://github.com/filipecalegario/awesome-generative-ai) - [fire/awesome-godot-procedural-manual-generation](https://github.com/fire/awesome-godot-procedural-manual-generation) - [FronkonGames/Awesome-Gamedev](https://github.com/FronkonGames/Awesome-Gamedev) - [haxiomic/awesome-gamedev](https://github.com/haxiomic/awesome-gamedev) - [iamtpb/awesome-photography](https://github.com/iamtpb/awesome-photography) - [ibaaj/awesome-OpenSourcePhotography](https://github.com/ibaaj/awesome-OpenSourcePhotography) - [inlife/awesome-ae](https://github.com/inlife/awesome-ae) - [insthync/awesome-unreal](https://github.com/insthync/awesome-unreal) - [Kavex/GameDev-Resources](https://github.com/Kavex/GameDev-Resources) - [KelvinAnymoree/awesome-cg-pipeline](https://github.com/KelvinAnymoree/awesome-cg-pipeline) - [kidult00/awesome-AR](https://github.com/kidult00/awesome-AR) - [loonghao/awesome-cg-pipeline](https://github.com/loonghao/awesome-cg-pipeline) - [luisdnsantos/awesome-computer-graphics](https://github.com/luisdnsantos/awesome-computer-graphics) - [mbrukman/awesome-game-dev](https://github.com/mbrukman/awesome-game-dev) - [mdyao/Awesome-3D-AIGC](https://github.com/mdyao/Awesome-3D-AIGC) - [melbvr/awesome-VR](https://github.com/melbvr/awesome-VR) - [mnrmja007/awesome-virtual-reality](https://github.com/mnrmja007/awesome-virtual-reality) - [MrNeRF/awesome-3D-gaussian-splatting](https://github.com/MrNeRF/awesome-3D-gaussian-splatting) - [MrPeker/awesome-illustrations](https://github.com/MrPeker/awesome-illustrations) - [nathakits/awesome-cinema4d](https://github.com/nathakits/awesome-cinema4d) - [natnew/Awesome-Generative-AI](https://github.com/natnew/Awesome-Generative-AI) - [oli-z/awesome-filmmaking](https://github.com/oli-z/awesome-filmmaking) - [olucurious/Awesome-ARCore](https://github.com/olucurious/Awesome-ARCore) - [olucurious/Awesome-ARKit](https://github.com/olucurious/Awesome-ARKit) - [querielo/awesome-computer-graphics](https://github.com/querielo/awesome-computer-graphics) - [rive-app/awesome-rive](https://github.com/rive-app/awesome-rive) - [rng70/Awesome-Fonts](https://github.com/rng70/Awesome-Fonts) - [shlomif/awesome-graphics-programming](https://github.com/shlomif/awesome-graphics-programming) - [Siilwyn/awesome-pixel-art](https://github.com/Siilwyn/awesome-pixel-art) - [sjfricke/awesome-webgl](https://github.com/sjfricke/awesome-webgl) - [steven2358/awesome-generative-ai](https://github.com/steven2358/awesome-generative-ai) - [teamgravitydev/gamedev-free-resources](https://github.com/teamgravitydev/gamedev-free-resources) - [terkelg/awesome-creative-coding](https://github.com/terkelg/awesome-creative-coding) - [terrehbyte/awesome-ue4](https://github.com/terrehbyte/awesome-ue4) - [TheFrenchGhosty/awesome-art](https://github.com/TheFrenchGhosty/awesome-art) - [tobiasbueschel/awesome-WebAR](https://github.com/tobiasbueschel/awesome-WebAR) - [tom-choi/awesome-cg-pipeline](https://github.com/tom-choi/awesome-cg-pipeline) - [tomByrer/awesome-unreal-engine](https://github.com/tomByrer/awesome-unreal-engine) - [UEProjectXmples/awesome-ue5](https://github.com/UEProjectXmples/awesome-ue5) - [unclamped/awesome-vr](https://github.com/unclamped/awesome-vr) - [UnityCommunity/AwesomeUnityCommunity](https://github.com/UnityCommunity/AwesomeUnityCommunity) - [vanrez-nez/awesome-glsl](https://github.com/vanrez-nez/awesome-glsl) - [waitin2010/awesome-computer-graphics](https://github.com/waitin2010/awesome-computer-graphics) - [wentianli/awesome-video-editing](https://github.com/wentianli/awesome-video-editing) - [wyhinton/AwesomeHoudini](https://github.com/wyhinton/AwesomeHoudini)
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