Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 15, 2026

Comparison of 3D computer graphics software

3D computer graphics software refers to packages used to create 3D computer-generated imagery.

Last revised
Jun 15, 2026
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3D computer graphics software refers to packages used to create 3D computer-generated imagery.

General information

Current software

This table compares elements of notable software that is currently available, based on the raw software, with no added plug-ins.

Application Latest release date
and version 		Developer Platforms Main uses License
3ds Max 2024-10-16
v 2025.3 		Autodesk Windows Modeling, animation (video games and films only), FX simulation, lighting, rendering Proprietary
AC3D 2022-04-27
v 9.0 		Inivis Linux, macOS, Windows Modeling Proprietary
Alibre Design 2022-08-03
v 25 		Alibre, LLC Windows Computer aided design Proprietary
AutoCAD 2022-03-28
v 2023 		Autodesk macOS, Windows 2D computer aided design, 3D modeling, basic rendering, rudimentary animation (of camera, not objects) Proprietary
Blender 2024-08-20
v 4.2.112 		Blender Foundation Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AmigaOS 4, MorphOS 2D–3D cartoon animation, lighting, modeling, node based material creation, texturing, 3D texture painting, UV mapping, rendering (internal, external, 3D anaglyph and VR), 3D rigging and animation, sculpting, visual 3D effects, basic post-production video editing, motion tracking, Python scripting, fluid simulation, particles, physics, compositing GPL-2.0-or-later3
Carrara 2013-08-26
8.5.1.19 		Daz 3D Windows, macOS Animation, modeling Proprietary
Cheetah 3D 2021-02-20
v 7.5.1 		Martin Wengenmayer macOS Animation, modeling, rendering Proprietary
Cinema 4D 2022-04-20
S26 		Maxon macOS, Windows, Amiga OS4 Animation, lighting, modeling, visual 3D effects, rendering, simulation Proprietary
CityEngine 2018-09-18
v 2018.1 		Esri macOS, Windows, Linux Procedural Modeling of 3D Cities Proprietary
Cobalt 2020-02-04
v11 		Ashlar-Vellum macOS, Windows Modeling, computer aided design, animation Proprietary
DesignSpark Mechanical 2020-07-20
v5.0 		SpaceClaim, RS Components Windows Modeling, computer aided design, rapid prototyping, 3D printing Proprietary
Electric Image Animation System 2013-06
v9.1.0 		EIAS3D macOS, Windows Animation, lighting, rendering, film, television, visual 3D effects Proprietary
FreeCAD 2024-01-08
v 0.21.25 		Jürgen Riegel, Werner Mayer, Yorik van Havre macOS, Windows, unix, Linux CAD, FEA with Calculix, Python scripting, parametric design, robot simulation, CAM, BIM, import and export LGPL 2.0 or later
form-Z pro/jr/free 2020-02-?
9.0.2 		Autodessys, Inc. macOS, Windows Animation, modeling, lighting, rendering, fabricating, set design Proprietary
Hexagon 2018-02-16
2.5.2.109 		Daz 3D Windows, macOS Subdivision modeling, UV mapping Proprietary
HiCAD 2017-02-13
v HiCAD 2017 		ISD Software und Systeme Windows 2D/3D modeling, computer aided design, Automatic drawing generation, BIM, animation, HELiOS PDM integration, API scripting Proprietary
Houdini 2024-05-31
v 20.5 		Side Effects Software Windows, macOS, Linux Animation, lighting, modeling, visual 3D effects Proprietary
iClone 2019-12-17
v 7.71.3626.1 		Reallusion Windows Animation, film and television previz, videogame asset creation, lighting, visual 3D effects Proprietary
Inventor 2021-01
v 2021.2.1 		Autodesk Windows Modeling, computer aided design, rapid prototyping, 3D printing Proprietary
LightWave 3D 2020-08-07
v 2020.0.2 		LightWave Digital macOS, Windows, Amiga OS6 Modeling, animation, lighting, rendering, film and television previz, videogame asset creation Proprietary
MASSIVE ?
v 3.5 		Massive Software Windows, Linux Artificial intelligence in models Proprietary
Maya 2024-08-13
v 2025.2 		Autodesk Windows, macOS, Linux Modeling, NURBS modeling sculpting, rigging, skinning, retargeting, animation, lighting, rendering, Bifrost fluids, Python scripting, Bifrost ocean simulation system, UV mapping, MASH procedural effects, time and graph editor, Arnold renderer, color management polygon modeling, visual 3D effects Proprietary
Metasequoia 2022-12-23
4.8.4b 		tetraface Inc. Windows, macOS Modeling Proprietary
Mudbox 2022-04-18
2023 		Autodesk macOS, Windows, Linux Lighting, sculpting (the deformation of the model) Proprietary
OpenSCAD 2021-01-31
v 2021.01 		Marius Kintel, Claire Wolf macOS, Windows, Unix, Linux CAD, scripting, parametric design, CSG GPL-2.0-or-later
PTC Creo (former Pro/Engineer) 2020
v 7.0 		PTC Windows, HP-UX, Unix Modeling, computer aided design Proprietary
Remo 3D 2025-09-10
v 3.2.1 		Remograph Windows, Linux Modeling, virtual reality, real-time modeling, video game creation, computer aided design Proprietary
Rhinoceros 3D 2020-12-08
v 7 		McNeel Windows, macOS Modeling, computer aided design, scripting with Grasshopper, many plug-in for simulation, CAM, BIM, rendering, and more Proprietary
Salome 2020-12-01
v 9.6 		Open Cascade EDF CEA Windows, Unix, Linux CAD, scripting, parametric design, CSG, meshing, pre-post for CAE LGPL 2.1 or later
Shade 3D 2022-11-08
v 23.1 		FORUM 8 macOS, Windows Modeling, computer aided design, rendering, animation Proprietary
Silo 2022-11-03
v 2023.0 		Nevercenter macOS, Windows Modeling Proprietary
Tekla Structures 2024-09-13

v 2024 SR 4.1

Tekla Windows 3D modeling, reporting, 2D drawings, 3D drawings, CAD, CAM, BIM Proprietary
SketchUp Pro 2021-01-05 7
v 21.0.1 (Win64)

v 16.1.1450 (Win32)
v 20.0 (Mac64)

Trimble Navigation macOS, Windows Modeling, computer aided design Proprietary
Solid Edge 2020-06-?
2021 ST13 		Siemens Digital Industries Software Windows Computer aided design Proprietary
SolidWorks 2022-07-11
v SolidWorks 2022 SP3.1 		Dassault Systèmes Windows Computer aided design Proprietary
SpaceClaim 2020-08-08
v 2020.R2 		Ansys Windows Computer aided design Proprietary
Verto Studio 3D 2021-02-12
v2.5.0 		Michael L. Farrell macOS, iOS Mobile modeling, texture mapping, lighting Proprietary
Wings 3D 2020-12-20
v 2.2.6 		Dan Gudmundsson (maintainer) macOS, Windows, BSD, Linux Modeling, sculpting (the deformation of the model), UV mapping BSD
ZBrush 2022-02-07
v 2022.0.5 		Maxon macOS, Windows Modeling, texturing, lighting, sculpting (the deformation of the model), rendering Proprietary

Inactive software

There are many discontinued software applications.

Application Latest release date
and version 		Developer Platforms Main uses License
Bryce 2010-12-23
7.1.0.109 		Daz 3D Windows (32-bit), macOS (10.7 and above) Animation, landscape modeling, fractal geometry Proprietary
Clara.io redesigned in 2015-03-31 Exocortex Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer Modeling, animation, rendering Proprietary
E-on Vue 2021-12-09
v 2021.2 		E-on Software (part of Bentley Systems) macOS, Windows Animation, landscape modeling, lighting Proprietary
Modo 2022-06-21
16v2 		The Foundry macOS, Windows, Linux Modeling, animation, rendering Proprietary
POV-Ray 2013-11-09
v3.7.0 		The POV-Team macOS, Windows, Linux, AmigaOS Lighting, visual 3D effects AGPL-3.0-or-later
SketchUp Make 2017-11-14 7
v 18.0.16975 (Win64)
v 18.0.16976 (Mac64) 		Trimble Navigation macOS, Windows Modeling, computer aided design Proprietary
Softimage 2014-04-14
"2015" (final release) 		Autodesk Windows, Linux Modeling, animation, video game creation, lighting, rendering, visual 3D effects Proprietary
solidThinking Evolve (predecessor of Altair Inspire Studio) ?-?
v 9.0 		Altair Engineering macOS, Windows Modeling Proprietary
trueSpace 2009-05-25
v 7.61 		Caligari Corporation Windows, AmigaOS Animation, modeling Proprietary
VistaPro 2005
v 4.2 		Hypercube Engineering, Monkey Byte Development Windows Landscape modeling Proprietary

Operating system support

The operating systems on which the editors can run natively (without emulation or compatibility layers), meaning which operating systems have which editors specifically coded for them (not, for example, Wings 3D for Windows running on Linux with Wine).

Name Windows macOS Linux Unix BSD iOS Android Other
3ds Max Yes No No No No No No
AC3D Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Art of Illusion N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a Java virtual machine
AutoCAD Yes Yes No No No Partial8
Blender Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No unofficial9 os 1
Carrara Yes Yes No No No No No
Cheetah 3D No Yes No No No No No
Cinema 4D Yes Yes No No No No No Amiga OS
Clara.io Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ChromeOS
DesignSpark Mechanical Yes No No No No No No
Electric Image Animation System Yes Yes No No No No No
form-Z Yes Yes No No No No No
HiCAD Yes No No No No No No
Houdini Yes Yes Yes No No No No
IClone Yes No No No No No No
LightWave 3D Yes Yes No No No No No os 2
MakeHuman Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Massive Yes No Yes No No No No
Maya Yes Yes Yes droppedos 3 No No No
Metasequoia Yes Yes No No No No No
Modo Yes Yes Yes No No No No
POV-Ray Yes Yes Yes No No No No os 4
Remo 3D Yes No Yes No No No No
Shade Yes Yes No No No No No
Silo Yes Yes dropped in 2.5 No No No No
SketchUp Yes Yes SketchUp for Web10 ? ? Yes Viewer only
Tekla Structures Yes No No No No No No
Softimage Yes No XSI 2.0 and later dropped No No No
Solid Edge Yes No No No No No No
solidWorks Yes No No No No No No
solidThinking Yes Yes No No No No No
SpaceClaim Yes No No No No No No
trueSpace Yes No No No No No No Amiga OS}
Verto Studio 3D No Yes No No No Yes No
E-on Vue Yes Yes No No No No No
Wings 3D Yes Yes Yes No No No No
ZBrush Yes Yes No No No Yes No
  1. Old versions supported AmigaOS, Solaris, and MorphOS
  2. LightWave 3D 5.0 and before supported AmigaOS.
  3. Maya 1.0 - 6.5 supported SGI Irix.
  4. Old versions supported Amiga OS, and Atari TOS

Features

Modeling 3D Painting Animation Rendering 3D Tracking Compositing
3ds Max Yes Yes Yes Yes No Some
AC3D Yes ? ? No No No
Blender Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Electric Image Animation System dropped11 ? Yes Yes No ?
Cinema 4D Yes Yes Yes Yes R16 or later No
Clara.io Yes ? Yes Yes No ?
Cobalt Yes ? Yes Yes No ?
HiCAD Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Houdini Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
IClone Yes ? Yes Yes ? ?
Lightwave 3D Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
MakeHuman parameter-based No No No No No
Maya Yes Yes Yes Yes dropped (Maya Live) dropped (Maya Composer, Maya Fusion, and Maya Composite)
Metasequoia Yes No No Yes No No
Modo Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Remo 3D Yes No Yes Yes No No
Shade Yes No Yes Yes No No
Softimage Yes 3.7 or later Yes Yes No Yes
Solid Edge Yes ? Yes Yes No ?
SketchUp Make Yes1213 ? Yes12 Yes12 No No
SketchUp Pro Yes1213 ? Yes12 Yes12 No No
Wings3D Yes ? No Yes No ?

I/O

Image, video, and audio files

Imports Exports
EXR DDS KTX others EXR DDS KTX others
3ds Max Yes Yes ? BMP, Cineon, TGA, JPG, PNG, Cineon, Radiance HDR, SGI, RLA, RPF, AVI, MPEG and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV, YUV ? ? ? ?
Art of Illusion No No No GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, HDR, SVG14 ? ? ? JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HDR, QuickTime
AC3D ? Yes ? GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF ? Yes ? GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF
Blender Yes Yes ? TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVIF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV Yes ? ? TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVIF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV
Electric Image Animation System ? ? ? TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, TIFF, PSD, MOV ? ? ? PNG, BMP, AVI and QuickTime GIF, TIFF, MOV
Cinema 4D Yes Yes ? Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD Yes Yes ? Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD
Clara.io Yes15 Yes15 ? PNG, JPG ? ? ? ?
Cobalt ? ? ? BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM ? ? ? BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM
Houdini Yes Yes16 ? ? Yes No16 ? ?
IClone ? ? ? JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, AVI, WMV, MP3, WAV, popVideo ? ? ? JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, WMV, AVI, MP4, popVideo, FLV, iWidget
Lightwave 3D Yes ? ? TGA, JPG, PNG, AI, EPS, BMP, IFF, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV Yes ? ? TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV
MakeHuman ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Maya Yes Yes ? Ai, Aiff, Pix, AVI, Cineon, EPS, GIF, Jpeg, Swf, Maya IFF, Maya16 IFF, MacPaint, PSD, PNG, Quantel, Quickdraw, MOV, RLA, SVG, SGI, SGI16, SGI Movie, TGA, TIF, BMP, HDR Yes Yes ? Maya IFF, AVI, QT, GIF, Softimage, RLA, BMP, TIF, SGI RGB, Alias PIX, Jpeg, EPS, Cineon, Quantel, TGA, Macpaint, PSD, PNG, Quickdraw
Metasequoia EX version only Yes No BMP, JPG, PNG, IFF, TGA, PPM, TIFF, PSD, Radiance HDR ? ? ? ?
Modo Yes ? ? TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, SGI, EPS, AI, PSD Yes ? ? TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF, MOV, MWV, PSD
Remo 3D ? Yes ? BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PNM, SGI (RGB), TGA, TIF ? ? ? JPG, PNG, SGI (RGB), TIF, XPM
Shade Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes QuickTime VR, Piranesi EPix
Softimage ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Solid Edge ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SketchUp Make ? ? ? JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP ? ? ? JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP
SketchUp Pro ? ? ? JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP ? ? ? JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP, MOV(on Mac), AVI (on Windows)17
E-on Vue ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Wings3D ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

General 3D files

Imports Exports
FBX Other formats Web, mobile, and VRio 1 FBX Other formats glTF Web, mobile, and VRio 1
3ds Max Yes 3DS, PRJ, AI, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ, SHP, SKP, TRC VRML Yes 3DS, AI, ASE, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ Yes M3G, VRML97
AC3D1819 Yes 3DS, AC3D, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, OFF, Pointfield, Points, Terragen, Triangle, Vector VRML 1.0, glTF ? 3DS, 3D Studio ASE, AC3D, Dive, DVS, DXF, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, Triangle ? VRML 1.0, VRML 2.0, X3D
Blender20 Yes COLLADA, 3DS, PLY, OBJ, SVG X3D, glTF Yes COLLADA, PLY, OBJ, SVG, PC2 Yes X3D
Electric Image Animation System Yes 3DS, OBJ, LWO, MDD ? 3DS, OBJ, LWO No
Cinema 4D Yes OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, LWO/LWS VRML 1, VRML 2 Yes OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, W3D Yes VRML 1, VRML 2
Clara.io Yes OBJ, Collada, 3DS, LWO, GEO, PLY, SHP, XGL, ZGL, AC, BLEND, CSM, LWS VRML, Three.js Yes OBJ, Collada Yes Three.js, Babylon.js
Cobalt ? 3DS, AI, ASCII Text VRML ? AI, ASCII Text, RAW Triangle ? Shockwave 3D, VRML
Houdini Yes ? Yes ? Yes
IClone Yes OBJ, SKP (via 3DXChange) Yes OBJ (via 3DXChange) ?
Lightwave 3D Yes 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO, VideoScape VRML, VRML97 Yes 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO Yes VRML, VRML97
MakeHuman No N/A Yes COLLADA, MHX, OBJ, STL ?
Maya Yes Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, MEL, OBJ VRML2 Yes Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, Mel, OBJ, GE2, RTG ? VRML2
Metasequoia2122 EX version only 3DS, COB,io 2 LWO, OBJ, ROK (Rokkaku Daiō), SUF (DoGA CGA System) glTF EX version only 3DS, PMD, OBJ, COLLADAio 3 Yes io 4
Modo Yes LXO, LWO2, LWOB, 3DS, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA Yes LXO, LWO, PLT, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA Yes X3D
Remo 3D Yes 3DC, 3DS, AC, Collada, OpenFlight, LWO, LWS, OBJ, P3D, PLY, STA, SHP OSGio 5 Yes 3DS, AC, Collada, DOT, OpenFlight, OBJ, P3D, STL ? OSGio 5
Shade Yes OBJ, SketchUp, XML; (Pro) 3DS, COLLADA, LWO Yes COLLADA, DXF, OBJ, XML; (Pro) 3DS, LWO Yes VRML 2.0, Flash (SWF)
Softimage Yes ? Yes ? No
Solid Edge ? ? ? PDF
SketchUp Make ? SKP, 3DS17 ? COLLADA, SKP ?
SketchUp Pro ? SKP, 3DS17 Yes COLLADA, SKP, EPS, EPX (removed v16+), 3DS, OBJ ? PDF, VRML
E-on Vue ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Wings3D ? 3DS, AI, EPS, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D dropped in 1.3.1 3DS, COLLADA, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D ? VRML 2.0

Game and renderer files

Imports Exports
OpenFlight (FLT) other 3D game files 3D renderer files OpenFlight (FLT) OGRE other 3D game files 3D renderer files
3ds Max Yes Yes No
AC3D1819 No Quake III BSP, Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Irrlicht irrmesh, Renderware, SMF No Yes DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Quake II (MD2), Quake Map, SMF, Unreal Tournament POV-Ray POV, RenderMan RIB
Blender dropped dropped (blender2ogre addon) POV-Ray POV
Electric Image Animation System ? ? ?
Cinema 4D ? ? ?
Clara.io ? DirectX X, Irrlicht irrmesh POV-Ray POV ? ? Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Doom 3 (MD5)
Cobalt ? ? ?
Houdini ? ? ?
IClone ? ? ?
Lightwave 3D ? Quake II (MD2) ? ? Quake II (MD2)
MakeHuman No ? Yes Doom 3 (MD5)
Maya Yes Yes No Mental Ray MI, RenderMan RIB
Metasequoia No io 6 No No DirectX Xio 6 RenderMan RIBio 7
Modo ? ? ?
Remo 3D ? DirectX X, Quake II (MD2) ?
Shade ? ? ? DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Blue Mars RenderMan RIB
Softimage ? ? ?
Solid Edge ? ? ?
SketchUp Make ? ? ?
SketchUp Pro ? ? ? dotXSI
E-on Vue ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Wings3D ? ? ? BZFlag, DirectX X, Renderware Kerkythea, POV-Ray POV

Cache and animation files

Imports Exports
Geometry Cache Point Cache Particle Cache Animation
Alembic (*.abc) Maya Cache (*.mc) io 8 3ds Max PC2 io 8 LightWave MDD Maya Particle Data (*.pda, *.pdb) Houdini BGEO RealFlow BIN Krakatoa PRT Biovision Hierarchy (*.bvh) Alembic (*.abc) others
3ds Max Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
AC3D ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Blender Yes No Mesh Cache Modifier23 (BlenderPartioTools) Yes Yes BVH
Electric Image Animation System ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Cinema 4D Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
Clara.io ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? BVH
Cobalt ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Houdini Yes via FBX importer ? ? Yes ? ? ? Yes
IClone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? BVH
Lightwave 3D Yes ? ? Yes Partio Node 24 No24 ? ? ? Yes
MakeHuman ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Maya Yes Yes ? ? Yes (MayaPartioTools) ? Yes
Metasequoia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Modo Yes ? ? MDD Deformer ? ? ? ? ? Yes
Remo 3D ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Shade ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? BVH
Softimage (Exocortex Crate) ? ? Point Oven ? ? ? ? ? (Exocortex Crate)
Solid Edge ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SketchUp Make ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SketchUp Pro ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
E-on Vue ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Wings3D ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

CAD files

Imports Exports
STL DXF DWG others STL DXF DWG others
3ds Max Yes Yes Yes IGE, IGS, IGES, IPT, WIRE, IAM, LS, VW, LP, SAT, Catia V4/V5, JT, ProE, RVT, PRT, SolidWorks,io 9 STEP, WIRE Yes Yes Yes ATR, BLK, DF, IGS, LAY, LP, SAT, VW
AC3D Yes Yes No LDraw (Lego), SOF Airfoil Yes Yes No Inventor, LDraw (Lego)
Blender Yes Yesio 10 No Yes Yesio 10 No
Electric Image Animation System ? Yes ? ? Yes ?
Cinema 4D Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Clara.io Yes Yes ? Yes ? ?
Cobalt ? Yes Yes ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CCAD, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, Pro/E, Rhino 3DM, Spline, STP (STEP) ? Yes Yes ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, PDF, Pro/E, STP (STEP)
Houdini External25 No External25 No
IClone ? ? ? ? ? ?
Lightwave 3D Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Maya Windows and Mac only26 Windows only26 IGES, StudioTools Wire Windows and Mac only27 Windows only27 IGES, StudioTools Wire, Open Inventor2
Metasequoia Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Modo Yes Yes No SolidWorksio 9 Yes Yes No
Remo 3D Yes Yes No DW (Designer Workshop) Yes No No
Shade Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Solid Edge Yes Yes Yes IGES, STEP, JT, ACIS (SAT), ProE, SolidWorks,io 9 NX, SDRC, Microstation, Inventor, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, XML, MDS Yes Yes Yes IGES, STEP, EMS, JT, XGL, XML, Parasolid, CATIA (V4/V5), ACIS (SAT), Microstation
SketchUp Make ? ? ? ? ? ?
SketchUp Pro Yes Yes17 Yes17 Yes Yes17 Yes17
E-on Vue ? ? ? ? ? ?
Wings3D Yes ? ? Yes ? ?

Point clouds and photogrammetry files

Imports
ASTM E57 LASer (LAS) Leica Cyclone PTS/PTX/PTG Autodesk ReCap RCS/RCP VisualSFM NVM
3ds Max ? ? ? Yes ?
Blender E57 Point Cloud Importer addon (Blender LiDAR Importer addon, Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon) ? ? (Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon)
Houdini Lidar Import geometry node ? ? ?

GIS and DEM files

Imports Exports
USGS DEM USGS SDTS (DDF) LandXML GeoTIFF Shapefile OSM others
3ds Max Yes28 Yes28 Yes28 ? ? ?
AC3D ? ? ? ? ? ?
Blender ? ? ? (Blender GIS addon)
Bryce Yes Yes ? ? ? ? VistaPro DEM USDS DEM
Electric Image Animation System ? ? ? ? ? ?
Cinema 4D Yes ? ? ? ? ? VistaPro DEM
Clara.io ? ? ? ? ? ?
Cobalt ? ? ? ? ? ?
Houdini ? ? ? ? ? Yesio 1129
IClone ? ? ? ? ? ?
Lightwave 3D (Ground Control plugin) ? ? ? ? ?
MakeHuman ? ? ? ? ? ?
Maya ? ? ? ? ? ?
Metasequoia ? ? ? ? ? ?
Modo ? ? ? ? ? ?
Remo 3D ? ? ? ? ? ?
Shade ? ? ? ? ? ?
Solid Edge ? ? ? ? ? ?
SketchUp Make Yes17 Yes17 ? ? ? ? SKP+KMZ SKP+KMZ17
SketchUp Pro Yes17 Yes17 ? ? ? ? SKP+KMZ SKP+KMZ
E-on Vue Yes30 Yes30 ? Yes30 ? ? DTED30
Wings3D ? ? ? ? ? ?
  1. VRML, Java 3D, Adobe Flash, Shockwave 3D, Acrobat 3D, OpenSceneGraph, USDZ, WebGL-related formats, etc...
  2. Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object format
  3. Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its RDS (Ray Dream Studio), and SCE (SoftF/X Model) exporters and 4.7.0 dropped its COB (Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object), DoGA CGA System SUF, and AMF exporters.
  4. Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped the VRML 1.0 (WRL), and Three.js JMF exporters.
  5. OSG, OSGB, OSGT, OSGX, IVE and OSGA
  6. Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its PlayStation RSD importer and exporter.
  7. Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped its POV-Ray POV exporter.
  8. Maya Cache and 3ds Max PC2 format are also used with FBX format.
  9. SLDPRT and SLDASM
  10. via AutoCAD DXF addon
  11. via Game Development Toolset

Supported primitives

Application Polygon Spline/Bézier Surface Voxel, Volume Metaball Point Clouds Particles
Triangles
Quads
N-gons
 NURBS regular patch NURBS trimmed surface Bicubic Bézier patch
Blender Yes Yes Yes No31 Yes soc-2014-nurbs branch No 2.83 and later Yes 3.1 and later Yes
Maya Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No 3D Texture Yes No Yes
3ds Max Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Patch Objects No Yes Yes Yes
Cinema 4D Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? R20 and later Yes ? Yes
LightWave Yes Yes Yes Yes (LWCAD plugin) No OpenVDB primitives32 Yes No Yes
Rhinoceros Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Grasshopper Grasshopper Grasshopper Grasshopper
Shade 3D Yes Yes Yes ? CAD mode Yes No Yes No Yes
Application Curves Bone Text Camera Light Speaker
Linear
Quadratic
Bézier
Cubic
Bézier
B-spline
Cardinal
spline
 Hermite spline TCB spline NURBS
Blender Bézier curve without subdivision No Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Maya Yes ? ? ? ? ? No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
3ds Max Yes ? Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cinema 4D Yes No Yes Yes No ? No No Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes dropped in R2333
LightWave ? ? ? Yes ? only in Graph Editor only in Graph Editor ? No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Shade 3D ? ? Yes ? No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Sound Object

Modeling

Application Hard surface Modeling Sculpt Modeling Non-destructive Modeling
Polygon Modeling Subdivision Modeling Base-mesh Creation Sketch Modeling Sculpting Cloth Sculpting
Hand
Retopology
 Automatic Retopology Boolean
Bevel
Modifier
 Procedural
Maya Yes Yes (SOuP BMesh) No Yes No Yes 2020 and later Yes Yes ? Yes
3ds Max Yes Yes (Form) No Paint Deform No Yes 2021.3 and later Yes Yes Yes Max Creation Graph
Blender Yes Yes Skin Modifier Trim Brush with Union/Join mode Yes 2.83 and later Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Geometry Nodes
ZBrush ZModeler ZModeler ZSphere and ZSketch MeshBalloon Yes 2021 and later Yes ZRemesher 4R8 and later ? No No
Curvy 3D No No No Yes Yes No ? ? ? ? No No

Lookdev, Shader writing

Application PBR viewport Viewport effects Interactive GI Rendering Integrated Compositing Text editor for shader writing Material Nodes Turntable Rendering
Maya Yes Some Arnold No ? Hypershade, Node Editor, ShaderFX Yes34
3ds Max Yes Some Arnold (State Set) OSL Map35 Slate Material Editor, ShaderFX Easy Turntable script
MODO Yes ? Yes No ? Nodal Shading Render Turntable36
Blender Eevee (2.80 and later) Cycles Yes Text Editor Yes Turnaround Camera addon
Gaffer No No Cycles Yes OSLCode Node No No
Marmoset Toolbag Yes Yes No No ? Uber PBR shaders only Yes37
Substance Designer Yes YEBIS NVIDIA Iray ? ? MDL graph ?

Layout

Application Asset manager Biome-based scattering system Asset Paint Placement with Physics
Maya Yes MASH World Node MASH Placer Node ?
3ds Max (Project Manager, Connecter) ? ? ?
Cinema 4D Asset Browser ? Scatter Pen Dynamic Place
Houdini Solaris Project Dryad (beta) Layout LOP's Brush mode Edit LOP
Blender Asset Browser ? ? ?

Lighting

Application
Alembic
Importer
USD
Importer
Rendering
Engine
Volume
Rendering
for clouds
Interactive
Rendering
Isolating
light contribution
Light
Lister
IES
Light
Physical
Sun & Sky
Sun Positioning
by location and times
Light Portal
Shadow Catcher
 IBL and Environment texture
Highlight
Placement
Light Mixer
Lat Long
 sIBL
Light Extraction38
Maya Yes USD Extension for Maya Maya Hardware 2.0 ? Yes No39 Light Editor ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? (Place Highlight Tool for Maya) No
Maya Software ? ? Light Linking No ? ? ? ? Env Sphere ? ? No
Arnold Yes Yes Light Linking Ai Photometric Light Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? Light Mixer imager
3ds Max Yes (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) Quicksilver ? Yes No40 Light Lister ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Place Highlight No
Scanline ? ? Light Exclude/include ? ? ? ? Yes ? sIBL-GUI software ? No
ART ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No
Arnold Yes Yes Light Group41 Ai Photometric Light Yes Sun Positioner42 Yes Yes Yes ? ? Light Mixer imager
Blender 2.78 and later 3.0 and later Workbench Some Yes ? Property Chart Addon, Gaffer addon No ? Sun Position addon No ? Yes ? ? Look At Gizmo (with Ctrl key) No
EEVEE Some Yes Light Linking No Yes No Shader Node43 Yes ? ? No
Cycles Yes Yes Light Groups, Light Linking 2.80 and later44 Yes from 2.75 from 2.79 Yes sIBL_GUI for Blender addon/
Add Environment nodes addon 		? No
MODO Yes 14.1 and later MODO Renderer, mPath Yes Yes Light Linking45 ? Photometric Light Directional Light46 Portal Shadow Catcher Yes mm_sIBLToModoEnvironment script ? ? No
LightWave 11.6 and later No LightWave Renderer Yes Yes ? ? Photometric Light Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes original loader script, where most sIBL features were invented47 ? ? No
Houdini Yes Solaris Mantra (PT), Karma Yes Yes Light categories Light bank Yes ? ? ? Shadow matte Yes ? ? Solaris ?
Cinema 4D Yes R23 and later CineRender Yes Yes Exclude/include ? Yes ? ? ? from R18 Yes ? ? Lighting tool ?
Redshift Yes Yes Light Group AOVs ? Yes Yes ? Yes Matte options Yes ? ? ?

Path-tracing rendering

Application CPU rendering GPU rendering
OpenCL NVIDIA CUDA, OptiX AMD HIP SYCL, Intel DPC++ Apple Metal Texture streaming (out-of-core) Mesh streaming
V-Ray Yes ? V-Ray GPUa48 No V-Ray GPU49 Yes50 ?
RenderMan Yes No 24 and later51 No No No ? ?
Arnold Yes No Yes52 No No No Yes ?
Redshift Yes53 No Yes Yes54 No Yes55 ? ?
Modo mPath Yes No Yes No No No ? ?
Houdini Karma Yes No Karma XPU56 No No No Yes56 ?
Octane Render No No Yes57 No57 No57 Octane X58 Yes meshlet streaming59
Blender Cycles Yes dropped in 3.060 Yes 3.0 and later60 3.3 and later61 3.1 and later62 2.80 and later63 No
Application Mipmap
generation 		Adaptive tessellation Instancing Camera culling Deep pixel rendering Fisheye stereo
for fulldome 		Omnidirectional stereo
for HMD 		Deforming motion blur
V-Ray img2tiledexr ? Yes ? Yes Domemaster Stereo Shader 3.2 and later Yes
RenderMan maketxb6465 ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes66 Yes
Arnold maketx67 Yes68 Yes ? Yes Domemaster Stereo Shader 5 and later Yes
Houdini Karma imaketx69 ? Yes70 ? Yes70 ? 15.5 and later Yes
Blender Cycles blender --command maketx71 2.78 and later Yes Camera Cull In development 2.78 and later 2.78 and later Yes
  1. former V-Ray RT
  2. `txmake` tool is also included for compatibility.

Optimizations

Application Proxy generation Opacity Micromapopt 1 Texture baking
Level of detail (LoD)opt 2 Octahedral Impostors Tangent Space Normal Map Ambient Occlusion (AO) Map Light Map
Non-directional
(Traditional) 		Directional
Maya (Turtle renderer) "Generate LOD Meshes" ? ? Yes Yes Yes RNM (Radiosity Normal Map), and SH (Spherical harmonics) coefficients
Enlighten No ? ? No ? Yes Yes
Houdini Labs LOD Create SOP74 Labs Impostor Texture ROP75 ? ? ? ? ?
Blender AssetGen addon No No Yes Yes Yes No
  1. DirectX Raytracing 1.2 / Vulkan VK_EXT_opacity_micromap extension
  2. LodGroup in FBX,72 MSFT_lod extension in glTF,73 etc.
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "4.2 LTS". Blender Foundation blender.org. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  2. "Index of /blender/release/Blender4.2". ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  3. License - blender.org
  4. Cinema 4D
  5. "Release FreeCAD 0.21.2 · FreeCAD/FreeCAD". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  6. LightWave 3D
  7. "Release Notes – SketchUp Knowledge Base". help.sketchup.com. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  8. 3D Modeling capabilities in AutoCAD Mobile App. Autodesk. February 28, 2025
  9. Blender is coming to tablets, starting with the iPad Pro. CG Channel. July 25th, 2025
  10. Getting Started with SketchUp for Web. Trimble
  11. EIAS3D releases EIAS 9 CG Channel November 6, 2012
  12. "SketchUp Features". Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  13. SketchUp User Guide: Creating a 3D Model
  14. 7. Textures
  15. Clara.io: 65,000 Users, New Features and Premium Subscriptions. Exocortex. August 11, 2014
  16. Labs DDS File compositing node. Side Effects
  17. "Using SketchUp Data with Other Modeling Programs or Tools | SketchUp Knowledge Base". help.sketchup.com. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  18. AC3D Features Summary
  19. AC3D 8.3
  20. "Importing & Exporting Files". Blender. Blender Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  21. Compare editions. tetraface
  22. バージョンアップ履歴 (in Japanese). tetraface
  23. Mesh Cache Modifier. Blender Foundation
  24. Partio Node. NewTek
  25. Geometry file formats. Side Effects
  26. Supported data import formats. Autodesk.
  27. Supported data export formats. Autodesk.
  28. Importing LandXML/DEM Models. Autodesk
  29. Game Development Toolset. Side Effects
  30. E-on ships Vue Infinite 2015 and Vue xStream 2015. CG Channel. July 2, 2015.
  31. "Blender For Dummies 3rd edition", p.87, Jason van Gumster, April 27, 2015, ISBN 978-1119039532
  32. Primitive Type - OpenVDB. NewTek
  33. R23 - Removed features (Virtual Walkthrough, ProRender, Sound System) MAXON
  34. Create a turntable animation Autodesk
  35. 3ds Max integrates OSL: GDC Day 1, fxguide, March 21, 2018
  36. Render Commands, Foundry
  37. Getting Started with Toolbag 2, Marmoset LLC, December 1, 2015
  38. Auto HDRI Light Gen for Maya Creates Practical Lighting Setups from HDR Images, Lesterbanks, April 30, 2013
  39. Viewport 2.0 limitations Autodesk
  40. Kelly L. Murdock's Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Complete Reference Guide, P.685, Kelly Murdock, 2015
  41. Light Groups Solid Angle
  42. Sun Positioner and Physical Sky Autodesk
  43. Blender 2.8 Eevee Tutorial Shadow Catcher. BlenderNation. June 3, 2019
  44. Bf-blender-cvs - 48155c210a3 - master: Cycles: Add Support for IES files as textures for light strength, Blender Foundation, May 27, 2018
  45. Shader The Foundry
  46. Directional Light The Foundry
  47. "Software". www.hdrlabs.com. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  48. Chaos adopts HIP to unleash AMD acceleration in V-Ray GPU. CG Channel. October 8, 2025.
  49. Chaos releases V-Ray 7 for Houdini. CG Channel. January 29, 2025
  50. Advancements in V-Ray RT GPU, p.15
  51. Pixar RenderMan LookDev and XPU. fxguide. September 14, 2021.
  52. Autodesk unveils Arnold 5.3 with Arnold GPU. CG Channel. March 18, 2019
  53. Maxon ships Redshift 3.5. CG Channel. April 20, 2022
  54. Maxon ships Redshift 3.5.15. CG Channel. May 17, 2023
  55. Maxon ships Redshift for Mac. CG Channel. April 30, 2021
  56. Karma XPU. SideFX
  57. OctaneRender FAQs. OTOY.
  58. Otoy releases OctaneRender 2025.4. CG Channel. October 25, 2025
  59. Otoy releases OctaneRender 2026.2. CG Channel. February 11, 2026
  60. Blender 3.0’s Cycles X now runs on AMD GPUs. CG Channel. November 16, 2021
  61. Blender 3.3 Debuts With Intel Arc Support, Brings oneAPI & SYCL GPU Acceleration. Wccftech. September 7, 2022
  62. Blender 3.1 ships. CG Channel. March 9, 2022
  63. Bf-blender-cvs - c621832d3d3 - master: Cycles: CUDA support for rendering scenes that don't fit on GPU., Blender Foundation, January 3, 2018
  64. RenderMan 27.0. Pixar. February 13, 2026
  65. Switching from txmake to OpenImageIO. Pixar. August 23, 2025
  66. Features Archived 2016-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Pixar
  67. Maketx - Arnold User Guide. Autodesk
  68. Subdivision Settings, Solid Angle
  69. imaketx. SideFX
  70. Karma Renderer FAQs. SideFX
  71. Performance - Blender 5.2 LTS Manual - Texture Cache. Blender Foundation
  72. FbxLODGroup Class Reference. Autodesk
  73. MSFT_lod. Khronos Group
  74. Labs LOD Create 2.0 geometry node. Side Effects
  75. Labs Impostor Texture geometry node. Side Effects