Free online 3d graphic design software for beginners that allow you to try out amazing 3d modeling software for free before you buy, There are hundreds of terrific tools available for free 3d modeling software download without a credit card. And if you’re just getting started, there are also several applications designed especially for people new to 3d design software so you can get professional results with little or no experience.
Free 3D Design Software is a good website that can provide you with the latest and updated 3D modeling software. You can learn the basic skills of 3D modeling, and some advance techniques on how to download free 3d model software. They focus on making it easy for their visitors to learn some basics about 3d design later on.
Tinkercad
With a simple, bright interface and plenty of educational resources, Tinkercad is specifically designed for those with no prior CAD experience. In addition to being one of the most accessible 3D modeling software around, it can also be used right in your browser.
Don’t let the colorful look fool you. The Tinkercad software from Autodesk is simple but powerful, allowing you to use primitive shapes, such as cubes, cylinders, and spheres, to realize your ideas in CAD by means of drag and drop. You can move, rotate, and scale each shape, and assign them to be a solid or “hole”. Grouping shapes allows you to create the intricate 3D model’s you’ll find in Tinkercad’s gallery.
There are plenty of tutorials from Tinkercad itself that are basic and slowly paced. If you find yourself frozen in most CAD interfaces, the Tinkercad learning page is the place to start. It features short, individual lessons for every aspect of the interface, and a list of lessons that walk you through a variety of simple models. For more involved lessons, the “projects” section will guide you through model-making in more detail. The tutorials are especially suitable for children.
Tinkercad also provides users with the ability to design, program, and simulate electronic assemblies, as well as a feature called Codeblocks, which uses lines of code to create 3D objects with OpenSCAD. It’s a great all-around tool for learning modern maker tech.
- What’s it good for? Entry-level students and people with no experience using 3D modeling software.
Meshmixer
Meshmixer is a lightweight 3D modeling software developed by Autodesk that should be in every maker’s toolbox. As the software’s website puts it, it’s a “Swiss Army Knife” for 3D objects that allows you to manipulate, add to, splice, merge models, and more, with ease.
The program is mostly used to tweak, repair, or optimize existing 3D models, but also has sculpting and solid modeling tools built in. The tool selection is simple but offers enough variety to get you intimately familiar with the tools you’ll need for either form of 3D modeling.
Since Meshmixer is tailor-made for 3D printing, not only can you design and repair 3D models in the program but also add support structures, orient models, and use Meshmixer’s variety of unique optimization tools to prepare your design for printing.
There might be a slightly steeper learning curve with Meshmixer in some places compared to software made especially for beginners, but there’s a manual by Autodesk to learn any unfamiliar terminology and get your footing. The program is a little dated at this point and not being updated, but it’s completely free and will always come in handy – so you can’t really go wrong.
- What is it good for? Beginners who want a simple tool that will remain useful later on.
ZBrushCoreMini
ZBrushCoreMini is a stripped down version of Pixologic’s ZBrush, a powerful and popular sculpting program among many advanced and professional designers. Don’t let that scare you off, though. CoreMini is made with beginners in mind, so it’s easy to learn for those with little 3D modeling experience.
Like many other sculpting programs, you’re given a lump of digital clay to edit using brushes. ZBrushCoreMini keeps things simple with a selection of eight basic brushes that add to, smoothen, subtract from, inflate, pinch, and polish your model. the program also includes four of Pixologic’s “Vector Displacement Meshes” (VDM). These are brushes that enable you to instantly create a complex shape on your model, and there’s a huge variety of shapes included. This gives you a very helpful foundation when you’re just getting used to sculpting. Having trouble making a decent ear? Just pop one in with the VDM and start customizing it.
It’s worth noting that CoreMini limits you in polygons and file types, doesn’t allow imports or renders (though includes live ambient occlusion), and restricts you in a few other ways. The great thing about getting started with it is that transitioning to the more advanced Zbrush software down the road will be easy once you’re ready. ZBrushCore, the next tier up from the free CoreMini software, is just $10 a month for a subscription, or $180 for a one-time purchase.
Pixologic offers a good variety of tutorial content with ZClassroom and you’ll be prompted to check it out upon installing ZBrushCoreMini. They have lessons for all the basics, but the top tutorials are for the full ZBrush program – so scroll down to the smaller ZBrushCore selection to see a more familiar interface in your lessons.
- What is it good for? Beginners interested in learning digital sculpting, especially those who want some help from VDM brushes.
Wings 3D
Wings 3D is an open-source subdivision modeler (AKA, a mesh modeler) that offers advanced tools without being so intimidating as to scare off new users.
Mesh modelers can feel like sculpting programs, but simply show users the “mesh”: polygonal flat faces that make up a CAD object.
The Wings 3D software uses a context-sensitive right-click menu that only shows relevant commands according to the user’s current selection. This unique feature makes the program incredibly approachable for beginners despite all the advanced options available in it. Going a step further, just hovering over commands will describe their function so you’ll never be at a loss as to what tools actually do.
Wings 3D is equipped with some surprisingly advanced, yet intuitive, features. AutoUV, for example, enables you to map images and textures onto a 3D model. You can find a full feature list on the Wings 3D website. Though the features it does have are excellent, it doesn’t give you a full suite. Rendering and animation are absent from Wings 3D and you’ll need another program to take care of that for you. But for 3D printing, you should be fine with Wings 3D alone.
As a project that’s been around since 2001, Wings 3D has a pretty large community that has developed in-depth tutorial content. You can find a list of some of the best on the website.
- What’s it good for? Beginning or advanced users looking for a large selection of tools with a clean interface that’s easy to navigate.
FreeCAD
FreeCAD is a free 3D modeling software with some real skin in the game, having been initially released back in 2002, and despite still being in beta stage development has progressed significantly. It’s designed to make creating 3D versions of real-life objects as effective and simple as possible.
A very useful feature is the ability to start with a static 2D sketch, which you can then build your eventual 3D model from as you progress. FreeCAD works well on Windows as well as functioning effectively as a free 3D modeling software for Mac users, and once you’ve created your model, you can seamlessly export it as an STL, OBJ, or even DXF files for other uses such as CNC.
Though designed with mechanical engineering in mind, FreeCAD complements 3D printing as complex, interesting shapes and figures can be created with relative ease — despite not being as complicated as some CAD programs on this list. What’s more, FreeCAD is open source, so if you wish to tinker with the software itself, you’re free to do so with Python.
FreeCAD is ideal for users with some design experience as some tools may take a little while for complete beginners to learn. But overall, it’s a very powerful free 3D modeling software tool.
SketchUp Free
SketchUp is a sketch and extrude CAD program considered one of the best professional software on the market. The free version, SketchUp for Web, is a great browser-based edition that’s easy for beginners.
Sketch and extrude programs like SketchUp are essentially direct modeling programs where you draw a 2D shape and then add depth to it with the “extrude” tool. Of course, that’s a simplification and SketchUp can get very exact, but it’s what you’ll see at the onset. Alongside parametric software, sketch and extrude programs like SketchUp are probably what most people think of when you say “CAD”.
The simplified web version has a selection of just the most common design tools and an approachable, user-friendly interface. There’s a handy integrated “instructor” that will tell you how to use each tool, and access the helpful SketchUp Warehouse where you can find pre-existing models to work with.
As such a professional mainstay, there are plenty of SketchUp tutorials available for new designers to check out. SketchUp Campus offers great, detailed courses for free, like SketchUp Fundamentals, and you can find anything they may not cover in the array of community tutorials on YouTube and various blogs.
If you’re interested in using SketchUp’s more advanced programs, this is definitely the place to start as you’ll be familiar with the software’s core tools and interface. SketchUp for Web comes with 10GB of cloud storage and no strings attached for use.
- What’s it good for? Beginners looking to hone their 3D modeling skills on a navigable interface without too many limitations.
Blender
Arguably the most popular 3D design software, Blender has a huge, active community who share their STL files and 3D models as well as information online. A quick Google or YouTube search will yield thousands of results with people eager to showcase their 3D designs or teach you how to use the Blender 3D software. This is down to Blender being a 100% free 3D modeling software tool which is open source, giving users freedom to create just about anything with its huge range of tools.
Though it has a steeper learning curve, Blender has huge depth to it, making it one of the most complete free 3D software tools out there. This depth makes it a very versatile 3D modeling tool, with uses ranging from film VFX, video games, 3D model design, and it’s also used as a 3D design software for 3D printing. Furthermore, Blender even comes with an integrated game engine, as well as detailed sculpting tools and video editing capabilities.
It isn’t for beginners, or probably even for intermediates, but it is an incredible free 3D modeling software that is ideal for game developers and experienced 3D modelers.
Fusion 360
Created with schools and academic institutes in mind, Fusion 360 is yet another 3D software created by Autodesk. It’s undoubtedly a 3D software modeling tool for experts, however it is user-friendly enough for an educated beginner to be able to use. Packed to the brim with innovative features, Fusion 360 is a very collaborative 3D software that allows users to share STL files via the cloud to collaboratively edit and optimize models.
With powerful tools for accomplishing almost any industrial 3D design, Fusion 360 really is an incredible piece of software. It has built-in features to assess stresses that components of your 3D design will encounter, allowing designers to locate potential weak points before printing. Once created, you can then easily export your 3D model as an STL file or any other file format.
Having recently been made free for students, startups, and more, Fusion 360 is a more accessible 3D software than ever before. If you’ve got some experience, or looking to level up your 3D design skills, this is the perfect 3D software for you.
Conclusion
3D is an additive process that starts with a blank canvas and builds upon it. As soon as you begin, you are immersed in a world where anything is possible. Did you know there are companies out there that have literally revolutionized the way products are designed? Instead of using expensive tools or training to learn 3D design software, you can start for free with our online software download!