Skip to content
Projects

devanshutak25/3d-resources

View on GitHub

devanshutak25/3d-resources has 1,020 GitHub stars and 86 forks. GitHot measured +2 stars in 24 hours and +6 in 7 days. Last checked 2026-11-09 15:57 UTC. Last push 2026-11-02.

How these counts are measured

Curated, CC0 reference hub for 3D, VFX, and game dev. 3,400+ tools, assets, and tutorials across 12 sections. Searchable, filterable, free.

1,020 stars86 forks +2 in 24h

Measured star growth

in 24h
+2
in 7 days
+6
in 15 days
Collecting history
in 1 month
Collecting history

Net star changes over overlapping periods, not daily totals. Missing measurements are left blank. Stars measure attention, not software quality.

README.md

Original

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

Stars License: CC0-1.0 Validate Live site

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 and Unreal Engine. Covers 3D modeling, animation, VFX, rendering, game development, motion graphics, and digital art.

🔍 Looking for something specific? Use the interactive site at 3d.devanshutak.xyz. Search and filter by License · Platform · Workflow · Output.

Curated by Devanshu Tak · built with Claude · Suggest a resource · Contribute · Studios directory · Game studios

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

Contents

Assets & Libraries Poly Haven · Quixel Megascans · Sketchfab
Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing Blender · Houdini · Cinema 4D
Animation & Rigging Mixamo · Rokoko · Cascadeur
Lighting, Rendering & Shaders Redshift · Arnold · V-Ray
VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production Houdini · Nuke · EmberGen
Motion Graphics & Video After Effects · Cavalry · DaVinci Resolve
Game Development Unity · Unreal Engine · Godot
Art, Design & Visual Storytelling Photoshop · Procreate · Krita
AI & Machine Learning for CG ComfyUI · Stable Diffusion · Runway
Tools, Pipeline & Utilities USD · RealityCapture · RizomUV
Learning, Community & Industry ArtStation · 80 Level · fxguide
Software Reference

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.

  • 3DExport Free tier. Marketplace for buying and selling 3D models, textures and print-ready files.
  • 3Dshaker. Free sample 3D models for Blender from the 3dshaker store.
  • 3Dzip. Free 3D models and interior scenes.
  • Blend Swap. Open-source .blend file library.
  • Blender 3D models License unspecified. 3D models, particle systems, and effects.
  • CadNav License unspecified. Architecture, furniture, vehicle models.
  • Casual Effects Data. Graphics research datasets and test scenes.
  • CGAxis Free tier. Library of 12,000+ royalty-free 3D models, PBR materials and HDRIs with free models, a Blender add-on and the CGAxis Hub import app.
  • CGHEVEN. Free CC0 3D and VFX assets.
  • CGTrader Free tier. Community model marketplace.
  • Chocofur Free. Free section of Chocofur premium 3D model store.
  • Free3D. Large free 3D model library with models in OBJ, 3DS, FBX, Blend and other formats.
  • Free3D.io. Free 3D model download site with community-uploaded models in common formats.
  • Free3DBase License unspecified. Free 3D models of branded consumer products in 3DS, DXF and OBJ formats.
  • Funes License unspecified. Online archive of 3D-scanned monuments and cultural heritage, with panoramas and guided stories.
  • GrabCAD. Community CAD model library.
  • Icosa Gallery. Open-source 3D model hosting site built as a Google Poly replacement, holding Open Brush and Open Blocks creations with a public API.
  • Keenan Crane's Model Repository. Clean test meshes for shader and subdivision work.
  • Mantissa/resources. Free Blender files and resources.
  • MyMiniFactory Scan the World License unspecified. Scan the World collection of scanned heritage objects.
  • Open3DModel. Free 3D model archive with downloads in Blend, Max, OBJ, FBX, C4D and other formats.
  • OpenTopography/datasets. High-resolution Earth-science topography datasets and related tools. Registration required.
  • Oyonale Paid. Sells 3D models for various industries.
  • PBRPX License unspecified. Free PBR materials and some 3D models.
  • Poly Haven. CC0 models, textures up to 8K+, HDRIs up to 16K.
  • Poly Pizza. Low-poly models (Google Poly archive).
  • Polycam Explore License unspecified. User-uploaded photogrammetry scans.
  • PrintWhat Free tier. Search engine that queries 40 public 3D-printing and CAD model sources at once and links each result to its original listing.
  • Quaternius's Ultimate Low-Poly Models. Ultimate low-poly model packs (CC0).
  • RigModels Free tier. Free 3D model search engine with rigged and static models in OBJ, FBX, STL, DAE and GLB.
  • rileyb3d Library. Free packed .blend files ready to use.
  • Sketchfab Free tier. Massive downloadable library.
  • Stanford 3D Scanning Repository. Classic academic 3D scans (bunny, dragon, etc.).
  • The Base Mesh License unspecified. Base meshes for sculpting and rigging.
  • Thingiverse. 3D-printing model community.
  • Three D Scans. Free archive of high-resolution 3D scans of museum sculptures and statues.
  • TurboSquid Free tier. Professional models with free section.
  • XYZed3D (Gumroad). CC0 (non-AI) asset packs: models, props, misc. By artyusufpatel.

Model Libraries: Specialized

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

  • 3D MDB License unspecified. Model search database across many sites.
  • 3D Scan Store Paid. Ten24 store of HD head, body, hand and pose scans, retopologised models, MetaHuman identities and displacement maps.
  • Ameede. Free STL and vector downloads for CNC relief carving, laser cutting and 3D printing.
  • Anatomy 360 Paid. Anatomy 3D reference models for artists, including motion packs that show realistic musculature.
  • Anatomy For Sculptors Paid. ArtStation page of Anatomy For Sculptors with anatomy reference models and books for sculptors.
  • Anything World Gallery Free tier. Animated, game-ready models.
  • Artec 3D. Free high-resolution 3D scans. (CC-BY)
  • AXYZ design Paid. Library of 3,000+ render-ready scanned 3D and 4D people, paired with the anima crowd animation software for archviz.
  • Big Medium Small Paid. Kitbash 3D asset packs for concept artists and game designers, with themed sets like Wild West, Mech Squad, Chiba City and Paranormal.
  • British Museum (Sketchfab). British Museum Sketchfab account with 3D scans of objects from its collection.
  • Characterz Free tier. 9,000+ customizable diverse 3D character illustrations with Blender source files.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art (Sketchfab). Cleveland Museum of Art Sketchfab account with 3D scans of artworks from its collection.
  • Digital Production Example Library. ASWF-hosted set of free production assets for testing pipelines, including Netflix ALab USD scene, Intel 4004 Moore Lane and an OpenPBR playground.
  • Disney Animation Data Sets Mixed. Production data sets released by Walt Disney Animation Studios for research, including the Moana Island Scene with everything needed to render it.
  • EmberGen Free VDB Volumes. CC0 VDB simulation sequences from JangaFX, such as explosions, campfire, chimney smoke and a tornado, each with its EmberGen preset.
  • Emojiz Paid. 77+ animated 3D emoji illustrations with Blender source files.
  • glTF Sample Assets Mixed. Khronos repository of glTF models that each demonstrate a format feature, used to test viewers, engines and exporters.
  • Handz. Free library of 320+ diverse 3D hand illustrations with Blender source files.
  • Insect 3D Models. Free insect 3D models by zerokobo, built to show the forms of real insect species.
  • Mixamo. Rigged characters, auto-rigger, and free animation library (Adobe).
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Mocap & Animation Libraries
  • Models Resource. Archive of 3D models ripped from video games, sorted by platform and game.
  • Models Resource (3D). 3D model rips from games. Sister site to Spriters Resource.
  • NASA 3D Resources Mixed. Spacecraft, planets, terrain models (mixed CC0 / CC-BY. Check per-asset license; mirror at nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov).
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Textures: Specialized
  • NIH 3D. NIH portal for downloading and sharing bioscientific and medical 3D models, exportable as GLB or STL for printing and visualization.
  • NVIDIA ORCA. Open Research Content Archive of rendering test scenes such as Amazon Lumberyard Bistro, Emerald Square, UE4 Sun Temple and Beeple Zero-Day.
  • OpenVDB Sample Models. Official .vdb volume versions of standard test models such as armadillo and buddha, plus Houdini and Maya example files.
  • Quaternius. Free low-poly game assets.
  • Renderpeople Free tier. Store of scanned 3D people in posed, animated and 4D variants for archviz and film, with a set of free models.
  • Robotz. Free modular 3D cartoon robot with customizable heads, bodies, and hands.
  • Sample and Hold. Head, body and FACS scan demo data from a scanning studio. Free on request.
  • Scanned Female Head Model by EISKO. Free high-resolution scanned female head model (Louise).
  • Smithsonian 3D. 3D digitization site from the Smithsonian with scans of museum objects and historical artifacts.
    See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning
  • Smithsonian Open Access. Millions of 2D/3D museum assets, CC0.
  • Squir Paid. Store of detailed 3D car models, including current production vehicles, sold per model.
  • Wire Wheels Club. Library of 3D vehicle models, free for personal and commercial use.

Model Libraries: Architecture & Furniture

Arch-viz, furniture, and BIM asset libraries.

  • 3asky License unspecified. 3DS Max and general library.
  • 3D Warehouse License unspecified. SketchUp's online library of user-made and manufacturer 3D models, free to download.
  • 3ddd License unspecified. Design and architecture models.
  • 3DSky License unspecified. Large marketplace of 3D models for architecture and interior visualization, mostly 3ds Max.
  • BIMobject License unspecified. Library of manufacturer BIM and CAD objects for Revit, ArchiCAD and other architecture tools.
  • CADMAPPER Free tier. Web tool that exports map data for any area as CAD files for AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino and Illustrator, with free whole-city road files.
  • CG Mood License unspecified. Marketplace for 3D models, materials and scenes aimed at architectural visualization.
  • Design Connected License unspecified. Marketplace for high-end 3D models of designer furniture, lighting and decor for archviz.
  • Dimensiva License unspecified. Library of 3D models of real designer furniture and decor for archviz.
  • Evermotion License unspecified. Archviz publisher selling Archmodels collections of 3D models and ready-made interior scenes.
  • Globe Plants Paid. Photoreal 3D plant and tree models sold per species for 3ds Max, SketchUp and other CG tools, with custom model requests.
  • Maxtree Paid. Store of 3D plant and tree model collections for archviz, compatible with 3ds Max, Blender, C4D, Unreal, Maya and Twinmotion.
  • Syncronia License unspecified. Portal for manufacturer CAD and BIM objects used in architecture and interior design.
  • Viz-People License unspecified. Archviz scenes, 3D people, vegetation, HDRIs.
  • XfrogPlants Paid. Library of about 8,000 3D plant models for archviz.

Asset Marketplaces

General asset marketplaces across multiple engines and tools.

  • ArtStation Marketplace Paid. ArtStation storefront where artists sell 3D models, brushes, tutorials and other assets.
  • Blender Market Paid. Blender-specific assets and addons.
  • Cubebrush Paid. Marketplace for game art assets, brushes, textures and tutorials sold by artists.
  • Envato Paid. Subscription with unlimited downloads of stock video, music, sound effects, 3D, graphics, fonts, LUTs and video templates.
  • Fab (Epic) Free tier. Unified marketplace (UE, Sketchfab, ArtStation).
  • Julio Sillet (Gumroad) Free tier. Free and paid PBR texture sets and material packs.
  • RenderHub Free Free tier. Daz Content, 3D models, textures and materials.
  • Renderosity Mixed. Long-running marketplace and community for 3D models and Poser content, with a Free Stuff section, galleries and forums.
  • SplatMart Paid. Marketplace for buying and selling Gaussian splat scenes (PLY, SOGS, SPZ).
  • Unity Asset Store Free tier. Unity's official store for 3D models, tools, scripts and other game assets.
  • Unreal Marketplace Free tier. Epic's former Unreal Engine asset store, now merged into Fab, with UE-ready assets.

Free Asset Giveaways

Recurring free asset drops. Bookmark these.

  • Daz 3D Free 3D Models. Daz 3D store category of free 3D models and content, with new free items added weekly.
  • Fab Limited-Time Free Mixed. Fab page listing the current batch of paid assets offered free to claim until a stated deadline, then rotated.
  • Sonniss GDC Bundle. Free SFX bundles (~30GB+) released annually around GDC and Christmas.
  • Unity Publisher of the Week Mixed. Weekly Unity Asset Store sale with 50% off one publisher's catalog and a featured asset free via coupon code.

Software-Specific Asset Libraries

Official asset libraries tied to specific DCCs.

HDRIs

HDR environment maps for lighting and reflections.

  • Adobe Stock HDRI Paid. Adobe Stock search for paid studio HDRIs used to light product and studio renders.
  • CGEES. CC0 HDRI library of skies and 360 environments up to 24K, downloadable without an account. Rebuilt successor to iHDRI.
  • HDR Maps. Free HDRI packs from HDR Maps, a site that also sells premium HDRIs.
  • HDRI Hub Free tier. Professional HDRIs, backplates, textures & 3D people for archviz/CGI. Free commercial samples (HDRIs up to 8K) plus premium.
  • HDRI Skies. Free sky HDRIs for lighting and backgrounds in 3D renders.
  • Maxime Roz HDRI Pack. Free studio and outdoor HDRIs for product viz.
  • No Emotion HDRs. Free high-resolution HDRIs sorted by time of day.
  • Noah Witchell Free HDR Bundles. Free HDRI bundles from VFX artist Noah Witchell, usable for any purpose including commercial work, with no attribution required.
  • Open HDRI. Small library of free CC0 HDRIs for lighting 3D scenes.
  • OpenFootage. Free HDRIs, VFX plates, and backplates.
  • Poly Haven HDRIs. Poly Haven's library of free CC0 HDRIs for lighting, available up to 16K.
  • RenderMan HDRIs. Pixar's collection of HDRIs provided for lighting with RenderMan.

Textures & Materials: Free PBR Libraries

Free PBR texture libraries for materials authoring.

  • 3D Textures. Free PBR texture library with color, normal, roughness and displacement maps.
  • 3DAssets.one. Search engine across the largest free texture sites at once.
  • 3DTexel. 1,600+ handmade CC0 assets, incl. 1,000+ seamless PBR materials, HDRIs, decals, IES profiles and 3D models. Free account required to download.
  • ambientCG. Library of 2000+ CC0 PBR materials, HDRIs and models, free to download.
  • Arroway Textures Free tier. Digital textures for 3D rendering and real-time use.
  • C4DCenter Material Library. Free Cinema 4D materials with high-quality texture maps. Personal and commercial use.
  • Celestia Motherlode. Repository of Celestia addons: textures, models, and celestial objects.
  • CG Bookcase. Free CC0 PBR texture library with downloadable texture map sets.
  • Free PBR. Hundreds of free materials.
  • FreeStylized. Free library of stylized PBR textures with Substance Designer source files, plus alphas, skyboxes and stylized 3D models.
  • Kaimoisch. Scanned PBR textures, now under Texxary and being redeveloped.
  • LotPixel. Photogrammetry and PBR textures, 3D models, decals. 1500+ free textures.
  • Matcaps. Large matcap texture library in PNG and ZMT, organized by color.
  • MaterialX Library. AMD's free MaterialX-based material library. Download materials or upload your own.
  • Physically Based. Reference database of real-world PBR values for materials, lights, and cameras.
  • PlainTextures. Free high-resolution textures, brushes, and photos.
  • PolyScan. Small CC0 library of tileable 4K and 8K PBR textures, decals and 3D models for archviz and games, with a Blender add-on.
  • Share Textures. Free CC0 PBR textures, models and HDRIs from Share Textures.
  • Substance 3D Assets Paid. Adobe PBR material library. Free tier plus paid library.
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Software-Specific Asset Libraries
  • Texture Fabrik. Free textures and tileable patterns.
  • Texture Labs. Free original textures and tutorials for art and design.
  • Texture Supply (Gumroad). Gumroad store from Texture Supply with textures and 3D assets for photoreal rendering.
  • Texture.Ninja. Public domain photographic textures, reference images, and cutouts. (CC0)
  • TextureCan. Free PBR textures, high scan quality.
  • TextureKing. Free material stock textures.
  • Textures.com Free tier. Massive professional texture library.
  • Texturify. Free high-resolution CG textures for personal and commercial use.
  • The Blendersauce Vault Materials. Free material vault covering bricks, concrete, fabric, metal, nature, plaster, stone, tiles, and wood.
  • The Pixel Lab Freebies. Free 3D models and textures.

Textures: Specialized

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

  • CGI Moon Kit. NASA Scientific Visualization Studio moon kit: high-resolution moon textures and elevation data for rendering.
  • NASA 3D Resources Mixed. Spacecraft, planets, terrain models (mixed CC0 / CC-BY. Check per-asset license; mirror at nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov).
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Model Libraries: Specialized
  • Pixar One Twenty Eight. Pixar's 1993 library of 128 repeating textures (bricks, fabrics, woods), updated with bump and normal maps and released under CC BY 4.0.
  • Screaming Brain Studios. itch.io creator releasing 30,000+ CC0 textures and tiles: tiny low-res texture packs, planet surfaces, space backgrounds and isometric tiles.
  • Shaded Relief. Natural Earth data and terrain reference.
  • Solar Textures. These textures represent real planetary maps in equirectangular projection. Textures in this pack are based on NASA elevation and imagery data. (CC-BY)
  • Spriters Resource. Archive of sprite sheets ripped from video games, sorted by platform and game.
  • Subtle Patterns. Library of free tileable background patterns for web and design use.
  • Terrain Height Maps. Free heightmap images for terrain displacement.
  • Texturing.xyz Paid. MicroSkin displacement maps.
  • The Pattern Library. Free tileable background patterns.

Textures: Premium

Professional paid texture libraries.

  • Poliigon Paid. Paid library of PBR textures, HDRIs and models, with a small free selection.
  • Quixel Megascans + Bridge Free tier. Scanned materials and import plugin. Free with Unreal Engine.
  • ScansLibrary Free tier. Subscription library of photoscanned surfaces, 3D assets, atlases, fabrics and large-scale scans, with UE5 PCG systems and some free assets.
  • Texture Box Paid. Free and premium tileable PBR textures and materials for Unity and Unreal Engine.

Stock Images & References

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

  • Absurd Design. Free surrealist illustration set.
  • All Free Download. Free vectors, photos, PSD files and fonts for design work.
  • Biodiversity Heritage Library. 300,000+ botanical and animal illustrations free to download (CC0).
  • Black Illustrations Free tier. Illustrations of black people for projects.
  • Blush Free tier. Mix and customize illustrations made by artists.
  • Control Illustrations Paid. Combo set of 108 customizable illustrations.
  • David Rumsey Maps Free, non-commercial. David Rumsey's online collection of digitized historical maps.
  • Flowbite Illustrations. Open-source SVG illustrations in 3D style, dark and light mode.
  • Freepik Free tier. Free vectors, photos, and mockups.
  • Get Illustrations Bundle Paid. Bundle of 34+ vector illustration packs, 2800+ items.
  • Humaaans. Mix-and-match illustrations of people with a design library.
  • illlustrations. 100 open-source illustrations including COVID and WFH themes.
  • Illustration Gallery. Royalty-free illustration collection.
  • Illustrationz Free tier. 100+ 3D character illustration packs with 167M+ combinations.
  • LACartoons License unspecified. Animation cel and model sheet archive.
  • Location Textures Free tier. Reference photo packs that cover whole locations from every angle and light, plus 30K 360 HDRI panoramas at pay-what-you-want.
  • Mockupz. Free 3D mockup scenes for showcasing design work.
  • Neurascapes. Free surreal/AI-generated reference imagery.
  • Pexels. Free stock photos and video.
  • Pixabay. Free stock photos, illustrations, vectors, videos and music.
  • PNG Images Free, non-commercial. Free transparent-background PNG images sorted by category.
  • Public Domain Review. Public-domain image collections.
  • Public.work. Search public domain images from museums and libraries.
  • Settei Dreams License unspecified. Anime model sheets and settei archive.
  • Smash Illustrations Free tier. Library of 250+ illustrations.
  • Story Set. Customizable illustrations to edit and animate, free.
  • Storytale Free tier. Hundreds of illustrations for web and app projects.
  • The Blueprints. Vehicle, aircraft, ship blueprints.
  • unDraw Illustrations. MIT-licensed collection of SVG illustrations.
  • Unsplash. Free high-resolution stock photos usable without attribution.
  • Wikimedia Commons Mixed. Free media repository of 150M+ freely usable images, videos, sounds and 3D models, each file carrying its own license.

Stock Footage

Free and archival video footage sources.

  • ActionVFX License unspecified. VFX stock elements (explosions, fire, debris).
  • ActionVFX Practice. Free practice VFX footage.
  • Coverr Free tier. Free HD and 4K stock video, music and image library cleared for commercial use without attribution, plus paid AI tools.
  • FootageCrate Free tier. Library of 10,000 VFX stock elements on transparent backgrounds: explosions, fire, smoke, debris, muzzle flashes and lens flares.
  • FX Elements Free tier. 4K VFX stock footage of explosions, fire, smoke and other elements shot on black or green screen, sold by subscription with 130+ free clips.
  • Internet Archive / Prelinger. Public-domain archival footage.
  • Mixkit. Free stock music, SFX, and video footage.
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Audio: SFX & Music Libraries
  • NASA Image and Video Library. Searchable NASA archive of images and video, downloadable in multiple resolutions with metadata.
  • Open Visual FX. Free VFX stock footage elements for compositing.
  • Storyblocks Paid. Subscription stock library of 10M+ assets with unlimited downloads: footage, motion-graphics templates, music, sound effects and images.
  • Videezy Free tier. Community library of free HD and 4K stock video clips and After Effects templates, with a Pro tier.
  • videvo Free tier. Free stock video, motion graphics, and music tracks.

Audio: SFX & Music Libraries

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

  • 99Sounds. Independent sound design label releasing free sound effects libraries and VST plugins, such as cinematic texture packs.
  • A Sound Effect Paid. Marketplace of 7,000+ sound effects libraries from 600+ independent sound designers for games and film.
  • Artlist Paid. Subscription music and SFX.
  • BBC Sound Effects. BBC's archive of free SFX.
  • BigSoundBank. 3,500+ royalty-free sound effects and ambiences recorded by Joseph Sardin since 2005, under a CC0-like license.
  • BOOM Library Paid. Professional sound effects libraries for games, trailers and film, sold as buyouts or by subscription, plus sound design plug-ins.
  • ccMixter. Creative Commons remix community.
  • ChipTone. Free retro game sound effect generator by SFBGames for browser, Windows and macOS; output sounds are CC0.
  • DailySounds. Free sound effects library for games, videos, and podcasts, with commercial use allowed and credit optional.
  • Ende. Curated free audio library.
  • Epidemic Sound Paid. Subscription catalog of 55,000+ owned music tracks and 250,000+ sound effects for video, with rights included.
  • FilmCow Royalty Free Sound Effects Library. 4,000+ recorded and designed sound effects as 24-bit 48kHz WAV, royalty-free for commercial use with no credit required.
  • Free Music Archive. Free music, varied licenses.
  • Freesound. Collaborative database of CC-licensed sounds.
  • Freesound Add-on. Blender VSE addon to browse, preview, and insert sounds from freesound.org.
  • incompetech. Kevin MacLeod's royalty-free music catalog, free under Creative Commons with credit or under a paid license without attribution.
  • jsfxr. Browser port of the sfxr 8-bit sound effect generator that exports WAV and also works as a JavaScript library for games.
  • Knell. Free procedural sound effect synthesizer for games, UI, and prototypes.
  • Mixkit. Free stock music, SFX, and video footage.
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Stock Footage
  • Moby Gratis Free, non-commercial. Free Moby music for indie creators.
  • Motion Array SFX. Free sound effects from Motion Array, a paid creator asset subscription.
  • Ovani Sound Paid. Royalty-free music packs, sound effects, voice-over packs and audio plugins for indie game developers, sold one-time with no subscription.
  • Pro Sound Effects Paid. Licensor of 1.2M+ rights-cleared professional sound effects, with the SoundQ desktop app and shared cloud libraries for editors.
  • Shapeforms Audio Free Sound Effects. 180 royalty-free sound effects sampled from Shapeforms Audio's paid libraries, in 24-bit 48kHz WAV, no attribution required.
  • Sonniss Paid. SFX library. Releases free SFX bundles annually.
  • Soundimage.org. Eric Matyas's library of free original music, sound effects and texture images for games and film, free with attribution.
  • Soundsnap Paid. Subscription library of royalty-free sound effects with unlimited downloads for games, film and video.
  • Uppbeat Free tier. Royalty-free music library for creators, with free and paid tiers.
  • ZapSplat. Large library of free sound effects, with paid plans for more downloads.

Fonts

Font libraries, pairing tools, and type references.

  • Adobe Fonts Paid. Premium font library bundled with Creative Cloud subscription.
  • Collletttivo. Open-source type foundry and collective publishing 16 free typefaces such as Ronzino, Absans and Apfel Grotezk.
  • Creative Market Fonts Paid. 300k+ premium fonts with worry-free perpetual commercial licenses.
  • Departure Mono. Monospaced pixel font by Helena Zhang, released under the SIL Open Font License.
  • Font Bundles Free tier. Premium font marketplace with regular freebies; clear commercial license.
  • Font Library. Open-source and free fonts.
  • Font Squirrel. Directory of free fonts licensed for commercial desktop use, with a webfont generator and font identifier.
  • FontPair. Font pairing inspiration.
  • Fonts In Use. Independent archive of typography in real design work, searchable by typeface, format and topic.
  • Fontshare. Free quality fonts from Indian Type Foundry; Satoshi, General Sans, Clash Display.
  • Fontz Free tier. Free and premium 3D fonts with Blender source files.
  • Free Faces. Curated directory of free fonts from independent foundries and designers.
  • Free Fonts (Awwwards). Curated collection of free fonts.
  • Future Fonts Paid. Buy in-progress fonts directly from indie designers at lower early-access prices.
  • Google Fonts. Largest free open-source font library; SIL OFL / Apache licensed.
  • Indestructible Type. Open-source foundry by Owen Earl; variable font families like Jost, Besley, Bodoni.
  • Lilex. Programming font with ligatures.
  • Lost Type Co-op Free tier. Pay-what-you-want type foundry running since 2011, with all font sale proceeds going to each typeface's designer.
  • MyFonts Paid. Long-running premium font marketplace; perpetual desktop, web, app licenses.
  • Open Foundry. Curated showcase of free open-source typefaces that also profiles the designers behind them.
  • Pangram Pangram Foundry Free tier. Indie foundry with high-end typefaces; free personal-use trials available.
  • The League of Moveable Type. Open-source foundry; well-curated bold typefaces, free for commercial use.
  • UNCUT.wtf. 160+ contemporary open-source typefaces, all free for commercial use.
  • Usable Google Fonts (Figma). Curated Figma set of usable Google Fonts.
  • Velvetyne Type Foundry. Paris-based non-profit foundry releasing open-source experimental typefaces.
  • WhatTheFont Free tier. Identify fonts from an image.
  • Wordmark.it. Preview text in your installed fonts.

Icons

Icon libraries and animation sets.

  • 3dicons. CC0 library of 1,500+ hand-made 3D icon renders, free for commercial use without attribution, with a Figma file.
  • Bootstrap Icons. 2000+ official open-source SVG icons from the Bootstrap team.
  • Flaticon Free tier. Large library of icons in PNG, SVG and other formats, with free and premium sets.
  • Font Awesome Free tier. Classic icon font library.
  • Game Icons. Library of 4000+ free SVG game icons under CC BY.
  • Heroicons. Hand-crafted SVG icons by Tailwind CSS team; outline and solid.
  • Hugeicons Free tier. 36k+ icons in multiple styles; free tier plus premium plans.
  • Iconify. Unified framework aggregating 200k+ open-source icons from 150+ icon sets.
  • Iconoir. 1600+ open-source SVG icons; React, React Native, Flutter, Vue, Figma support.
  • icons8 Free tier. Large icon packs with consistent styles.
  • Icons8 Glyph Free tier. Glyph-style icon set from Icons8, available in PNG and SVG.
  • Iconz Free tier. 460+ 3D icons in multiple angles and materials.
  • Lineicons Free tier. 30k icons (4k free); SVG, JSX, TSX, Figma, PNG; React/Vue/Svelte support.
  • Lordicon Free tier. Library of 48,100+ animated icons; 9,700 are free for commercial use and PRO unlocks the full set without attribution.
  • Lucide. Open-source icon library.
  • Lucide Animated. Animated version of Lucide icons.
  • Material design icons. Official Material Design icon set from Google.
  • MDI Icons. Material Design Icons, huge set.
  • Noun Project Free tier. 5M+ curated icons and photos; subscription unlocks royalty-free use.
  • Ouch! Illustrations Free tier. Illustration and icon library for UX from Icons8.
  • Phosphor Icons. 9000+ flexible icons in thin, light, regular, bold, fill, duotone styles.
  • Pixelarticons Free tier. 5,646 pixel-art icons on a 24x24 grid in four styles; 1,036 base icons are free under MIT, the full set is a one-time purchase.
  • Remix Icon. 2800+ neutral-style open-source icons on 24x24 grid; line and fill.
  • Shape.so Paid. 4300+ icons and illustrations exportable to SVG, React, and Lottie.
  • Simple Icons. CC0 collection of SVG icons for popular brands.
  • Streamline Paid. Massive premium icon and illustration library; consistent design systems.
  • SVG Repo Mixed. 500k+ free SVG vectors and icons across many styles and packs.
  • SVGL. Library of brand and company logos in SVG, free to copy.
  • Tabler Icons. Open-source set of SVG icons, MIT licensed, with a consistent stroke style.
  • Thridy. 13,000+ free 3D icons in one consistent style; HD transparent PNG downloads, no signup or attribution required.
  • typicons.font. 336 pixel-perfect all-purpose vector icons in a web-font kit.
  • Use Animations Free tier. Animated icons for web UI.

Game Assets

Free and paid game-ready asset sources. Also listed under Game Development.

Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing

Learning per 3D application, plus texturing and material-authoring tools. Renderer-specific learning is under Lighting, Rendering & Shaders.

Blender: Plugins & Addons

Notable addons extending Blender.

Software Description License Tags Best For
AquaGuard External watchdog that keeps rotating A/B/C project snapshots and detects Blender freezes or power loss so the latest work can be reopened after a restart. Open source Free · Blender Recovering work after a crash or power cut

Related:

  • AnimAide. Free animation helper tools for Blender.
  • Array Tools. Create translation, scale and rotation arrays with offset or global parameters in any direction.
  • Arsenal. Blender-integrated game engine written in Rust.
  • Auto Terrainer Paid. Turns any low-poly mesh into customizable terrain like mountains, valleys and islands in Blender.
  • AutoMask. Machine-learning automatic rotoscoping addon for Blender.
  • AutoRemesher Blender Bridge. Blender addon that runs AutoRemesher on selected meshes and imports the quad result back into the scene.
    See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools
  • b3dsdf. Shader node group library of 2D/3D signed distance functions and vector ops for procedural materials in Blender.
  • BagaPie. Free Blender extension with scattering, ivy, arrays, booleans and parametric architecture tools.
  • Bangingcuts. Cuts audio and video clips on audio peaks, removing silences. On recent Blender, install the install.py file instead of the zip.
  • BlendCap. Markerless capture add-on that rebuilds body, hand and face performance from one ordinary video and retargets it onto a Blender rig.
  • Blender Addons. Helper addons by Antonio Vazquez.
  • Blender Colab. Python script to render Blender scenes on Google Colab. Cycles only.
  • Blender Data Visualisation. Loads data into Blender and builds visualisations.
  • Blender Debugger For Vscode. Addon for remote-debugging Blender from VS Code or Visual Studio.
  • Blender For Unreal Engine. Exports Blender content to Unreal Engine.
  • Blender Kitti. Renders large point clouds and voxel grids in Blender.
  • Blender Lab MCP Server. Official Blender Lab MCP server and add-on that lets an LLM client inspect scenes and run Python in Blender 5.1+.
  • Blender Metaverse Addon. Toolset for creating content for metaverse platforms like High Fidelity.
  • Blender NLA Midi Copier. Creates MIDI-driven animations from Blender's Nonlinear Animation view.
  • Blender Pyblish. Pyblish publishing-pipeline integration for Blender.
  • Blender Sculpt Tools. Base-mesh sculpting tools for Blender, ZSphere-style.
  • Blender to Unity FBX. Blender addon that exports FBX files with correct axes and scale for Unity.
  • Blender Vscode. VS Code extension for Blender addon development.
  • Blender XR. VR and mixed-reality interface for editing Blender scenes with a headset and controllers.
  • Blender2Godot. Exports a Blender scene to a Godot Engine project.
  • BlenderCAM. Open source CAM toolpath generation for CNC inside Blender.
  • BlenderSynth. Blender scripting for generating synthetic datasets at scale.
  • BlendyPose. Webcam motion capture inside Blender.
  • Blign. Align and distribute objects in Blender with many options.
  • Bone Widget. Helps make custom bone shapes for Blender rigs.
  • Bonsai. OpenBIM/IFC architectural authoring add-on for Blender. Formerly BlenderBIM.
  • BookGen. Generates rows of books on shelves in Blender.
  • botaniq Paid. Blender library of 700 tree, grass and plant assets with scatter presets and wind animation.
  • Brushstroke Tools. Blender Studio extension that generates painterly 3D brushstrokes with Geometry Nodes, as surface fills or curves drawn on a mesh.
  • Building Tools. Building-generation addon for Blender.
  • Bystedts Blender Baker Paid. Streamlines texture baking in Blender.
  • CAD Sketcher. CAD-style precision sketching with constraints for Blender.
  • Camera Shakify. Adds realistic camera shake to Blender cameras.
  • Capsule. Export manager for sharing assets between Blender and Unreal/Unity.
  • CC/iC Blender Tools. Add-on that imports Character Creator 3-5 and iClone 7-8 characters and sets up their materials in Blender automatically.
  • CharMorph. Open source character creation tool for Blender, a rewrite of the now-unmaintained MB-Lab.
  • COA Tools. 2D cutout animation suite for Blender, similar to Spine or Spriter.
  • Conform Object Paid. Add-on that projects a smaller object onto a larger surface in one direction, non-destructively, with grid and shrinkwrap modes.
  • Crowdrender Free tier. Distributed rendering across machines.
  • CurioMesh. Blender addon that auto-retopologizes sculpts and scans into quads part by part, or redoes only a caged region and stitches it back without gaps.
  • Curtis Holt Store Paid. Curtis Holt's storefront for Blender addons and learning products.
  • Data FX. Loads and visualizes CSV data within Blender.
  • Daz to Blender Bridge. Transfers Genesis 8 and 3 characters from Daz Studio into Blender.
  • DECALmachine Paid. Blender add-on for mesh decals and trim sheets, adds surface detail without UVs.
  • DeepBump. ML add-on that generates normal and height maps from a single photo inside Blender.
  • Drag and Drop Support. Add-on that imports FBX, OBJ, Alembic, BVH and other files dropped onto the Blender window.
  • DreamUV. Manipulate UVs directly in the 3D viewport.
  • Drop It. Drops objects quickly onto the ground or a surface in Blender.
  • Easy HDRI. Blender addon for browsing, loading and adjusting HDRI environment lighting.
  • Easy Proxy. Creates VSE proxy files easily via FFmpeg.
  • EasyBake. One-click texture baking UI in the Blender 3D viewport.
  • EdgeFlow. Adds two edge-loop operators for cleaner topology in Blender.
  • Embark Blender Tools. Game-dev workflow tools for Blender, with standardized import/export and new object types.
  • Engraver Paid. Carves decals into 3D models in Blender.
  • Export Paper Model from Blender. Add-on for unfolding meshes into printable paper models.
  • EZ Baker. Simpler alternative to Blender's default texture-bake system.
  • F Spy Blender. Official fSpy Blender importer.
  • FaceBuilder Paid. Builds photorealistic 3D face and head models from a few neutral-expression photos in Blender.
  • FLIP Fluids Paid. High-quality liquid simulation plugin for Blender.
  • Fluent Paid. Hard-surface add-on for boolean cuts plus plate, wire, pipe, grid, screw and cloth panel tools (Power Trip edition).
  • FontSelector. Font management inside Blender.
  • Gaffer (Blender addon). Light-management panels for fast lighting setup and tweaking in Blender.
  • Game Rig Tools. CGDive Blender addon that builds game-ready deform rigs and exports rigged, animated characters to Unreal, Unity and Godot.
  • Geo-Scatter Paid. Blender scattering add-on with a biome system for vegetation, city and debris environments.
  • Geometry Nodes Pipes Paid. Geometry Nodes addon for generating complex pipe layouts in Blender.
  • Geometry Script. Python scripting API for Blender Geometry Nodes, making node trees easier to build and share.
  • Glsl Texture. Create textures from GLSL fragment shaders in Blender.
  • GoB. GoZ-style bridge for ZBrush-Blender mesh interchange.
  • GreaseWriter. Auto-animates grease pencil strokes to emulate hand-drawn text.
  • Hard Ops / BoxCutter Paid. Hard-surface add-on pair for Blender. BoxCutter draws boolean cuts, Hard Ops handles bevels and cleanup.
  • HDRI Sun Aligner. Automatically rotates a sun to match the brightest point in an HDRI environment texture.
  • Hi Phy Engine Paid. High-fidelity physics engine addon with a unified solver for rigid body, cloth, hair, soft body and MPM snow/sand, with intersection-free continuous collision detection.
  • Human Generator Free tier. Blender add-on that builds realistic human characters with hair, outfits, poses and expressions.
  • Import 3dm. Blender importer for Rhino .3dm files built on McNeel's rhino3dm module.
  • INOX. Rust game engine integrated in Blender.
  • IOR Reference. Blender addon listing IOR values for materials.
  • JARCH Vis. Generates common architectural-visualization objects in Blender.
  • Jet Fluids. Jet fluid-engine simulator integration for Blender.
  • JewelCraft. Jewelry design toolkit add-on for Blender.
  • Kaleidoscope. Adds Spectrum and Intensity nodes to speed up material creation in Blender.
  • KeKit. Production modeling toolset for Blender.
  • Laser Slicer. Slices a Blender object and exports SVG sections for laser cutting.
  • LeoMoon LightStudio Paid. Studio lighting system for Blender.
  • Lib SM64 Blender. Integrates libsm64 into Blender, with Fast64 integrations.
  • Light Wrangler Paid. Lighting add-on that places lights where you point in the viewport, with scrims, gobos, IES profiles and light textures.
  • Lodify. Level-of-detail and proxy system for Blender.
  • Loom. Simplifies rendering image sequences and frame ranges, with batch rendering utilities.
  • Lumiere. Interactive lighting addon for Blender.
  • Magic UV. UV manipulation toolset that fills gaps in Blender's UV tools.
  • Maps Models Importer. Imports 3D models from Google Maps into Blender.
  • Maya Scene IO. Add-on that reads and writes Maya ASCII and reads Maya Binary scenes in Blender without Maya installed.
  • Maya Workflow Kit for Blender. Extension that brings Maya habits to Blender: hotbox, marking menus, Channel Box, Attribute Editor, menu sets and shelves.
  • MB Lab. Character creation (archived, succeeded by CharMorph).
  • MDSANIMA RenderTime. Estimates total animation render time from a single frame's render time.
  • Meerkat. Blender addon and sync server for real-time, object-level collaborative scene layout between Blender instances over LAN or the internet.
  • Mesh Align Plus. Precisely align, move, and measure objects and mesh parts.
  • Mesh Heal. Extra Blender operators for healing and repairing surface meshes.
  • Mesh Maze. Generates a maze on any mesh in Blender.
  • MESHmachine Paid. Blender add-on for hard-surface edits without subdivision: fuse, unfuse, fillets, unbevel.
  • MeshSync. Live-link plugin syncing Blender and other DCCs into Unity.
  • MifthTools. Mesh-exchange tools for 3DCoat, Houdini and Modo.
  • Mixamo Converter. Blender Plugin that Converts Mixamo animations to work in Unreal Engine 4 with root motion.
  • Mixer by Ubisoft. Real-time collaboration addon for Blender from Ubisoft Animation Studio.
  • Modeling Cloth. Real-time cloth-like behavior on meshes in Blender.
  • Modifier List. Enhanced modifier UI for Blender, with a sidebar tab and popup.
  • MPFB. Open source human generator for Blender, a full rewrite of MakeHuman as an addon.
  • Mr Mannequins Tools. Exports animations and weighted meshes compatible with the Unreal third-person mannequin without retargeting.
  • Multi User. Real-time collaborative editing inside Blender.
  • Nebula Forge for Blender Paid. Blender add-on that generates procedural nebula world skies and exports linear EXR or HDR panoramas.
  • Needle Engine Free tier. Builds interactive web apps from Blender scenes.
  • NijiGPen. Grease Pencil add-on with 2D boolean and offset ops, stroke cleanup and mesh generation from 2D shapes.
  • OctaneRender Prime for Blender Free tier. Octane GPU render engine for Blender, free tier.
  • Parallel Render. Renders Sequencer output multithreaded from the Render sidebar.
  • PBR Texture Mapper. One-click PBR node setup in Blender.
  • Phobos. Creates URDF, SDF and SMURF robot models in Blender.
  • Physics Dropper. Add-on that drops selected objects with rigid body or cloth sims so they settle, then bakes the result to keyframes.
  • Pie Menu Editor Paid. UI add-on that builds custom pie menus, popups, side panels and toolbars in Blender without code.
  • Point Cloud Visualizer. Display, edit, filter, render and export colored point-cloud PLY files.
  • Poliigon Blender Addon. Browse, download and import Poliigon textures, models and HDRs from inside Blender, with material generation from texture sets.
  • Polychase. Free GeoTracker-style add-on that tracks camera or object motion in video inside Blender with optical flow and PnP.
  • Power Sequencer. Faster editing tools for Blender's Video Sequence Editor.
  • PresetterProfessional. View, visibility, 3D cursor and snap presets for Blender.
  • Principled Baker. Bake PBR textures from the Principled BSDF in a few clicks.
  • Projectors. Create and modify projector lights in Blender.
  • ProSidebar. Adds extra properties and operators to the 3D View Sidebar.
  • PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Paid. Pencil+ 4 for Blender, a plugin for NPR line rendering and toon outlines.
  • PSX Retro Tools. Blender addon that turns scenes into PS1-style visuals with low-poly, low-res, dithered and unstable retro effects.
  • QBlocker. Interactive blockout and object creation tool for Blender.
  • Quick Menu. Productivity add-on that puts common modeling operators in one menu and adds missing ones.
  • QuickSwitch. Quickly switch workspaces and view the render menu in the viewport.
  • Random Flow Paid. Hard-surface add-on that generates random sci-fi panels, greebles, extrusions, cables and scatter detail.
  • RandoMesh. Adds randomized geometry to any mesh in Blender.
  • RBDLab Paid. Blender add-on for rigid-body destruction: fracturing, debris, dust and metal deformation.
  • reflow. Blender addon to change scene fps.
  • Render Useful. Command-line tools for Blender renders.
  • Rig on the Fly. Dynamic rigging tool that speeds up Blender animation workflow.
  • Rigid Body Bones. Adds rigid-body and spring physics to bones in Blender.
  • Rigodotify. Rigify feature set and converter that turns Blender rigs into game-engine rigs whose bones Godot, Unity and Unreal retargeters detect automatically.
  • Scene Strip Tools. Preview VSE scene strips directly in the 3D View.
  • Screencast Keys. On-screen keystroke display for Blender screen recordings.
  • Screenwriter. Write screenplays in the Blender Text Editor using Fountain markup, with correct formatting on export.
  • Sculpt Alphas Manager. Quickly switch alpha textures for sculpt brushes in Blender.
  • Search Online References. Search selected text across Blender API/Python docs, Stack Exchange, source code and GitHub.
  • Shot Manager by Ubisoft. Adds a true shot entity to Blender scenes for previs and layout.
  • Simply Cloth Paid. Blender add-on for fast cloth simulation and garment sewing, with wind and collision presets.
  • Sketchfab Blender Addon. Import and export models between Blender and Sketchfab.
  • SliceMesh. Automates mesh slicing in Blender.
  • Spaceship Generator. Procedurally generates 3D spaceships.
  • Spring Bones. Adds springy dynamic motion to bones in Blender.
  • Spriteturn Free tier. Blender addon that renders a model from every needed direction frame by frame and packs a pixel-art sprite sheet with JSON and a Godot 4 SpriteFrames file.
  • Squishy Volumes. Blender 5 extension that runs Material Point Method (MPM) simulations inside Blender.
  • Subsimport. Create and edit subtitles for movies or music in Blender.
  • Super IO. Clipboard-driven import and export shortcuts for Blender 5: copy files in the OS file browser and paste them into the scene.
  • SuperPoke. Iterative poking tool for Blender meshes.
  • Sverchok. Node-based parametric modeling for Blender, aimed at architects.
  • TextCounter. Text-animation addon for counters and GUI simulations in Blender.
  • TexTools. Free UV and texturing toolset for Blender.
  • The Grove 3D Paid. Grows natural 3D trees for visualisation and film, with seasonal simulation.
  • Theme Switcher. Switch the active Blender theme without leaving the 3D View.
  • Tilecam. Renders tileable images in Blender.
  • Tissue. Computational and parametric design addon for Blender.
  • Transform Tools. Transform, crop and fade video strips in Blender's VSE.
  • Tree Gen. Procedural tree-model generation in Blender.
  • True Terrain Paid. Landscape add-on with terrain presets, hydro/thermal/wind erosion, rivers, lakes, oceans and masked scattering.
  • Typewriter. Typewriter text animation for font objects in Blender.
  • UcuPaint. Manage texture layers for EEVEE and Cycles in Blender.
  • USDZ. Blender addon to export USDZ files.
  • UV Packer. Free automatic UV-packing addon for Blender.
  • UVgami. One-click automatic UV unwrapper for Blender with hard-surface and organic modes, batch unwrap and a proxy mode for dense meshes.
  • V HACD. Decomposes a 3D surface into near-convex parts for accurate collision meshes.
  • Verge3D Paid. Toolkit for building interactive 3D web experiences from Blender.
  • VSEQF. Overhauls Blender's VSE for quick keyboard-and-mouse editing with real-time feedback.
  • Welder. Generates weld seams between meshes in Blender.
  • Wiggle Bones. Jiggle-bone physics for Blender rigs.
  • WoT Tank Viewer. Blender plugins to view 3D models from World of Tanks.
  • WritingAnimation. Generates writing animation for selected Bezier curves in Blender.

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, non-commercial 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: Miscellaneous Tutorials

Additional Houdini tutorials across topics.

Houdini: Plugins & Tools

Toolkits, pipeline tools, and HDAs.

  • .hips. GitHub repo of assorted Houdini experiments and example files by lcrs.
  • AElib. Free tools by Nick Taylor (ManVsMachine).
  • Axiom Paid. Sparse fluid solver by Matthew Puchala.
  • CamRig Pro Paid. Camera rigging tool HDA by Shir Manor.
  • cb-houdini-tools (conlen-b). Collection of Houdini utility tools and HDAs.
  • EarthMesh Houdini. Real-world meshes via Google API.
  • egMatLib. Material library panel for Houdini that stores and loads Karma, Mantra, Redshift, Arnold and Octane shader networks.
  • Ffmpeg. Command-line tool for converting video and audio, often used to turn Houdini flipbooks into MP4.
  • FXHoudiniMCP. MCP server for Houdini with 215 tools that build node networks, set up simulations, inspect USD stages and render.
  • GSOPs. Gaussian Splatting Operators for Houdini that import, edit, relight and render 3D Gaussian splats as SOP geometry.
  • Houdini Attributes Cheatsheet. Quick reference of common Houdini geometry attributes.
  • Houdini Engine for Unreal (AdrianPan optimized fork). Rebuilt Houdini Engine for UE, 2x-15x faster.
  • Houdini Tech Art Challenge Winners 2021. Winning tech-art tools: HPaint, Polyline Creator, Poly Slice Tool.
  • Houdini VBD. OpenCL port of Vertex Block Descent and Augmented VBD soft body solvers that runs natively in Houdini.
  • Houdini-scripts (JoseZalez). Python scripts and utilities for Houdini.
  • HoudiniMCP. Houdini Python plugin plus MCP bridge that lets Claude create and modify nodes and run code in a live Houdini session.
  • HPaint. Viewport drawing tool for Houdini that paints UV'd 3D stroke cards on any geometry, similar to Grease Pencil.
  • hpaste. Houdini tool that copies node networks as plain-text snippets you can paste through any messenger.
  • JDB Houdini Toolkit. Set of Houdini tools and utilities shared on Bitbucket by jcdeblok.
  • Microbot VDB Painter Paid. Interactive painting and manipulation of OpenVDB SDF volumes in Houdini.
  • MOPS. Motion graphics toolkit by Toadstorm.
    See also: Learning, Community & Industry → 3D Communities & Forums
  • MotionCOPs. Free toolkit of Copernicus HDAs for motion design in Houdini, with batch media paste, LUT grading and animation tools.
  • NodebookMD. Free offline desktop app that indexes the docs of your installed Houdini version and shows them in a fast searchable viewer.
  • ODTools Paid. Pipeline tools by Oliver Hotz.
  • qLib. Open-source library of Houdini digital assets for modeling, FX and pipeline tasks.
  • Rich Lord's Tools. Tools from ex-Valve animator.
  • SideFX Labs. Extended official toolset.
  • Tighe Rzankowski's Tools Paid. Gumroad store of Tighe Rzankowski with Houdini tools, including feather grooming setups.
  • TrembleFX Paid. Procedural noise generator HDA by Shir Manor.
  • VEX Manager Paid. VEX snippet/code manager HDA by Shir Manor.
    See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Houdini: VEX & Coding
  • VFX Fractal Toolkit. Set of tools for generating fractal and generative art.
  • Wormhole Content Browser Paid. Custom Houdini UI for browsing, previewing, and importing content.
  • ZENO. Node-based 3D system for cinematic physics effects. Standalone open-source Houdini alternative.
  • ZENV. CC0 collection of Houdini HDAs for procedural environment modeling.

Houdini: Courses & Free Content

Structured courses for Houdini.

  • Rebelway Free tier. FX, procedural modeling, VEX, pyro, destruction, fluid, fur, muscle, lighting, ML courses. Many free tutorials.

Houdini: Communities

Forums, Discords, and tip archives.

Cinema 4D: Learning

C4D tutorials and learning hubs.

Cinema 4D: Plugins

C4D addons and bridges.

  • AEC4D Paid. After Effects ↔ Cinema 4D bridge.
  • Aturtur's Cinema 4D Scripts. Free collection of commented Python scripts for Cinema 4D's Script Manager, useful for learning C4D scripting.
  • Cinema4D MCP. Cinema 4D plugin and MCP server that connects the app to Claude for prompt-driven modeling and scene edits.
  • Forester Paid. Cinema 4D plugin that generates trees, plants and rocks and scatters them over terrain.
  • Nitro4D Paid. Cinema 4D plugin store with 30 tools such as NitroBake, NitroSplineModel and NitroMoFracture for baking, modeling and fracturing.
  • Plugins 4D Paid. Cinema 4D plugin store with HOT4D oceans, Flow Graph node animation, UDIM import, Jet Fluids and paint tools, built for R20 to 2027.
  • Video Copilot Free tier. VFX tutorials, Element 3D, Optical Flares.
  • X-Particles Paid. Cinema 4D particle and VFX system for smoke, fire, fluids, grains and cloth.

Cinema 4D: Tips & Workflows

Productivity blogs and shader workflow tricks.

3ds Max: Plugins

3ds Max plugins.

  • 3dsmax-mcp. MCP server with 161 tools that lets AI agents read scenes, model, edit materials and capture viewports in 3ds Max 2023-2027.
  • FloorGenerator Free tier. 3ds Max plugin that builds floors from individual boards in many patterns for archviz.
  • Forest Pack Free tier. 3ds Max scattering plugin for vegetation and objects, with ForestIvy for climbing plants.
  • FumeFX Paid. Fluid solver for fire, smoke and explosions in 3ds Max, Maya and Cinema 4D, with GPU solving in v7.
  • GrowFX Paid. 3ds Max plugin for procedural modeling and animation of trees, grass and ivy, with growth and wind and Unreal export.
  • RailClone Free tier. 3ds Max parametric modeler that assembles geometry segments along splines by rules.
  • TyFlow Free tier. Advanced particle/dynamics system. Destruction, cloth, fluids.

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		 Free tier
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
Mixos Browser-based 3D texture painting and PBR material authoring with AI auto-texturing and a pre-made material library.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		 Free tier (watermarked beta); Pro $9/mo; Studio $19/mo Free tier Browser PBR · AI Texturing Browser-based PBR texture painting
Puck's Seamlessifier + Ripper Desktop tool that rips textures out of photos with polygon selection, makes them tileable with several blending methods and packs them into atlases. $14.99 Paid Texture Ripping · Tileable
Substance 3D Sampler Adobe app that turns photos and scans into tiling materials, meshes and HDR lights.
See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		 Substance 3D Collection $59.99/mo Paid Subscription · Adobe Photo to material
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
Yoink! Desktop tool that rips textures from photos, correcting perspective even on curved surfaces, with custom palette quantization for stylized game textures. $9.99 Paid Texture Ripping

Related:

  • Agisoft De-Lighter. Standalone tool to remove baked shadows from model textures.
  • Architextures - Create Free tier. Web app for creating textures, bump maps, and CAD hatches.
  • Imogen. GPU Texture generator using dear imgui for UI.
  • Normal Map Bench. Browser tool that turns a height texture into a tangent-space normal map with live relighting and OpenGL or DirectX output. Runs locally, no upload.
  • NormalMap-Online. GPU browser tool that creates normal, displacement, AO and specular maps from a height map, with all processing local.
  • NormalMap.io. Browser tool that turns a photo or texture into normal, height, roughness and AO maps, with a movable-light 3D preview and a tileable option.
  • NVIDIA Texture Tools Exporter. Creates compressed texture files from image sources via CUDA-accelerated compression.
  • RGBA Texture Packer (ShareTextures). Browser tool that packs any grayscale maps (AO, roughness, metallic, opacity) into the R, G, B and A channels of one texture, detecting map types from filenames.
  • ShaderExpo. Browser shader editor with inline error logs, autocompletion, and model/texture loading.
  • SmartNormal 2.0. Normal map generation from images.
  • TexGraph. Procedural texture creation by connecting nodes in a graph.

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
Autodesk Inventor Mechanical 3D CAD for product design, simulation, and tooling. $310/mo or $2,500/yr Paid Mechanical CAD · Industry Standard Mechanical engineering and product design
Bitbybit Browser parametric CAD via visual nodes (Rete, Blockly) or Monaco code editor. OCCT, JSCAD, Manifold backends. Free tier 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
Dune 3D Open-source parametric CAD app with a SolveSpace-derived constraint solver and STEP support. Open source Open Source · CAD Parametric mechanical parts
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, non-commercial CAD/CAM · Personal Free Hobbyist CAD, 3D printing
LibreCAD Free open-source 2D CAD application for technical drawings, with DXF support. Open source 2D CAD · Drafting 2D drafting
Onshape Free Cloud-based CAD with free hobbyist tier (public projects). Free tier Cloud CAD · Collaborative Collaborative CAD, hobbyists
OpenSCAD Code-based CAD for parametric design. Open source Script-Based · Parametric Script-based CAD
PackCAD Browser 3D CAD for packaging. Models folded/origami structures with folding simulation. Free tier Browser · Packaging Packaging and dieline design
Pascal Editor Open-source browser editor for 3D buildings, floor plans, rooms, roofs, furniture, and interiors. Open source Browser · Building Editor Browser-based building and interior planning
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
Vectorworks CAD and BIM software line for architecture, landscape and stage lighting design. Subscription Paid Subscription · BIM Architecture and stage design
Zoo Design Studio Code-and-UI CAD app with the KCL modeling language on Zoo's own geometry engine. Free tier Freemium · Code CAD Code-based CAD design

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. Free tier
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
MeshCoat Offline desktop 3D texture painter that paints base color, roughness, metalness and normal at once and exports packed ORM sets for UE5, Unity and Godot. Free Open source Texture Painting · PBR
Mixos Browser-based 3D texture painting and PBR material authoring with AI auto-texturing and a pre-made material library. Free tier (watermarked beta); Pro $9/mo; Studio $19/mo Free tier Browser PBR · AI Texturing Browser-based PBR texture painting
PixPlant Windows tool that turns photos into tileable PBR materials. Paid Paid · Windows Photo to tileable material
ShaderMap Windows tool that generates normal, displacement and PBR maps from textures and models. Free non-commercial, Pro $29 Free tier Freemium · Windows Generating PBR texture maps
Substance 3D Sampler Adobe app that turns photos and scans into tiling materials, meshes and HDR lights. Substance 3D Collection $59.99/mo Paid Subscription · Adobe Photo to material
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 Pricing License Tags Best For
3DF Zephyr Free lite version (up to 50 photos). Free tier 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
DJI Terra Drone mapping and photogrammetry software that outputs meshes, point clouds and Gaussian splats. From $3,700/yr Paid Paid · Drone Drone survey reconstruction
iTwin Capture Modeler (Bentley) Bentley reality modeling that builds meshes and Gaussian splats from photos and lidar. Free tier Freemium · Bentley Large-scale reality meshes
KIRI Engine Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry. Free tier Cross-platform · Mobile Cross-platform mobile photogrammetry
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. Free tier Mobile · LiDAR Mobile photogrammetry
Postshot Desktop Gaussian Splatting tool. Train, clean, edit, export. Free tier 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. Free tier Epic Games · High-Quality Production photogrammetry
Scaniverse (Niantic) Free mobile scanning, Gaussian splat support. Free Free Mobile · Gaussian Splat Mobile scan, Gaussian splat

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
3D Coat Print Free 3DCoat build for sculpting models to 3D print. Exports are capped at 40K triangles. Free Free Voxel Sculpt · 3D Print 3D-print sculpting
3D Coat Textura Texturing-only variant of 3D Coat. PBR paint and bake, no sculpt or retopo modules. ~$199 perpetual Paid PBR Paint Only · Standalone Standalone PBR texture painting
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
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
Wrap (Faceform) Node-based topology transfer that fits a base mesh onto scans or sculpts. Indie $570, Pro $1,070 perpetual Paid Paid · Scans Scan topology transfer

Animation & Rigging

Technical animation, rigging, motion capture. Animation principles and theory are under Art, Design & Visual Storytelling.

Animation: Channels & Tutorials

Channels, courses and tutorials on 2D, motion and interactive animation.

AI Motion Capture & Animation

AI-powered mocap and character animation tools.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Audio2Face-3D (NVIDIA) NVIDIA models and SDK that drive facial animation from speech audio, with Maya and Unreal plugins.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free Free · NVIDIA Speech-driven facial animation
Cartwheel Web studio that turns video into mocap, generates motion from text and retargets it to 3D characters.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 7-day trial, credit plans Paid Paid · Video Mocap Video to character motion
DeepMotion Game-ready character animation from video. BVH/FBX export.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier 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
GVHMR Research code that recovers world-space 3D human motion from monocular video.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free, non-commercial Non-Commercial · Research Video to 3D motion
HY-Motion 1.0 (Tencent) Open model that generates 3D human motion from text prompts.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free Free · Text to Motion Text to motion
Krikey AI Browser app that makes 3D character animation from text or video and exports MP4 or FBX.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier, Pro $15/mo Free tier Freemium · Browser Quick character animation
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		 Free tier Browser · Hand Tracking Browser-based AI mocap
Puppeteer (ByteDance Seed) Open model that rigs, skins and animates a 3D model automatically.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Open source Open Source · Auto Rigging Auto-rig and animate models
QuickMagic Web service that captures body, hand and face motion from one video and exports FBX or BVH.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier Freemium · Markerless Video mocap
Remocapp Desktop app for real-time markerless body and face capture from two webcams, with Unreal Live Link.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier, from .99/mo (annual) Paid Subscription · Markerless Webcam real-time mocap
Rokoko Vision Free AI mocap from webcam or video.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier Free Tier · Webcam/Video Free AI mocap
UniRig VAST open model that predicts a skeleton and skin weights for any 3D model.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Open source Open Source · Auto Rigging Automatic rigging
Uthana AI platform that generates character motion from text or video, retargets it and auto-rigs, with Blender and Maya plugins.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Pay per second of motion Paid Paid · Text to Motion AI character motion
Viggle AI Character animation from video or image input.
See also: Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software		 Free tier Video→Animation · AI AI character animation from input media

Related:

  • AnimateDiff + ControlNet. Open-source controlled video animation from poses.
  • Mixamo LLM Mocap. Pipeline that turns locked-camera video, filmed or AI-generated, into FK animation on Mixamo characters in Blender using GVHMR pose estimation and retargeting.
  • SAM 3D Body (Meta). Promptable model for full-body 3D human mesh recovery from a single image, part of Meta's SAM 3D release.
  • TRAM. Research code that recovers global trajectory and 3D body motion of people from in-the-wild video, solving the camera with a masked DROID-SLAM.
  • WHAM. PyTorch model that reconstructs world-grounded 3D human motion from monocular video, a common backbone for open video-to-mocap pipelines.

Mocap & Animation Libraries

Downloadable motion-capture and game animation clips: stores, free packs, engine samples, animal mocap.

  • ACCAD Open Motion Project. Ohio State ACCAD Vicon mocap library of walking, running, martial arts, gestures, and dance, in BVH, C3D, and ASF/AMC.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Mocap Datasets
  • ActorCore Free tier. Motion-capture library from Reallusion.
  • Anderson Rohr Free Mocap Packs. Free mocap packs on Gumroad from a UE artist. Everyday actions, crowd reactions, fitness, soccer and MetaHuman-ready clips.
  • Animation Starter Pack. Epic free pack of 62 animations for the classic UE Mannequin: locomotion, crouch, rifle aim, jumps, and deaths for prototyping.
  • AnimationShopee Paid. Per-clip mocap store with 2,700+ FBX animations (combat, zombie, dance, sports, daily life) at $1 each plus bundled motion packs.
  • Awesome Dog Mocap Paid. Dog motion capture animation packs sold as FBX and on Unity Asset Store, Fab, and the iClone marketplace.
  • Carnegie-Mellon University Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database BVH conversions. 2500 free human motion-capture clips in BVH format.
  • cMonkeys Huge FBX Mocap Library. 2,534 CMU mocap clips converted to grouped FBX files for Unity, mirrored on Internet Archive.
  • Explosive Free tier. Game animation packs for Unity, Unreal, and Godot/Blender, incl. RPG Character pack (1,437 clips), Crafting, and Warrior sets, with free versions.
  • Free Motion Pack 1. 21 free mocap FBX animations on the Mixamo Exo Gray armature with T-pose on frame 1 for retargeting.
  • Game Animation Sample Project. Epic sample with 500+ mocap locomotion and traversal clips driven by Motion Matching, compatible with all UE Mannequins and MetaHumans.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Character Rigs: Other Apps
  • Game MoCap Paid. Mocap dance, emote, and locomotion packs for Unity and Unreal, incl. hip hop, club, and Arabian dance sets.
  • HEAT Free tier. Online library of 1,000+ root-motion mocap clips with on-the-fly retargeting and plugins for Blender, Daz Studio, Unity, and UE5.
  • KayKit - Character Animations. CC0 humanoid animation sets for KayKit character rigs, grouped by category and supplied as FBX and glTF.
  • Kevin Iglesias Free tier. Humanoid game animation packs (Basic Motions, Melee, Archer, Spellcasting, Crafting, Soldier) with free versions of most packs and Blender source files.
  • Kinetic Impulse Horse Mocap Paid. Licensed horse mocap data: treadmill gait set (walk, trot, canter, gallop, transitions) plus a freestyle stunt library (rearing, bucking, turns).
  • Kubold Paid. Mocap animset vendor: Movement, Sword, Longsword, Spear and Halberd, Pistol, and FPP Melee sets built from real fencing and combat capture.
  • Lyra Starter Game. Epic UE5 sample shooter with 300+ Mannequin animations (locomotion and actions) reusable via retargeting.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Character Rigs: Other Apps
  • Mesh2Motion. FREE & open-source web application to animate your 3D models. Supports humanoid, four-legged, and bird creatures.
    See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Rigging & Animation Tools
  • MetaHuman Cinema Pack Paid. Fab pack of 562 Xsens-captured MetaHuman clips (talking, acting, office work, locomotion) plus face and hand pose libraries for UE 5.7/5.8.
  • Mixamo. Rigged characters, auto-rigger, and free animation library (Adobe).
    See also: Assets & Libraries → Model Libraries: Specialized
  • Mocap ATLAS Free tier. Swiss studio mocap store: 120fps Vicon locomotion, idles, turns, and jumps in UE5, Unity, FBX, and BVH, with a free clip collection.
  • MoCap Central Free tier. Mocap animation packs (Core Motion 447 clips, Longsword, Village Life, Seated) delivered as UE5 MetaHuman and Unity Humanoid projects.
  • MoCap Online Paid. Mocap animation store with 2,500+ clips in 30+ themed packs (locomotion, rifle, pistol, zombie) shipped as FBX, BVH, BIP, UE, Unity, Blender, and iClone.
  • MocapClub Free, non-commercial. Motion Capture Society library of 500+ marker-data motions (fights, acrobatics, game moves) plus two dog packs, in C3D and TRC.
  • mocapdata.com Free tier. Eyes, JAPAN mocap library with 4,671 free and 933 paid Vicon-captured motions (fighting, sports, dance, daily actions) in FBX, BVH, and C3D.
  • Movement Animset Pro Paid. Kubold mocap pack of 180+ unarmed third-person clips (walk, run, crouch, jump, fist fight, interactions) in in-place and root-motion versions.
  • Paragon Animations Retargeted to Manny. Community pack of 5,300 humanoid animations from Epic's free Paragon heroes, retargeted to the UE5 Manny skeleton.
  • PoserMocap Paid. Mocap move packs (Everyday, Spy, Zombie, Swordplay, Sci-Fi) for Daz Genesis and Poser figures as PZ2, aniBlocks, and BVH.
  • RamsterZ Animations Free tier. Game animation packs (hand-to-hand combat, melee, horror) in FBX for UE and Unity, with free sample sets incl. Free Anims Vol 1 (44 clips).
  • RancidMilk Free Character Animations. 2,000+ CMU mocap clips converted to FBX and glTF and retargeted in Blender with Auto-Rig Pro, plus a control-rig Blender file and index.
  • Rokoko Motion Library Free tier. Mocap marketplace inside Rokoko Studio with thousands of clips from studios and stunt performers, retargetable to Mixamo, UE, and HumanIK rigs as FBX.
  • The Motion Capture Library Paid. Centroid's per-clip mocap store from Pinewood Studios: locomotion, combat, crowd, sword, and horse packs as 120fps MotionBuilder FBX.
  • Truebones iClone Zoo. Free animal pack: 75+ animated animals (insects, reptiles, birds, dinosaurs) with motions in iAvatar and iMotion format for iClone.
  • Truebones Studios Free tier. Gumroad store for Truebones mocap libraries in FBX and BVH, incl. free UE complete mocap library and animal Zoo packs.
  • Unity Starter Assets. Unity first- and third-person controllers with a rigged humanoid armature and locomotion animations, built on Cinemachine and Input System.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Character Rigs: Other Apps
  • Universal Animation Library 2. CC0 pack of 130+ game animations from Quaternius, with root-motion versions and fixes for Unity and Godot.
  • Xsens Free Mocap Assets. Free Xsens inertial mocap clips: 5 walk/run, 10 sports, and 7 dance animations as HD-reprocessed FBX with an MVN T-pose puppet.
  • XSTAGE Mixed. Mocap library of K-pop dance, VTuber, emote, idle, and locomotion clips in FBX, BVH, ANIM, and MMD formats.

Mocap Datasets

Research and open motion-capture datasets in BVH, FBX and SMPL. Most are non-commercial.

  • 100STYLE. Ian Mason's Xsens BVH locomotion set covering 100 walking and running styles, about 4M frames at 60 fps.
  • 3DPW Free, non-commercial. MPI 3D Poses in the Wild: 60 outdoor video sequences with SMPL poses recovered from IMUs and a handheld camera.
  • ACCAD Open Motion Project. Ohio State ACCAD Vicon mocap library of walking, running, martial arts, gestures, and dance, in BVH, C3D, and ASF/AMC.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Mocap & Animation Libraries
  • AIST++ Dance Motion Dataset. Google 3D dance dataset reconstructed from multi-view AIST video, 5.2 hours and 1,408 sequences across 10 genres with music.
  • AMASS Free, non-commercial. Max Planck archive unifying 15+ optical mocap datasets into SMPL/SMPL-X body parameters, 40+ hours and 300+ subjects.
  • ARCTIC Free, non-commercial. ETH and MPI dataset of two hands manipulating articulated objects, 2.1M frames with MANO hands, SMPL-X bodies, and 9 views.
  • BABEL Free, non-commercial. MPI action label layer over AMASS: 43 hours of mocap with frame-level and sequence-level English action labels.
  • Bandai Namco Research Motiondataset. Free motion-capture dataset from Bandai Namco R&D for research and personal use.
  • BEAT Free, non-commercial. Body-Expression-Audio-Text dataset of 76 hours of speech gesture mocap from 30 speakers, with audio, text, and emotion labels.
  • BEAT2 (EMAGE) Free, non-commercial. BEAT2 dataset from the EMAGE project: 60 hours of SMPL-X body, hand, and FLAME face mocap for co-speech gesture.
  • CHI3D Free, non-commercial. IMAR close-interaction mocap of pairs hugging, pushing, and fighting, with contact annotations and GHUM/SMPL-X fits.
  • CMU Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database. Carnegie Mellon optical mocap archive of 2,600+ clips across 140+ subjects, searchable by subject and category, in ASF/AMC and C3D.
  • CMU Panoptic Studio Dataset Free, non-commercial. Carnegie Mellon dome captures from 480 VGA and 31 HD cameras, with 3D body, hand, and face keypoints of social interactions.
  • DIP-IMU Free, non-commercial. MPI Deep Inertial Poser dataset of 10 subjects wearing 17 Xsens IMUs, about 90 minutes with SMPL pose ground truth.
  • EgoBody Free, non-commercial. ETH egocentric dataset of social interactions captured with HoloLens 2 and Kinects, with SMPL-X fits for both people.
  • FaceScape Free, non-commercial. Nanjing University 3D face dataset of 938 subjects with 20 expressions each, topology-unified meshes and 4K textures.
  • FineDance Free, non-commercial. Tsinghua dance mocap dataset of 14.6 hours across 22 genres with paired music, SMPL-H body and finger motion.
  • Fit3D Free, non-commercial. IMAR fitness mocap dataset of 3M+ frames covering 47 exercises, with marker mocap, GHUM/SMPL-X fits, and multi-view video.
  • GENEA Challenge 2023 Dataset Free, non-commercial. GENEA challenge dyadic speech-gesture data based on Talking With Hands, with BVH body motion and audio for both speakers.
  • GRAB Free, non-commercial. MPI whole-body grasping mocap of 10 subjects with 51 objects, giving SMPL-X body, MANO hands, and object meshes.
  • HDM05 Motion Capture Database Free, non-commercial. Uni Bonn and MPI database of 3+ hours of mocap from 5 actors in 130 action classes, with short labeled clips, in C3D and ASF/AMC.
  • Human3.6M Free, non-commercial. IMAR benchmark of 3.6M 3D human poses from 11 actors in 17 scenarios, with synced 4-view video, mocap, and depth scans.
  • HumanAct12 Free, non-commercial. Action-to-Motion project dataset of 1,191 Kinect-captured clips in 12 action categories with fine sub-labels, as SMPL poses.
  • HumanEva Free, non-commercial. Brown University benchmark syncing multi-camera video with 3D mocap of subjects walking, jogging, and gesturing.
  • HumanML3D Free, non-commercial. Text-motion dataset of 14,616 motions from AMASS and HumanAct12 paired with 44,970 English descriptions, 28.6 hours.
  • HuMMan Free, non-commercial. SenseTime and NTU multimodal 4D human dataset of 1,000 subjects and 500 actions with color, depth, point clouds, and SMPL fits.
  • InterHand2.6M Free, non-commercial. Meta Reality Labs dataset of 2.6M frames of single and interacting hands with 3D joint and MANO annotations from multi-view capture.
  • InterHuman (InterGen) Free, non-commercial. Two-person interaction mocap dataset of 7,779 motions and 6.56 hours with text descriptions, from the InterGen project.
  • KIT Motion-Language Dataset Free, non-commercial. KIT text-annotated mocap set of 3,911 motions with 6,278 natural-language descriptions, drawn from KIT and CMU databases.
  • KIT Whole-Body Human Motion Database Free, non-commercial. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology mocap database of whole-body human and object motion, normalized to the MMM reference model.
  • LAFAN1 (Ubisoft La Forge) Free, non-commercial. Ubisoft La Forge BVH mocap set of 77 sequences from 5 subjects, about 4.6 hours of locomotion, fights, dance, and obstacles.
  • MANN Dog Motion Capture (AI4Animation) Free, non-commercial. Edinburgh quadruped mocap of a dog walking, trotting, sitting, and jumping, from the Mode-Adaptive Neural Networks paper.
  • Motion-X Free, non-commercial. IDEA Research whole-body SMPL-X motion dataset with face and hands, 81.1K clips and 15.6M frames, with text labels.
  • Motorica Dance Dataset Free, non-commercial. KTH and Motorica optical mocap of 6 hours of dance in 8 styles, retargeted to one BVH skeleton, with music.
  • MPI-INF-3DHP Free, non-commercial. MPI markerless multi-camera 3D pose dataset of 8 actors, 14 views, with green-screen footage for augmentation.
  • NUS Motion Capture Database Free, non-commercial. National University of Singapore Vicon mocap clips of locomotion, dance, and martial arts, hosted by SFU, in BVH and C3D.
  • Nymeria Free, non-commercial. Meta Reality Labs dataset of 300 hours of daily-life Xsens full-body mocap paired with Project Aria egocentric video and narrations.
  • RICH Free, non-commercial. MPI Real scenes, Interaction, Contact and Humans dataset: markerless multi-view capture with SMPL-X bodies, scene scans, and contact labels.
  • SFU Motion Capture Database Free, non-commercial. Simon Fraser University mocap clips of dance, martial arts, and locomotion, in BVH, C3D, and ASF/AMC with preview videos.
  • SURREAL Free, non-commercial. Inria synthetic dataset of 6M frames rendering SMPL bodies driven by CMU mocap, with depth, normals, and segmentation.
  • TED Gesture Dataset Free, non-commercial. ETRI pipeline and prebuilt dataset of 3D upper-body gesture poses extracted from 1,766 TED talk videos with transcripts.
  • TotalCapture Free, non-commercial. University of Surrey CVSSP dataset syncing 8-view video, 13 IMUs, and Vicon mocap for 5 subjects performing actions.
  • Trinity Speech-Gesture Dataset Free, non-commercial. Trinity College Dublin mocap of spontaneous speech with synced audio and BVH body motion for gesture generation.
  • ZEGGS Dataset (Ubisoft ZeroEGGS) Free, non-commercial. Ubisoft La Forge speech gesture set of 67 monologue takes in 19 styles, BVH plus WAV, with FBX characters.

Character Rigs: Maya

Free and paid Maya animation rigs, rig directories and creator stores.

  • 11 Second Club Rigs Free, non-commercial. Recommended rig list for the 11 Second Club competition: Norman, Eleven, Moom, Max, Mery, Azri plus Blender rigs.
  • Alorema Rigs Free tier. Stylized AdvancedSkeleton-based Maya rigs: free Franky, paid Megoo, Mia and Mailo, Jody.
  • Andy Rig. Free SCAD student rig by John Doublestein with IK/FK matching, space switching, squash and stretch, facial setup.
  • Animation Mentor Free Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free Animation Mentor Maya rigs Stewart (heavy body-mechanics character) and Squirrels (squash, stretch, tail), email signup.
  • Animation Methods Maya Rigs Mixed. Archived directory of 150+ free and paid Maya character, creature, vehicle and prop rigs, linking to each creator's download page.
  • Animator's Resource Kit Rigs Mixed. Blog cataloging free and paid animation rigs, tools and learning resources for Maya and Blender, one post per rig.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Character Rigs: Other Apps
  • AnimProps Mixed. Marketplace of 390+ 3D rigs for Maya and Blender plus 2D Moho rigs and animation tools from many sellers.
  • AnimSchool Malcolm Free, non-commercial. Free AnimSchool Maya character with wardrobe and hair options, facial controls and the AnimSchool Picker, downloaded 150k+ times.
  • AnimStarter Rig Directory Mixed. Curated directory of 40+ Maya and Blender animation rigs with demo videos, filterable by software and price.
    See also: Animation & Rigging → Character Rigs: Other Apps
  • Animworks Free Maya Rigs Free, non-commercial. Hub of 60+ free Maya rigs from game and film animators, many built on mGear, covering characters, creatures and vehicles.
  • Artem Dubyna Rigs Free tier. Cartoon Maya rigs by Artem Dubyna (TemaRoots): free Tomas cat, Amanda, Mikey and paid Jerry, Tom, Yu-Lon.
  • Azri Rig Free, non-commercial. Free game-style Maya rig with dual scythes, IK/FK hands and skirt auto-follow, built for fast playback; Maya 2018+.
  • Built By Colossus Free tier. Maya character rigs: free Ninja and Azula, paid Brawler, Liz, Harlow, Rex, Steggy at $24 or as an 8-rig bundle.
  • Character Rigs Shop Paid. Store of paid realistic and stylized Maya character rigs (Nina, Liam, Brad, Elephant) sold singly or in combos, plus custom rigging.
  • Christoph Schoch Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free fan-art Maya rigs by Christoph Schoch: Link, Ruby Rose, Liger, Shinobi, Efi Oladele, game-character style.
  • Eleven Rig. Open-source 11 Second Club rig with adjustable gender and body type, IK/FK limbs and hand poses; Maya 2014 and earlier.
  • Emilio Serrano Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free mGear-built Maya rigs by Act III animator Emilio Serrano: robots, creatures, quadrupeds and fan-art characters.
  • fRigging Awesome Studios Free tier. Josh Sobel's Maya rig shop: Bonnie 2, Kayla Unlimited, Ricardo Unlimited, Mecha-Mechs, with free Kayla-Bot.
  • GetRigs Mixed. Maya asset store from Animation Methods where creators give away or sell rigs, props, environments and scripts, sorted by character, animal, creature, robot and vehicle.
  • Joe Daniels Rigs Free tier. Joe Daniels' Maya practice rigs: free flour sack and juicebox for weight drills plus paid character rigs.
  • Kiel Figgins Rigs Free tier. Kiel Figgins' Maya rig store: 50+ paid game-ready rigs via TurboSquid plus about 12 free rigs (TMNT, Deadpool, Xenomorph) and MEL tools.
  • Long Winter Studios Paid. Membership library of 30+ Maya rigs on one unified control system with blendshape faces and bendy limbs, plus BLINK manager plugin.
  • Lord Luigi Rigs Free tier. Freelance rigger Lord Luigi's Maya rigs and prop-rigging tutorials, incl. Baby rig and Priestess rig.
  • M-Rigs (Ramon Arango) Paid. Paid stylized Maya rigs by Ramon Arango with painterly 2D-look facial animation, Mazu and Mukuru, sold singly or as bundle.
  • MegaBuBu Rigs Free tier. Anime-style Maya rigs by MegaBuBu with cloth and skirt rigs and toon viewport shader: free Reimu, paid Sanae and Sakuya.
  • Mery Project Free, non-commercial. Free stylized female Maya rig with detailed facial controls, for practice and demo reel use only.
  • Moom Rig. Free cartoon Maya rig by Ramtin Ahmadi with IK/FK arms and feet, stretchy spine and neck, facial control panel.
  • Perry Leijten Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free Maya creature rigs Skaarj and Blurgha plus character rigs and skinning tools by rigger Perry Leijten.
  • ProRigs Paid. Subscription library of 35+ feature-film-style Maya characters and 20+ props from DreamWorks, Disney and Pixar riggers, Arnold-ready.
  • Puppeteer Lounge Rigs Paid. Indian animation academy selling rigged Maya puppets ($5 to $200) incl. realistic quadruped tiger, ape and orc.
  • Ray (CGTarian) Free, non-commercial. Free Maya character built with DreamWorks rig specialists, full facial rig for acting and dialogue, no plugins or picker needed.
  • Roly HL Free Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free Maya rigs by Roly HL for practice and challenges: Woody, Buzz, Andy's Room set, DeLorean, station wagon.
  • Rusty Animator Free Maya Rigs Mixed. Curated guide to free Maya rigs grouped by skill: basics, body mechanics, acting, creatures, props and vehicles.
  • Shalaby Rigs Free tier. Ahmed Shalaby's Maya rigs: free educational X-Rig, paid Dude 2.0 with three variations, Box-Men body rigs.
  • Squiggly Rigs Free tier. Lightweight cartoon Maya rigs with bendy limbs, smear controls and full face: Thep mummy, Grey Matter Gary, Lee.
  • Tre Vital Rigs Free, non-commercial. Free Maya creature rigs by Tre Vital: Wraith, Anthro Tiger, Argonian, Hekaton, Dragon, with IK tails.
  • Truong CG Artist Rigs Free, non-commercial. Truong's Gumroad of mostly free Maya creature and character rigs: dragons, lizards, Hydralisk, elephant, Boxy walker.

Character Rigs: Other Apps

Animation rigs for Blender, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Unreal, Unity, Daz and 2D apps.

AI Motion Capture Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Audio2Face-3D (NVIDIA) NVIDIA models and SDK that drive facial animation from speech audio, with Maya and Unreal plugins. Free Free · NVIDIA Speech-driven facial animation
Cartwheel Web studio that turns video into mocap, generates motion from text and retargets it to 3D characters. 7-day trial, credit plans Paid Paid · Video Mocap Video to character motion
Cascadeur AI-assisted physics-based keyframe character animation; free for non-commercial use. Indie $19/mo or $96/yr (rent-to-own perpetual) Free, non-commercial AI Anim · Free NC Action/fight character animation
DeepMotion Game-ready character animation from video. BVH/FBX export. Free tier 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
GVHMR Research code that recovers world-space 3D human motion from monocular video. Free, non-commercial Non-Commercial · Research Video to 3D motion
HY-Motion 1.0 (Tencent) Open model that generates 3D human motion from text prompts. Free Free · Text to Motion Text to motion
Krikey AI Browser app that makes 3D character animation from text or video and exports MP4 or FBX. Free tier, Pro $15/mo Free tier Freemium · Browser Quick character animation
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. Free tier Browser · Hand Tracking Browser-based AI mocap
Puppeteer (ByteDance Seed) Open model that rigs, skins and animates a 3D model automatically. Open source Open Source · Auto Rigging Auto-rig and animate models
QuickMagic Web service that captures body, hand and face motion from one video and exports FBX or BVH. Free tier Freemium · Markerless Video mocap
Remocapp Desktop app for real-time markerless body and face capture from two webcams, with Unreal Live Link. Free tier, from .99/mo (annual) Paid Subscription · Markerless Webcam real-time mocap
Rokoko Vision Free AI mocap from webcam or video. Free tier Free Tier · Webcam/Video Free AI mocap
UniRig VAST open model that predicts a skeleton and skin weights for any 3D model. Open source Open Source · Auto Rigging Automatic rigging
Uthana AI platform that generates character motion from text or video, retargets it and auto-rigs, with Blender and Maya plugins. Pay per second of motion Paid Paid · Text to Motion AI character motion
Viggle AI Character animation from video or image input. Free tier 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 is listed under Software Reference.

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
MetalGraph Node-based Metal shader editor for macOS and iPad that writes MSL code with SwiftUI hooks as you connect nodes. Free download / paid full license Free tier Metal · Shaders
Polygonjs Node-based WebGL design tool, used for procedural geometry, particles, materials.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		 Free tier

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
3Delight OSL-based path tracer with plugins for Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, Katana and Hydra. Free up to 12 cores, paid unlimited Free tier Freemium · OSL Film and animation rendering
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
Bella Spectral path tracer with a standalone GUI, CLI and plugins for Rhino, Maya and SketchUp. €240 perpetual Paid Paid · Spectral Spectral product rendering
Chaos Vantage Real-time ray-traced renderer for exploring large V-Ray, USD and MaterialX scenes. Subscription, 30-day trial Paid Subscription · V-Ray Real-time V-Ray scene review
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 Free tier Real-time · Arch-Viz Arch-viz
DreamWork's MoonRay Physically based path-tracing renderer with a USD Hydra delegate and Arras distributed/cloud rendering. Unspecified
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
Guerilla Render Bidirectional path tracer and lookdev/lighting app by Mercenaries Engineering, used on animated features. Free Discover tier, paid Station seats and render nodes. Free Discover tier, Station from €1,200/seat, render nodes from €350 Free tier Production · Free Animated feature lookdev and lighting
Horde3D Small open source 3D rendering engine. Open source
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. Free tier
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
Malt Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) framework. Real-time, customizable rendering for animation and illustration. Works as a Blender render engine. Open source
Marmoset Toolbag Real-time PBR viewer, baker, and renderer. Common in game/jewelry portfolios. Paid PBR Viewer · Baking PBR portfolio rendering + baking
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 Free tier GPU Unbiased · Photoreal Photoreal, arch-viz
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, non-commercial Free NC · Pixar Pipeline Film production
Thea Render CPU and GPU renderer with the real-time Nitro engine, standalone or as a SketchUp and Rhino plugin. Paid Paid · SketchUp Archviz rendering
Twinmotion (Epic) Real-time GPU renderer from Epic for arch-viz. Free version available Free tier 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 are under Software Reference.

Virtual Production

Real-time engines and hardware stacks for virtual production.

Software Description License Tags Best For
disguise LED-wall and xR virtual production platform with RenderStream.
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 Real-time AR and virtual studio platform built on Unreal Engine.
See also: Software Reference → Virtual Production Software		 Paid VP Software · Real-time Virtual production
Vizrt Real-time broadcast graphics and virtual studio platform.
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:

  • CasparCG. Layer-based real-time compositor that plays out professional graphics, audio, and video to multiple broadcast outputs.
  • NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprints. Omniverse blueprints and reference pipelines.

Tech Art

Tech art breakdowns, procedural art, and tutorials.

  • AFX. Everyday compositing plugins for Nuke.
  • Jam2go. Procedural art and creative coding.
  • max rose. Tech art breakdowns on YouTube.
  • Nuke Tools (VS Code). VS Code extension for Nuke Python/BlinkScript development.
  • Nuke Tools ST. Sublime Text package to send Python/BlinkScript code into Nuke.
  • NXT. Layered, code-driven graph editor for building reusable rigging and pipeline logic.
  • OpenWalter. USD plugins for Arnold, Houdini, Katana, and Maya.
  • Simon Schreibt. Game Art Tricks and Workflow Tricks. Technical breakdowns of how games achieve effects (mirrors, fog, rendering tricks).
  • Visual Tech Art. YouTube channel with technical art tutorials, mostly Unreal Engine shaders and materials.
  • xComp. Viewer for comparing rendered image versions side by side.

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
Autodesk Flame Compositing, finishing and VFX software with node compositing, conform and ML depth and face tools. $5,215/yr Paid Industry Standard · Finishing High-end finishing and 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. Free tier Free · Particle Library Quick particle FX library
ButtleOFX Simple open-source node-based compositing software. Open source
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. Free tier 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
Fusion Free node-based compositing software from Blackmagic Design. Free
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. Free tier 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 Industry-standard node-based compositing software by The Foundry. Free non-commercial version available. Free tier
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. Free tier Real-time · Node-based Interactive installations, live visuals, projection mapping
VectorayGen Free node-based vector field generator for real-time VFX. Computes flows, noise, and turbulence to drive GPU particle motion. Free Vector Fields · Free Real-time VFX vector fields

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 Pricing 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. Free tier Free Tier · Unreal Indie/community VP compositor
Brainstorm InfinitySet Virtual set and AR for broadcast. Paid Virtual Sets · AR Broadcast virtual sets
Chaos Arena Ray-traced in-camera VFX that plays V-Ray scenes on LED volumes without a game engine. Paid Paid · V-Ray LED volume rendering
disguise LED-wall and xR virtual production platform with RenderStream. 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
Live FX (Assimilate) Virtual production tool for live keying, compositing, DMX image-based lighting and LED playback. From $345/mo or $2,495 perpetual Paid Paid · LED Wall Live on-set compositing
MotionBuilder Autodesk real-time character animation and mocap editing platform. $2,225/yr Paid Industry Standard · Mocap Mocap cleanup, real-time character animation
Notch Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production. Paid Live Events · Real-time Live events, real-time graphics
Nuke Stage Foundry tool for real-time LED-wall playback with live compositing and USD layout. Paid Paid · Foundry LED wall playback
Pixotope Real-time AR and virtual studio platform built on Unreal Engine. Paid VP Software · Real-time Virtual production
Smode Real-time 2D/3D creation, compositing, and video-mapping engine. Paid Real-time · Video Mapping
Vizrt Real-time broadcast graphics and virtual studio platform. 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 is under Assets & Libraries.

Motion Graphics: YouTube Channels

Motion design learning channels.

After Effects: Learning & Templates

AE expressions, templates, and workflow resources.

Fusion (DaVinci Resolve): Learning

Fusion references and EXR workflow.

  • FFmpeg Encoder Plugin for DaVinci Resolve. Encoder plugin that exports H.264, H.265 and AV1 from DaVinci Resolve Studio through FFmpeg, with VAAPI, Vulkan and NVENC GPU encoding on Linux.
  • Mononodes Paid. Paid DCTLs, OFX plugins and apps for DaVinci Resolve colorists, including film print emulation, texture and node utilities.
  • Multichannel EXR (Fusion forum). Multichannel EXR workflow in Fusion.
  • Open Display Transform. Picture formation tools, including OpenDRT, that render scene-linear wide-gamut images for SDR or HDR displays, shipped as Resolve DCTLs and Nuke nodes.
  • PixelTools Paid. OFX and DCTL plugins plus PowerGrades for DaVinci Resolve, made by working colorists.
  • Rembg-Fuse. Fusion Fuse that runs the rembg U-2-Net model to remove backgrounds from footage inside DaVinci Resolve.
  • Resolve OpenCaptions. Tools that use the Resolve API to build Text+ caption tracks from SRT files and Text+ templates, and export Text+ tracks back to SRT.
  • Shaderfuse Free, non-commercial. Shadertoy WebGL shaders converted to DCTL Fuses for use in DaVinci Resolve and Fusion.
  • Split EXR in Fusion. Xuan Prada guide to splitting multichannel EXR files into separate passes in Fusion.
  • Utility DCTLs (Thatcher Freeman). Collection of DaVinci Resolve DCTLs and Fuses for film grain, halation, gamut compression, tone mapping, lens distortion and LUT analysis.

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
EffectCraft Open-source motion graphics compositor written in Rust, with layers, keyframes, effects, expressions, 3D cameras and lights and a render queue. Free Open source AE Alternative · Rust
Effekseer Real-time VFX editor and runtime.
See also: Software Reference → VFX & Compositing Software		 Open source Real-time VFX · Games Game VFX particles
Expressive Animator Vector animation app for animated icons, logos and banners that exports animated SVG, Lottie, GIF and video. €129.99 one-time, 7-day trial Paid SVG · Lottie
Keyshape macOS app for drawing and animating 2D vector graphics, exporting SVG animations, Lottie, video and sprite sheets. Mac App Store purchase, 14-day trial Paid SVG · Lottie
Linearity Move Motion design app for iPad and macOS that animates vector designs with custom motion paths and exports Lottie. Free to start; paid plans Free tier iPad · Lottie
Lumit Open-source compositing and motion graphics app with layers, graph editor, 100+ GPU effects, OFX hosting and After Effects project import. Free; Pro $6/mo for relay collaboration and sync Open source AE Alternative · Beta
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		 Free tier 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		 Free tier Real-time · Node-based Interactive installations, live visuals, projection mapping
WeMotion Apple silicon Mac app where you describe a motion graphics film and an AI designer built on Claude builds it as editable layers and keyframes, with MP4 export up to 4K 60 fps. Free app; needs an Anthropic API key, or Claude Pro or Max Free Motion Design · AI Launch films and title sequences from a text brief

Related:

  • 3dsvg. Browser tool that turns SVG logos and icons into lit, animated 3D objects and exports 4K images or video.
  • Bolt CEP. Vite and TypeScript boilerplate for building Adobe CEP extensions in Svelte, React or Vue, with hot reload and type-safe ExtendScript.
  • Caddis Paid. Motion design app with layer timeline and node compositing.
  • Choreo. Free browser design tool for UI micro-interactions where hover, press, focus and drag states are built on a live canvas and handed off as code.
  • Duik. Free After Effects rigging and animation toolkit with IK, walk cycles and automation.
  • DuME. Free, open-source desktop media encoder for rendering and transcoding video.
  • Easing Functions. Visual reference of common easing curves with code snippets.
  • Element 3D Paid. A 3D plugin for After Effects that allows you to import and animate 3D models.
  • Excalimate. Browser tool that turns Excalidraw diagrams into keyframe animations and exports MP4, WebM, GIF, animated SVG and dotLottie, with an MCP server.
  • HyperFrames. Open-source framework from HeyGen that renders HTML compositions to video, built for AI agents to author motion graphics as code.
  • Jitter Free tier. Browser-based collaborative motion design tool.
  • Kilnframe. Premiere Pro and Resolve Studio plugin that listens to speech in a marked range and renders matching animated inserts with sound effects locally via HyperFrames.
  • Lottielab Free tier. Editor for Lottie animations targeting apps and websites.
  • Lowkey Studio. Browser keyframe compositor that layers video, images and audio on a timeline with GPU shader effects, running on WebGPU.
  • Manim Community. Python library for mathematical animations, a community fork of 3Blue1Brown's Manim.
  • Motion Canvas. TypeScript library and editor for code-driven explainer animations synced to audio.
  • Motion Studio (Mt. Mograph) Paid. Extension with 80+ tools for easing, anchor points, layer management and color, running inside After Effects, Premiere Pro, Illustrator and DaVinci Resolve.
  • Motionity. Open-source browser motion graphics editor with keyframing, masking, filters and text animations.
  • Newton 4 Paid. 2D physics engine for After Effects that turns 2D layers into physics simulations.
  • Nukepedia Lens Engine. Lens simulation gizmo for Nuke.
  • Nw Wrld. Experimental motion tool.
  • Overlord Paid. Bridge that sends Figma, Photoshop and Illustrator layers to After Effects in one click, keeping gradients, live text and shape names.
  • Periodic Table of Motion. Reference chart of motion design principles and techniques.
  • PixelCrash Paid. Creative motion and visual tools.
  • Plate Paid. WebGPU motion design tool running in the browser, with macOS and Windows builds.
  • Plexus Paid. After Effects plugin that connects generated particles with lines and triangles.
  • React Spring. Library for physically accurate animations, works with react-three-fiber.
  • Remotion Free tier. React framework for building and rendering videos in code.
  • Shader Lab. Browser WebGPU editor that stacks and keyframes shader effects on images, video, text and 3D models, with video export.
  • SVGator Free tier. Browser SVG animation editor for keyframing vector illustrations into animated SVG for web and apps.
  • Theatre.js. JavaScript animation library with a visual keyframe editor for animating Three.js scenes, WebGPU setups and UI on the web.
  • ThorVG. Open-source C++ vector graphics engine that renders SVG and Lottie animations, with WebGPU and other GPU backends.

2D & Animation Software

Also in Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Aseprite Pixel art editor and sprite animation tool, sold commercially with its source code public 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
Callipeg Frame-by-frame 2D animation app for tablets and desktop. From $5 one-time Paid Paid · Tablet Tablet frame-by-frame animation
Cartoon Animator Reallusion 2D animation app for building animated video from PSD and vector graphics and animation drawings. Paid, free trial Paid 2D Animation · Rigging
Cavalry Procedural 2D motion design (After Effects alternative). Free tier available. Free tier 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
DoAnimation Browser frame-by-frame 2D animation. Layers, onion skinning, GIF/MP4 export. Files stay local. Free Browser · 2D Animation Browser 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
Glaxnimate KDE open-source vector animation app with Lottie and SVG export. Open source Open Source · Lottie Lottie vector animation
GraphicsGale Pixel art and sprite animation tool (free). Free Pixel Art · Free Pixel art/sprite animation
Hexels 2D grid-based painting tool from Marmoset. Paid
Inochi2D Open-source framework and rigging app for real-time 2D puppet animation using layered meshes, physics and compositing. Free Open source 2D Puppet · VTuber
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
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
Live2D Cubism 2D modeling software that animates original layered drawings directly, with free and pro editions of Cubism Editor. FREE and PRO editions Free tier 2D Rigging · Illustration
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
OpenToonz GitHub Source, plugins, and documentation. Unspecified
Pencil2D Free lightweight 2D animation. Open source Lightweight · Hand-drawn Simple hand-drawn animation
Pickle Desktop pixel art editor for drawing sprites and animated frames. Paid Pixel Art · Editor Pixel art editing
Pixa.Pics Browser pixel-art tool w/ vectorization. Free tier 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) Open-source pixel art and animation editor for macOS. 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. Free tier 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 with animatic, camera and audio timeline. Paid Storyboarding · Animatics Pre-production, animatics
TVPaint Animation Raster frame-by-frame 2D animation software modeled on paper animation. From about €650 perpetual Paid Paid · Frame by Frame Hand-drawn 2D animation

Video Editing Software

Also in Software Reference → Video Editing Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Aegisub Open-source subtitle editor for timing subtitles to audio and styling them, with a real-time video preview. Free Open source Subtitles · Typesetting
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. Free tier Free · Social-first Social/short-form editing
Clipchamp Microsoft's browser editor bundled with Windows 11. Free tier Bundled w/ Windows · Browser Quick Windows editing
Colourlab Ai AI color grading app that balances and shot-matches timelines, then pushes grades back to Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut or Avid. From $49/mo, 14-day trial Paid Grading · Shot Match
DaVinci Resolve Free professional editing, color grading, Fusion, Fairlight audio. Free tier 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 Free tier Transcript Edit · Podcast Podcast and talking-head editing
Diffusion Studio Desktop video editor built for AI agents, where Claude Code, Codex or Cursor analyze footage, cut clips and transcribe, with edits kept as code. Free editor; Pro $20/mo for AI credits Free tier AI Editing · Agents
FilmCraft Open-source nonlinear editor written from scratch in Rust, with source and program monitors, a full timeline and every trim mode. Free Open source NLE · Rust
Filmora Wondershare beginner-friendly editor; watermarked free tier. ~$80/yr Free tier Beginner · Templates Beginner editing
Final Cut Pro Apple-native NLE with magnetic timeline. Paid Mac-only · Magnetic Timeline Mac-based editing
Flowblade GPL multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux. Free Open source NLE · Linux
FreeCut Browser multi-track video editor that keeps media local and runs preview, transcription and export through WebGPU and WebCodecs. Free Open source Browser · WebGPU
GoZen Free open-source video editor built with Godot (alpha). Open source Godot-built · Alpha Lightweight editing, Godot integration
Gyroflow Video stabilization app that uses camera gyroscope data and lens profiles, with plugins for Premiere, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. Free Open source Stabilization · Gyro
iMovie Apple's free consumer editor for macOS and iOS/iPadOS. Free Free · Apple Consumer Mac/iOS editing
Kdenlive Free open-source video editor (NLE) from KDE with multitrack timeline editing. Open source Open Source · Cross-Platform Linux/cross-platform editing
Lattice macOS LUT editor that previews, resizes, combines, reverses and converts LUTs between formats. Paid LUT · Color
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 Free tier Free Tier · Pro NLE Pro NLE on a budget
MasterSelects Browser media editor with a WebGPU multitrack timeline for video, audio, motion and 3D, designed as an agent-friendly base for creative tools. Free Open source Browser · WebGPU
OBS Software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content efficiently. Open source Capture · Open Source Screen capture and streaming
OpenCut Open-source video editor for web, desktop and mobile, built as a CapCut alternative. Free Open source Browser · CapCut Alt
OpenShot Award-winning free and open-source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows. Open source Open Source · Beginner-Friendly Cross-platform beginner editing
Palmier Pro Open-source macOS video editor with a built-in MCP server so Claude or Codex can edit the timeline, plus NLE XML export. Free editor; Pro $49/mo, Max $99/mo for generation credits Free tier AI Editing · MCP
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
Subtitle Edit Open-source cross-platform subtitle editor with waveform view, speech-to-text and auto translation, supporting SRT, WebVTT and ASS. Free Open source Subtitles · SRT
VEED Browser editor with auto-subtitles, AI tools, and screen recording. Free / $12/mo Lite / $24/mo Pro Free tier 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. Free tier 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 Open-source digital audio workstation for multitrack recording, editing and mixing. 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
Audio Design Desk Sound design app that places SFX, foley, and music against picture from typed cues. Paid Sound to Picture · Cue Driven Fast sound design to picture
Bespoke Synth Open-source modular DAW where patch cables rewire the signal path while it plays. Open source Modular DAW · Open Source Live modular patching
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
ChucK Strongly timed audio programming language for livecoding and synthesis. Open source Livecoding · Stanford Timed audio programming
Csound Sound and music computing system with a text-based orchestra and score model. Open source Audio DSL · Open Source Scripted synthesis and DSP
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. Free tier 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. Free tier Industry Standard · Indie-Free Adaptive game audio
GameSynth (Tsugi) Node-based procedural SFX generator for games. Paid Procedural SFX · Games Procedural game SFX
GarageBand Free Apple DAW with built-in loops, drummers, and amp models. Free Free · Apple Free entry-level DAW on Apple
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
Melodyne Pitch and timing editor that separates notes inside polyphonic recordings. Paid Pitch Editing · DNA Pitch and timing repair
Ocenaudio Free waveform editor with real-time effect preview and large-file handling. Free Free · Waveform Editor Quick waveform edits
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
Renoise Tracker-style DAW with sample-level editing and per-line command control. $75 perpetual Paid Tracker · Perpetual Tracker workflow production
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 Free tier SFX Library · Desktop SFX browsing, sound library management
SoundThread Node-based patching front end for the Composers Desktop Project sound manipulation tools. Open source Node-Based · CDP Front End Experimental spectral sound design
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 digital audio workstation for recording, mixing and producing music with drag-and-drop workflow. Paid PreSonus · Drag Workflow Modern drag-flow DAW
SuperCollider Server-based audio synthesis and livecoding language. Open source Livecoding · GPL Algorithmic synthesis + livecoding
Surge XT Open-source hybrid synthesizer with wavetable, FM, and subtractive engines. Open source Open Source · Synth Free pro synth plugin
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
Vital Spectral warping wavetable synth. Free tier covers most sound design work. Free / Plus $25 / Pro $80 Free tier Wavetable · Free Tier Wavetable sound design
Waveform Free Tracktion DAW with unlimited tracks at no cost. Free Free · Unlimited Tracks Free unlimited-track DAW
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. Free tier AAA · Free Tier AAA game audio

Game Development

Engines, per-engine resources, game dev tools, game assets (also under Assets & Libraries), design theory, learning, communities, and jams. Engine software tables are under Software Reference.

Godot: Official Resources

Official documentation and asset libraries.

Godot: Key Plugins & Addons

Essential Godot addons.

  • Aseprite Wizard. Godot editor plugin that imports Aseprite animations into AnimationPlayers, AnimatedSprites and SpriteFrames.
  • AssetPlacer Paid. Godot level-design plugin for browsing, grouping and placing 3D assets on grids, surfaces or terrain.
  • Beehave. Behavior tree add-on for building NPC and enemy AI in Godot.
  • Cyclops Level Builder. Godot plugin for blocking out levels in the viewport by dragging out blocks with collision and materials.
  • Debug Draw 3D. Godot add-on that draws 3D debug shapes and 2D overlays from code.
  • Dialogic 2. Full-featured dialogue and timeline system.
  • Dialogue Manager. Nonlinear dialogue system for Godot with a script-like editor for branching conversations.
  • FuncGodot. Godot 4 plugin that builds scenes from Quake .map and Hammer .vmf level files.
  • GdSpy. Unofficial fSpy importer for Godot.
  • GdUnit4. Unit testing framework for Godot 4 that runs GDScript and C# tests from an embedded inspector.
  • Godot 4 glTF runtime import. GitHub issue in the Godot docs repo about documenting runtime glTF import in Godot 4.
  • Godot MCP. MCP server for Godot that launches the editor, runs projects and returns debug output to AI assistants.
  • Godot Package Manager. Package manager for Godot using npm.
  • Godot State Charts. Godot 4 extension for building hierarchical state charts to drive character and game logic.
  • GodotSteam. Steamworks SDK integration.
  • Gut. Unit testing framework for GDScript.
  • HEGo. GDExtension that runs Houdini Digital Assets inside Godot 4 through Houdini Engine for procedural content.
  • Limbo AI. Behavior trees and state machines.
  • Orchestrator. Visual scripting add-on for Godot 4.2+ with a graph editor and hundreds of nodes for game logic.
  • Phantom Camera. Dynamic camera system (Cinemachine-inspired).
  • ProtonScatter. Godot 4 add-on that places props in a scene procedurally and non-destructively.
  • Sky3D. Day/night cycle for Godot 4 with rotating sun, moon and stars, moon phases, and fog and clouds that follow the time of day.
  • SmartShape2D. Intelligent 2D terrain/shape tool.
  • Spatial Gardener. Godot plugin for painting foliage and props onto any 3D surface without heightmap terrain.
  • Terrain3D. C++ GDExtension terrain system for Godot 4 with sculpting and painting, scaling from 64 m to 65.5 km regions.

Godot: Learning

Godot-focused learning channels and courses.

Godot: Communities

Godot forums and chat.

  • Godot Discord. Official Godot Engine Discord server for chat and help.
  • Godot Forums. Official Godot Engine forum for questions and discussion.
  • r/godot. 350k+ members, very active.

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		 Free tier 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
Effect House (TikTok) TikTok AR effect authoring app with visual and TypeScript scripting. Free Free · TikTok TikTok AR effects
Lens Studio (Snap) Snap AR authoring app for Snapchat Lenses, web AR and Spectacles. Free Free · Snapchat Snapchat AR lenses
ShapesXR Collaborative 3D and XR scene prototyping in headset and a web editor. Free tier Freemium · VR XR scene prototyping

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 tile map editor for building 2D and isometric game maps in the FMP format.
See also: Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software		 Free
OGMO Editor 3 Free project-based 2D level editor with grid and entity layers.
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:

  • Chisel.Prototype. Work in progress prototype for the Chisel Level Editor, for Unity.
  • Editor2D. Tile based level editor for Unity.
  • GILES. A runtime level editor for Unity3D.
  • Sprytile (GitHub). Blender add-on for building tile-based low-poly scenes with paint and map-editor tools.
  • Sprytile (itch.io). Blender addon for tile-based 3D levels.
  • Tiled2Unity. Exports Tiled map editor TMX files into Unity prefabs with sprites and colliders.
  • Unity2D TMX. A small library to import and render tilemap in Unity2D, only support TMX file format.

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:

  • Ink. Narrative scripting by Inkle (Heaven's Vault, Sable).
  • Ink Unity Integration. Unity integration for the open source ink narrative scripting language.
  • Prototype. Prototype component pattern for Unity.
  • Twine. Free, open-source interactive fiction.
  • Yarn Spinner. Dialogue tool for Unity/Godot (Night in the Woods).

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		 Free tier 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		 Free tier AAA · Free Tier AAA game audio

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Networking & Multiplayer

Multiplayer frameworks and game servers.

Software Description License Tags Best For
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		 Free tier 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		 Free tier

Related:

Game Dev Tools: Sprite & VFX

Sprite animation, 2D VFX, texture packers.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Coolifier Stylization tool that applies chains of 30+ non-AI filters to OBJ, GLB or FBX models, sprites and UI with real-time preview, plus texture ripping and tiling. EUR 20 Paid Stylization
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 Desktop pixel art editor for drawing sprites and animated frames.
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		 Free tier 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) Open-source pixel art and animation editor for macOS.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Open source
Pixor Renderer that turns animated 3D models into pixel-art sprite sheets in 4, 8 or 16 directions with fixed pixel scale, palettes, outlines and a CLI for batches. $19.99 (free browser demo) Paid 3D to Pixel Art
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
Top Down Sprite Maker Desktop app that builds customizable top-down pixel art characters and exports animated sprite sheets without drawing. $10 Paid Pixel Art · Sprites

Related:

  • Blender To Pixels. Tool by Astropulse that turns 3D models and animations built in Blender into pixel art.
  • Cheetah Texture Packer. High efficient and fast 2D bin packing tool.
  • Ez Sprite Sheet. Creates sprite sheets from animated GIFs.
  • Fusion Character Animator. Small tool for Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to facilitate the animation of 2D character sprites for developers.
  • GlueIT License unspecified. Free Simple Spritesheet Tool.
  • Jaconir Sprite Sheet Generator. Browser sprite packer and slicer that builds texture atlases with PNG plus JSON, XML or CSS data for Godot, Unity and Phaser.
  • Kavex's Spritesheet Maker. Free spritesheet maker to replace GlueIT. Has much newer export formats.
  • Laigter. Free normal/specular/AO map generator for 2D.
  • Leshy SpriteSheet Tool. HTML5 tool for creating, packing, and modifying sprite sheets and texture atlases.
  • Libgdx Texture Packer. Texture Packer built into Libgdx.
  • Make Your Own Pixel Art Paid. Walks you step-by-step through the available tools, pixel art techniques, the importance of shapes, colors, shading, and how to turn your art into animation.
  • Owlboy. Explore a detailed steampunk world in the clouds. With it's range of endearing animations and expressions the world and it's characters come to life.
  • Paul Robertson. Australian, creating cute, sometimes cosmic and psychedelic, and sometimes weird nightmarish pixel art.
  • PixelCraft. Open source and free, works in the browser. Easy to try out in the browser and as a PWA offline.
  • ShoeBox. Adobe Air based app with game and ui related tools.
  • Sprite Fusion Pixel Snapper. Tool that snaps messy or AI-generated pixel art onto a consistent pixel grid, online or as a desktop build.
  • Sprite Fusion Sprite Normals. Rust CLI and browser tool that generates normal maps from pixel art sprites and animated sprite sheets.
  • Sprite Sheet Maker. Sprite Sheet Maker is a handy no fuss utility to pack sprites.
  • Sprite Sheet Slicer. Sprite Sheet Slicer is a handy no fuss utility to slice sprites.
  • SpriteLib. Collection of static and animated graphic objects (also commonly known as sprites).
  • SpritePaint. Browser pixel art editor with layers, onion-skinned frame animation up to 100 frames, and PNG, GIF, sprite sheet or MP4 export.
  • SpriteUV2 Paid. Tool for creating optimal meshes for textures/sprites and packing them into an atlas.
  • Starbound. Travel across vibrant, colorful and expansive galaxies, including creative dynamic animations.
  • Stitches. An HTML5 sprite sheet generator.
  • Talos VFX. Node based, open source VFX Editor with interface and a ready to use libGDX runtime.
  • Tilesplit. CLI text-based tilesheet splitter and namer. Turn a spritesheet into many separate files with names you pick, or not if you don't care. Support templates and textures that are not all the same size.
  • Walking animation cycle in games. Tutorial series on 2D walk-cycle animation for games.
  • Wobblepaint. Pico8 editor that give life to pixel art with a little wobble.

Game Dev Tools: AI & Procedural Generation

WFC, noise, procedural pipelines, economy design.

Software Description Pricing 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
Planet Workshop Procedural planet and moon generator with layered noise that exports heightmaps, textures and meshes up to 8192x4096. Name your own price Free Planets · Procedural

Related:

  • DotRecast. A port of Recast & Detour, navigation mesh toolset for games, Unity3D, servers, C#.
  • EZ-Tree. Procedural tree generator by Dan Greenheck with dozens of parameters, as a browser app and a Three.js library with LODs, wind and GLB export.
  • Fast Noise Lite. Fast noise generation (Perlin, Simplex, Cellular).
  • Machinations Paid. Visual tool for designing and simulating game economies.
  • Procedural GL JS. Based on Three.js, this framework is dedicated to generating a 3D Map experience on a web service.
  • Talus. Small diffusion model that generates 4 km game terrain heightmaps in the browser and exports 16-bit PNG, Unity RAW or OBJ.
  • Wave Function Collapse. Procedural generation from example patterns.

Game Dev Tools: Physics Engines

Open-source physics engines.

  • Box2D v3. 2D physics engine rewrite by Erin Catto.
  • Box2D.NET. A port of Box2D, is a 2D physics engine for games,.NET C#, Unity3D, servers.
  • Cannon.js. Lightweight and simple 3D physics engine for the web.
  • Jolt Physics. Open-source 3D physics (used in Horizon Forbidden West).
  • Lockstep Framework. A framework designed for games that need lockstep simulations. It includes a deterministic 2D physics engine, pathfinding, behavior system. LSF is integrated with Unity.
  • Rapier. Rust physics engine (2D/3D, used with Bevy).
  • UnrealJolt. Jolt physics integration (Plugin) for Unreal Engine 5 (UE5)

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		 Free tier 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		 Free tier Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated Artist-friendly VCS

Related:

  • Git LFS. Large file storage for Git.

Game Dev Tools: Analytics & Playtesting

Analytics and playtesting services.

Game Design & Theory

Design fundamentals, patterns, and references.

Software Description License Tags Best For
Open 3D Engine (O3ED) Successor to Amazon Lumberyard, an open-source, real-time, multi-platform 3D engine to build AAA games. Open source

Related:

  • Deconstructor of Fun. F2P game design and business.
  • Epic Games. Epic Games on GitHub. Official Unreal Engine and related repos.
  • friflo ECS. High-performance C# ECS with simple API. Supports.NET, WASM/WebAssembly, Native AOT, Unity, Godot, MonoGame,..
  • Game Development Essentials: Game Level Design License unspecified. Book on game level design fundamentals.
  • Game Programming Patterns. Lots of great game development patterns useful when making games with or without Unity.
  • Game UI Database. Searchable database of game UI/UX screenshots for interface reference.
  • GDC Vault (Free). Hundreds of free GDC talks.
  • How To Market A Game. Marketing strategies for indie games.
  • LWF. Lightweight SWF. LWF is an animation engine which can play animation data converted from FLASH contents in HTML5, Unity, Cocos2d-x, iOS UIKit.
  • Phototiler License unspecified. Lightweight photorealistic map renderer that allows quick rendering of 3D maps for creative cartography.
  • Pixel Composer (GitHub). Node-based VFX editor for pixel art.
  • pixeldudesmaker. Small pixel-art character generator, with basic animation.
  • Red Blob Games. Interactive visual explanations (pathfinding, hex grids, noise).
  • Resemble License unspecified. AI voice cloning and speech generation for game dialogue.
  • Slynyrd. American, game designer with tons of material, game specific knowledge and mini-tutorials.
  • SpriteKit. SpriteKit code to make your game work on iOS, macOS, and tvOS without a hitch.
  • Spritemate. Online Editor for Commodore 64 Sprites.
  • Timanthes. A pixel art editor for the Commodore 64 computer running on Windows.
  • Turbulenz. HTML5 game engine for building, publishing, and monetising games with 3D effects and real-time physics.
  • Unity Audio Manager. Plugin to play, change, stop, and mute 2D/3D sounds in Unity.
  • Unity Game Programming Patterns. Game Programming Pattern Examples in Unity3D.
  • Unity in Action (book) License unspecified. Hands-on Unity game development book (Manning).
  • Unity Technologies. Unity Technologies on GitHub. Official Unity repos and samples.

Game Dev: YouTube Channels

Channels covering game dev technique, design, and industry.

  • 📺 Learning All IN ORDER ~ Game Dev Cave. Unreal game-dev tutorial channel: blueprints, C++, quests, and GAS, ordered for beginners (160+ videos).
  • Aarthificial. YouTube channel with pixel art and game development devlogs.
  • Acerola. YouTube channel explaining graphics programming and shader techniques.
  • Blackthornprod. YouTube channel with game dev tutorials covering 2D art, Unity and game design.
  • Cain On Games. Tim Cain (Fallout creator) on game design philosophy and war stories.
  • Freya Holmer. Math for game devs, shaders.
  • Game Maker's Toolkit. YouTube channel by Mark Brown analyzing game design through video essays.
  • GDQuest (YouTube). GDQuest YouTube channel with Godot game development tutorials.
  • Jonas Tyroller. YouTube channel of Jonas Tyroller with indie game devlogs and game design videos.
  • Libgdx Wiki. Libgdx documentation wiki (includes Texture Packer page).
  • Lincoln Margison. Procedural animation tutorials. Step by step walkthroughs for game dev rigging and motion.
  • Masahiro Sakurai. Game design philosophy, 250+ episodes.
  • MFGD - Fragment Shaders. YouTube playlist about fragment shaders.
  • Pontypants. YouTube channel of Pontypants documenting game development, including animation for games.
  • Sebastian Lague. Procedural generation and simulations.
  • SimonDev. YouTube channel of Simon Dev on game and 3D programming, including Three.js and WebGL.
  • t3ssel8r. YouTube channel showing a stylized pixel-art 3D rendering style and its techniques.
  • The Cherno Project. While not specific to Unreal Engine, Cherno has tons of great C++ and general game engine content.
  • Thomas Brush. Indie business and marketing.

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 Pricing 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. Open source 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. Open source 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. Open source 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
CopperLicht JavaScript library and WebGL 3D engine for games and 3D applications. Unspecified
Coquette A micro framework for JavaScript games. Handles collision detection, the game update loop, canvas rendering, and keyboard and mouse input. Open source
Dash A free and open 3D game engine written in D. Open source D Language · Niche D-language 3D
Defold Lua-scripted engine for cross-platform 2D and 3D games, maintained by the Defold Foundation. Open source 2D Mobile · King (Candy Crush) Lightweight 2D and 3D games on mobile and web
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 Open-source 2D game engine for the Go programming language. 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
Gorgon A 2D rendering API for.NET, written in C#. Open source
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++). Open source 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 Free open-source framework for making 2D games in Lua. 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
OpenXRay Community-modified X-Ray engine used in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series. Open source Game Engine · Open Source
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). Open source Python · Disney Origin Python 3D games
Phaser Open-source HTML5 2D game framework in JavaScript and TypeScript. Open source Open Source · JavaScript Browser 2D 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
Py Game CE Pygame - Community Edition is a FOSS Python library for multimedia applications (like games). Built on top of the excellent SDL library. Open source Python · Game Library
Raylib Minimal C library for learning game programming. Open source Library (not engine) · C Learning game programming, no engine overhead
React Three Fiber React renderer for Three.js that builds 3D scenes from reusable, state-driven components. Free Open source Three.js · React
s&box Facepunch engine on Source 2 with C# scripting, successor to Garry's Mod, with Steam export. Mixed Source 2 · C# Multiplayer sandbox games
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. Open source Mac-only · 2D 2D games on Mac
Stage.js Lightweight and fast 2D HTML5 rendering and layout engine for cross-platform game development. Open source
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. Open source Browser · Standard JS 3D Web 3D graphics (broad)
Torque3D C++ engine with decades of Torque technology lineage. Open source 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
Wicked Engine Open-source C++ 3D engine with real-time path tracing, Lua scripting and VRM support. Open source Open Source · C++ Path-traced real-time projects
Wonderland Engine WebXR-focused engine with visual editor. Targets VR, AR, and standard browser 3D. Free for indies. Free tier WebXR · Editor WebXR apps, browser VR/AR

Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers

Also in Software Reference → Game Engines: Commercial Free Tiers

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Construct 3 Browser-based no-code 2D engine with visual scripting. Free tier No-code · Browser No-code 2D games, browser-based
CryEngine High-fidelity 3D engine, pay-what-you-want. Free tier 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). Free tier 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. Free tier Browser-Based · JavaScript Browser-based 3D games
Ren'Py Python visual novel engine (industry standard). Open source Visual Novels · Industry Standard Visual novels
Roblox Studio Free Roblox editor for building, scripting in Luau and publishing multiplayer games. Free Free · Luau Roblox game creation
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. Free tier SDF-Native · Early Access SDF-native game creation
UNIGINE C++/C# real-time engine for simulation, visualization and games, with double-precision large worlds. Community free under $200k revenue Free tier Freemium · Simulation Large-world simulation apps
Unity Cross-platform engine with massive asset store ecosystem (current major release Unity 6). Free tier Cross-Platform · XR Mobile, AR/VR, cross-platform
Unreal Engine 5 AAA engine from Epic. Free until $1M revenue, then royalty. Free tier 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 tile map editor for building 2D and isometric game maps in the FMP format. Free
OGMO Editor 3 Free project-based 2D level editor with grid and entity layers. 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.

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.

  • Adobe Color. Color wheel, harmony tool, palettes.
  • Canva Color Palettes. Canva library of ready-made color palettes with hex codes.
  • Color Hunt. Curated color palette collection.
  • Color Method. Interactive color matching game.
  • ColorBox. Systematic color scale generator.
  • Coolors Free tier. Web app that generates color palettes and exports them in several formats.
  • Fresh LUTs. Community library of free color-grading LUTs that users upload and share, plus a browser color grading assistant.
  • Gradient Horse. Experimental gradient generator.
  • Huemint Free tier. AI-assisted brand color generation.
  • Lospec Palette List. Pixel art palette repository.
  • Paletton. Classic color scheme designer.
  • Palitra. Search brand color palettes.
  • poline. Esoteric palette generation via polar color interpolation.
  • Randoma11y. Generate accessible color combinations.
  • Swatchr. A color palette management system for Unity.
  • WebGradients. Collection of free CSS gradients you can copy for web and design use.

Design Tools

Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Adobe Express Adobe web and mobile app for quick social graphics, flyers and short videos from templates.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software		 Free tier 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		 Free tier Node-based · Non-destructive Node-based batch image editing
Eagle Desktop app for collecting, tagging and organizing images, fonts and other visual reference assets.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software, Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Pre-Production, Storyboarding & Script Tools		 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, Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Open source Free OSS · Painting Digital painting, concept art
Photopea Free browser-based Photoshop alternative with full PSD support.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software, Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities		 Free PSD · Browser Quick PSD editing
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 Pricing License Tags Best For
ArtDeck Reference boards for images, video, links, and notes. Study tools for value, color, composition, and motion.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		 $5.99 one-time Paid Apple-only · Study Tools Reference boards and image study
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
Eagle Desktop app for collecting, tagging and organizing images, fonts and other visual reference assets.
See also: Software Reference → Design Software, Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Design Tools		 Paid Asset Organizer · Visual Asset organization
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. Free tier 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.
See also: Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software		 Free tier Pay What You Want · Std Artist Tool Reference canvas
ShotPro iOS and desktop 3D storyboard and previs. Paid iOS · 3D Storyboard 3D iOS storyboarding
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
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro Industry-standard storyboarding with animatic, camera and audio timeline.
See also: Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software		 Paid Storyboarding · Animatics Pre-production, animatics
WriterDuet Realtime collaborative screenwriting in the browser. Free tier Collab · Browser Collab screenwriting

Related:

Design Software

Also in Software Reference → Design Software

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Adobe Express Adobe web and mobile app for quick social graphics, flyers and short videos from templates. Free tier 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. Free tier Node-based · Non-destructive Node-based batch image editing
Clip Studio Paint Industry-standard illustration and comics with animation timeline. Paid Manga · Frame-by-Frame Manga, illustration, frame-by-frame animation
Eagle Desktop app for collecting, tagging and organizing images, fonts and other visual reference assets. Paid Asset Organizer · Visual Asset organization
Figma Collaborative UI/UX design with free tier. Free tier Collaborative · UI/UX UI design, prototyping, design systems
FontLab 8 Professional font editor. Paid Font Editor · Pro Type design, font editing
FotoSketcher Windows freeware that converts photos to sketch, painting, and pastel renders. Batchable. Free Freeware · Photo Stylize Quick stylize batches
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
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. Free tier 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 painting app. Procreate Dreams for animation. Paid iPad-native · Storyboarding Mobile illustration, storyboards
ProtoPie High-fidelity interaction prototyping for apps and connected devices. Free tier Prototyping · Interaction Interaction prototyping
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. Free tier 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 motion capture is also under Animation & Rigging.

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
FLUX.2 (Black Forest Labs) Open-weight photorealism with Kontext editing.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier Open Weight · Photoreal Open-weight photorealism
GPT Image (OpenAI) Instruction-following image model with strong text rendering. GPT Image 1.5.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid OpenAI · Text Rendering Instruction following
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		 Free tier Typography · Text Rendering Typography in images
Imagen Google photoreal image model via Gemini and Vertex.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Paid Photoreal · Google Photoreal image gen
Jimeng / Dreamina (ByteDance) High quality, integrated with video pipeline.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier 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		 Free tier Real-time · Upscaling Real-time + upscaling
Leonardo AI Real-time generation with artistic control.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier 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
Nano Banana Pro (Google Gemini) Instruction-based editing with character and product consistency across edits.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier Consistency · Editing Consistency editing
Playground v3 Mixed-mode design canvas for graphic design.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier 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		 Free tier Design Focus · Vector Design assets, vectors
Reve Image model with strong prompt adherence.
See also: Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software		 Free tier Prompt Adherence Prompt adherence
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		 Free tier
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

Related:

Video Generation

AI video generation platforms and models.

Software Description Pricing License Tags Best For
Beeble AI relighting for footage that extracts normal, albedo and depth passes. Web app plus local Beeble Studio.
See also: Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software		 Cloud from $16/mo, Studio from $42/mo Paid Paid · Relighting Footage relighting
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
Cuebric AI

Explore related projects

ytdl-org/youtube-dl

Command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and other video sites

141,500 stars

excalidraw/excalidraw

Virtual whiteboard for sketching hand-drawn like diagrams

135,396 stars

godotengine/godot

Godot Engine – Multi-platform 2D and 3D game engine

119,840 stars

mrdoob/three.js

JavaScript 3D Library.

117,905 stars