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

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

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

Curated by Devanshu Tak · built with Claude Code · Suggest a resource · Contribute

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

Contents

Assets & Libraries Poly Haven · Quixel Megascans · Sketchfab

• Model Libraries — Free & General (33 items)
  General-purpose 3D model libraries with free downloads.
• Model Libraries — Specialized (18 items)
  Specialty model sources: characters, scans, anatomy, museums.
• Model Libraries — Architecture & Furniture (10 items)
  Arch-viz, furniture, and BIM asset libraries.
• Asset Marketplaces (9 items)
  General asset marketplaces across multiple engines and tools.
• Free Asset Giveaways (1 item)
  Recurring free asset drops. Bookmark these.
• Software-Specific Asset Libraries (10 items)
  Official asset libraries tied to specific DCCs.
• HDRIs (9 items)
  HDR environment maps for lighting and reflections.
• Textures & Materials — Free PBR Libraries (27 items)
  Free PBR texture libraries for materials authoring.
• Textures — Specialized (7 items)
  Specialty texture sources: displacement, patterns, sprites, terrain.
• Textures — Premium (3 items)
  Professional paid texture libraries.
• Stock Images & References (12 items)
  Free and public-domain stock images, and 2D references.
• Stock Footage (4 items)
  Free and archival video footage sources.
• Audio — SFX & Music Libraries (14 items)
  Free and paid SFX and music libraries for games, reels, and film.
• Fonts (5 items)
  Font libraries, pairing tools, and type references.
• Icons (13 items)
  Icon libraries and animation sets.
• Game Assets (44 items)
  Free and paid game-ready asset sources. Cross-listed from §7.

Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing Blender · Houdini · Cinema 4D

• Blender — Plugins & Addons (157 items)
  Notable addons extending Blender.
• Blender — Tutorials (11 items)
  Blender learning resources, beginner to advanced.
• Houdini — Getting Started (4 items)
  Beginner-friendly Houdini intros.
• Houdini — Essential Learning Resources (6 items)
  Long-form Houdini learning hubs.
• Houdini — VEX & Coding (8 items)
  VEX, Python, OpenCL, and scripting in Houdini.
• Houdini — FX & Simulations (2 items)
  Vellum, FLIP, Pyro, and other simulation workflows.
• Houdini — Rigging & Animation (KineFX) (2 items)
  KineFX rigging, animation, and crowds.
• Houdini — Grooming
  Hair and fur grooming workflows.
• Houdini — Miscellaneous Tutorials (14 items)
  Additional Houdini tutorials across topics.
• Houdini — Plugins & Tools (22 items)
  Toolkits, pipeline tools, and HDAs.
• Houdini — Courses & Free Content (1 item)
  Structured courses for Houdini.
• Houdini — Communities (8 items)
  Forums, Discords, and tip archives.
• Cinema 4D — Learning (2 items)
  C4D tutorials and learning hubs.
• Cinema 4D — Plugins (2 items)
  C4D addons and bridges.
• Cinema 4D — Tips & Workflows (2 items)
  Productivity blogs and shader workflow tricks.
• 3ds Max — Plugins (1 item)
  3ds Max plugins.
• Fusion 360 — Learning
  Fusion 360 courses.
• Material Creation Tools (22 items)
  Texture authoring, procedural materials, and baking tools.

Animation & Rigging Mixamo · Rokoko · Cascadeur

• Animation — YouTube Channels (8 items)
  Channels covering 2D/motion animation technique.
• Animation — Courses
  Structured animation courses.
• AI Motion Capture & Animation (13 items)
  AI-powered mocap and character animation tools.

Lighting, Rendering & Shaders Redshift · Arnold · V-Ray

• 3D Lighting — Fundamentals (5 items)
  Core lighting tutorials for beginners and generalists.
• 3D Lighting — Redshift-Specific (5 items)
  Redshift lighting tutorials, primarily in C4D.
• 3D Lighting — Production (3 items)
  Production-focused lighting talks.
• Rendering & Shader Theory (229 items)
  Foundational rendering and shader theory references.
• Renderer-Specific Learning (3 items)
  Deep-dives for specific render engines.

VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production Houdini · Nuke · EmberGen

• Virtual Production (6 items)
  Real-time engines and hardware stacks for virtual production.
• Tech Art (13 items)
  Tech art breakdowns, procedural art, and tutorials.

Motion Graphics & Video After Effects · Cavalry · DaVinci Resolve

• Motion Graphics — YouTube Channels (1 item)
  Motion design learning channels.
• Motion Graphics — Courses
  Structured motion graphics courses.
• After Effects — Learning & Templates (2 items)
  AE expressions, templates, and workflow resources.
• Fusion (DaVinci Resolve) — Learning (3 items)
  Fusion references and EXR workflow.
• Motion Graphics — Inspiration (29 items)
  Showcases, style frames, title sequences, ad references.
• Motion Graphics — Tools & Utilities (13 items)
  MG-specific tools and utilities.
• Video Editing — Courses
  Editing-specific courses.

Game Development Unity · Unreal Engine · Godot

• Godot — Official Resources (4 items)
  Official documentation and asset libraries.
• Godot — Key Plugins & Addons (9 items)
  Essential Godot addons.
• Godot — Learning (9 items)
  Godot-focused learning channels and courses.
• Godot — Communities (3 items)
  Godot forums and chat.
• Unity Engine — Resources (447 items)
  Unity community add-ons, tools, and learning resources.
• XR, AR & VR — Resources (23 items)
  AR/VR/XR SDKs, frameworks, tools, and references across ARKit, ARCore, WebXR, and VR platforms.
• Unreal Engine — Resources (184 items)
  Unreal Engine resources and marketplace picks.
• Game Dev Tools — Level Design (13 items)
  Level editors and blockout tools.
• Game Dev Tools — Dialogue & Narrative (6 items)
  Dialogue, narrative scripting, and IF tools.
• Game Dev Tools — Audio Middleware (4 items)
  Adaptive audio and spatial audio middleware.
• Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer (16 items)
  Multiplayer frameworks and game servers.
• Game Dev Tools — Sprite & VFX (35 items)
  Sprite animation, 2D VFX, texture packers.
• Game Dev Tools — AI & Procedural Generation (6 items)
  WFC, noise, procedural pipelines, economy design.
• Game Dev Tools — Physics Engines (7 items)
  Open-source physics engines.
• Game Dev Tools — Version Control (3 items)
  Version control for binary-heavy game projects.
• Game Dev Tools — Analytics & Playtesting (1 item)
  Analytics and playtesting services.
• Game Design & Theory (24 items)
  Design fundamentals, patterns, and references.
• Game Dev — YouTube Channels (18 items)
  Channels covering game dev technique, design, and industry.
• Game Dev — Courses (2 items)
  Structured game dev courses.
• Game Dev — Communities (12 items)
  Reddit, Discord, forums, indie job boards.
• Game Jams (6 items)
  Recurring game jams.

Art, Design & Visual Storytelling Photoshop · Procreate · Krita

• Concept Art & Illustration — Channels (26 items)
  Channels on concept art, figure drawing, painting.
• Concept Art & Illustration — Courses
  Structured concept art and design courses.
• Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists (18 items)
  Gesture, figure, digital painting fundamentals for 3D artists.
• Photography — Reference & Fundamentals (11 items)
  Photography knowledge directly applicable to 3D lighting and composition.
• Cinematography & Camera Work (11 items)
  Shot composition, camera techniques, lighting for film/CG.
• Composition & Visual Storytelling (6 items)
  Composition theory, color theory, visual hierarchy.
• Animation Principles (7 items)
  The 12 principles of animation and related fundamentals.
• Design Principles & Typography (7 items)
  Typography, visual hierarchy, design fundamentals.
• Color Theory & Tools (14 items)
  Color palettes, generators, matching, and theory tools.
• Design Tools (27 items)
  Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities.
• General Inspiration (18 items)
  Blogs, feeds, and curated inspiration sources.
• 2D Art References & Inspiration (5 items)
  2D animation sheets, cloth, anime model sheets.

AI & Machine Learning for CG ComfyUI · Stable Diffusion · Runway

• Machine Learning for CG (1 item)
  ML fundamentals and courses for CG artists.
• Image Generation (37 items)
  State-of-the-art text-to-image models and platforms.
• Video Generation (15 items)
  AI video generation platforms and models.
• 3D Generation (15 items)
  AI tools for generating 3D models from text or images.
• Texture & Material Generation (6 items)
  AI-generated PBR textures and materials.
• ComfyUI Ecosystem (6 items)
  Node-based AI generation — ComfyUI and its ecosystem.
• AI-Assisted CG Tools (15 items)
  AI tools that augment traditional CG workflows.
• AI Audio & Music (8 items)
  AI music generation, voice, TTS, and SFX.
• Open-Source Models (HuggingFace) (3 items)
  Notable open-source generative models.
• Research Papers (90 items)
  Research papers on ML for CG, generative 3D, neural rendering, and related topics. Each entry: title (the plain-English summary), year, and venue/links in the description.

Tools, Pipeline & Utilities USD · RealityCapture · RizomUV

• USD (Universal Scene Description) (15 items)
  OpenUSD resources, specifications, and guides.
• Scene & Pipeline Tools (39 items)
  Production pipelines, render management, look dev.
• Gaussian Splatting & NeRF (33 items)
  Neural and splatting reconstruction.
• Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning (102 items)
  Photogrammetry, LiDAR, and Gaussian splat capture.
• Retopology & Mesh Tools (9 items)
  Retopology and mesh processing.
• UV Tools (5 items)
  UV unwrapping, packing, and UDIM tools.
• Rigging & Animation Tools (9 items)
  Auto-rig, retargeting, and animation middleware.
• Matchmoving & Camera Tracking (5 items)
  Camera tracking, object tracking, and camera matching tools.
• Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities (36 items)
  Assorted CG utilities and specialty tools.
• Plugin & Addon Marketplaces (51 items)
  Per-software plugin marketplaces.
• Conversion Tools (36 items)
  Format conversion across image, video, audio, and 3D.
• Pipeline Standards (9 items)
  Interchange formats and standards.
• Pipeline Overview (3 items)
  Industry-to-software quick reference.

Learning, Community & Industry ArtStation · 80 Level · fxguide

• YouTube Channels — Motion Graphics & Cinema 4D (28 items)
  Motion design / C4D focused creators.
• YouTube Channels — Blender (43 items)
  Blender-focused creators.
• YouTube Channels — Houdini (23 items)
  Houdini-focused channels.
• YouTube Channels — Sculpting & Characters (11 items)
  Character and sculpting focused creators.
• Paid Tutorial Platforms (94 items)
  Subscription and course-based learning platforms.
• Patreon Creators (18 items)
  Creators on Patreon offering tutorials, files, and tips.
• 3D Communities & Forums (156 items)
  Cross-DCC CG communities.
• 3D Inspiration & Showcase (45 items)
  Showcases, portfolios, and visual reference hubs.
• Architecture & Visualization (3 items)
  Arch-viz inspiration and BIM.
• Salary & Career Data (3 items)
  Salary data and studio review spreadsheets.
• Industry Trends 2025-2026 (6 items)
  Current technology and market trends in CG.

Software Reference

• 3D Software — Free (17 items)
  Free and open-source 3D software.
• 3D Software — Free Tier (5 items)
  Freemium 3D software with free tier available.
• 3D Software — Paid (20 items)
  Professional paid 3D software.
• CAD Software (17 items)
  Computer-aided design tools.
• 2D & Animation Software (60 items)
  Digital painting, illustration, 2D animation.
• VFX & Compositing Software (23 items)
  VFX, compositing, and real-time simulation tools.
• Render Engines (38 items)
  Production render engines across CPU, GPU, biased, and unbiased path tracers.
• Video Editing Software (10 items)
  NLEs and post-production software.
• Audio Software (10 items)
  Audio editing, mixing, sound design, and SFX generation.
• Design Software (30 items)
  UI/UX, vector, raster design apps.
• Viewers & File Utilities (12 items)
  Image, video, and 3D file viewers.
• Game Engines — Free & Open Source (60 items)
  Free and open-source game engines.
• Game Engines — Commercial Free Tiers (12 items)
  Commercial engines with generous free tiers.
• Material & Texture Creation Software (15 items)
  Material authoring, texture baking, and PBR painting tools.
• Photogrammetry & Scanning Software (17 items)
  Photogrammetry, structure-from-motion, and 3D scanning apps.
• Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software (4 items)
  3D camera tracking, matchmove, and lens-distortion tools.
• Retopology & UV Software (6 items)
  Standalone retopology, remeshing, and UV unwrapping/packing tools.
• Virtual Production Software (6 items)
  Virtual production, broadcast graphics, and real-time stage tooling.
• Level Design & Map Editing Software (9 items)
  Standalone level editors and tile/grid map authoring tools.
• Pipeline & Production Management Software (38 items)
  Production tracking, render farm management, asset pipeline orchestration.
• Misc 3D Utilities Software (21 items)
  Reference, scattering, simulation, and specialty 3D utilities.
• AI Image & Texture Generation Software (30 items)
  AI image generation and AI texture/material generation tools.
• AI Video Generation Software (15 items)
  AI text-to-video and image-to-video generation tools.
• AI 3D Generation Software (14 items)
  AI text-to-3D, image-to-3D, and 3D-asset generation tools.
• AI Audio & Music Generation Software (8 items)
  AI music, voice, and SFX generation tools.
• AI Motion Capture Software (8 items)
  Markerless and AI-driven motion capture and pose estimation tools.
• AI-Assisted CG Software (7 items)
  AI upscaling, cleanup, generative assist, and AI-powered DCC features.

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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 Freemium — Marketplace.
• 3Dshaker — Free models.
• 3Dzip — Free downloads.
• Blend Swap — blend file asset source, not an addon. The one place for Open Source Blender files.
• Blender 3D models — 3D models, particle systems/effects
• CadNav — Architecture, furniture, vehicle models.
• Casual Effects Data — Graphics research datasets and test scenes.
• CGHEVEN — Free CC0 3D and VFX assets.
• CGTrader Freemium — Community marketplace.
• Chocofur Free — Free section of Chocofur premium 3D model store.
• Free3D — Large free collection.
• Free3D.io — Free models.
• Free3DBase — Download high quality free 3d models.
• Funes — 3D cultural heritage.
• Keenan Crane's Model Repository — Clean test meshes for shader and subdivision work.
• Mantissa/resources — Free Blender files, resources.
• MyMiniFactory Scan the World — Scan the World collection of scanned heritage objects.
• Open3DModel — Free model archive.
• OpenTopography/datasets — Facilitates community access to high-resolution, Earth science-oriented, topography data, and related tools and resources. Registration required.
• Oyonale Paid — Sells 3D models for various industries.
• PBRPX — A huge library of 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 — User-uploaded photogrammetry scans.
• Quaternius's Ultimate Low-Poly Models — Ultimate low-poly model packs (CC0).
• RigModels Freemium — Rigged models.
• rileyb3d Library — Free packed .blend files ready to use.
• Sketchfab Freemium — Massive downloadable library.
• Stanford 3D Scanning Repository — Classic academic 3D scans (bunny, dragon, etc.).
• The Base Mesh — Base meshes for sculpting and rigging.
• Three D Scans — Free 3D scan archive.
• TurboSquid Freemium — 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 — Model database.
• Anatomy 360 Paid — Artist reference models.
• Anatomy For Sculptors Paid — Anatomical references.
• Anything World Gallery Freemium — Animated models.
• Artec 3D — Download high resolution 3D scans for free. (CC-BY)
• British Museum (Sketchfab) — Scanned artifacts.
• Cleveland Museum of Art (Sketchfab) — Museum 3D scans.
• Emojiz Paid — 77+ animated 3D emoji illustrations with Blender source files
• Insect 3D Models — Insect models.
• Mixamo — Rigged characters, auto-rigger, and free animation library (Adobe).
  See also: Animation & Rigging → AI Motion Capture & Animation
• Models Resource — Video game model rips.
• 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 GitHub).
• Quaternius — Free low-poly game assets.
• Scanned Female Head Model by EISKO — Scanned 3D People from Renderpeople, Scans from Louvre Museum
• Smithsonian 3D — Historical artifacts.
• Smithsonian Open Access — Millions of 2D/3D museum assets, CC0.
• Wire Wheels Club — Vehicle models.

Model Libraries — Architecture & Furniture

Arch-viz, furniture, and BIM asset libraries.

• 3asky — 3DS Max and general library.
• 3D Warehouse — SketchUp library.
• 3ddd — Design and architecture models.
• 3DSky — Architecture models.
• BIMobject — BIM objects.
• Design Connected — Furniture.
• Dimensiva — Furniture models.
• Evermotion — Scenes and models.
• Syncronia — CAD and BIM objects.
• Viz-People — Archviz scenes, 3D people, vegetation, HDRIs.

Asset Marketplaces

General asset marketplaces across multiple engines and tools.

• ArtStation Marketplace Paid — Professional assets.
• Blender Market Paid — Blender-specific assets and addons.
• Cubebrush Paid — Art and game assets.
• Fab (Epic) Freemium — Unified marketplace (UE, Sketchfab, ArtStation).
• gumroad/juliosillet Freemium — Pixar/CommunityResources, Nikola Damjanov's 100 PBR Texture Sets
• Quixel Bridge — Connects Megascans to all your favorite tools including Blender.
• RenderHub Free Freemium — Daz Content, 3D models, textures and materials.
• Unity Asset Store Freemium — Game-ready assets.
• Unreal Marketplace Freemium — UE-optimized assets.

Free Asset Giveaways

Recurring free asset drops. Bookmark these.

• Sonniss GDC Bundle — Massive free SFX bundles (~30GB+) annually around GDC and Christmas.

Software-Specific Asset Libraries

Official asset libraries tied to specific DCCs.

• 3DCoat Smart Materials Paid — Official materials library.
• Blender Demo Files — Official demo scenes.
• Blender Extensions — Official addons and themes repository.
• Maxon Asset Browser Paid — Cinema 4D built-in asset library.
• Maya Content Browser Paid — Official example scenes and assets.
• Nomad Sculpt Resources — Community brushes and matcaps.
• SideFX Content Library — Official Houdini assets.
• Substance 3D Assets Paid — Adobe materials library.
• Substance 3D Community Assets — User-shared materials.
• ZBrush Download Center — Alphas and brushes.

HDRIs

HDR environment maps for lighting and reflections.

• Adobe Stock HDRI Paid — Studio HDRIs.
• HDR Maps — Free HDRI packs.
• HDRI Hub Freemium — High-quality HDRIs with backplates.
• HDRI Skies — Free sky HDRIs.
• Maxime Roz HDRI Pack — Free studio and outdoor HDRIs for product viz.
• Open HDRI — 50 free CC0 HDRIs.
• OpenFootage — Free HDRIs, VFX plates, and backplates.
• Poly Haven HDRIs — CC0 HDRIs up to 16K.
• RenderMan HDRIs — Pixar's HDRI collection.

Textures & Materials — Free PBR Libraries

Free PBR texture libraries for materials authoring.

• 3D Textures — Free PBR library.
• 3DAssets.one — Search-engine which allows you to explore the largest free texture sites all at once.
• 3DXO — Free 3D Models, seamless Textures, Backgrounds, Photos & Graphics.
• ambientCG — 2000+ CC0 PBR materials.
• Arroway Textures Freemium — Digital textures for 3D rendering and real-time use.
• C4DCenter Material Library — Free C4D Materials created with High Quality Texture Maps for instant download and no limits, Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
• Celestia Motherlode — Repository for various addons like textures, models or celestial objects.
• CG Bookcase — Free PBR textures.
• Free PBR — Hundreds of free materials.
• Kaimoisch — 3D scanned textures.
• LotPixel — A huge assets library. Photogrammetry and PBR Textures, 3D Models, Decals. 1500+ Free Texture Available.
• Matcaps — A Huge library of matcap textures in PNG and ZMT, organized by color.
• MaterialX Library — AMD launched a free MaterialX-based Material Library. It allows users to download the materials and encourages them to upload their own.
• PlainTextures — Free high resolution textures, brushes and photos
• Share Textures — CC0 seamless textures.
• Substance Source/freebies Freemium — [$] : Hundreds of high quality PBR materials.
• Texture Fabrik — Textures and patterns.
• Texture Fun — Free PBR texture sets of common architectural materials, including some nice tile textures.
• Texture Labs — Free texture resources.
• Texture Supply (Gumroad) — Free textures.
• Texture.Ninja — Public domain photographic textures, reference images, cutouts. (CC0)
• TextureCan — Free PBR textures, high scan quality.
• TextureKing — Free material stock textures
• Textures.com Freemium — Massive professional texture library.
• Texturify — Free texture collection.
• The Blendersauce Vault Materials — Abstract, Bricks and Walls, Concrete, Fabric, Fluids, Food, Manmade, Metal, Metal painted Materials, Nature, Plaster, Rocks/Stones, Tiles, 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 CGI Moon Kit providing high-resolution moon textures and elevation data for rendering and visualization.
• NASA 3D Resources Mixed — 3D models, textures, and images from NASA — mixed CC0 / CC-BY, check per-asset license. GitHub
• 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 — Game sprite textures.
• Subtle Patterns — Tileable web patterns.
• Texturing.xyz Paid — MicroSkin displacement maps.

Textures — Premium

Professional paid texture libraries.

• Poliigon Paid — PBR textures.
• Quixel Megascans + Bridge Freemium — Scanned materials and import plugin. Free with Unreal Engine.
• Texture Box Paid — Mixed library.

Stock Images & References

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

• All Free Download — Free design downloads.
• David Rumsey Maps — Historical maps archive.
• LACartoons — Animation cel and model sheet archive.
• Neurascapes — Free surreal/AI-generated reference imagery.
• Pexels — Free stock photos and video.
• Pixabay — Free stock media.
• PNG Images — Transparent PNG images.
• Public Domain Review — Public-domain image collections.
• Settei Dreams — Anime model sheets and settei archive.
• Story Set — Edit and animate customizable illustrations to enhance your projects totally free.
• The Blueprints — Vehicle, aircraft, ship blueprints.
• Unsplash — Free photography.

Stock Footage

Free and archival video footage sources.

• ActionVFX Practice — Free practice VFX footage.
• Internet Archive / Prelinger — Public-domain archival footage.
• Open Visual FX — Free VFX footage.
• videvo Freemium — actionvfx/free-vfx, videezy, pixabay

Audio — SFX & Music Libraries

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

• Artlist Paid — Subscription music and SFX.
• BBC Sound Effects — BBC's archive of free SFX.
• ccMixter — Creative Commons remix community.
• Ende — Curated free audio library.
• 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.
• Knell — Free procedural sound effect synthesizer for games, UI, and prototypes.
• Moby Gratis — Free Moby music for indie creators.
• Motion Array SFX — Free SFX collection.
• Sapphire Paid — Suite of 270+ GPU-accelerated VFX effects with integrated Mocha tracking and a custom effect and transition builder.
• Sonniss Paid — SFX library. Releases massive annual free bundles.
• Uppbeat Freemium — Music for creators.
• ZapSplat — Large free SFX library.

Fonts

Font libraries, pairing tools, and type references.

• Font Library — Open-source and free fonts.
• FontPair — Font pairing inspiration.
• Fontz Freemium — Free and premium 3D fonts with Blender source files
• Lilex — Programming font with ligatures.
• Usable Google Fonts (Figma) — Curated Figma set of usable Google Fonts.

Icons

Icon libraries and animation sets.

• Flaticon Freemium — Massive icon library.
• Font Awesome Freemium — Classic icon font library.
• Game Icons — 4000+ SVG game icons.
• Handy Arrows — Hand-drawn arrow sets.
• Icons8 Glyph Freemium — Glyph-style icon set.
• Lucide — Open-source icon library.
• Lucide Animated — Animated version of Lucide icons.
• Material design icons — Official icon set from Google
• MDI Icons — Material Design Icons, huge set.
• SVGL — Brand logos in SVG.
• Tabler Icons — Open-source SVG icons.
• typicons.font — 336 pixel perfect, all-purpose vector icons in a web-font kit
• Use Animations Freemium — Animated icons for web UI.

Game Assets

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

• 2D Pixel Art Character Template Asset Pack Paid — 2D character Art Assets to start your game off the right way. Perfect for sidescrollers, platformers, or metroidvania.
• 2D Pixel Dungeon Asset Pack — 16x16 pixel character and tileset
• 420 Pixel Art Icons for RPGs — Set of 420 RPG icons, free for commercial use.
• 8000+ Raven Fantasy Icons - RPG Icons, Pixel Art Icons, Textures and Sprites — 8000+ colorful pixel art icons for your fantasy and RPG game
• Ansimuz Legacy Collection — Free 16-bit Pixel-Art Assets
• Asset Creation Toolset — Asset Creation Toolset is many tools for game asset creation.
• Brackeys' Platformer Bundle — Make your first game using this small collection of pixel-art characters, tiles, sounds and music.
• Craftpix Freemium — 2D game assets, free and paid.
• Cute Fantasy RPG - 16x16 top down pixel art asset pack — 16x16 assets for your top-down game.
• Free - Pixel Art Asset Pack - Topdown Tileset - 16x16 Sprites — 500 Sprites, 3 Heroes, 8 enemies, 50 Weapons
• Free Game Assets — Curated free 2D/3D/audio assets.
• Fx Effects Pixel Art #91 - 64x64 | 32x32 Paid — RPG FX Effects Asset Pack — 64×64 & 32×32
• GameArt2D — Free 2D game art pack collection.
• GameDev Market Freemium — Game dev asset marketplace.
• Humble Bundle Game Dev Paid — Periodic game dev bundles.
• itch.io Assets Freemium — Indie game asset marketplace.
• Kay Lousberg — CC0 low-poly game assets.
• KayKit - Character Pack : Adventurers — 3D lowpoly rigged and animated character model game assets
• KayKit - Forest Nature Pack — 3D stylised low poly trees, rocks, grass, and more.
• Kenney — CC0 game assets ("Asset Jesus").
• Kenney Game Assets All-in-1 Paid — Includes 60,000+ game assets including 2D sprites, 3D models and more!
• Liberated Pixel Cup assets — Free graphic assets of the Liberated Pixel Cup (LPC) held by the OpenGameArt forums
• Modern Farm - RPG Tileset Paid — Tons of props, animals and a character generator tool
• Mystic Woods - 16x16 Pixel Art Asset Pack — Create the cutest game with this playful asset pack!
• NativeBlend CLI — AI-powered CLI tool to generate and edit low-poly 3D game assets in Blender from natural language prompts
• Ninja Adventure - Asset Pack — Assets for topdown game with ninja theme
• Open Game Art — Community hub for free game art.
• Oryx Design Lab Paid — Cheap high-quality royalty-free sprite packs.
• Pixel Adventure — Assets for a fun Platform Adventure
• Pixel Art Top Down - Basic — 32x32 sprites and tilesets for top down games
• Pixel Frog Freemium — Pixel art assets.
• Pixel Planet Generator — Showcase of shader code for Godot game engine
• Reiner's Tilesets — Free 2D and 3D graphics, classic game assets blog.
• Sprout Lands - Asset Pack — cute pixel pastel farming asset pack
• Sprout Lands - UI Pack — cute pixel pastel UI pack
• Stylized Nature MegaKit — 110+ Unique nature models. Ideal for creating enchanting, Ghibli-inspired scenes. With projects in UE, Godot and Unity.
• Synty Studios Paid — Stylized low-poly asset packs.
• Tech Dungeon: Roguelite - Asset Pack — Animated top-down assets for your futuristic project
• Tilemancer — A quick procedural tile creator designed for pixel-art games.
• Tiny Farm RPG - Asset Pack — Itch.io listing: Tiny Farm RPG - Asset Pack.
• Tiny RPG Character Asset Pack v1.03 — 20 Animated Characters for you game.
• UAssetAPI — A low-level .NET library for reading and writing Unreal Engine 4 game assets.
• Universal Animation Library — More than 120 animations, ready to retarget in any engine
• UnluckyStudio — Free game art for 2D games.

---

Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing

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

Blender — Plugins & Addons

Notable addons extending Blender.

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

Related:

• 3 D Machine Learning — A resource repository for 3D machine learning.
• 3DN BIP — A Python library for Blender. Blazingly fast preview loads in Blender. Images of arbitrary size. bpy.utils.previews drop-in replacement.
• Advanced Blender Add-on — This repository intends to give a starter kit as well as to illustrate and intensively comment design patterns commonly used in advanced Blender add-ons.
• AMD Radeon ProRender — AMD’s powerful physically-based rendering engine that lets creative professionals use open industry standards to leverage GPU and CPU performance to produce stunningly photorealistic images in B
• AnimAide — Free add-on for Blender that has some helpful tools for animation.
• Array Tools — Addon for Blender to create translation, scale, rotation array with offset or global parameters in any direction and mix them. GitHub
• Arsenal — Blender integrated game engine written in Rust. GitHub
• Auto Terrainer Paid — Automatic Blender Terrain Generator is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that lets you turn any low poly mesh into realistic and customizable terrain. You can use it to create mountains, valleys, isl
• AutoMask — A Blender Add-on for automatic rotoscoping with the help of Machine Learning.
• Awesome 3D Human — A curated list of papers & resources linked to 3D Human research including face, body, hand and motion modeling.
• Awesome 3D Printing — A curated list of awesome 3D printing resources.
• Bangingcuts — Cut up audio and video clips based on peaks in the audio track removing silences. Last Blender versions: don't install the zip, install .py file instead.
• Blender Addon Tester — The blender addon tester is a test harness to enable pytest hook to allow addons to be tested inside a defined version of blender.
• Blender Addons — Helpers for Blender
• Blender CLI Rendering — Python scripts for rendering images using Blender from command-line interface.
• Blender Colab — Render on Google Colab, this is a Python script that allows you to render Blender scene using Google Colaboratory. Only Cycles.
• Blender Data Visualisation — Load data into Blender and create visualisations.
• Blender Debugger For Vscode — Blender addon for remote debugging Blender with VS Code (and Visual Studio).
• Blender For Unreal Engine — This Add-on allows you to export content created with Blender to Unreal Engine 4.
• Blender Kitti — Render large point clouds and voxel grids with blender.
• Blender Launcher — Standalone client for managing official builds of blender.
• Blender Manager — Auto-Update, Project Management and Time Tracking, Addon Control, Version Handling, Render Management, and More.
• Blender Metaverse Addon — Blender toolset for creating content for Metaverses like High Fidelity.
• Blender NLA Midi Copier — Blender add-on for creating midi-driven animations from the Nonlinear Animation view.
• Blender Pyblish — Blender Addon to integrate the Pyblish framework
• Blender Scripting — Introduction to blender scripting. This is a collection of simple to more involved examples to scripting in Blender with Python.
• Blender Sculpt Tools — Addon for help sculpting base mesh like Zbrush with Zsphere.
• Blender to Unity FBX — Unity export addon.
• Blender Updater CLI — Command line version of BlenderUpdater.
• Blender Version Manager — Minimalistic download manager for blender.
• Blender Vscode — Visual Studio Code extension for Blender development.
• Blender XR — A free virtual and mixed reality user interface for Blender that enables artists to edit scenes within the software using a suitable headset and controllers.
• Blender2Godot — Addon that exports a Blender scene to a Godot Engine project.
• BlenderCAM — An Open Source solution for CAM with Blender 3D. GitHub
• BlenderSynth — Blender scripting for generating synthetic datasets at scale.
• BlenderUpdater — Download and install nightly builds with one click.
• BlendyPose — Blender Motion Capture using your camera.
• Blign — Alignment and distribution tool for Blender. It allows users to align and distribute shapes with many different options.
• Bone Widget — Blender addon to assist with making custom bone shapes.
• Bonsai — Beautiful, detailed, data-rich OpenBIM add-on for Blender (formerly BlenderBIM). GitHub
• BookGen — Free book-generation addon for Blender.
• Building Tools — Building generation addon for blender.
• Bystedts Blender Baker Paid — This addon streamlines the texture baking process in Blender.
• CAD Sketcher — CAD Sketcher is a free and open-source project looking to enhance precision workflows in blender by bringing CAD like tools, features and usability. GitHub
• Camera Shakify — An addon for Blender that lets you easily add realistic camera shake to your cameras.
• Capsule — Blender addon to export, manage and automate to share between Blender and Unreal/Unity or other real-time engine.
• CharMorph — An open source character creation tool for Blender. It's a rewrite of MB-Lab, which is now unmaintained. GitHub
• COA Tools — 2D Animation Suite for blender. It offers a 2D cutout animation workflow similar to programs like spine or spriter.
• Crowdrender Freemium — Distributed rendering across machines.
• Curtis Holt Store Paid — Curtis Holt's storefront for Blender addons and learning products.
• Data FX — Loads and visualizes different types of data within Blender from .csv files.
• Daz to Blender Bridge — This easy-to-use Bridge transfers your Genesis 8 and 3 characters from Daz directly to Blender.
• DreamUV — Collection of tools that allow you to manipulate UVs in the 3D viewport.
• Drop It — Designed to drop fast and simply Objects to Ground or Surface. GitHub
• Easy HDRI — HDRI management addon.
• Easy Proxy — Blender addon to create proxy files for Video Sequence Editor (VSE) easily using FFMPEG.
• EasyBake — Texture baking UI for Blender that lives in the 3D Viewport. Small but powerful! Fast one-click baking and iteration.
• EdgeFlow — This addon adds two operators to blender which both work on edgeloop selections.
• Embark Blender Tools — A Blender add-on containing workflow tools for game development. Includes tools for standardized import/export workflow, 3D modelling and new object types. medium(https://medium.com/embarkstudi
• Engraver Paid — Blender addon with set of few tools designed to help carving decals in 3D models.
• Export Paper Model from Blender — Add-on for creating paper models. GitHub
• EZ Baker — An easier alternative to blender's default bake system. GitHub
• F Spy Blender — Official fSpy Blender importer.
• FaceBuilder Paid — [$] : A Blender add-on that lets you create photorealistic 3D models of human faces and heads using a few photographs with a neutral face expression. medium(https://medium.com/keentools/facebuild
• Fake Bpy Module — Collections of the fake Blender Python API modules for the code completion in commonly used IDEs.
• FLIP Fluids Paid — Powerful liquid simulation plugin that gives you the ability to create high quality fluid effects all within Blender, the free and open source 3D creation suite. [![market]](https://blendermar
• FontSelector — Easy font management inside Blender.
• Gaffer (Blender addon) — Blender add-on that helps you light your scenes by presenting all the right settings in convenient panels for quick access and experimentation. [![market]](https://blendermarket.com/products/g
• Geometry Nodes Pipes Paid — Addon for blender which helps generating complex pipe layouts.
• Geometry Script — Scripting API for Blender's Geometry Nodes. It makes complicated node trees more manageable and easy to share.
• Glsl Texture — Create textures from Glsl fragment shaders on Blender (2.8)
• GoB — GoZ-alike tools for simple ZBrush-Blender interchange.
• Graswald Paid — Grass and plants library.
• GreaseWriter — A Blender Add-on for auto-animating grease pencil strokes and emulating hand-drawn text.
• HDRI Sun Aligner — HDRI Sun Aligner is a Blender addon for automatically rotating an object (e.g. a sun) to match the brightest point in a HDRI environment texture.
• Hi Phy Engine Paid — Fully-coupled high-fidelity physics engine addon — unified solver for rigid body, cloth, hair, soft body, and MPM snow/sand with intersection-free continuous collision detection.
• INOX — Rust Game engine integrated in Blender.
• IOR Reference — A blender addon that display IOR values in a list.
• JARCH Vis — Add-on for Blender 3D that helps create commonly used object for architectural visualization. GitHub
• Jet Fluids — Jet fluid simulator integration in blender.
• JewelCraft — Jewelry design toolkit add-on for Blender.
• Kaleidoscope — The add-on adds two new nodes, Spectrum and Intensity, which essentially improves your workflow inside Blender when creating materials.
• KeKit — Brings some much needed functionality to Blender, with a whole array of production tools.
• Laser Slicer — Cuts up a Blender object and exports the slices to SVG files for cutting on a laser cutter or other post-processing.
• LeoMoon LightStudio Paid — Lighting system for Blender. ![market]
• Lib SM64 Blender — This add-on integrates libsm64 into Blender and provides various additional integrations with Fast64.
• Lodify — LOD(Level of Detail) and Proxy system for blender. GitHub
• Loom — Add-on to simplify the rendering process of image sequences and certain frames, allows batch rendering and comes with some handy utilities that help in production.
• Lumiere — Interactive Lighting add-on for Blender.
• Magic UV — This is a blender add-on Magic UV consisted of many UV manipulation features which Blender lack of. GitHub
• Maps Models Importer — A Blender add-on to import models from Google Maps. [more info]
• MB Lab — Character creation (archived, succeeded by CharMorph).
• MDSANIMA RenderTime — Blender add-on estimates and calculate how long your animation will take to render done based on the rendering time of the only one frame.
• Mesh Align Plus — Precisely align, move, and measure+match objects and mesh parts in your 3D scenes.
• Mesh Heal — Add-on for Blender, it includes additional Blender operators for healing surface meshes.
• Mesh Maze — Blender add-on to generate a maze on any mesh.
• MeshSync — Live link plugin for Unity. supported blender and other 3D software.
• MifthTools — 3Dcoat, Houdini, Modo mesh exchange tools and more.
• Mixer by Ubisoft — Blender addon developed at Ubisoft Animation Studio for Real Time Collaboration in 3D edition.
• Modeling Cloth — Create real-time cloth-like behavior in meshes in Blender.
• Modifier List — Blender add-on with enhanced UI layout for modifiers with handy features. Replaces the regular modifier UI and adds a tab in the Sidebar and a popup.
• MPFB — MPFB2 is an open source human generator for Blender. It's complete rewrite of MakeHuman as a Blender addon. GitHub
• Mr Mannequins Tools — Blender add-on that gives the ability to export animations and weighted meshes that are directly compatible with the third person mannequin without re-targeting anything in Unreal Engine!
• Multi User — Enable real-time collaborative workflows inside blender. GitHub
• Needle Engine Freemium — Allows you to create highly interactive, flexible and lightweight web applications right inside Blender.
• OctaneRender Prime for Blender Freemium — Fully integrated Octane Render, free tier. (blender plugin manual)
• Parallel Render — Render the output from the Sequencer multithreaded through the Render sidebar.
• PBR Texture Mapper — Create PBR node setup with one click.
• Phobos — An add-on for Blender allowing to create URDF, SDF and SMURF robot models.
• Point Cloud Visualizer — Display, edit, filter, render, convert, generate and export colored point cloud PLY files.
• Poliigon Blender Addon — This addon allows you to browse, purchase, download, and import Poliigon assets from inside Blender. It supports loading textures, models, and HDRs, and more recently supports generating Blender materials from Poliigon texture sets.
• Power Sequencer — Brings smart new editing features to edit faster with Blender's Video Sequence Editor. It is completely Free and Open Source.
• PresetterProfessional — View and visibility presets, 3d cursor presets, snap presets, etc. presets.
• Principled Baker — Bake PBR textures with a few clicks.
• Projectors — A blender add-on for simple projector creation and modification.
• ProSidebar — Add additional properties and operators to the 3D View Sidebar.
• PSOFT Pencil+ 4 Paid — NPR line rendering.
• QBlocker — Interactive object creation tool for Blender.
• QuickSwitch — A helper to quick switch workspaces and view render menu in viewport.
• RandoMesh — A blender addon to add randomized geometry to any mesh.
• reflow — Blender addon to change fps.
• Render Useful — Command-line tools for Blender renders.
• Rig on the Fly — Rig on the Fly is a Blender dynamic rigging tool used to simplify and speed up animation workflow.
• Rigid Body Bones — Blender addon which adds rigid body / spring physics to bones.
• Scene Strip Tools — Preview Scene Strips directly in the 3D View.
• Screencast Keys — Status Add-On for Blender.
• Screenwriter — Write screenplays in Blender Text Editor in Fountain markup syntax view/export with correct screenplay formatting.
• Sculpt Alphas Manager — This addon provides a simple solution to be able to quickly switch alpha textures for the sculpt brushes.
• Search Online References — Search current text in API Reference, Python Reference, Blender Stack Exchange, Blender Source Code and Github.
• Shot Manager by Ubisoft — Add-on that introduces a true shot entity in Blender scenes.
• Sketchfab Blender Addon — Directly import and export models from and to Sketchfab in Blender.
• SliceMesh — Simple script for Blender to automate mesh slicing.
• Spaceship Generator — Procedurally generate 3D spaceships.
• Spring Bones — Blender addon to add spring/bouncy dynamic effect to bones.
• Subsimport — Addon for Blender that allows users to create and edit subtitles for movies or music.
• SuperPoke — Iterative poking tool for Blender.
• Sverchok — A powerful parametric Blender tool for architects, allowing geometry to be programmed visually with nodes.
• TextCounter — LeoMoon TextCounter is an easy to use text animation plugin for Blender that can be used to make GUI simulations.
• TexTools — TexTools is a Free addon for Blender 3D with a set of professional UV and Texturing tools. GitHub
• The Grove 3D Paid — [$] : Grow natural 3D trees for visualisation and film. Grow, bend, prune, interactively simulate the seasons year by year.
• Theme Switcher — Addon to quickly change active theme not leaving 3D View.
• Tilecam — Render seamlessly repeatable images.
• Tissue — Blender's add-on for computational design.
• Transform Tools — Quickly transform, crop and fade video strips in Blender's Video Sequence Editor.
• Tree Gen — Procedural generation of tree models in blender.
• Typewriter — Typewriter text animation for font objects.
• UcuPaint — A addon to manage texture layers for EEVEE and Cycles renderer.
• Usage in Science, Academia, and Industry — Curated list of resources about the usage of Blender in Science, Academia, and Industry.
• UV Packer — Automatic and free UV-Packer Add-on for Blender.
• V HACD — Library decomposes a 3D surface into a set of near convex parts. GitHub
• Verge3D Paid — Powerful yet cost-efficient solution for creating interactive 3D web experiences.
• VSEQF — Overhaul for Blender's VSE that can completely change your workflow. Designed for quick, mouse and keyboard balanced editing with a focus on real-time feedback.
• Welder — Welds generator for Blender.
• Wiggle Bones — Jiggle bone implementation for Blender with realistic physics. GitHub
• WoT Tank Viewer — Package of plugins for Blender, which allows you view 3D models from World of Tanks.
• WritingAnimation — This add-on generates writing animation for the selected Bezier curves in blender.

Blender — Tutorials

Blender learning resources, beginner to advanced.

• 📖 User Manual — 🔗 Python API | ⚙️ Developer Wiki
• Animation & Rigging Manual — Animation & Rigging Manual..
• Blender Checklist — Checklist of Blender features and workflows.
• Blender Python API Documentation — Official Blender Python API Documentation.
• blenderscripting — Blender related python snippets to get you started.
• Compositing Nodes List — Compositing Nodes List..
• Developer Documentation — Here you can find information about Blender's development process, design and architecture, as well as instructions for Building Blender.
• Motion Tracking Manual — Motion Tracking Manual..
• Programming Add-ons for Blender 2.8 — It shows how to set up a professional IDE for writing Python programs for Blender, on the example of a simple plugin. It is an ebook, published freely on Creative Commons license.
• Realistic Hair in Blender Paid — Hair creation course.
• Texture Paint Manual — Texture Paint Manual..

Houdini — Getting Started

Beginner-friendly Houdini intros.

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

Related:

• Houdini Donut in Any Shape — Procedural donut by Lewis Orton.
• Houdini in Five Minutes — Quick intro by Entagma.
• SideFX Learn — Official curated learning hub.

Houdini — Essential Learning Resources

Long-form Houdini learning hubs.

• Applied Houdini Paid — Stephen Knipping's FX-focused course series (ILM).
• CGWiki (tokeru.com) — Matt Estela's CGWiki — the most comprehensive Houdini reference (Joy of VEX, LOPS, particles, everything).
• Entagma (site) Freemium — Advanced design and mograph tutorials. Also Unreal and Blender.
• Farmfield (Vimeo) — Setups and hip files from Johnny Farmfield.
• John Kunz (site) — Weekly streams — FX, coding, Redshift (Twitch | YouTube).
• SideFX Tutorials — Official tutorials.

Houdini — VEX & Coding

VEX, Python, OpenCL, and scripting in Houdini.

• 1 Minute VEX — Bite-sized VEX lessons.
• HouPy Wiki — Houdini Python wiki — packages, shelf scripts, menu customization, node graph hooks.
• OpenCL in Houdini — OpenCL notes for Houdini.
• Python Snippets for Houdini — Python snippets wiki.
• Python Startup Scripts — Python startup scripts guide.
• VEX Manager Paid — VEX snippet/code manager HDA by Shir Manor.
  See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Houdini — Plugins & Tools
• VEX Wrangle Cheat Sheet — Quick VEX reference by Mr Kunz.
• VFXBrain VEX — VEX tutorials blog.

Houdini — FX & Simulations

Vellum, FLIP, Pyro, and other simulation workflows.

• Custom Smoke Solver — Custom smoke solver walkthrough.
• Smart Crown Splash FLIP — FLIP splash technique.

Houdini — Rigging & Animation (KineFX)

KineFX rigging, animation, and crowds.

• Secondary Motion in H19 — Paul Esteves — secondary motion workflows.
• Space Girl Rigging — Legacy rigging series.

Houdini — Grooming

Hair and fur grooming workflows.

Houdini — Miscellaneous Tutorials

Additional Houdini tutorials across topics.

• AI For Artists — AI techniques applied to Houdini.
• Art Directing Paint Splashes — Art-directed paint splashes.
• Building Growth Animation — Building growth animation technique.
• Cloner Object — MoGraph Cloner tutorial.
• Extracting Transform Matrices — How to extract transform matrices.
• For Loops Tutorial — For loops and animated subdivisions.
• Houdini for Astronomy — Astronomy and scientific viz in Houdini.
• Muscles Masterclass — Advanced muscles masterclass.
• MysteryPancake Houdini Fun — Fun experimental Houdini repo.
• Node Studies — Node study slide deck.
• Point Cloud to Mesh (Microsoft) — Point cloud to mesh guide.
• Procedural Modeling with VEX Paid — Tighe Rzankowski procedural modeling course.
• USD Basics with Solaris — Official tutorial on USD basics in Solaris.
• Writing Your Own Polywire — Jake Rice on custom polywire.

Houdini — Plugins & Tools

Toolkits, pipeline tools, and HDAs.

• .hips — Various Houdini tools.
• 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.
• EarthMesh Houdini — Real-world meshes via Google API.
• Ffmpeg — Flipbook to MP4 conversion tool (setup guide).
• Houdini Attributes Cheatsheet — Houdini Attributes Cheatsheet.
• Houdini Engine for Unreal (AdrianPan optimized fork) — Rebuilt Houdini Engine for UE, 2x-15x faster.
• Houdini Tech Art Challenge Winners 2021 — HPaint, Polyline Creator, Poly Slice Tool, and more
• JDB Houdini Toolkit — JDB Houdini Toolkit.
• Microbot VDB Painter Paid — MbPainter for Sidefx Houdini is an Artist Friendly Set of Tools for interactive Manipulation of OpenVDB (www.openvdb.org) SDF Volumes.
• MOPS — Motion graphics toolkit by Toadstorm.
• ODTools Paid — Pipeline tools by Oliver Hotz.
• qLib — Open-source HDA library.
• Rich Lord's Tools — Tools from ex-Valve animator.
• SideFX Labs — Extended official toolset.
• Tighe Rzankowski's Tools Paid — Feather grooming and more.
• 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 — The Wormhole Content Browser is a custom UI for Houdini that enables quick browsing, previewing, and importing of content into Houdini.
• ZENO — Node-based 3D system that can produce cinematic physics effects at high efficiency.

Houdini — Courses & Free Content

Structured courses for Houdini.

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

Houdini — Communities

Forums, Discords, and tip archives.

• Daily Hip — Tips from Eetu.
• Houdini Nerd Discord — Christopher Rutledge's Houdini community.
• Houdini Tricks — Quick tips archive.
• OdForce — Most active Houdini forum.
• r/Houdini — Houdini subreddit.
• SideFX Houdini on Bilibili — Chinese Houdini tutorials.
• Think Procedural Discord — Procedural-focused Houdini Discord.
• VFX Arabia Houdini Tools — Houdini tools blog.

Cinema 4D — Learning

C4D tutorials and learning hubs.

• Cineversity — Official Maxon tutorials.
• School of Motion (site) Paid — C4D, motion graphics, animation, After Effects, design courses.

Cinema 4D — Plugins

C4D addons and bridges.

• AEC4D Paid — After Effects ↔ Cinema 4D bridge.
• Video Copilot — VFX tutorials, Element 3D, Optical Flares.

Cinema 4D — Tips & Workflows

Productivity blogs and shader workflow tricks.

• Rolando Barry (Gumroad) Freemium — C4D assets and presets.
• Rolando Barry Blog — C4D tips, shader switch workflows, productivity tricks.

3ds Max — Plugins

3ds Max plugins.

• TyFlow Freemium — 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 seamless 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 seamless materials on the go. You take a photo, and Live Normal creates a tile-able texture and generates texture maps ready for a PBR engine of your choice. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Freemium
Mari	Foundry's high-resolution 3D texture painting app, film-VFX standard for hero assets. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software	Indie perpetual $149; Individual $299/yr; Studio $1,289/yr	Paid	Industry Standard · Hero Texturing	Film-VFX texture painting at hero resolution
Material Maker	Open-source procedural texture generator (Substance Designer alternative). See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Open Source	Open Source · SD Alternative	Procedural PBR materials, free
Materialize	Free texture map generation from a single image. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Free	Free · Map Generation	Generating normal/height/AO maps
Quixel Mixer	Create photorealistic, tileable, materials in seconds with powerful mixing and painting. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Free
Substance Designer	Node-based procedural texturing. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Paid	Procedural · Industry Standard	Procedural PBR materials
Substance Painter	Industry-standard 3D texture painting with smart materials. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Paid	Industry Standard · PBR Painter	3D texture painting
Texelpaint3D	Paint directly on 3D model faces without UV unwrapping. 1-pixel-per-triangle workflow. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Free	No-UV · Early Access	UV-free 3D painting
TextureLab	Tool designed to make procedural texture generation. See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Free
xNormal	Free high-poly to low-poly baking (normals, AO, cavity). See also: Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software		Free	Baking · Free	Texture baking

Related:

• Agisoft De-Lighter — Free stand-alone tool designed to remove shadows from model textures. !download
• Architextures - Create Freemium — Web app allows you to create seamless textures, bump maps and CAD hatches. Select any of the parameters to get started.
• Imogen — GPU Texture generator using dear imgui for UI.
• NVIDIA Texture Tools Exporter — Allows users to create highly compressed texture files (that stay small both on disk and in memory) directly from image sources using NVIDIA’s CUDA-accelerated Texture Tools compressor technology.
• ShaderExpo — Dependency free shader editor featuring inline error logs, auto completions, models and textures loading.
• SmartNormal 2.0 — Normal map generation from images.
• TexGraph — A procedural texture creation tool that lets you create textures 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
BricsCAD	AutoCAD-compatible DWG CAD; offers both perpetual and subscription licensing.	Lite from €314; Pro $1,752 perpetual; Ultimate from €1,176/yr	Paid	DWG-Compatible · Cross-Platform	DWG-compatible CAD on Mac/Linux
CATIA	Dassault Systèmes CAD for aerospace and automotive.		Paid	Aerospace · Automotive	Aerospace, automotive
FreeCAD	Free open-source parametric CAD.		Open Source	Parametric · Open Source	Parametric CAD, engineering
Fusion 360 Personal	Autodesk's CAD/CAM free for personal hobbyist use.		Free NC	CAD/CAM · Personal Free	Hobbyist CAD, 3D printing
LibreCAD	Free open-source 2D CAD.		Open Source	2D CAD · Drafting	2D drafting
Onshape Free	Cloud-based CAD with free hobbyist tier (public projects).		Freemium	Cloud CAD · Collaborative	Collaborative CAD, hobbyists
OpenSCAD	Code-based CAD for parametric design.		Open Source	Script-Based · Parametric	Script-based CAD
PTC Creo	Parametric mechanical CAD with simulation, generative design, and additive workflows.	Quote-based; perpetual ~$2,200–$16,000; subs $200–$1,500/mo	Paid	Parametric CAD · Industry Standard	High-end mechanical engineering
Rhino	NURBS-focused 3D modeling for architecture and product design.	$995 perpetual	Paid	NURBS · Grasshopper	NURBS modeling, architecture
Shapr3D	Touch-first parametric/direct CAD on iPad, Vision Pro, Mac, and Windows.	Pro $299/yr	Paid	Touch-first · Cross-Platform	Tablet-first concept and product CAD
Siemens NX	High-end product engineering CAD/CAM/CAE; NX X is the cloud SaaS variant.	Quote-based (perpetual, subscription, or token)	Paid	PLM · Industry Standard	Enterprise PLM and engineering
SolidWorks	Mechanical CAD for engineers.	$2,820/yr	Paid	Mechanical CAD · Simulation	Mechanical engineering
Solvespace	Parametric 3D CAD modeling tool.		Open Source	Parametric · Lightweight	Lightweight parametric CAD

Material & Texture Creation Software

Also in Software Reference → Material & Texture Creation Software

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

Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

Also in Software Reference → Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

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

Retopology & UV Software

Also in Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
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

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Animation & Rigging

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

Animation — YouTube Channels

Channels covering 2D/motion animation technique.

• 📺 Make Films 10x Faster in UE ~ Josh Toonen — [video,animation,post-process,blueprint] - cinematic environments, animated decals.
• Alan Becker Tutorials — Animation tutorials by stick-figure animator.
• Alex Grigg — Animation for Anyone series.
• Alex Kunchevsky — Motion design.
• Olof Storm — Animation and motion.
• School of Motion (YouTube) — Motion design education.
• The Principles of Animation: Interactive Edition — "We've had a ton of fun experimenting with an animation of a cat in a washing machine."
• Toniko Pantoja — Animation industry and technique.

Animation — Courses

Structured animation courses.

AI Motion Capture & Animation

AI-powered mocap and character animation tools.

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

Related:

• ActorCore Freemium — Motion-capture library from Reallusion.
• AnimateDiff + ControlNet — Open-source controlled video animation from poses.
• Bandai Namco Research Motiondataset — R&D division of game publisher and developer Bandai Namco, has released a massive library of free motion-capture data for research and personal use.
• Carnegie-Mellon University Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database BVH conversions — Contains 2500 free human motion captures.
• Mixamo — Rigged characters, auto-rigger, and free animation library (Adobe).
  See also: Assets & Libraries → Model Libraries — Specialized

AI Motion Capture Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Motion Capture Software

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

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Lighting, Rendering & Shaders

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

3D Lighting — Fundamentals

Core lighting tutorials for beginners and generalists.

• 10 Tips for Better Lighting — Helloluxx lighting tips.
• Creative Shrimp — High quality CG tutorials and Blender tutorials, digital art and lighting tutorials with Gleb and Aidy.
• Get Better Lighting in C4D — Improve C4D lighting.
• School of Motion Lighting Blog — Shadows, volumetrics, HDRI, and area light techniques.
• The Digital Revolution — Beginner C4D lighting.

3D Lighting — Redshift-Specific

Redshift lighting tutorials, primarily in C4D.

• Creative Product Lighting with Redshift & C4D — Jarred van de Voort, NAB 2023.
• How to Art Direct Lights in a Cloner — Art-directing lights across cloners.
• Redshift Interior Materials & Lighting — Interior materials and lighting.
• Redshift Lighting Techniques (Essential MoGraph) — Redshift lighting techniques.
• You And Me Academy — Light groups workflow.

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:

• CNDL Freemium — An IES lighting creation toolset. Improve your renders with custom IES lighting.
• UE5 Product Viz — iPhone Lighting Breakdown — UE5 product viz iPhone lighting breakdown.

Rendering & Shader Theory

Foundational rendering and shader theory references.

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

Related:

• (2014) Ray tracing with OpenGL Compute Shaders — By Kai Burjack - Detailed tutorial series about ray tracing using OpenGL (LWJGL).
• 📺 Advanced Cel Shader ~ Pitchfork Academy — [material].
• 📺 Cel-Shader playlist ~ many — [post-process,Lumin,msc-ue] - 17 videos.
• 📺 Manga/outline Shader playlist ~ many — [post-process,shader] - 18 videos, outlines, toon shaders.
• 📺 Moebius-style 3D Rendering ~ Useless Game Dev — [pre-process,post-process,shader] - Sorbel filter on depth map, crosshatch, fader, etc.
• 📺 stylized comic book shader ~ Chris Folea Makes Things — [pre-process,blueprint] - WITHOUT post processing.
• 3D Game Shaders (source) — Open-source project with resources on learning 3D game shaders.
• 3D Game Shaders for Beginners — Clear breakdowns of SSAO, bloom, SSR, and more.
• 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development — A must-read book to be
• 3D Programming Weekly Articles — Great collection of shader and math related resources.
• A Gentle Introduction to Shaders in Unity3D — Series of posts introducing shader coding, oriented to developers with little to no knowledge of shaders.
• A Pixel is not a Little Square! — Classic paper on misconception of "a pixel is a little square." It also serves as an introduction to sampling.
• A Rapid Hierarchical Rendering Technique for Translucent Materials — Jensen & Buhler. SIGGRAPH 2002
• A Survey on Participating Media Rendering Techniques — Cerezo et al. Visual Computer, 2005
• A Trip Through The Graphics Pipeline — A-trip-through-the-graphics-pipeline.
• Advanced Creative Coding with WebGL & Shaders — Workshop by Matt DesLauriers that go deeper into graphics programming, math and shaders.
• Advanced Materials in Blender - Shader Editor Tutorial — Advanced Materials in Blender - Shader Editor Tutorial..
• Alan Zucconi's Blog — Shaders and maths. Well explained and very interesting.
• An introduction to Shader Art Coding — Video tutuorial showing the basics of creating art with shaders.
• Anatole Drupat (XT95) — Recognized shader artist with a big trajectory ST Profile
• Anime/Toon/Cel Shading Model (Envieous, UE5) — Custom UE5 anime/toon/cel shading model. Works with launcher engine versions.
• apitrace — Tools for tracing OpenGL, Direct3D, and other graphics APIs.
• Appleseed — Physically-based global illumination rendering engine.
• Bart Wronski's blog — Bart Wronski shares insights into real-time rendering, post-processing effects, and advanced graphics techniques
• bgfx — Cross-platform, graphics API agnostic, "Bring Your Own Engine/Framework" style rendering library.
• Blender & ACES — Setup Blender to work with ACES using OpenColorIO.
• Blender Addon PBR — Provides a material panel that creates Metallic/Roughness or Specular/Gloss Nodes using the Principled BSDF shader.
• Blender Interplanety Storage (BIS) Freemium — Online material/shader storage add-on for Blender. Save node groups to a personal library and search/upload from inside Blender.
• BNPR Shaders — Collection of NPR shaders for Blender (EEVEE Comics Shader, Erisdraw3D, EEVEEToon).
• Bonzomatic — Live-coding editor for OpenGL pixel shaders, where the results appear on background as you edit the code.
• Brandon Fogerty's blog — A blog focused on real-time rendering, shader programming, and game engine development
• Canvas Debugger — Quick tutorial how to use Firefox's developer tools to debug WebGL Shaders.
• Car Paint Shader Paid — Simple shader setup that lets you easily create a variety of different car paint finishes.
• Casual effects by Morgan McGuire — Morgan McGuire's site is a great resource for those interested in learning about real-time rendering techniques. It provides a wealth of information on various rendering techniques, making it an exc
• Catlike Coding — Focuses on C# and shaders in Unity.
• CelShader — Advanced CelShader project for Unreal Engine 4
• Cesium — Open-source library for world-class 3D globes and maps.
• CineShader — Real-time 3D shader visualiser. Leverages the Shadertoy API to bring thousands of existing shader artworks into a cinematic 3D environment.
• Circular Color Picker Unity — Just a shader and a script for a circular color picker.
• CodeXL — AMD's tool suite that includes debugger, profiler and frame/shader analysis.
• Compact YCoCg Frame Buffer — Paper on compact YCoCg frame buffer for small IBL buffers.
• ComputeToys — Innovative and experimental WebGPU compute shader editor designed to help developers explore the capabilities of the WebGPU API for creating high-performance graphics applications in the browse
• CopperLicht — JavaScript library and WebGL 3D engine for creating games and 3D applications.
• CppCon 2018: Valentin Galea “Rapid Prototyping of Graphics Shaders in Modern C++” — Also implemented swizzling with similar techniques.
• Cracked Ice Shader — Cracked Ice material tutorial.
• Creative Coding with Canvas & WebGL — Workshop by Matt DesLauriers that teaches you about generative art, interactive animations, 3D graphics, and shaders.
• Custom shaders with Three.JS — Introduction to custom shaders, uniforms, textures and lighting in three.js.
• Cyanilux — Unity shader tutorials (URP focus). Intro to Shader Graph, HLSL, depth, vertex displacement, dissolve, portals, water, fire. Beginner to advanced.
• Cyos — Online shader editor.
• DreamWork's MoonRay — MoonRay is a physically based path-tracing renderer; it includes a USD Hydra render delegate, multi-machine and cloud rendering via the Arras distributed computation framework. GitHub
• Efficient Gradient-Domain Compositing Using Quadtrees — ACM Trans. Graph. 2007
• Embree — High-performance ray tracing kernels that help engineers improve photorealistic rendering performance.
• Everything (or most things) wrong with learnopengl.com/PBR/Theory — Everything (or most things) wrong with learnopengl.com/PBR/Theory.
• Experimental analysis of BRDF models — Ngan et al. Proceedings of the 2005 Eurographics Symposium on Rendering
• Extra Lights — Plugin for Blender that adds physically based, photometric lighting presets to the Add menu. ![market]
• Fabian 'ryg' Giesen's Blog — Fabian Giesen's blog covers topics like rendering, optimization, and low-level programming, with a focus on practical techniques
• Fast Filter-Width Estimates with Texture Maps — GPU Gems 1 - Chapter 25.
• Fast Terrain Rendering Using Geometrical MipMapping — Fast Terrain Rendering Using Geometrical MipMapping.
• Fast Volume Rendering Using a Shear-Warp Factorization of the Viewing Transformation — Lacroute & Levoy. SIGGRAPH 1994
• Fft Ocean — Fast Fourier Transform ocean rendering for Three.js
• Filament — PBR engine, available on all platforms (desktop, mobile).
• Flow Map Shader — Flow Map Shader for Unity3D. Used with sprites.
• FogSprites — Modification of Unity's sprite shaders supporting Fog.
• Fragment Foundry — Interactive fragment shader tutorial.
• Fragmentarium — Program to edit and visualize GLSL shaders, mainly focused on fractals and generative systems.
• Framer Motion — A nice animation library for react, and can be used with react-three-fiber too through the framer-motion-3d package usage. Very nice for bindin
• fSync — Unofficial fSpy/Maya bridge which also creates projection shaders.
• Glass for EEVEE — Shader that lets you make realistic glass with EEVEE.
• Global illumination using photon maps — Jensen, H. W. Rendering Techniques 1996
• Glow — Unity ShaderGraph effect test.
• GLSL Sandbox — Online live editor for fragment shaders.
• GlslEditor — Simple WebGL Fragment Shader Editor.
• glslViewer (GitHub) — Console-based GLSL Sandbox for 2D/3D shaders by @patriciogv. Battle-tested by its creator, it enables to build a creative pipeline agnostic to the target platform a
• glslViewer (write-up) — Live-coding console tool that renders GLSL Shaders.
• GPU Zen Blog — A blog dedicated to GPU programming and advanced rendering techniques, often featuring excerpts from the GPU Zen book series
• Graphics for Games — Introduction to 3D graphics programming including shaders, math post-processing etc. from Newcastle University.
• Graphics Programming Resources — Papers, talks, implementations aggregated by community.
• GrassBending — A replacement for Unity's terrain grass shader with alpha blended rendering and touch bending effect. (#TERRAIN)
• gsap — A mastodon for animations in CSS and for three.js too, backed up by awesome plugins like ScrollTrigger, Flip,... and mostly framework agnostic.
• GSLS Optimizer — GLSL optimizer based on Mesa's GLSL compiler. Used in Unity for mobile shader optimization. (#SHADERS)
• Houdini Gaussian Splatting Viewport Renderer — A HDK/GLSL implementation of Gaussian Splatting in Houdini
• How does a GPU Shader work? — How does a GPU Shader work?.
• How to Create a Fake 3D Image Effect with WebGL — How to Create a Fake 3D Image Effect with WebGL.
• How to read shader assembly — How to read shader assembly.
• ibreakdownshaders — Explore the math behind shaders.
• Íñigo Quílez — Hardcore math applied to computer graphics, one of the best shader makers out there. ST Profile
• Instanced Line Rendering Part II: Alpha blending — Continue of the above article, and introduces a way to do alpha-blending with triangulated lines.
• Intel Open Image Denoise — Open-source library of high-performance, high-quality denoising filters for ray-traced images.
• Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach with Shader-Based OpenGL, 6/E — [Currently can be bought here] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Interactive-Computer-Graphics-Top-Down-Shader-Based/dp/0132545233)
• Intro Three.js — Introduction to Shaders in Three.js
• Introduction to shaders — Part 1 of an introduction to shaders using threejs.
• IOR List — Index of Refraction values list for use with 3D applications.
• ISF — GLSL shaders for use in interactive applications.
• Jendrik Illner's blog — Ubisoft 3D programmer posts a weekly summary of articles on 3D graphics — shader tutorials, real-time rendering papers, etc.
• Khrnos: Streamlining Render Passes — Introduces the VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering extension.
• Kick.js Shader Editor — Formal Tool the WebGL engine Kick.js
• KodeLife — Real-time shader editor that supports GLSL, HLSL, and Metal, with a user-friendly interface for creating and testing shaders.
• Learn OpenGL — Deep rendering concepts from scratch (lighting, shadows, PBR, SSAO).
• Learn OpenGL: Skeletal Animation — Learn OpenGL: Skeletal Animation.
• Learn OpenGL: Text Rendering — Learn OpenGL: Text Rendering.
• Let's remove Quaternions from every 3D Engine — Introduces Rotors in Geometric Algebra.
• Light field rendering — Levoy & Hanrahan. Siggraph 1996
• Light House 3D — By Light House 3D
• Lightning Boy Studio — Toon shader, npr.
• Lily Surface Scrapper — Import shaders in Blender from a single URL.
• Lygia (GitHub) — Granular and multi-language shader library designed for performance and flexibility by @patriciogv. A cross platform library that will help you iterate on your s
• Lygia (site) — Shader library of reusable functions.
• Magnum (GitHub) — It is a 2D/3D graphics engine for modern OpenGL.
• Makin' Stuff Look Good — YouTube channel about shaders case studies.
• Marmoset Resources — Baking guides, PBR theory, technical articles.
• Matcap - Spherical Environment Mapping Shader — Matcap - creating a spherical reflection/environment mapping shader.
• Memory Management section on Pbrt — Memory Management section on Pbrt.
• Microfacet Models for Refraction through Rough Surfaces — Walter et al. Eurographics Symposium on Rendering 2007
• Mitsuba — A research-oriented retargetable rendering system, written in portable C++17 on top of the Enoki library.
• Multitexturing using a Blendmap — How to use a blendmap to multitexture a terrain.
• NEORT — Digital art platform for creative coders (Fragment Shader, JavaScript Canvas).
• NeRF-Tex: Neural Reflectance Field Textures — Baatz et al., EGSR 2021 | bibtex
• Node To Python — Convert Geometry, Shader, and Compositing nodes to legible Python scripts and add-ons.
• NodeToy — The shader tool for the web. NodeToy provides creators a powerful editor to create incredible new shaders and visual effects. If you are a react-three-fiber user, consider checking
• OpenGL 3D Game Tutorials — Beginners tutorial series about creating 3D games OpenG.
• OpenGL 4 Shaders — Short and sweet introduction to OpenGL shaders by Anton Gerdelan.
• OpenGL/GLSL Shader Programming — Deck on OpenGL/GLSL shader programming.
• Optimally Combining Sampling Techniques for Monte Carlo Rendering — Veach & Guibas. SIGGRAPH 1995.
• Path tracing fractals — By Mikael Hvidtfeldt Christensen|Arlo ... in a fragment shader by Inigo Quilez|
• Patricio Gonzales Vivo — Main contributor for the magnificent learning site "The book of shaders"
• PBRT v3 — Source code for pbrt, the renderer from the third edition of "Physically Based Rendering: From Theory To Implementation".
• PBRT v4 — Ray tracer from "Physically Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation" book.
• Photo tourism: Exploring photo collections in 3D — Snavely, Seitz, Szzeliski. Siggraph 2006
• Physically Based Rendering (3rd ed online) — Third edition of the PBR book online, with the ray tracer implementation.
• Physically Based Rendering (PBR Book) — Full book free online. Definitive PBR reference.
• Physics-Based Animation — Contains learning resources and papers.
• PicoGL.js — Minimal WebGL 2-only rendering library.
• Pixel Shaders — Interactive Introduction to Graphics Programming.
• PixelSpirit Elements Deck — This is a tarot deck for learning GLSL shaders. Each PixelSpirit card has a visual element and its GLSL shader code. The cards are ordered from simplest to most complex, building a library of code f
• PixelSpirit GitHub — Library associated with the PixelSpirit Elemens Deck by @patriciogv
• Practical Rendering of Multiple Scattering Effects in Participating Media — Premoze et al. Rendering Techniques 2004: 15th Eurographics Workshop on Rendering
• Procedural Stochastic Texturing — Modified Unity Standard shader implementing Procedural Stochastic Texturing.
• Ptex — A texture mapping system developed by Walt Disney Animation Studios for production-quality rendering.
• Pyro Shader for Redshit, ARnold, Renderman — Pyro Shader for Redshit, ARnold, Renderman.
• Ray Tracey's blog — Sam Lapere's blog, leads the scientific team at EPFL Blue Brain Project. Lots of post about real time rendering
• Ray Tracing Gems — Like other "gems" book, it contains standalone chapters on various ray tracing topics.
• Ray Tracing Gems II — Ray Tracing Gems II.
• Ray Tracing in One Weekend — Peter Shirley's free book to get you implementing a basic ray tracer in C++ in about 40 pages.
• Ray Tracing in One Weekend series — Those three short books explain basic concepts of path tracing and implement a software renderer from scratch.
• Ray Tracing: The Next Week — By Peter Shirley, builds on top of the first books' project, adding more effects, like textures and motion blur
• Ray Tracing: The Rest of Your Life — Peter Shirley's last book in the series, covering more mathematical themes for complete renderers.
• Raymarching On Unity 5 — Raymarcher in Unity 5.
• React Spring — An awesome library about physically accurate animations. Works smoothly also for react-three-fiber using the package
• Real-Time Rendering — Companion site to the book, massive curated link collection.
• Real-Time Rendering Blog — A blog associated with the "Real-Time Rendering" book series, featuring updates on rendering techniques, industry news, and research papers
• Real-Time Rendering recommended books — List of recommended books on the Real-Time Rendering site.
• Realistic water shader — There are also some links with explanation of the approach
• Reddit Two Triangles — General discussion and showcase for shaders.
• RenderDoc — Free and open-source graphics debugging tool that allows developers to capture and analyze frames from DirectX, Vulkan, and OpenGL applications. It provides a user-friendly interface to inspect
• Rendering Resources - Benedikt Bitterli — Scenes in Tungsten, Mitsuba and pbrt-v3 formats.
• Resources for Writing Shaders in Unity — For the UNITE Boston 2015 talk titled Writing Shaders: YOU can do it!
• Scene.js — Extensible WebGL-based engine for high-detail 3D visualisation.
• Scratchapixel — Ray tracing, rasterization, math foundations from first principles.
• SDFs by Inigo Quilez — All you need to know about SDFs and other shader magic.
• Semi-Automatic Generation of Transfer Functions for Direct Volume Rendering — Kindlmann & Durkin. IEEE Symposium on Volume Visualization 1998
• Shader Derivative Functions — Useful for normals.
• Shader Designer — TyphoonLabs' OpenGL Shader Designer
• Shader Displacement for EEVEE Paid — Using a few modifiers and a nodegroup, realtime shader displacement in EEVEE is now possible.
• Shader Editor — Quick tutorial how to use Firefox's developer tools to debug WebGL Shaders.
• Shader Effects — Unity shader effects.
• Shader Graph Tutorials — Project files for our tutorials on using Shader Graph in Unity.
• Shader Lab Lab — A system using T4 Templates to generate Unity ShaderLab code in the Editor.
• Shader Park — A JavaScript library for creating interactive procedural 2D and 3D shaders. Helpful for raymarching shaders (the raymarcher is already built-in, SDFs and boolean operation between them already avail
• SHADERed — Lightweight tool for creating and testing HLSL and GLSL shaders.
• ShaderForge — A node-based shader editor giving you the artistic freedom of shader creation, with no need to code. (Was 💰 but now is open source and not maintained).
• ShaderFrog — Online shader editor and asset manager that allows users to create, edit, and export shaders for use in Three.js, Unity, and other game engines. It supports visual shader editing and also offer
• ShaderGif — Open source home for art made with code (WebGL1/2, JavaScript Canvas & P5.js).
• Shaderific for OpenGL — Documentation on GLSL
• Shaderific GLSL — OpenGL ES shading language reference.
• ShaderProject — A container for all sorts of handy shaders.
• Shaders Laboratory — YouTube channel about shaders.
• ShaderShop editor — Visually impactful editor to work on shaping.
• ShaderShop videos — Some awesome videos about ShaderShop and more.
• ShaderTool — [Win] - Modern shader IDE for programmers and FX artists.
• ShadowDrawer — Shadow matte shader for Unity.
• Shadowing by Non-Gaussian Random Surfaces — Garry S. Brown, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagaion (1980)
• Shaping functions — Awesome set of shaping functions for shaders
• SHDR Editor — Live GLSL shader editor, viewer and validator.
• Stack.gl — Site that approaches Shaders from WebGL
• Stanford Bunny Fur With Unity — Using the Geometry Shader to generate fur on GPU.
• Static Object Intersections - Real Time Rendering Resource Page — A collection of intersection algorithms.
• Substance Academy — Free official Substance Painter/Designer tutorials.
• Synthclipse — Synthclipse is a GLSL shader prototyping tool.
• Takua Renderer — Karl Li's hobbyist physically-based renderer project page with technical write-ups.
• Temporal light field reconstruction for rendering distribution effects — Lehtinen et al. SIGGRAPH 2011
• Terrain Rendering Using GPU-Based Geometry Clipmaps — GPU Gems 2 - Chapter 02.
• The Art of Code (channel) — Tutorials on shaders using ShaderToy, mostly videos on procedural generation.
• The Book of Shaders — Interactive intro to GLSL fragment shaders.
• The Book of Shaders Glossary — Shader glossary by theme.
• The Interactive Shader Format (ISF) Editor — Online tool for creating and editing GLSL shaders in the ISF format, which is commonly used in VJ software, live performance applications, and interactive installations.
• The Shader Permutation Problem - Part 1: How Did We Get Here? — The Shader Permutation Problem - Part 1: How Did We Get Here?.
• The Shader Permutation Problem - Part 2: How Do We Fix It? — The Shader Permutation Problem - Part 2: How Do We Fix It?.
• Three Blender — Blender based tool, to convert your Blender files directly to threeJS.
• Tungsten — High performance physically based renderer in C++11.
• Twigl — Free online shader editor.
• Unity Compute Shader Ray Tracing Practice — Raytracing shader tutorial for Unity.
• Unity Fluid Simulation 2D — Using extended camera to render particles then metalball processing with shader.
• Unity Outline Shader — Source code for Outline Shader tutorial for Unity. Detects edges in a scene using the depth and normals buffers.
• Unity Raymarching Collision — Raymarching x Rigidbody interaction example.
• Unity Shader Cheatsheet — Collection of Unity shader copypastas and gotchas.
• Unity Shader Sketches — Sketches made with ShaderLab in Unity.
• Unity Shader Tutorials — Full project and code for all of my shader tutorials.
• Unity Shaders — Unity project about reseach on shaders and particle system.
• Unity3D Shaders Learning — Ust learning Unity3D shaders here.
• UnityGPUNoise — A set of shaders to help perform various Noise functions on the GPU.
• USD Arnold — USD Schemas and tools for exchanging Arnold shader information between multiple 3rd party packages.
• Vertex Shader Art — Platform for creating and sharing vertex shaders, with a focus on artistic and experimental uses.
• Vertexshaderart — YouTube playlist about vertex shaders.
• VerticalDissolve — Procedural vertical dissolve shader. Highly customizable. Tweak edge color, noisiness & waviness, rim light, emission scrolling and more.
• VFX good night reading — Curated collection of good reading about VFX and CG.
• VilarVRC — Vilar's Shaders for VRChat.
• Virtual ray lights for rendering scenes with participating media — Novak et al. 2012 SIGGRAPH 2012
• Virtual Terrain Project — Creation of tools for easily constructing any part of the real part of the real world in interactive, 3D digital form.
• WebGL 2 Basics — Blog post about getting started with WebGL 2.
• WebGL 2 New Features — Blog post about whats new and cool in WebGl 2.
• WebGL Fundamentals — This resource provides a thorough understanding of WebGL and its underlying principles, ensuring that you grasp the latest techniques and approaches such as 3D rendering, lighting, 2D transformation
• WebGl Playground — The editor lets you work on the JavaScript code and the GLSL vertex/fragment shaders (if you have any) at the same time in a convenient way. Everything is organized, formatted and highlighted prope
• Whitestorm.js (site) — Framework for developing 3D web apps with physics.
• Wind Waker Shader — Cel Shading of two thresholds with a blur/gradient between them for Unity.
• Writing an efficient Vulkan renderer — Writing an efficient Vulkan renderer.
• xeokit — Web Graphics SDK for AEC/BIM applications with 3D-tiles, real-world coordinates and double precision.

Renderer-Specific Learning

Deep-dives for specific render engines.

• Ariev Visuals Resources — Octane tutorials and assets.
• Polymesh to Volume (Arnold) — Arnold polymesh to volume conversion.
• Veach Thesis (Stanford) — Light transport theory — foundational PBR thesis.

Render Engines

Also in Software Reference → Render Engines

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

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VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production

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

Virtual Production

Real-time engines and hardware stacks for virtual production.

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

Related:

• NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprints — Omniverse blueprints and reference pipelines.

Tech Art

Tech art breakdowns, procedural art, and tutorials.

• AFX — Everyday compositing for Nuke
• Bino — 3D video player with support for 180°/360° video and Virtual Reality.
• CasparCG — A Windows and Linux software used to play out professional graphics, audio, and video to multiple outputs as a layer-based real-time compositor.
• Jam2go — Procedural art and creative coding.
• Kiko — DCC-agnostic animation curves storage (works between Maya and Nuke, with more DCCs to come).
• 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 — A layered code compositing application.
• OpenWalter — USD Plugins Arnold, Houdini, Katana, Maya and USD.
• Simon Schreibt — Game Art Tricks and Workflow Tricks — technical breakdowns of how games achieve effects (mirrors, fog, rendering tricks).
• Visual Tech Art — Tech art tutorials.
• xComp — Image Render comparing.

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

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

Also in Software Reference → Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

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

Virtual Production Software

Also in Software Reference → Virtual Production Software

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
disguise	Virtual production solutions.	Paid	LED Walls · Workflow	LED wall virtual production
grandMA3	Industry-standard lighting control console and software for live shows, theatre, and broadcast.	Paid	Lighting Console · Show Control	Stage lighting control, show programming
Notch	Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production.	Paid	Live Events · Real-time	Live events, real-time graphics
Pixotope	Virtual production software.	Paid	VP Software · Real-time	Virtual production
Vizrt	Broadcast graphics.	Paid	Broadcast · Graphics	Broadcast graphics
Zero Density	Real-time VFX engine for broadcast and virtual production.	Paid	Real-time VFX · Broadcast	Broadcast VP

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Motion Graphics & Video

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

Motion Graphics — YouTube Channels

Motion design learning channels.

• Ben Marriott — After Effects and motion design.

Motion Graphics — Courses

Structured motion graphics courses.

After Effects — Learning & Templates

AE expressions, templates, and workflow resources.

• Jitter Templates — Free motion graphics templates.
• Top 5 Expressions (graymachine) — Essential AE expressions.

Fusion (DaVinci Resolve) — Learning

Fusion references and EXR workflow.

• Multichannel EXR (Fusion forum) — Multichannel EXR workflow in Fusion.
• Split EXR in Fusion — Split EXR in Fusion guide.
• VFXPedia — Reference wiki for Fusion.

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:

• Ads of the World — Advertising reference.
• AEJuice Freemium — Free and premium motion presets, transitions, and effects packs installable directly via a panel inside After Effects.
• After Effects Facebook Group — Join the After Effects community on Facebook.
• Animation Nodes (GitHub) — A node-based visual scripting system designed for motion graphics in Blender.
• Animation Nodes (site) — A node based visual scripting system designed for motion graphics in Blender.
• Art of Style Frame — Style frame showcase.
• Art of the Title — Title sequence deep dives.
• Behance Motion — Motion design gallery.
• Commotion — Blender add-on for motion graphics.
• Eyecannndy — Visual effects and motion inspiration.
• Film Grab — Film frame reference.
• Flim AI Freemium — Film frame search engine.
• Houdini 2 AE — Tool for exporting camera and locators from Houdini to After Effects.
• John Berube — Motion design portfolio and resources.
• Mobox Graphics — Offers in-depth After Effects tutorials, especially in the field of motion design.
• Motionographer — Motion design showcase.
• nexrender — Data-driven render automation for After Effects.
• Opening Titles (Vimeo) — Title sequence collection.
• PlayPhrase.me Freemium — Phrase-based film clip search.
• RailCut Paid — Multi-track clip editing directly in After Effects with NLE-style tools like ripple edit, rolling edit, slip, and slide.
• React UMG — A React renderer for Unreal Motion Graphics with Unreal.js.
• Reddit - r/AfterEffects — The After Effects subreddit for community discussions and sharing.
• Rubberhose 2 Paid — Shape-layer-based IK limb rigging system for fast character animation with one-click rig creation.
• ShotDeck Paid — Film shot reference database.
• Stash Magazine Freemium — Motion design and animation showcase.
• Trapcode Suite Paid — A set of 3D motion graphics and visual effects plugins for After Effects.

Motion Graphics — Tools & Utilities

MG-specific tools and utilities.

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

Related:

• CorridorKey — Corridor's keying tool (open source).
• Element 3D Paid — A powerful 3D plugin for After Effects that allows you to import and animate 3D models.
• Nukepedia Lens Engine — Lens simulation gizmo for Nuke.
• Nw Wrld — Experimental motion tool.
• PixelCrash Paid — Creative motion and visual tools.
• Sammie Roto 2 — Rotoscope tool.

Video Editing — Courses

Editing-specific courses.

2D & Animation Software

Also in Software Reference → 2D & Animation Software

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

Video Editing Software

Also in Software Reference → Video Editing Software

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
DaVinci Resolve	Free professional editing, color grading, Fusion, Fairlight audio.	Freemium	Free Pro · Full Post Pipeline	Color grading, editing, full post pipeline
Final Cut Pro	Apple-native NLE with magnetic timeline.	Paid	Mac-only · Magnetic Timeline	Mac-based editing
GoZen	Free open-source video editor built with Godot (alpha).	Open Source	Godot-built · Alpha	Lightweight editing, Godot integration
Kdenlive	Free open-source NLE.	Open Source	Open Source · Cross-Platform	Linux/cross-platform editing
OBS	Software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content efficiently.	Open Source	Capture · Open Source	Screen capture and streaming
OpenShot	Award-winning free and open-source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.	Open Source	Open Source · Beginner-Friendly	Cross-platform beginner editing
Premiere 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

Audio Software

Also in Software Reference → Audio Software

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
Adobe Audition	Professional audio workstation.		Paid	Audio Restoration · Adobe Suite	Podcast, sound design, restoration
Audacity	Free open-source audio editor and recorder.		Open Source	Open Source · Recording	Voice recording, SFX editing, podcast
Bfxr	Retro and chiptune SFX generator (browser and desktop).		Open Source	Retro/8-bit · Generator	8-bit game sound effects
Fairlight	Professional audio built into DaVinci Resolve.		Freemium	Film Post · Free with Resolve	Film audio post, Foley
FMOD	Industry-standard adaptive audio. Free for indie <$200k.		Freemium	Industry Standard · Indie-Free	Adaptive game audio
Reaper	Full DAW with $60 personal license.	$60 personal license	Paid	Full DAW · Affordable	Music production, sound design
Soundly	Desktop SFX platform with curated library and local library management.	Free tier (3000+ sounds), Pro $14.99/mo	Freemium	SFX Library · Desktop	SFX browsing, sound library management
Steam Audio	Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free.		Free	Spatial Audio · Valve Free	Spatial game audio
Wavewright	Modular music sandbox inspired by analog synthesizers (Early Access).		Free	Modular Synth · Early Access	Sound design, music experimentation
Wwise	AAA audio middleware with free tier.		Freemium	AAA · Free Tier	AAA game audio

---

Game Development

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

Godot — Official Resources

Official documentation and asset libraries.

• Godot Asset Store — Official addon, plugin, and asset marketplace (beta) — replaces the legacy Asset Library.
• Godot Documentation — Official docs — GDScript, C#, 2D/3D, shaders, physics, networking.
• Godot Proposals — Feature request tracker and roadmap.
• Godot Shaders — Community shader library with visual previews.

Godot — Key Plugins & Addons

Essential Godot addons.

• Dialogic 2 — Full-featured dialogue and timeline system.
• GdSpy — Unofficial fSpy importer for Godot.
• Godot 4 glTF runtime import — Godot 4 glTF runtime import.
• Godot Package Manager — Package manager for Godot using npm.
• GodotSteam — Steamworks SDK integration.
• Gut — Unit testing framework for GDScript.
• Limbo AI — Behavior trees and state machines.
• Phantom Camera — Dynamic camera system (Cinemachine-inspired).
• SmartShape2D — Intelligent 2D terrain/shape tool.

Godot — Learning

Godot-focused learning channels and courses.

• Brackeys (Godot) — Returned in 2024 with Godot content.
• DevDuck — Dev logs and tutorials.
• GDQuest Freemium — Premium courses plus free YouTube tutorials.
• GDScript.com — Interactive GDScript learning.
• HeartBeast — RPG and action game tutorials.
• Introduction into the new Godot OpenVR Asset — Introduction into the new Godot OpenVR Asset.
• KidsCanCode Godot Recipes — Clear beginner-friendly guides.
• Miziziziz — Tutorials and game dev challenges.
• The Shaggy Dev — Godot-focused tutorials.

Godot — Communities

Godot forums and chat.

• Godot Discord — Official Discord.
• Godot Forums — Official forum.
• 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	Freemium	unity-plugin

Related:

• 2D Rope System Paid — Scripts for creating any type of 2D ropes in the editor or during runtime. 💰
• 2D Tech Demos — Tech Demos for Unity 2D Features.
• 3DBuzz — A video tutorial providing an in-depth explanation of Unity's new UI system.
• 50 Unity Tips — A collection of 50 tips for Unity (focusing on Mobile) ranging from editor tools to serialization to UI shortcuts.
• A Crack In The Slab — An exploration to recreate an effect from Dishonored 2 in Unity.
• A Star Pathfinding for Unity — A Star Pathfinder, 3 axis, multithreaded for Unity.
• A* Pathfinding Project Pro Paid — Lightning fast pathfinding for Unity3D. 💰
• Actors Unity3d Framework — Ease the pain of decoupling data from behaviors in Unity.
• Adic — Lightweight dependency injection container for Unity.
• AdMob Unity Plugin — An extension for Unity3d to place AdMob banners in your Android games. (#PLUGINS)
• AI Companion — Created in Unity 5 for the purposes of learning AI techniques. Features behaviour trees and A* pathfinding.
• AirPeer — A WebRTC based networking plugin for Unity.
• Akka.Unity.Sample — Akka.Net 1.3.0 Running in Unity3D.
• AngryBots2 — An example Unity Project, developed by Unity Technologies, used to demonstrate several features.
• Animation Texture Baker — Bake Legacy Animations into Textures. Targeting ECS. (#ANIMATION)
• Animator Timeline — Timeline Editor for Unity. (#ANIMATION)
• AR Foundation —
• Artimech — Open source visual scripting system for Unity.
• Asset Auditing Tools — A set of Editor tools to audit project assets and correct errors.
• Astar Pathfinding — 2D pathfinding for Unity.
• Atlas Unity — This plugin provides tasks to run unity batchmode commands in gradle. It runs and reports unity unit-tests and is able to export .unitypackage files.
• AudioRecorder — Audio recorder component for Unity.
• AudioTexture — Generate Unity Texture2D from AudioClip. (#AUDIO)
• Augmented Reality — Unity’s AR Foundation Framework , Unity MARS
• Auto Save Scene — Unity editor helper for auto saving scene & minimizing lost work.
• Autoya — Thin framework for Unity.
• Barebones Master Server — Master Server framework for Unity.
• Beautiful Text Outline for Unity UI — Beautiful Text Outline for Unity UI.
• Bep In Ex — Unity game patcher and plugin framework.
• Better Defines — An easy and elegant way to manage your preprocessor directives in Unity3D.
• BetterDefines.cs — Better Defines for Unity3D.
• BezierCanvas — Adobe Illustrator's pen tool style bezier editor on Unity.
• BitpackingTools — Bitpacking/serialization libraries used interally for Unity Store NetworkSyncTransform and TransformCrusher Assets.
• Bitstrap — BitStrap is BitCake's collection of Unity tools that improve our workflow.
• Bolt Paid — Brings complete visual scripting to Unity, empowering artists, designers and programmers to create gameplay mechanics and interactive systems without writing a single line of code. (💰 with
• Bona Data Editor — Unity plugin editor for easier manipulation of assets of certain types. (#ATTRIBUTES)
• Bullet Pattern Editor Unity — Easily create shoot em up bullet patterns.
• CAFU Core — Clean Architecture For Unity. See sample.
• CameraLib4U — A third person camera system for Unity using Chase Camera.
• CarPaint — Material for the Unity Standard Assets Car.
• Chanquo — Golang-channel partial implementation for Unity.
• CharacterController2D — A 2D controller that behaves very similarly to Unity's CharacterController component.
• Charon Unity3D — Charon Game Data Editor Plug-in for Unity3D. Charon is a software for managing game's data. It is used for creating data structure, editing data and accessing this data in the code.
• Cheatografy Cheatsheet — Hotkeys for Unity editor.
• Chest Of Property Drawers — A collection of small reusable Unity3D property drawers.
• ClassTypeReference for Unity — A class which provides serializable references to System.Type of classes with an accompanying custom property drawer which allows class selection from drop-down.
• CO2 — Android plugin generator for Unity.
• ColorPalette — Light version of the ColorPalettes Asset for Unity.
• Colorus — Coloring book game for Web/iOS made with Unity.
• Command Terminal — Unity Command Terminal: In-Game Console.
• Complete Unity 2018 Game Development — Explore techniques to build 2D/3D applications using real-world examples.
• Constellation — Constellation is a visual scripting language for unity that gives you the tools of a programmer without having to write a single line of code.
• Coop Design — A prototype for runtime cooperative level designing in Unity 3D.
• CoroutineChain — Unity3D, Coroutine, scripting.
• CosineGradient — Cosine gradient generator for Unity.
• Cpp Unity TCP Client Server — Test project Unity client, C++ (with boost) server (TCP).
• CropTexture — Crop and resize texture in Unity editor!
• Crystal AI — Crystal is a fast, scalable and extensible utility based AI framework for C# and Unity.
• CUDLR — Console for Unity Debugging and Logging Remotely. (#DEPRECATED)
• CurveTexture — Easily encode arbitrary curves into textures and apply them to materials or global shader properties.
• Custom 2D Colliders — A set of custom 2D colliders for Unity. (#2D)
• DataRenderer2D — Make mesh like line, polygon, etc in Unity3D.
• DeadSimple Pixel-Perfect Camera — An exceedingly easy-to-use pixel perfect orthographic camera script for 2D scenes in Unity. Punch in a few specs and you've got a working pixel perfect camera. It's that easy.
• Deform — A fully-featured deformer system for Unity.
• DeltaDNA Unity SDK — Add support for deltaDNA's platform and smartads mediation to your Unity games.
• Devdog UnityTips Compilation — Tweets gathered by Devdog with tips and tricks posted by developers.
• Dissonance — Unity Voice Chat Asset
• DownloadManager.cs — Download manager for Unity.
• DT Compile Time Tracker — Unity editor extension which tracks compile time.
• DTCommandPalette — Command palette for Unity - run methods, open scenes, and more!
• Dual Quaternion Skinning for Unity — Dual Quaternion Skinning for Unity.
• EasingCore — Simple easing implementation for Unity.
• EasyMOBA — MOBA game template for Unity.
• ECS Tween — Simple Unity tweening system using ECS that works with GameObjects!
• ECSRx.unity — A simple framework for unity using the ECS paradigm but with UniRx for fully reactive systems.
• Edge Detect Post Processing Unity — Unity legacy Edge Detect image effect ported to Post Processing Stack v2.
• EDITORVR EXPERIMENTAL BUILD BLOG Unity — EDITORVR EXPERIMENTAL BUILD BLOG Unity.
• Enhanced Scroll View — Cool 3d scoll view for Unity(NGUI 3D UGUI support).
• EnumDispatcher — ECS backed C# enums as Flux/Redux action in Unity.
• Ep Path Finding3 D.cs — A 3D jump point search algorithm for cube based games in C#.
• EZ Item Editor — A game data editor for unity that provides a simple solution to entering, maintaining, and consuming game data.
• EzySlice — An open source mesh slicer framework for Unity3D Game Engine. Written in C#.
• Firestorm — Makeshift Cloud Firestore C# API that works with Unity via REST API. Contains only basic functions.
• FlexibleUI Unity — A Unity System to Implement Multiple GUI Themes.
• Fluid Behavior Tree — A pure code behavior tree micro-framework built for Unity3D projects. Granting developers the power to dictate their GUI presentation.
• Flurry Unity Plugin — The Flurry Library for Unity3D. support Android and iOS.
• foo.md — Controlling fixed function states from materials/scripts in Unity. By aras-p.
• FrameDump — A small utility for exporting image sequence from Unity.
• Fungus — An easy to use Unity 3D library for creating illustrated Interactive Fiction games.
• Futile — A super simple Unity 2D framework.
• Game View Maximizer — Maximizes the game view window with a Shortcut. See related.
• GameAI Movement — Movement Algorithms for NPCs developed with the Unity Engine for the Artificial Intelligence for Games class @ IST.
• GameFramework (EllanJiang) — This is literally a game framework, based on Unity game engine. It encapsulates commonly used game modules during development, and, to a large degree, standardises the process, enhances the develop
• GameFramework (FlipWebApps) — A free framework for Unity that will help drastically increase the development speed and feature set of your games.
• Gamekit3D — Official Unity 3D gamekit sample project from Unity Technologies.
• Gendarme — From inside the Unity editor.
• Get Social Deep Linking Activity.java — This activity is created because we cannot get Activity.onNewIntent callback in Unity when the app is running in background.
• GetSocial Unity SDK — This is the demo application for GetSocial SDK.
• GitHub: mob-sakai — Unity tools and effects.
• GitHub: mrzapp — Unity tools and utilities.
• GOAP — Goal Oriented Action Planning AI in Unity.
• Good Coding Practices in Unity — Trello board with good coding practices in Unity.
• Google Analytics Plugin for Unity — Google Analytics plugin for the Unity game creation system.
• Google Mobile Ads Unity Plugin — Official Unity Plugin for the Google Mobile Ads SDK
• Google Sheets Unity — Get data from your private Google Sheets to Unity! (Read-only).
• Graphmesh — A graph-based solution for procedural mesh inside the Unity editor.
• Green Mamba Stealth — An advanced stealth system for Unity that detects how well-lit a character is, allowing characters to hide in dynamic shadows.
• Guitar Hero Unity — Guitar Hero fan game made in Unity.
• HermodToolkit — A set of 2D tools for Unity.(#2D)
• HexTiles — Unity Hex Tile Editor.
• HiSocket — It is a lightweight socket solution, you can used it in Unity3D or C# project.
• Hogwarts — Hogwarts (Harry Potter) open sandbox game made in Unity.
• HOW TO SET UP UNITY'S VR EDITOR (EditorVR) ! — HOW TO SET UP UNITY'S VR EDITOR (EditorVR) !.
• Hydrogen CSharp — C# framework for Unity providing collections, utilities, and helpers.
• I OS Unity Vuforia Guide — Integration of Unity + Vuforia into native iOS application.
• Ico Sphere Creator — Create Ico Sphere Mesh Tool for Unity.
• Imgui Unity — Integration dear imgui to Unity.
• In-Game Editor UI — Unity3D in-game UI, which shows at runtime a Hierarchy and an Inspector like the built-in Editor.
• InfinityScroll — These scripts will make your UnityGUI ScrollRects scroll infinitely.
• iOS and tvOS — View playmode on final devices. See more.
• iTween Expansion — An expansion of Bob Berkebile's Unity 3D tweening plugin.
• Jitter Physics — Engine into Unity.
• JourneySand — An Unity project to reproduce the sand rendering in Journey's style.
• JSONObject — The JSONObject class/library for Unity.
• JWT for Unity — JWT (JSON Web Token) implementation for .NET 3.5+ (Public Domain).
• KEngine — A Unity3D asset bundle framework with LGPL license.
• KinoBloom — Bloom effect for Unity.
• KinoObscurance — Screen Space Ambient Obscurance image effect for Unity.
• KlakHap — HAP video player plugin for Unity.
• KlakSyphon — Syphon plugin for Unity.
• Knight Windjson — A Json Parser used in Unity3D engine.
• Knowledge Representation — Small Unity project showcasing AI responding to changes in the game world.
• Koch's Fractals — Koch Fractals Demo for Unity.
• kode80SSR — An open source screen space reflections implementation for Unity3D 5.
• L Systems In Unity — L-System is a rewriting system used mainly to model the development of plants. L-Systems in Unity enables you to rapidly create plants in your Unity games.
• Leading Ones (LeadingOnesVR) — Unity VR: EditorVR Quick Look.
• Lib Pd Integration — A libpd wrapper for Unity. See Pure Data
• Light Probes Placement — Unity project showing how to use the custom Package LightProbesVolumes for placing lightprobes automatically.
• LINQ to GameObject for Unity — Traverse GameObject Hierarchy by LINQ.
• Live2D with Unity — Import Live2D and read mtn file In Unity3D.
• Lochie Westfall — GitHub repo
• log4net.unity — Some log4net helper classes and UnityEngine.Debug appender for Unity.
• Loxodon Framework — Unity3D MVVM Loxodon Framework Databinding Localization UGUI.
• LuaProfiler For Unity — Profiler for Lua inside of Unity.
• MafiaUnity — Open-source Mafia game framework.
• Marschner Hair Unity — Implement Marschner Shading Model In Unity.
• MassiveNet — Unity3D UDP networking library focused on high-CCU, multi-server architecture.
• Master Unity Handles — Unity custom handles examples.
• MeshDecimator — A mesh decimation library for .NET and Unity.
• Message Pack Grid View — MessagePack Data Viewer built on MessagePack Csharp and Unity TreeView.
• MessagePack CSharp — Extremely Fast MessagePack Serializer for C#(.NET, .NET Core, Unity, Xamarin).
• Metaverse Standards Forum — Metaverse Standards Forum 5/6/2025
• Minesweeper — Tile based Minesweeper game with highschores made in Unity.
• MiniMap — Unity3D minimap (radar) system (Asset Store link - https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/33729).
• Missing References Unity — A Unity editor extension for finding missing object references.
• MLAPI — A game networking framework built for the Unity Engine to abstract game networking concepts.
• MMD for Unity — MikuMikuDance for Unity.
• MOBA C Sharp Unity — Framework for MOBA games. The server does not depend on Unity. Run on Linux.
• Msgpack Unity3D — MessagePack and JSON serializer for Unity3D.
• MVPScriptGenerator4Unity — MVP Script Generator for Unity Editor.
• My S7 Pro Sim Lib — Imported S7PROSimLib type library. To connect unity3D with Siemens PLCSim using COM Interop.
• Nakama Unity — Unity client for Nakama server.
• Naphier Gists — Useful gists for Unity3D.
• NATPunchthroughClient — An example implementation of NAT Punchthrough combined with Unity's UNet HLAPI.
• NAudio Unity — Port of NAudio to the Mono subset used by Unity3D.
• NaughtyAttributes — Attribute Extensions for Unity.
• NaughtyCharacter — Third Person Controller for Unity.
• NDocumentation — A documentation window for Unity Editor that displays rich text pages.
• Net Peeweek Console — An interactive runtime console for unity available as package.
• NGTools — Unity Editor Extensions and Tools by Napland Games.
• Node Inspector — Unity graph editor extension.
• NPBehave — Event Driven Behavior Trees for Unity 3D.
• NVIDIA Hair Works Integration — NVIDIA Hair Works Integration for Unity.
• OpenConvo — Open source conversation framework for Unity.
• OpenEd — Open source runtime editor for Unity.
• OpenFile — Open source serialization for Unity.
• OpenFramework — A Lightweight framework for unity with dependency injection.
• OpenGUI — Open source GUI framework for Unity.
• Openpath — Open source pathfinding for Unity.
• OpenStash — Open source inventory framework for Unity.
• OSMTrafficSim — TrafficSim using Unity ECS.
• P2P.NET — (Formerly UnityP2P) Peer to peer networking in Unity using WebRTC and a free Heroku server for signaling.
• Pacman — A Pacman clone with original AI made using Unity.
• Path — Pathfinding library for the Unity engine.
• PBD Fluid in Unity — A PBD fluid in unity running on the GPU.
• Pedometer API — Pedometer is a native pedometer API for Unity Engine.
• PerfAssist — Various performance-related components for Unity development.
• Perfect Spheres — A system for rendering spheres cheaply and accurately.
• Physical Camera — Unity Component that can describes a physical camera's attributes. (#Physics)
• Pitaya — Scalable game server framework with clustering support and client libraries for iOS, Android, Unity and others through the C SDK.
• Pixel Camera 2D — A simple pixel perfect camera with scaling options for 2D Games.
• Pixel Render Unity3D — PixelRender is a complete system for realtime rendering of 3D scenes as 2D pixel art in Unity3D. (#2D) (#EFFECTS) (#UTILITIES)
• Pixel Sprite Generator Unity — A port of the PixelSpriteGenerator to C# for use with the Unity3D game engine.
• PNGCS — Complete PNG encoding and decoding for Unity.
• Pomelo Unity Client — A client for Pomelo distributed game server in Node.js.
• PPOL — A crowd simulator based on Unity's ML Agents and using PPO Reinforcement Learning Algorithm.
• ProbePolisher — Light probe editor for Unity.
• Procedural Level Generator Unity — Unity plugin from procedural dungeon generation.
• ProceduralMesh — Simple procedural mesh generation for the Unity game engine.
• ProjectRider Unity — IntelliJ Project Rider integration for Unity.
• Protobuf3 for Unity — Google Protocol Buffers runtime library version 3 for Unity (targeting .NET 3.5).
• Psd2UnityImporter — An advanced PSD importer tool for Unity.
• QuadWarp — QuadWarp sample code for Unity.
• Quickfracture — A unity destruction effect.
• Ray Marching — Experimenting with using ray marching to render signed distance functions in Unity.
• Raywenderlich.com Unity Cheatsheet — Cheatsheet with some common problems when developing with Unity.
• RecyclerKit — Object pool manager for Unity.
• Reflected Inspector — Reflected Inspector is a system for Unity that works very much like Serialized Properties but works with non-Unity types and can serialize the values.
• Reign Unity Plugin — This Reign API is a cross-platform, unified API for the Unity game engine.
• Render Queue — Render Queue Unity Extension.
• Reorderable Inspector — Automatic reorderable lists for Unity game engine components.
• Reorderable List Editor Field for Unity — Reorderable List Editor Field for Unity.
• Resharper Unity — A proxy App to be able to open Unity 5 C# classes using the new Project Rider from Jetbrains, in Mac OS X.
• RestClient (proyecto26) — Simple HTTP and REST client for Unity based on Promises, also supports Callbacks!
• RestClient (Unity3dAzure) — REST Client for Unity with JSON and XML parsing. (Features JSON helper to handle nested arrays and deserializing abstract types).
• Restifizer Unity3D — Restifizer SDK for Unity3d. A way to significantly simplify creation of full-functional RESTful services, using MongoDB as a database.
• RiderProxy — Unity support for both ReSharper and Rider.
• RPGCore — RPGCore is a framework for producing RPG games and mechanics in Unity.
• Runtime Unity Editor — In-game inspector and debugging tools for applications made with Unity3D game engine.
• San Andreas Unity — We're porting GTA: San Andreas to Unity!
• SceneHistory Unity — Open scenes quickly from a custom history of scenes. Supports scene addition.
• Script Templates for Unity — A little window which automatically generates C# source code stubs for Unity.
• ScriptableObject Architecture — Makes using Scriptable Objects as a fundamental part of your architecture in Unity super easy. (#PATTERNS)
• ScriptFinder — A Unity editor extension to find script references within your project in seconds.
• SDF Gen Unity — A signed distance function generator running inside Unity.
• SearchTools — Search Tools In Unity.
• Selection History Navigator — Unity editor extension to navigate between object selections.
• SerializableCallback — UnityEvent and System.Func had a child.
• Serialized Parameter Unity — Persist data between play mode sessions attribute.
• SetProperty — A PropertyAttribute/PropertyDrawer combination that allows for properties in Unity.
• Settings Unity — Settings utility for Unity3D.
• Shapes — Hand-drawn meshes and vector shapes for Processing and Unity, and a few handpicked colors.
• Shortcuter — Shortcut utility for Unity. (#SHORTCUTS)
• Show Toast Unity Android.cs — Shows toast on Android.
• Signals (UnityPatterns) — A simple, easy to implement, editor-driven signal/event system for Unity. See author's repositories.
• Signals (yankooliveira) — A typesafe, lightweight messaging lib for Unity.
• Simple ECS — An example using the core features of the Entity Component System (ECS) for Unity, inspired by Roll-a-ball.
• Simple Light Probe Placer — It is simple tool for Unity3d and it help you easily place Light Probes in your scene.
• SmartData — A designer-friendly, editor-driven Unity3D framework for connecting data and events.
• Smrvfx — An example that shows how to pass data from a skinned mesh renderer to a visual effect graph.
• SonarFx — Sonar effect for Unity.
• SpacePuppy Unity Framework 3.0 — A framework of various tools to facilitate making games in Unity 2017.
• SpatialOS GDK for Unity — Scalable game server framework with clustering support and client libraries for iOS, Android, Unity and others through the C SDK. (Terms of Service discussion alert!)
• Spine Runtimes — Collection of Spine runtimes including with Unity3d version.
• SpriteDicing — Unity extension for reusing sprite texture areas.
• SpriteMaker — Tool for making sprites in Unity.
• Sproto Unity — A demo show how to use sproto-Csharp in Unity.
• Static Blured Screen — Non-realtime (=static) screen blur for Unity. Easy to use background for dialogs. (#CAMERA)
• Strange Io C — Strange is a super-lightweight and highly extensible Inversion-of-Control (IoC) framework, written specifically for C# and Unity.
• StyleBrowser — A browser editor window to view all Unity built in styles.
• Super Character Controller — Unity custom character controller. (#ARCHIVED)
• Super Mario Bros AR Game — AR game built with Microsoft HoloLens and Unity3D
• Swiss Army Lib — Collection of helpful utilities we use in our Unity projects.
• Terrain Tool Samples — New Terrain Tools and Brush Assets for the Unity Terrain system.
• Texture3DPreview for Unity — This package enables interactive previews of Texture3D assets in Unity's Inspector window.
• TexturePanner — This repository hosts a shader for Unity3D whose main goal is to facilitate the creation of neon-like signs, conveyor belts and basically whatever based on scrolling textures.
• ThreeDScans — Scanned statue models from the Three D Scans project, optimized for real-time rendering use.
• Tidy Up — Neat little tool! to help you keep your Unity projects organised by throwing assets in their designated folders.
• Time Flow Shiki — Unity Editor Timeline GUI skeleton.
• TsiU AIToolkit CSharp — AI Toolkit for Unity.
• TTConsole — The Best Debuger & Runtime Console For Unity3D.
• Typogenic — Signed-distance field text rendering for Unity.
• U Net Voice — Tiny voice chat implementation for Unity.
• U Texture Send Receive — Unity network texture sender and receiver for video and frame streaming.
• UDBase — Module-based game template for Unity. Modules in UDBase are called Controllers, their implementation can be replaced without changing your project source code.
• uGUI LinkImageText — Unity uGUI Text support insert link and image.
• uMVVM — A simple Unity MVVM framework.
• UndoPro — UndoPro is a command-based undo system integrated into Unity's default system. This allows devs to use actions for their undo/redo operations without forcing the user into a new undo-workflow!
• UNet Controller — A Character Controller based controller for Unity's new Networking system. (#NETWORKING)
• Uni Android Vibration — Unity Android plugin JUST execute device vibration.
• Uni Ios Audio Service — Unity iOS plugin JUST playing iOS system sound. (#PLUGINS)
• Uni Version Manager — Simple Version Getter for Unity, it can be used for iOS, Android and unity editor platform. It can also get build version.
• UniClipboard — Simple clipboard plugin for Unity.
• Unidux — Redux Architecture for Unity.
• UniGif — GIF image decoder for Unity.
• UniLua — A pure C# implementation of Lua 5.2 focus on compatibility with Unity3D.
• UniteBerlin — Repository for my Unite Berlin talk - Become a Speed Demon: Being faster at everything you do in Unity.
• Unity 2D Platformer Controller — A customizable 2D platformer motor that handles mechanics such as double jumps, wall jumps, and corner grabs. Includes a player controlled prefab that can be dropped into any scene for immediate su
• Unity 5 Effects — Effect storage space for Unity 5.
• Unity A Star Navigation — An A* navigation system for Unity using burst compiled jobs for performance.
• Unity Ableton Link — An Ableton Link plugin for Unity. (#PLUGINS)
• Unity Ads — Unity3D Official Ads SDK.
• Unity AI — AI Behavior Tree Framework.
• Unity Asset Usage Detector — Find usages of the selected asset(s) and/or Object(s) in your Unity project, i.e. list the objects that refer to them.
• Unity Async Routines — An extremely lightweight Unity library for creating and managing asynchronous coroutines for easy, straight-forward multi-threading and parallellism.
• Unity Atoms — Tiny modular pieces utilizing the power of Scriptable Objects.
• Unity Auth Manager — An example of using a Javascript Web Token (JWT) based authentication system for an app built with Unity.
• Unity Beat Detection — Musical beat detection and audio spectrum analysis for use with the Unity game engine.
• Unity Bezier Solution — A bezier spline solution for Unity 3D with some utility functions (like travelling the spline with constant speed/time).
• Unity Bitmap Drawing — Bitmap Drawing API extension methods for Unity 3D's Texture2D class.
• Unity BitmapFontImporter — An Unity editor extension for bitmap font.
• Unity Camera Follow 2D — Script to make 2d camera follow players in an interesting way.
• Unity Camera Shake — Generates pseudo-random camera shake using Perlin noise.
• Unity CameraSizeToVelocity2D — Simple script to change the cameras size depending on the velocity of the target.
• Unity Character Customization — A character customization demo for Unity.
• Unity Color Picker — A standalone color picker asset for Unity.
• Unity Color Wheel — Color Picker Element for the newer Unity GUI System.
• Unity ColourLovers Importer — Unity editor tool to load colours and palettes directly from COLOURlovers.com.
• Unity Compact Field Attribute — Lets each property label have their own width, to prevent the labels from getting cut off.
• Unity Delaunay — A Delaunay/Voronoi library for Unity, and a simple destruction effect.
• Unity Documentation for VR — Unity Documentation for VR.
• Unity Dynamic Scroll View — Dynamic scrollView based on UGUI.
• Unity ECS Instanced Sprite Renderer — An example of a simple performant sprite renderer using Unity's new ECS system.
• Unity Editor Helper — An organized bunch of scripts to make editor scripting in Unity easier.
• Unity Editor Hotkeys — Unity manual's page with editor hotkeys.
• Unity Editor Icons — Unity version: 2018.3.0f2 Icons what can load using EditorGUIUtility.IconContent.
• Unity Editor Junkie — Editor scripts to make working with the Unity Editor better
• Unity Editor Snippets — Collection of different editor things that help with productivity.
• Unity Editor Spotlight — MacOS-like Spotlight file search in Unity.
• Unity Editor Texel Density — Texel density editor for Unity.
• Unity Elevator Compiler — A plugin that plays elevator music while Unity compiles your code. 🆒
• Unity Engine Analyzer — Roslyn Analyzer for Unity3D.
• Unity EventBinder — User Interface Event decoupler.
• Unity Events — A code focused strongly typed event system with global system and per GameObject system.
• Unity Extensions.Inspect Inline — Enables you to inspect and edit object references, and easily embed such objects as subassets.
• Unity Extensions.Selection History — Adds navigation menu items in Unity Editor: "Edit/Selection/Back", "Edit/Selection/Forward".
• Unity File Debug — Enhanced debug logging for Unity, with JSON/CSV export and HTML viewer.
• Unity File Extension — Shows file extension in 1 column project window.
• Unity First Person View — An asset that allows you to have a First Person Perspective where first person objects do not clip through the environment, have a separate field of view from the environment and can receive shadow
• Unity Flurry SDK — Unity plugin for Flurry SDK.
• Unity Framework — An application framework for C# Unity3D game projects.
• Unity Frosted Glass — Frosted glass material made in Unity.
• Unity Good Practices — Github repository with Unity best practices.
• Unity Inmediate Color Picker — Color picker for Unity in immediate GUI mode.
• Unity Interface Reference — A serializable class that holds the reference to an interface.
• Unity Jobs View Frustum Culling — A simple collection of jobs used for view frustum culling
• Unity Logs Viewer — Using this tool you can easily check your editor console logs inside the game itself! No need to go back to the project and do any tests to track the problems!
• Unity LoMenu — Stylish UI package for Unity engine.
• Unity Main Thread Dispatcher — A simple, thread-safe way of executing actions (Such as UI manipulations) on the Unity Main Thread.
• Unity Math Reference — Math reference for games and more. All visualized in Unity3D.
• Unity Mecanim VR IK vs Final IK — VR IK using native Unity Mecanim IK
• Unity Mesh Counter — Shows counters for mesh data.
• Unity Mesh Simplifier (Unity-Technologies) — Mesh simplification for Unity. Official Unity-Technologies fork.
• Unity Mesh Simplifier (Whinarn) — Mesh simplification for Unity.
• Unity Mesh Triangulator — A modified version of alexmuab's unity-mesh-triangulator.
• Unity Movement AI — A library of common movement AI scripts known as Steering Behaviors. You can use these scripts to help your NPCs move around your game.
• Unity Native Scripting — Unity Scripting in C++.
• Unity Neural Network — Simple neural network implemented in C# for Unity3D.
• Unity Non Null — [NonNull] attribute to fields and classes in Unity.
• Unity Object Pool — An elegant object pool and manager implementation for Unity.
• Unity Object Pooler — Simple object pool for Unity.
• Unity Open API — Unity friendly RESTful API client generator.
• Unity Optix Plugin — An example of a Unity plugin that allows you to leverage the power of NVIDIA Optix.
• Unity Package Manager 2018.3+ — Unity Package Manager 2018.3+.
• Unity Path Finding — Shortest path finding with Dijkstra's algorithm for Unity.
• Unity Pause Menu — This is an open source Unity pause menu created for the game New Horizons, and it's completely free because of how a pause menu is a core component of a game, while the unity asset store was lackin
• Unity Physics CSP — Basic implementation of client-side prediction in Unity, so real networking happens, all network traffic is simulated in a single Unity instance.
• Unity Pixel Camera — A resolution independent pixel perfect camera for Unity.
• Unity Plane Mesh Splitter — A simple script which let's you split any mesh into smaller chunks.
• Unity Preview Generator — Generates preview textures for sprites, icons of Unity models.
• Unity Procedural Flower — Procedural flower generator for Unity.
• Unity PSD Layout Tool — A tool used to import a Photoshop Documents (.psd files) into the Unity Game Engine.
• Unity QuickPool — Simple pooling toolkit for Unity game engine.
• Unity Raytracer — This project demonstrates ray tracing in Unity, which is a real time rendering engine.
• Unity Resource Checker — Editor utility for unity to help check resources in the current scene (including active textures, their sizes, materials, meshes and which objects are using them).
• Unity Routines — Replacement for Unity coroutines that supports hierarchical routines and pooling.
• Unity Rulers — A ruler editor to measure distances between game objects in the Scene view.
• Unity RuntimeCodeExecuter — A simple program that uses NET 2.0 library to execute any code in runtime. Specifically oriented for usage in Unity.
• Unity Rust Plugin — An example showing how to write a Unity native plugin in Rust.
• Unity Scene Camera Controller — Control a camera or any other object like SceneView camera.
• Unity Scrolly — A Touch/Drag scroll list implementation using Unity GUI (4.6+).
• Unity SemVer — A SemVer 2.0.0 implementation for Unity.
• Unity Serializer NG — Resurrection of the discontinued Unity Serializer by Mike Talbot from WhyDoIDoIt.com (Unity 5).
• Unity Simple File Browser — A uGUI based runtime file browser for Unity3D (draggable and resizable).
• Unity SimpleUsefulGizmos — Additional Gizmos showing information on your scene view like colored colliders, rotation indicator lines.
• Unity Singleton MonoBehavior — An implementation of Singleton pattern for Unity MonoBehaviours.
• Unity Snippets — Unity3D snippets for differents IDEs.
• Unity Socket IO — Socket.io client for Unity.
• Unity Stb Easy Font — A port of stb_easy_font.h to Unity/C#.
• Unity Symlink Utility — A small extension that adds a menu item to add folders as symlinks in Unity.
• Unity Texture Packer — Utility to combine color channels from different textures into a single output.
• Unity Timeline Conditions — Experimental port of Animator conditions interface to Timeline events.
• Unity Timeline Sync — Synchronize multiple Unity Timeline via UDP.
• Unity Timelord Blender — Timelord is a demo for custom blending of Unity3D Timelines.
• Unity Tools — A Visual Studio Code Extension to provide some tools for Unity development.
• Unity UI Extensions — An extension project for the new Unity UI system (uGUI).
• Unity UI Polygon — Polygon renderer for the new Unity UI.
• Unity Unet Movement — This repository contains Unity3D UNET based server-authoritative movement script with client-side prediction and reconciliation.
• Unity VariableTileLayout — UI Extensions for tile layout like Pinterest.
• Unity Virtual Reality — Unity's official documentation on developing virtual reality applications.
• Unity Visual Behavior Tree — Reactive Visual Scripting Behavior Tree Tool for Unity 2018.x+.
• Unity Voxel Tools — A collection of Voxel utilities for Unity. (EXPERIMENTAL)
• Unity VS Toolbox — Included in this project is a VS toolbox for most of the Monobehaviour events listed in order of execution. You'll also find a bunch of templates that can be installed so they will show up in the A
• Unity Wave Function Collapse — Fork of WaveFunctionCollapse.
• Unity Web Socket — Web Socket client for Unity.
• Unity Webview — A plugin for Unity 5 that overlays WebView components on Unity view. It works on Android, iOS, Unity Web Player, and OS X (Windows is not supported for now).
• Unity.Library.eppz — Collection of libraries for Unity.
• Unity.ProceduralContentGeneration Terrain — (#TERRAIN)
• Unity2 D Components — A constantly evolving array of Unity C# components for 2D games, including classes for pixel art cameras, events & messaging, saving & loading game data, collision handlers, object pools, and more.
• Unity3 D Sound Manager — Simple but decent sound manager for Unity3D, with AudioSource pooling, 3D positioning support and completion callback.
• Unity3D Async Await Util — A bunch of code to make using async-await easier in Unity3D.
• Unity3D Automatron — An automation tool for Unity3D.
• Unity3D ComponentAttribute — An attribute that let's you auto-load components.
• Unity3D Extensions — Extension and utility methods for the Unity game engine.
• Unity3D Official Blog — News and deep insights involving Unity development.
• Unity3D PerlinCameraShake — Perlin noise based camera shake MonoBehaviour script for Unity3D, ready to attach to a Camera. Uses a coroutine-based execution that exits after the job is done. Should be relatively performant.
• Unity3D Prefab Pool — Simple Prefab Pool for Unity3D.
• Unity3D Quick Search — A Command Palette for Unity.
• Unity3D Script Library — A Script Library of Unity3D.
• Unity3DPolylineEditor — 2D Polyline Editor for Unity3D.
• Unity3DVim — Unity Vim Editor Integration for Linux.
• UnityComponent — Unity Resource Component.
• UnityEffects — A collection of free to use effects for Unity3D.
• UnityExtensions MeshIntersection — Perform a raycast against one or more meshes.
• UnityGameFramework Template — A common Unity template Project base on UnityGameFramework.
• UnityGraphicsProgramming Vol.2 — Unity Graphics Programming vol.2
• UnityHelpers — A collection of random scripts related to Unity.
• UnityHTTP — A TCP client-based HTTP library for Unity.
• UnityIO — An easy to use API that allows you to manipulate files inside of Unity without the headache of using AssetDatabase.
• UnityOctree (Nition) — Same as the previous resource.
• UnityOctree (Unity-Technologies) — A dynamic, loose octree implementation for Unity written in C#.
• UnityPhysics2D — Examples of various Unity 2D Physics components and features.
• UnityPooling — An optimized approach object pooling.
• UnityRandom — Random library in C# for Unity3D.
• UnitySpline2D — A free 2D simple spline library for Unity. (UNMAINTAINED)
• Unitystation — Remake of the simulator Space Station 13.
• UnityStudio — Unity Studio is a tool for exploring, extracting and exporting assets from Unity games and apps. (#ASSET-STORE)
• UnitySVG — SVG renderer for Unity3D.
• UnityTetris — Tetris clone written in C# and using Unity engine to render.
• UnityTile3D — Simple 3D Tile Editor.
• UnityTimer — Powerful and convenient library for running actions after a delay in Unity3D.
• Universal Unity Hooks — A framework designed to hook into and modify methods in unity games via dlls.
• UniVoice — P2P VoIP in Unity.
• UVPreview — Preview your UV islands in inspector window for your textures.
• UXF — Framework for human behaviour experiments in Unity.
• Variable Infinite Scroll — Variable infinite scroll in Unity UI.
• VariableAssets — Variable assets for Unity3D.
• Vector Graphics Samples — SVG and Vector Graphics Sample Project.
• Vexe Framework (VFW) — An editor extension that offers much more advance editor extensibility features than what comes out of the box with Unity.
• Volumetric Clouds — Volumetric clouds in Unity.
• Volumetric Lines Unity — Source of the Volumetric Lines Asset from Unity's Asset Store.
• VoxBlend — BlendShape Controller Plugin for Unity.
• Voxel Mesh Generator — Unity3D C# project that generates a voxel 3D mesh using the greedy mesh technique.
• Voxelmetric — An efficient voxel framework for Unity3D. Legacy code is here.
• VoxelWorld — Training Unity on a Voxel World.
• VSCode Unity Code Snippets — All snippets for Unity3D development.
• VSCode Unity Debug Support — Unity debugging support for VS Code.
• VSCode Unity Integration — Unity Visual Studio Code Integration.
• Warfest Voxel Unity — A voxel game prototype made with Unity.
• WaveformProvider — Provide a texture to simulate waves with Unity.
• Weaver — Weaver is a code weaving framework built right into Unity Engine. Based heavily off of Fody.
• Web View Hook — Exposed UnityEditor WebView API.
• WebRTC Unity Plugin — Cross-platform Webrtc support for Unity apps.
• Xamarin.Forms.Unity — Xamarin.Forms for Unity (Platform implementation for Unity Game Engine).
• xNode BehaviourTree — Some log4net helper classes and UnityEngine.Debug appender for Unity.
• yaSingleton — A singleton pattern implementation for Unity3d. Based on ScriptableObjects instead of the conventional MonoBehaviour approach.

XR, AR & VR — Resources

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

• A-Frame VR — Blender add-on allows you to model your scene in Blender and export it to an A-Frame VR project with a single click.
• Advanced VR Mechanics With Unity and the HTC Vive Part 1 — Mirror - Mirror 2
• Advanced VR Mechanics With Unity and the HTC Vive Part 2 — Mirror - Mirror 2
• Building an AR game with ARKit and Spritekit — Building an AR game with ARKit and Spritekit.
• Capturing Body Motion in 3D | Apple Developer Documentation — Capturing Body Motion in 3D | Apple Developer Documentation.
• HOW TO CREATE A MINIMAP FOR VR IN UNITY — Mirror
• How to support GearVR and Google Cardboard in one Unity3D project — How to support GearVR and Google Cardboard in one Unity3D project.
• HTC Vive VR Input — Mirror - Mirror 2
• I3D Past Projects — Virtual 3D teleportation in real-time by Microsoft Research
• Medium by Adobe — Medium is a dedicated VR sculpting and painting package for users of Oculus headsets, capable of exporting models to DCC applications in OBJ or FBX format.
• North Star Kit Paid — The device is an implementation of Leap Motion's Norh Star reference design - an open source specification for an AR headset with two 1600x1440 displays with 120 FPS, a visual field of 100 degr
• Oliver Kreylos's blog — Good resource to get started learning about VR / stereo rendering.
• RealityKit — High-level AR framework by Apple. Comparable to Unity and Unreal Engine but specific for AR solutions.
• Rendering | Oculus Developers — Rendering | Oculus Developers.
• Rigging a Model for Motion Capture | Apple Developer Documentation — Rigging a Model for Motion Capture | Apple Developer Documentation.
• Sceneform Android SDK Maintained — ARCore Android SDK with Google Filament 3D engine. Continuation of Google Sceneform
• Tensorflow2 Ue4 AR — Augmented Reality Computer Vision Application using TensorFlow 2 and the Unreal Engine 4.23
• Three.js Editor — Online 3D editor with AR export capabilities.
• Ultraleap Paid — Former Ultralhaptics & Leap Motion
• Unity VR Video Recording Test — Test project to record VR sessions. (#VIRTUAL-REALITY)
• ViroCore: A cross-platform AR/VR renderer — And ViroReact: The AR/VR library for React Native
• VR Development - Unity Learn — Unity guided learning Pathway will prepare you for a job in the VR industry |
• Vuforia Freemium — AR SDK that is directly integrated in the Unity Editor. Proprietary license, free to develop with

Unreal Engine — Resources

Unreal Engine resources and marketplace picks.

• 📄 Recommended Asset Naming Conventions ~ epicgames — Naming folders & files.
• 📺📜 Control Rig ~ Ask A Dev — [character,animation] - 22 vids.
• Acl Ue4 Plugin — The official Animation Compression Library Unreal Engine 4 plugin
• Alex Forsythe — Game Framework, Replication Tutorials by Alex Forsythe** (🆓 🥇)
• ALS Community — Replicated and optimized community version of Advanced Locomotion System V4
• ALS Refactored — Completely reworked and improved C++ version of Advanced Locomotion System V4.
• AndroidNative — Android Native plugin for Unreal Engine that makes it easy to call Java functions via JNI.
• Animated Crosshairs UE4 — Animated Crosshairs for Unreal Engine 4 provides 17 ready to use animated UMG widgets including demo scene to test their combination
• Articy Importer For Unreal — Articy Importer plugin for the Unreal Engine 4.
• Async Loading Screen — Async Loading Screen is a free and open-source plugin for Unreal Engine. Async Loading Screen allows you to easily configure a Loading Screen System in the project settings, and automatically add a
• Audio Analysis Tools — Audio Analysis Tools plugin for Unreal Engine. Provides a variety of functions for analyzing audio data. Works in conjunction with the Runtime Audio Importer plugin.
• Ble Utilities Unreal — This is Unreal Engine plugin that allows to scan for BLE devices with Cycling Power service running, connect to one of them and subscribe for its notifications
• blueprintUE — Blueprint sharing.
• cashgenUE — Runtime Procedural Terrain Generator for UnrealEngine
• CensoredUE4 — World space area censoring solution for Unreal Engine 4. It is using blueprint actor for censoring and can be attached to any other blueprint actor like characters
• Cesium for Unreal — Bringing the 3D geospatial ecosystem to Unreal Engine
• Code Like Me — A wide variety of Unreal Engine-focused tutorials.
• DataConfig — Serialization framework for Unreal Engine Property System that just works!
• DungeonGenerator — An Unreal Engine 4 Dungeon Generator
• Easy Json Parser — Json parse library for unreal engine
• EasyXMLParser — Xml parse library for unreal engine
• Fairy GUI Unreal — A flexible UI framework for Unreal Engine
• FastSwitcher — Fast Switcher UMG for Unreal Engine 4 loads only the needed widget
• Fresh Cooked Tweens — A tweening library for Unreal Engine that provide convenient curve equations to ease a value between a start and end, like a position, scale, color, anything you want to smoothly change.
• Game Development & Unreal Engine Programming Guide — Game Development & Unreal Engine Programming Guide https://ikrima.dev
• GameDev.tv Unreal 5.0 C++ Developer: Learn C++ and Make Video Games Paid — GameDev.tv Unreal 5.0 C++ Developer: Learn C++ and Make Video Games.
• GASP ALS — Game Animation Sample with ALS Layering
• GASShooter — Advanced FPS/TPS Sample Project for Unreal Engine 4's GameplayAbilitySystem plugin
• GGPOUE4 — Unreal Engine 4 plugin port of GGPO
• Ghost Mesh Plugin — This is a UE4 plugin that can create ghost mesh in Unreal Engine 4
• Global Event System Ue4 — A loosely coupled internal global event system (GES) plugin for the Unreal Engine. Aims to solve cross-map and cross-blueprint communication for reliable and inferable event flow.
• Gorka Games — Tons of great content Gorka creates lengthy tutorial series, short tutorials and covers Unreal Engine news.
• Greebler — UE4 and Unity plugin to automatically add rubble in the nooks and crannies of your scene
• Hermes — An Unreal Engine plugin that allows direct (deep) links into the UE4 editor
• Horizontal 360 Radar — Horizontal 360º rich featured radar system, typically seen in games like Skyrim, for Unreal Engine 4
• Houdini Engine for Unreal — A plugin to allow integration with Houdini Digital Assets workflows.
• InfraworldRuntime — A solution that enables Unreal Engine 4 to work with Google gRPC services from either C++ or Blueprints.
• Inventory + Equipment System — Generic and fully featured multipurpose inventory container and equipment system for Unreal Engine 4
• Japanese Village (Marketplace) Paid — Japanese medieval village pack.
• KawaiiPhysics — Simple fake Physics for UnrealEngine4
• Kotlin Unreal — Kotlin-unreal: Use the amazing Kotlin language with UnrealEngine 4
• LeapUnreal — Leap Motion SDK for the Unreal Engine
• LocalizationUE4 — Translation Editor for Unreal Engine 4
• Locus Replication Graph — Simple Unity Addressables Alternative That Supports Synchronized API And Memory Management.
• LuaMachine — Unreal Engine 4 Plugin for Lua APIs implementation
• MassSample — Community Mass Sample
• Mathew Wadstein — Easily one of the most useful channels for Unreal Engine. Videos going over just about every major class and Blueprint node.
• MD Meta Data Editor — Unreal Engine 5.1+ plugin to enable editing meta data of Blueprint Properties, Functions, and Function and Event Parameters
• Medieval Houses (Marketplace) Paid — Modular medieval house pack.
• Mixed Reality UX Tools Unreal — UX tools and components for developing Mixed Reality applications in UE4.
• MobileUtils — A plugin for Unreal Engine 4 that lets you integrate mobile utilities into your project
• mod.io — Unreal Engine Plugin for easily integrating mod.io into your game - the UGC management service for game developers.
• Morphs Player — A plugin that allows to play Morph Targets directly on the animation track of your skeletal mesh.
• Mqtt Utilities Unreal — MqttUtilities is a plugin for Unreal Engine intended to expose MQTT client functionality to blueprints
• My SQL Connector UE4 Plugin — MySQL Database Connector Plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• Myo Ue4 — Myo Plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• Nano — A tiny template for tiny Unreal games.
• NiagaraUIRenderer — Niagara UI Renderer | Free Plugin for Unreal Engine
• nimue4 — Nim language integration for Unreal Engine 4
• Nuke.Unreal — C# scriptable workflow for automating Unreal Engine project tasks embracing the Nuke target graph and fluent API tool bindings.
• ObjectDeliverer — Data transmission and reception library for Unreal Engine.
• OceanProject — An Ocean Simulation project for Unreal Engine 4
• OpenCL.uplugin — OpenCL Plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• OpenLand — An OpenSource Landscape Auto Material
• OSVR Unreal — OSVR plugin for Unreal Engine
• PBCharacterMovement — HL2-style, classic FPS movement for Unreal Engine implemented in C++.
• PluginTemplate — A basic Unreal Template with Editor and Runtime Module.
• Prefabricator Ue4 — Prefabricator - Prefab plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• ProjectExodus — Project Exodus - Unity to Unreal scene/project transfer tool.
• Ps Facebook Mobile — Just a simple Unreal Engine 4 integration of Facebook authorization for mobile devices
• Ps Real Vehicle — PsRealVehicle is the plugin for Unreal Engine 4 with simple force-driven vehicle simulation.
• Ps Replay Kit — Unreal Engine 4 plugin for iOS to record or stream video from the screen, and audio from the app and microphone
• Ps Web Server — Civet web server integration plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• puerts — Write your game with TypeScript in the ue4 or unity
• Quests — Efficient and rich featured quests system for Unreal Engine 4
• Realtime Mesh Component — Unreal Engine 5 plugin component for rendering runtime generated content.
• RedTalaria — Unreal Engine plugin providing a set of Hermes endpoints
• RemCommon — Common utilities for gameplay in UnrealEngine
• RemRanges — Combination of IGRanges and ranges-v3 for Unreal
• Runtime Audio Importer — Runtime Audio Importer plugin for Unreal Engine. Importing audio of various formats at runtime.
• Runtime Files Downloader — Runtime Files Downloader plugin for Unreal Engine. Downloading files over HTTP / HTTPS at runtime.
• Runtime Mesh Component — Unreal Engine 4 plugin component for rendering runtime generated content
• Runtime Mesh Loader — A pluging for Unreal Engine 4, which allows to import meshes during runtime.
• Runtime Speech Recognizer — Cross-platform, real-time, offline speech recognition plugin for Unreal Engine. Based on Whisper OpenAI technology, whisper.cpp.
• Ryan Laley — Primarily Blueprint-based Unreal Engine tutorials.
• SCUE5 Plugin — SCUE updated to Unreal 5.
• SilvervineUE4Lua — A Lua Scripting Plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• sluaunreal — Lua dev plugin for unreal engine 4
• Socket IO Client Unreal — Socket.IO client plugin for Unreal Engine.
• Socketer — A TCP socket blueprint library for Unreal Engine.
• Socketio Client Ue4 — Socket.io client plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• SQLite3UE4 — SQLite3 Database Plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• Stats + Attributes — A powerful stats, attributes, leveling system and much more for Unreal Engine 4!
• Street Map — Import OpenStreetMap XML data into your Unreal Engine project.
• Sublime Unreal Snippets — A collection of Sublime Text 3 snippets for writing Unreal Engine 4 game code.
• Swipe — A plugin for Unreal Engine 4 that exposes swipes on mobile devices as events in blueprint
• Tcp Ue4 — Convenience TCP wrapper for Unreal Engine 4
• TCP Unreal — Convenience TCP wrapper for Unreal Engine.
• Tensorflow Ue4 — TensorFlow plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• Tom Looman UE5 Tutorials Freemium — Various Unreal Engine focused tutorials.
• Udp Ue4 — Convenience UDP wrapper for Unreal Engine 4
• UDP Unreal — Convenience UDP wrapper for Unreal Engine.
• UE BUI Tween — UI Tweening Libary for Unreal Engine UMG UI. Create simple tweens for UMG widgets from C++.
• UE DSS Plugin — Scalable MMO servers instantiation, dungeon instantiation and player balancing subsystem for unreal engine
• UE Easy JWT — JWT wrapper (Engine Sub-system) for Unreal Engine.
• UE Easy Kafka — EasyKafka is a Kafka/Redpanda client sub-system for unreal engine. It supports producing and consuming records through blueprint and C++.
• UE4 Aurora Effect — A raymarched aurora borealis effect for Unreal 4
• UE4 Binary Builder — An application designed to create installed Unreal Engine builds (aka Rocket builds) from Unreal Engine GitHub source.
• UE4 BYG Localization — Simple CSV localization system for Unreal Engine 4
• Ue4 Canvas GUI — It's a simple Canvas GUI for Unreal Engine 4 with mouse operation
• UE4 Custom Gravity Plugin — Unreal Engine 4 : Custom Gravity Plugin
• Ue4 Docker — Windows and Linux containers for Unreal Engine 4
• UE4 Env. project — An Environment Simulation project for Unreal Engine 4.
• UE4 EOS Plugin — A plugin and sample project, built for Unreal Engine 4, that implements the Epic Online Services SDK
• UE4 Game Lift Client SDK — Gamelift Client SDK for Unreal Engine 4
• UE4 Node Graph Assistant — A plugin to help you to create node graph faster and easier in unreal engine 4.
• UE4 Plugin Resources — A list of community resources for Slate, Graphs, and UE4 Plugin Development.
• Ue4 Protobuf — This is an Unreal Engine 4 plugin that integrates Protobuf into the project without requiring you to add system PATH or anything else.
• Ue4 Uitween — Unreal 4 UMG UI tweening library in C++
• UE4GamepadUMG — Unreal Engine 4 gamepad plugin so you can use a gamepad like a mouse in UMG
• Ue4MarchingCubes — 3D Perlin Noise using Marching cubes algorithm for Unreal Engine 4
• UE4MasterServer — This is a plugin for Unreal Engine 4 that adds server registration, deregistration etc with a master server.
• UE5 Styleguide — Guidelines for making Unreal Engine projects more consistent.
• UE5 Stylized Post Process — Stylized Post Process for Unreal Engine 5
• ue5coro — A C++20 coroutine plugin, offering seamless integration with Unreal Engine 5.
• UELlama — Llama plugin for Unreal Engine 5
• UEWebsocket — Unreal engine 4 websocket plugin for both c++ and blueprint developer
• Ultraleap SDK — Enables data produced by Ultraleap's hand tracking to be used by developers inside their Unreal projects.
• UMG Resizable Widget — Resizable Widget for UMG for Unreal Engine 4
• Unreal Bp Csv Parsing — Unreal Engine plugin that adds CSV parsing blueprint nodes
• Unreal Docs: Game Features And Modular Gameplay — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Gameplay Ability System — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Gameplay Camera System — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Gameplay Targeting System — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Getting Started With Texture Graph — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: InstancedStruct — Isn't available yet!
• Unreal Docs: Mass Entity — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Metahuman Documentation — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Modeling And Geometry Scripting — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Motion Design — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Mutable Overview — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Procedural Content Generation Framework — & Electric Dream Documentation (🆓 🥇)
• Unreal Docs: Scriptable Tools System — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Smart Objects — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: State Tree — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Umg Viewmodel — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Docs: Water System — Unreal Engine Documentation.
• Unreal Engine — The official Unreal Engine YouTube channel with weekly live streams.
• Unreal Engine Advanced Functions — Handy functions by Mridul Sharma.
• Unreal Engine Learning — Unreal Engine Learning.
• Unreal Engine Official YouTube — Unreal Engine Official YouTube.
• Unreal Engine Python — Embed Python in Unreal Engine 4
• Unreal Fast Noise — Modular, Blueprint-friendly noise generation for UE4
• Unreal Fast Noise2 — A plugin that wraps FastNoise2, allowing you to use the FastNoise2 library in blueprints.
• Unreal Fetch — Fetch API-inspired HTTP client for Unreal Engine.
• Unreal Im GUI — Unreal plug-in that integrates Dear ImGui framework into Unreal Engine 4.
• Unreal Library — UE Explorer's library for parsing data from games built with the Unreal Engine.
• Unreal Magic Nodes — Custom Kismet Node System that enables C++ code to be written on Blueprint Graphs.
• Unreal Rust — Opinionated Rust integration for Unreal Engine.
• Unreal Sandbox Terrain — Smooth voxel terrain plugin.
• Unreal Signal R — SignalR client for Unreal Engine.
• Unreal UMG 3 D Object In Widget — A simple Unreal Engine 4 project (precisely 4.7.4) showing how to render a 3D object/mesh in a UMG widget
• Unreal Version Changer — Simple tool for faking UE version for Epic Games Store so we can install outdated / non-upgraded plugins to newer UE version without installing old UE
• Unreal.hx — Unreal.hx: Haxe Integration for Unreal
• Unreal.js — Javascript runtime built for Unreal Engine.
• UnrealCLR — Unreal Engine .NET 6 Integration.
• unrealcpp — Unreal Engine 4 C++ examples
• unrealcv — UnrealCV: Connecting Computer Vision to Unreal Engine
• UnrealLive2D — UE4 plugin for live2d model
• USharp — C# plugin for Unreal Engine 4
• Va Fog Of War — A clear and simple solution of Fog of War for Unreal Engine.
• Va Tex Atlas — Simple way to use texture atlases for Unreal Engine 4 UMG
• VaRest — REST API plugin for Unreal Engine.
• Velocity Grid Export — A tool to export vector fields out of Houdini.
• ViewportManager — A C++ based plugin for Unreal Engine that allows for multiple customizable viewports
• Virtus Learning Hub — Unreal Engine-focused tutorials with several lengthy courses.
• Voxel Plugin — Create fully volumetric, entirely destructible, infinite worlds in Unreal Engine.
• VS Code Setup for UE — Official VS Code setup guide.
• Vscode Unreal Snippets — Unreal Engine snippets based on https://github.com/awforsythe/sublime-unreal-snippets.
• Weapon Trace Unreal — WeaponTracing plugin for reliable melee combat.
• WindowCapture2D — Library for capturing and displaying windows in real time with UnrealEngine
• Working with Data (Unreal Engine Learning) — Working with Data (Unreal Engine Learning).
• XJ music — XJ music plugin for Unreal Engine. XJ is the first end-to-end solution for adaptive music in video games built specifically and only for music, enabling composers to realize new possibilities.
• ZipUtility Plugin — Event driven 7zip utility plugin for Unreal Engine 4

Game Dev Tools — Level Design

Level editors and blockout tools.

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

Related:

• 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/map editor like tools. [more info]
• Sprytile (itch.io) — Blender addon for tile-based 3D levels.
• Tiled2Unity — Export Tiled Map Editor (TMX) files into Unity.
• 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	Freemium	Industry Standard · Indie-Free	Adaptive game audio
Steam Audio	Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free. See also: Software Reference → Audio Software	Free	Spatial Audio · Valve Free	Spatial game audio
Wwise	AAA audio middleware with free tier. See also: Software Reference → Audio Software	Freemium	AAA · Free Tier	AAA game audio

Related:

• Wwise Unreal Plug-in Freemium — Plugin for integrating Wwise assets for realtime playback in-engine.

Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer

Multiplayer frameworks and game servers.

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

Related:

• Basic Multiplayer Unity — Fast-Paced UDP Client-Server implementation.
• Bomber — Open-source Bomberman multiplayer game made in Unreal Engine 5.
• Colyseus — Node.js multiplayer framework.
• Colyseus Unreal — Colyseus Multiplayer SDK for Unreal Engine
• Fish Net — High-performance Unity networking.
• Forge Networking Remastered — In short, Forge Networking is a free and open source multiplayer game (multi-user) networking system that has a very good integration with the Unity game engine.
• Gambetta_Networked Demo — Fast-Paced Multiplayer: Sample Code and Live Demo - Gabriel Gambetta's Multiplayer Network Demo in Unity C# as Networked using Lidgren Network.
• GameDev.tv Unreal Multiplayer Master: Video Game Dev In C++ Course Paid — GameDev.tv Unreal Multiplayer Master: Video Game Dev In C++ Course.
• Mirror (GitHub) — A community replacement for Unity's abandoned UNET Networking System.
• Mirror (site) — Open-source Unity networking.
• Unity Multiplayer Packages — Unity multiplayer packages and samples.

Game Dev Tools — Sprite & VFX

Sprite animation, 2D VFX, texture packers.

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

Related:

• Cheetah Texture Packer — High efficient and fast 2D bin packing tool
• Ez Sprite Sheet — Creates sprite sheets from animated GIFs and more
• Fusion Character Animator — Small tool for Clickteam Fusion 2.5 to facilitate the animation of 2D character sprites for developers.
• GlueIT — Free Simple Spritesheet Tool
• 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 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).
• 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 powerful 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 — Walking animation cycle in 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	License	Tags	Best For
Houdini Engine (SideFX product)	Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot. See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software	Paid	Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine	Procedural pipeline in-engine

Related:

• DotRecast — A port of Recast & Detour, navigation mesh toolset for games, Unity3D, servers, C#.
• 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.
• 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, and more. 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	Freemium	Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users	Large-asset VCS
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control	Artist-friendly binary version control. See also: Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software	Freemium	Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated	Artist-friendly VCS

Related:

• Git LFS — Large file storage for Git.

Game Dev Tools — Analytics & Playtesting

Analytics and playtesting services.

• Steam Playtest — Free playtesting on Steam.

Game Design & Theory

Design fundamentals, patterns, and references.

• Deconstructor of Fun — F2P game design and business.
• DevianArt7Soul1 — Offers a specific set of 420 pixel art icons designed for RPG games.
• 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 — Game Development Essentials: Game Level Design.
• Game Programming Patterns — Lots of great game development patterns useful when making games with or without Unity.
• Game UI Database — 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, and more.
• Open 3D Engine (O3ED) — Successor to Amazon Lumberyard, an open-source, real-time, multi-platform 3D engine to build AAA games
• Phototiler — Lightweight photorealistic map renderer that allows quick rendering of 3D maps for creative cartography.
• Pixel Composer (GitHub) — Powerful node-based VFX editor for pixel art
• pixeldudesmaker — Small character generator, including basic animation.
• Red Blob Games — Interactive visual explanations (pathfinding, hex grids, noise).
• 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 — Turbulenz offers the ability to build, publish, iterate and monetise high-quality games that react like no others, with immersive 3D effects and real-time physics that open up a whole new world of
• Unity Audio Manager — Plugin, that allows to easily play/change/stop/mute/... sounds in 2D/3D
• Unity Game Programming Patterns — Game Programming Pattern Examples in Unity3D.
• Unity in Action (book) — Unity in Action (book).
• 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 — [animation,character,GAS] - 160 vids: newbie, blueprints, quests, C++.
• Aarthificial — Pixel art devlogs.
• Acerola — Graphics programming.
• Blackthornprod — 2D art and 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 — Game design analysis.
• GDQuest (YouTube) — Godot tutorials.
• Jonas Tyroller — Indie dev logs.
• 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 — Animation for games.
• Sebastian Lague — Procedural generation and simulations.
• t3ssel8r — Stylized rendering.
• 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.

• CS50 Game Development (Harvard) — Free, covers Love2D, Unity, and more.
• Polyglot Gamedev Mastersheet — Massive community-curated master list of game dev resources across engines, art, audio, and design.

Game Dev — Communities

Reddit, Discord, forums, indie job boards.

• Brackeys Discord — Brackeys Discord community.
• Game Dev League — Game dev Discord.
• IndieDB — Indie game database and promotion.
• r/gamedesign — Game design subreddit.
• r/gamedev — 1.5M+ game dev subreddit.
• r/IndieDev — Indie developer subreddit.
• r/indiegaming — Indie gaming subreddit.
• r/pixelart — Pixel art subreddit.
• r/unrealengine — Unreal Engine subreddit.
• TIGSource Forums — Long-running indie forum.
• Unreal Slackers — Unreal Engine Discord community.
• Work With Indies — Indie game job board.

Game Jams

Recurring game jams.

• Brackeys Game Jam — Beginner-friendly jam.
• Global Game Jam — Annual, in-person worldwide.
• GMTK Game Jam — Largest jam by entries.
• itch.io Jams — Hundreds of active jams.
• JS13KGames — 13KB size limit JavaScript jam.
• Ludum Dare — Oldest jam, twice yearly.

Game Engines — Free & Open Source

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

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

Game Engines — Commercial Free Tiers

Also in Software Reference → Game Engines — Commercial Free Tiers

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

Level Design & Map Editing Software

Also in Software Reference → Level Design & Map Editing Software

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

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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.

• Absurd Design — Surrealist illustrations for your next amazing thing
• Awesome Illustrations — Curated awesome-list of illustration resources, tools, and references.
• Awesome Stock Resources — A collection of links for free stock photography, video and Illustration websites.
• Biodiversity Heritage Library — 300,000+ Botanical and Animal Illustrations available for free download. (CC0)
• Black Illustrations Freemium — Beautiful illustrations of black people for your next project
• Blush Freemium — Create, mix, and customize illustrations made by artists around the world.
• Characterz Freemium — 9,000+ customizable diverse 3D character illustrations with Blender source files
• Control Illustrations Paid — Combo set of 108 customizable illustrations
• Flowbite Illustrations — Open-source collection of 3D styles SVG illustrations available in dark and light mode
• Get Illustrations Bundle Paid — A bundle of over 34 vector illustration packs and 2800+ items
• Handz — Free library of 320+ diverse 3D hand illustrations with Blender source files
• Humaaans — Mix-&-match illustrations of people with a design library
• illlustrations — 100 awesome open-source illustrations also including COVID & WFH for your next project
• Illustration Gallery — A huge collection of royalty-free illustrations to power up your projects
• Illustration Tools — Directory of tools and resources for illustrators, creatives and artists.
• Illustrationz Freemium — 100+ 3D character illustration packs with 167M+ combinations
• Malt — Malt is a non photorealistic rendering (NPR) framework. It offers fully customizable real-time rendering framework for animation and illustration. GitHub
• Michael Mattesi — Force drawing (Instagram).
• Neural Network-Generated Illustrations — AI generated illustrations for Allo from Google
• Ouch! Illustrations Freemium — Stylish illustrations for better UX
• Plasticity (GitHub) — A 3d modelling software for concept artists.
• Shape.so Paid — 4300+ icons, illustrations exportable to SVG, React & Lottie
• Smash Illustrations Freemium — An list of illustrations over 250+ items
• Storytale Freemium — Hundreds of illustrations for web and app projects
• Stubborn Generator — An awesome character generator for your next illustrations
• unDraw Illustrations — MIT licensed constantly updated collection of beautiful svg illustrations

Concept Art & Illustration — Courses

Structured concept art and design courses.

Drawing & Painting for 3D Artists

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

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

Related:

• Animation with Dall-e + AE | Reddit — Patent drawing of an electronic device that ...
• ArtStation Learning — Free courses from Blizzard, Riot, Pixar pros.
• BodyVisualizer — 3D body shape visualizer for proportion reference.
• Ctrl+Paint — Structured free video library — digital painting fundamentals, value studies, color.
• Genetic Drawing — Python library to generate a stylized rendering from an image.
• Gizmos — Used for drawing runtime gizmos in builds and editor (Unity3D).
• Graphite 3D Paid — A collaborative drawing tool for modeling precise shapes in real spaces.
• Human Anatomy for Artists — Massive free photo reference by body part and angle.
• Instanced Line Rendering Part I — Builds on the foundation from "Drawing Lines is Hard" and uses instance rendering to draw lines.
• Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation — Use JavaScript and the ProcessingJS library to create drawings and animations.
• Learn HTML5 Graphics and Animation Freemium — Introduction to the canvas 2D drawing API.
• Line of Action — Free timed gesture drawing (figures, animals, hands, faces).
• Posemaniacs — Rotatable 3D pose reference with muscle groups.
• Proko Free Library Freemium — Anatomy, figure drawing, portrait (substantial free tier).
• QuickPoses — Timed drawing practice with huge photo library.
• SketchDaily Reference — Timed drawing sessions across categories.

Photography — Reference & Fundamentals

Photography knowledge directly applicable to 3D lighting and composition.

• /r/FOSSPhotography — Community about Free open source software for Photography on reddit.
• B&H Explora Photography — Deep technical articles on lighting modifiers and color temperature.
• ButtleOFX — A simple, user-friendly and open source compositing software.
• Cambridge in Colour — Comprehensive photography tutorials.
• Femto-Photography: Visualizing Photons in Motion at a Trillion Frames Per Second — Raskar et al
• Fstoppers Education — Studio lighting, portrait ratios, product photography.
• Gavin Hoey (Adorama) — Studio lighting tutorials with setup diagrams.
• Open Source Photography Community on Google+ — Open Source Photography Community on Google+.
• PIXLS.US — Community dedicated to tutorials, workflows, and showcases of high-quality photography using Free Software tools
• Strobist Lighting 101 — Definitive free course on shaping light (directly applicable to 3D lighting).
• Workphlo — Studio product photography lighting breakdowns with placement diagrams.

Cinematography & Camera Work

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

• CinemaTyler — Deep analysis of lens choice, color, blocking, lighting in film.
• Every Frame a Painting — Gold-standard video essays on composition, camera, editing rhythm.
• Fusion — Free node-based compositing software from Blackmagic Design.
• How to Create Stunning Cinematic Lighting — Cinematic lighting tutorial.
• In Depth Cine — Practical lighting setups and narrative technique.
• No Film School — Cinematography — Constant stream of technique articles.
• Nuke Freemium — Industry standard node-based compositing software by The Foundry, has a free version for non-commercial use.
• Roger Deakins on Learning to Light — Cinematography Techniques Ep. 1.
• Shane Hurlbut ASC Blog — Real DP knowledge on cinematography, lens choice, lighting setups.
• StudioBinder Film Guides — Shot composition, camera shots encyclopedia, camera movements, lighting.
• Wolfcrow — Cinematography fundamentals, color science, exposure theory.

Composition & Visual Storytelling

Composition theory, color theory, visual hierarchy.

• Can't Unsee — Interactive game training visual alignment and spacing precision.
• Handprint Color & Composition — Deepest free color theory resource online — covers perception and harmony.
• Laws of UX — Gestalt principles, visual perception laws (directly applicable to 3D composition).
• Neil Blevins Art Lessons — Composition types, tangents, visual hierarchy by a Pixar artist.
  See also: Learning, Community & Industry → 3D Inspiration & Showcase
• PhotoPills Golden Ratio Guide — Golden ratio, spirals, triangles with overlay diagrams.
• RenderNet Freemium — RenderNet AI is a tool for generating images and videos, providing control over character design, composition, and style.

Animation Principles

The 12 principles of animation and related fundamentals.

• Animation Resources — Archives of classic animation, frame-by-frame studies.
• Animator Island — 51 Exercises — Structured practice curriculum by difficulty.
• Endless Reference — Video clips browsable by action type (walk, run, fight, etc.).
• Hippydrome — Richard Williams walk cycle and timing chart reference.
• iAnimate Free Resources — Webinars from Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks animators.
• New Frame Plus — Animation analysis in games (walk cycles, weight, timing).
• The 12 Principles (Illustrated) — GIF breakdowns of each principle.

Design Principles & Typography

Typography, visual hierarchy, design fundamentals.

• Better Web Type — Free typography course on rhythm and hierarchy.
• How to Proof a Typeface — Jonathan Hoefler's proofing guide.
• Kerning Tool — Kerning typography in Houdini.
• NNGroup Visual Design — Research-backed principles on hierarchy, contrast, whitespace.
• Practical Typography — Free online book on type fundamentals, hierarchy, spacing.
• The Futur — Graphic design fundamentals, typography, grid systems.
• Typewolf — Curated typography inspiration — fonts in real-world use.

Color Theory & Tools

Color palettes, generators, matching, and theory tools.

• Adobe Color — Color wheel, harmony tool, palettes.
• Canva Color Palettes — Pre-made palettes.
• Color Hunt — Curated color palette collection.
• Color Method — Interactive color matching game.
• ColorBox — Systematic color scale generator.
• Coolors Freemium — Fast palette generator.
• Fast Palette Studio — Rapid palette creation for pixel art and game dev.
• Gradient Horse — Experimental gradient generator.
• Huemint Freemium — AI-assisted brand color generation.
• Lospec Palette List — Pixel art palette repository.
• Paletton — Classic color scheme designer.
• poline — Esoteric palette generation via polar color interpolation.
• Swatchr — A color palette management system for Unity.
• WebGradients — Gradient library.

Design Tools

Vector editors, creative effect tools, and design utilities.

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

Related:

• Are.na Freemium — Mood board and research tool for creatives.
• BabyTrack — Blob tracking effect.
• Carbon — Code snippet screenshot generator.
• ContentCore — Curated creative content.
• Cosmos — Visual content curation platform.
• Efecto — ASCII and dithering effects.
• Halftone Maker — Halftone generator.
• Mockup Photos Freemium — Device and print mockup library.
• Muzli — Design inspiration Chrome extension.
• OS Design Directory — Open-source design resources directory.
• Space Type Generator — Experimental type generator.
• The Toolbox — Curated creative tools directory.
• Tiled Art — Tessellation creator.
• Undesign — Design learning resources.
• X Design Freemium — Design tool.

General Inspiration

Blogs, feeds, and curated inspiration sources.

• Activation Ideas — Brand activation inspiration.
• But Does It Float — Contemporary design and art feed.
• Designspiration Freemium — Design inspiration feed.
• DETHJUNKIE — Dark creative blog.
• Geometric Design (Canva) — Geometric design article.
• H.R. Giger (Artnet) — H.R. Giger gallery archive.
• Iconz Freemium — 460+ 3D icons in multiple angles and materials
• Mech Blog — Mecha design inspiration.
• Mockupz — Free 3D mockup scenes for showcasing your design work
• Movie Scenes Inspired by Art — Thread on movie scenes mirroring paintings.
• Mr Cup — Graphic design blog.
• Muddycolors — Pro illustrator blog.
• OTAKU GANGSTA — Anime/otaku visual blog.
• Robotz — Free modular 3D cartoon robot with customizable heads, bodies and hands
• Sakuga Booru — Animation clip archive (non-www mirror).
• Savee Freemium — Visual bookmarking tool.
• The Black Workshop — Design inspiration blog.
• Truchet's Tiles — On Truchet tiles and patterns.

2D Art References & Inspiration

2D animation sheets, cloth, anime model sheets.

• 2D Tutorials — Draw a Box — Free drawing fundamentals course.
• Anatomy 360, Free Reference — 3D scanned human reference images.
• Dimensions.com — Dimensioned drawings database.
• National Gallery of Art (NGA) — Open-access collection of historical paintings, drawings, and prints — high-res downloads for reference.
• Saint11 Pixel Art Paid — Pixel art tutorials.

Design Software

Also in Software Reference → Design Software

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

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AI & Machine Learning for CG

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

Machine Learning for CG

ML fundamentals and courses for CG artists.

• IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems — Publishes technical articles on the theory, design, and applications of neural networks and related learning systems.

Image Generation

State-of-the-art text-to-image models and platforms.

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

Related:

• (5) Deforum notebook v0.5 for Stable Diffusion animations is out! Now with math automation, perspective flips, prompt weights, video masking and waifus! : StableDiffusion — (5) Deforum notebook v0.5 for Stable Diffusion animations is out! Now with math automation, perspective flips, prompt weights, video masking and waifus! : StableDiffusion.
• 3DALL-E: Integrating Text-to-Image AI in 3D Design Workflows — ArXiv 2022 paper on integrating text-to-image AI in 3D design workflows.
• AI Render — Stable Diffusion in Blender. This add-on renders an AI generated image based on a text prompt and your scene.
• Canva Adds a Free and Unlimited AI Text-to-Image Generator | PetaPixel — Canva Adds a Free and Unlimited AI Text-to-Image Generator | PetaPixel.
• COVAL — Architecture of voice AI, from speech recognition to emotional intelligence, and learn how to build, scale, and evaluate them
• Deforum Stable Diffusion Animation - v5 Math Functions - Demo and Test - YouTube — Deforum Stable Diffusion Animation - v5 Math Functions - Demo and Test - YouTube.
• Generative AI Genius 2024 (created by Aishwarya Naresh Reganti) course material — Generative AI Genius 2024 (created by Aishwarya Naresh Reganti) course material.
• Introduction to Generative AI Community Course — By ineuron
• Openai/point E — OpenAI's point cloud diffusion for 3D model synthesis
• sd-concepts-library (Stable Diffusion concepts library) — Stable Diffusion Textual Inversion Concepts Library - browse through objects and styles taught by the community to Stable Diffusion and use them in your prompts!
• Stable Diffusion Frivolous · Because lawsuits based on ignorance deserve a response — Community response for the "Stable Diffusion litigation"
• Stable Diffusion KLMC2 Animation.ipynb — Notebook by @RiversHaveWings to generate animation based on scripted prompts using a technique called KLMC2 discretization of underdamped Langevin dynamics
• Stable Diffusion KLMC2 Animation.ipynb forked — Fork by @DigThatData
• Transforming 2D Images into 3D with the AdaMPI AI Model — Guide on how to use the AdaMPI AI model for creating 3D photos from 2D images
• Word-As-Image for Semantic Typography — Semantically transforming fonts into illustrations

Video Generation

AI video generation platforms and models.

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

3D Generation

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

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

Related:

• Threestudio — A unified framework for 3D content generation.

Texture & Material Generation

AI-generated PBR textures and materials.

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

ComfyUI Ecosystem

Node-based AI generation — ComfyUI and its ecosystem.

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

Related:

• Awesome ComfyUI — Curated custom nodes collection.
• Comflowy — ComfyUI tutorials for ControlNet, SDXL, FLUX workflows.
• Comfy UI Manager — Install and manage custom nodes and dependencies.
• ComfyUI Registry — Community workflow and subgraph sharing.
• ControlNet SD3.5 — Blur/Canny/Depth models, free commercial use.

AI-Assisted CG Tools

AI tools that augment traditional CG workflows.

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

Related:

• AI Game Developer — Unity Editor and Unity Runtime AI integration. Unit Test, Coding, C# Roslyn, Reflection, Assets. Helps to create games with AI. And helps to run AI logic during gameplay.
• Comfy UI Blender AI — Run ComfyUI workflows inside Blender.
• ControlNet — Depth/pose/edge control for precision CG workflows.
• Coplay Freemium — AI Copilot for Unity
• Dream Textures (Blender) — Generate textures in Blender via Stable Diffusion, locally.
• GPT 4 — Prompt engineering techniques for GPT-4, including tips, applications, limitations, and additional reading materials.
• RIFE for Nuke — Real-Time Intermediate Flow Estimation for Video Frame Interpolation (ie machine learning for framerate upscaling) for Nuke.
• SolidUI — AI-generated visualization prototyping and editing platform, support 2D, 3D models, combined with LLM(Large Language Model) for quick editing.

AI Audio & Music

AI music generation, voice, TTS, and SFX.

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

Open-Source Models (HuggingFace)

Notable open-source generative models.

• Hugging Face Transformers — State-of-the-art NLP models and pipelines.
• Hunyuan Video I2V — Image-to-video, multilingual.
• SV3D (Stable Video 3D) — Orbital video from single image.

Research Papers

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

• Align Your Gaussians: Text-to-4D with Dynamic 3D Gaussians and Composed Diffusion Models — 🌐 Project Page
• Animatable Neural Radiance Fields from Monocular RGB Videos — Chen et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• BeyondPixels: A Comprehensive Review of the Evolution of Neural Radiance Fields — AKM Shahariar Azad Rabby and Chengcui Zhang, Arxiv 2023 | bibtex
• CADOps-Net: Jointly Learning CAD Operation Types and Steps from Boundary-Representations — 3DV 2022 | [project] |
• CLA-NeRF: Category-Level Articulated Neural Radiance Field — Tseng et al., ICRA 2022 | bibtex
• Consolidating Attention Features for Multi-view Image Editing — 🌐 Project Page
• CROSSFIRE: Camera Relocalization On Self-Supervised Features from an Implicit Representation — Moreau et al., ICCV 2023 | bibtex
• Deep Generative Models on 3D Representations: A Survey — 🌐 Project Page
• DeepCAD: A Deep Generative Network for Computer-Aided Design Models — ICCV 2021 | [project] [code] |
• Depth-supervised NeRF: Fewer Views and Faster Training for Free — Deng et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• DeRF: Decomposed Radiance Fields — Rebain et al. Arxiv 2020 | bibtex
• Direct Voxel Grid Optimization: Super-fast Convergence for Radiance Fields Reconstruction — Sun et al., CVPR 2022 | github | bibtex
• DM-NeRF: 3D Scene Geometry Decomposition and Manipulation from 2D Images — 💻 Code
• DMV3D: Denoising Multi-View Diffusion using 3D Large Reconstruction Model — 🌐 Project Page
• Dream3D: Zero-Shot Text-to-3D Synthesis Using 3D Shape Prior and Text-to-Image Diffusion Models — 🌐 Project Page | [💻 Code][Coming soon.]
• DreamCraft3D: Hierarchical 3D Generation with Bootstrapped Diffusion Prior — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusion — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• DreamGaussian: Generative Gaussian Splatting for Efficient 3D Content Creation — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• DreamGaussian4D: Generative 4D Gaussian Splatting — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• DreamWaltz: Make a Scene with Complex 3D Animatable Avatars — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• En3D: An Enhanced Generative Model for Sculpting 3D Humans from 2D Synthetic Data — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• EndoGaussian: Real-time Gaussian Splatting for Dynamic Endoscopic Scene Reconstruction — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• FastNeRF: High-Fidelity Neural Rendering at 200FPS — Garbin et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• From 2D CAD Drawings to 3D Parametric Models: A Vision-Language Approach — AAAI 2025 | [project] |
• GALA3D: Towards Text-to-3D Complex Scene Generation via Layout-guided Generative Gaussian Splatting — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• GARF: Gaussian Activated Radiance Fields for High Fidelity Reconstruction and Pose Estimation — Chng et al., ECCV 2022 | bibtex
• GaussianAvatars: Photorealistic Head Avatars with Rigged 3D Gaussians — 🌐 Project Page
• GaussianObject: High-Quality 3D Object Reconstruction from Four Views with Gaussian Splatting — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Gemini Robotics 1.5 — Embodied reasoning, thinking, and motion transfer.
• GIRAFFE: Representing Scenes as Compositional Generative Neural Feature Fields — Niemeyer et al., CVPR 2021, bibtex
• GNeRF: GAN-based Neural Radiance Field without Posed Camera — Meng et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• GO-NeRF: Generating Objects in Neural Radiance Fields for Virtual Reality Content Creation — 🌐 Project Page
• GRAF: Generative Radiance Fields for 3D-Aware Image Synthesis — Schwarz et al., NeurIPS 2020 | github | bibtex
• GRF: Learning a General Radiance Field for 3D Scene Representation and Rendering — Trevithick and Yang, Arxiv 2020 | github | bibtex
• IDE-3D: Interactive Disentangled Editing for High-Resolution 3D-aware Portrait Synthesis — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Image Sculpting: Precise Object Editing with 3D Geometry Control — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Instant3D: Instant Text-to-3D Generation — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• KiloNeRF: Speeding up Neural Radiance Fields with Thousands of Tiny MLPs — Reiser et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
• KiloNeuS: Implicit Neural Representations with Real-Time Global Illumination — Esposito et al., Arxiv 2022 | bibtex
• Learned Initializations for Optimizing Coordinate-Based Neural Representations — Tancik et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Learning the 3D Fauna of the Web — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Lightning NeRF: Efficient Hybrid Scene Representation for Autonomous Driving — Cao et al. ICRA 2024 | github | bibtex
• Loc-NeRF: Monte Carlo Localization using Neural Radiance Fields — Maggio et al., ICRA 2023 | github | bibtex
• Local 3D Editing via 3D Distillation of CLIP Knowledge — Hyung et al., CVPR 2023| github | bibtex
• M3DBench: Let's Instruct Large Models with Multi-modal 3D Prompts — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Magic3D: High-Resolution Text-to-3D Content Creation — 🌐 Project Page | [💻 Code][Coming soon.]
• Make-A-Character: High Quality Text-to-3D Character Generation within Minutes — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Make-It-3D: High-Fidelity 3D Creation from A Single Image with Diffusion Prior — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• MinD-3D: Reconstruct High-quality 3D objects in Human Brain — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Mixture of Volumetric Primitives for Efficient Neural Rendering — Lombardi et al., SIGGRAPH 2021 | bibtex
• NeO 360: Neural Fields for Sparse View Synthesis of Outdoor Scenes — Irshad et al., ICCV 2023 | github | bibtex
• NeRF-MAE: Masked AutoEncoders for Self-Supervised 3D Representation Learning for Neural Radiance Fields — Irshad et al., ECCV 2024 | bibtex
• NeRF-VAE: A Geometry Aware 3D Scene Generative Model — Kosiorek et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• NeRF: Neural Radiance Field in 3D Vision, Introduction and Review — Kyle Gao, Yina Gao, Hongjie He, Dening Lu, Linlin Xu, Jonathan Li
• NeRF++: Analyzing and Improving Neural Radiance Fields — Zhang et al., Arxiv 2020 | github | bibtex
• Neural Volume Rendering: NeRF And Beyond — Dellaert and Yen-Chen, Arxiv 2020 | blog | github |
• NeuS: Learning Neural Implicit Surfaces by Volume Rendering for Multi-view Reconstruction — Wang et al., NeurIPS 2021 | github | bibtex
• One-2-3-45++: Fast Single Image to 3D Objects with Consistent Multi-View Generation and 3D Diffusion — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• ParSeNet: A Parametric Surface Fitting Network for 3D Point Clouds — ECCV 2020 | [project] [code] |
• PC2WF: 3D Wireframe Reconstruction from Raw Point Clouds — ICLR 2021 | [code] |
• pixelNeRF: Neural Radiance Fields from One or Few Images — Yu et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• PlankAssembly: Robust 3D Reconstruction from Three Orthographic Views with Learnt Shape Programs — ICCV 2023 | [project] [code] |
• Point2Cyl: Reverse Engineering 3D Objects from Point Clouds to Extrusion Cylinders — CVPR 2022 | [project] [code] |
• PolyGen: An Autoregressive Generative Model of 3D Meshes — ICML 2020 | [code] |
• PonderV2: Pave the Way for 3D Foundation Model with A Universal Pre-training Paradigm — Zhu et al., Arxiv 2023 | github | bibtex
• Progressive3D: Progressively Local Editing for Text-to-3D Content Creation with Complex Semantic Prompts — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• PSAvatar: A Point-based Shape Model for Real-Time Head Avatar Animation with 3D Gaussian Splatting — 💻 Code
• PVDeconv: Point-voxel deconvolution for autoencoding cad construction in 3D — ICIP 2020 | [project] |
• Reconstructing Editable Prismatic CAD from Rounded Voxel Models — SIGGRAPH Asia 2022 | |
• RichDreamer: A Generalizable Normal-Depth Diffusion Model for Detail Richness in Text-to-3D — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Rig3DGS: Creating Controllable Portraits from Casual Monocular Videos — 🌐 Project Page
• RT-NeRF: Real-Time On-Device Neural Radiance Fields Towards Immersive AR/VR Rendering — Li et al., ICCAD 2022 | bibtex
• SEEAvatar: Photorealistic Text-to-3D Avatar Generation with Constrained Geometry and Appearance — 🌐 Project Page
• SIGNeRF: Scene Integrated Generation for Neural Radiance Fields — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Streaming Radiance Fields for 3D Video Synthesis — Li et al. NeurIPS 2022 | github | bibtex
• Street Gaussians: Modeling Dynamic Urban Scenes with Gaussian Splatting — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Supervised Fitting of Geometric Primitives to 3D Point Clouds — CVPR 2019 | [code] |
• SurfelNeRF: Neural Surfel Radiance Fields for Online Photorealistic Reconstruction of Indoor Scenes — Gao et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• Taming Mode Collapse in Score Distillation for Text-to-3D Generation — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• Text-To-4D Dynamic Scene Generation — 🌐 Project Page
• Text2CAD: Text to 3D CAD Generation via Technical Drawings — NeurIPS 2024 | [project] |
• TextField3D: Towards Enhancing Open-Vocabulary 3D Generation with Noisy Text Fields — 🌐 Project Page
• TextureDreamer: Image-guided Texture Synthesis through Geometry-aware Diffusion — 🌐 Project Page
• TOSS:High-quality Text-guided Novel View Synthesis from a Single Image — 🌐 Project Page
• Triplane Meets Gaussian Splatting: Fast and Generalizable Single-View 3D Reconstruction with Transformers — 🌐 Project Page
• ViCA-NeRF: View-Consistency-Aware 3D Editing of Neural Radiance Fields — 💻 Code
• Volume Rendering of Neural Implicit Surfaces — Yariv et al., NeurIPS 2021 | github | bibtex
• Wonder3D: Single Image to 3D using Cross-Domain Diffusion — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code
• X-NeRF: Explicit Neural Radiance Field for Multi-Scene 360° Insufficient RGB-D Views — Zhu et al., WACV 2023 | github | bibtex
• Zero123++: a Single Image to Consistent Multi-view Diffusion Base Model — 🌐 Project Page | 💻 Code | 🤗 Hugging Face

AI Image & Texture Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Image & Texture Generation Software

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

AI Video Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Video Generation Software

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

AI 3D Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI 3D Generation Software

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

AI Audio & Music Generation Software

Also in Software Reference → AI Audio & Music Generation Software

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

AI-Assisted CG Software

Also in Software Reference → AI-Assisted CG Software

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

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Tools, Pipeline & Utilities

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

USD (Universal Scene Description)

OpenUSD resources, specifications, and guides.

• AL USD Maya — Represent Maya data in Maya and USD data in USD.
• Animal Logic's USD Docker — A set of docker build scripts that will download all the Open Source packages required to build Pixar's Universal Scene Description, as well as USD itself
• Apple USD Tools — Usdz_converter, Reality Composer.
• Luma USD — Plugins for USD.
• NVIDIA USD Resources — Omniverse, tutorials, tools.
• OpenUSD — Official Pixar USD site — specification, tools, resources.
• USD Cookbook (Colin Kennedy) — Code recipes and examples.
• USD Manager — Program designed for lightweight browsing, managing, and editing of Universal Scene Description (USD) files.
• USD Noodle — Pretty node graph showing dependencies of a USD file.
• USD Qtpy — Python Qt components for building custom USD tools.
• USD Shell Extension for Windows — Full-featured Windows shell extension for giving the File Explorer support for USD thumbnails, side previews and even exposes certain deep metadata to Windows Search.
• USD Survival Guide — Practical USD guide for VFX artists.
• USD URI Resolver — A generic, URI based resolver for USD, support custom plugins.
• USD Working Group (ASWF) — Alliance for Open Media USD resources.
• UsdQt — Qt components for building custom USD tools.

Scene & Pipeline Tools

Production pipelines, render management, look dev.

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

Related:

• BlenderProc — A procedural Blender pipeline for photorealistic training image generation.
• CGCmake — CMake modules for CG apps.
• Cortex — Libraries for VFX software development.
• Cross3D — Scene and node management abstraction.
• Dailies — Wraps ffmpeg, Nuke, or RV to process video files and image sequences. Integrates with Shotgun, Ftrack, Kitsu.
• Easy3D — A lightweight, easy-to-use, and efficient C++ library for processing and rendering 3D data .
• Example of Python scripts for 3D Studio Max, Maya and Blender — Example of Python scripts for 3D Studio Max, Maya and Blender.
• Field3D — Open-source library for storing voxel data.
• MayaCharm — Run and edit Maya scripts directly from PyCharm
• MayaSublime — Run and edit Maya scripts directly from SublimeText
• mGui — Portable pure-python GUI library for Maya.
• minq — Maya query language for speeding up common scene operations.
• nuke.vim — Run and edit Nuke scripts directly from vim
• OD CopyPasteExternal — Tool to easily copy/paste a geometry across 3D application like Blender <> 3DS Max <> Maya <> ... <> and more.
• Pipeline Developer Forum — Pipeline Developer Forum.
• Prisma — Computational photography pipeline tool that performs multiple inferences (masks, depth, motionvectors) from any image or video.
• Py3dsMax — 3dsMax API in Python.
• PyMEL — Python in Maya Done Right.
• Ramses — Asset Management System for motion picture production (by Rainbox Laboratory).
• Stalker — Open Source Production Asset Management (ProdAM) Library designed specifically for Animation and VFX Studios.
• VEX — Houdini add-on for Sublime Text

Gaussian Splatting & NeRF

Neural and splatting reconstruction.

• 3D Gaussian Splatting (INRIA reference impl) — Original implementation.
• 3DGS Introduction — HuggingFace guide
• 3DGS.cpp — Cross-platform, high performance 3DGS renderer in C++ and Vulkan Compute, supporting Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and visionOS.
• 4D Gaussian Splatting — Dynamic scenes (CVPR 2024).
• A Shading-Guided Generative Implicit Model for Shape-Accurate 3D-Aware Image Synthesis — Pan et al., NeurIPS 2021 | github | bibtex
• Brush — 3D reconstruction for all.
• BundleSDF: Neural 6-DoF Tracking and 3D Reconstruction of Unknown Objects — Wen et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• Contrastive Lift: 3D Object Instance Segmentation by Slow-Fast Contrastive Fusion — Bhalgat et al., NeurIPS 2023 (Spotlight) | bibtex
• DyLiN: Making Light Field Networks Dynamic — Yu et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtext
• DynIBaR: Neural Dynamic Image-Based Rendering — Li et al., CVPR 2023 | bibtex
• Gaussian Head Avatars: A Summary — Gaussian Head Avatars: A Summary.
• Generative Occupancy Fields for 3D Surface-Aware Image Synthesis — Xu et al., NeurIPS 2021 | github | bibtex
• IBRNet: Learning Multi-View Image-Based Rendering — Wang et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Learning Neural Transmittance for Efficient Rendering of Reflectance Fields — Mohammad Shafiei et al., BMVC 2021 | bibtex
• Mega Sa M — Structure and motion from casual video.
• msplat — A modular differential gaussian rasterization library.
• Neural 3D Video Synthesis from Multi-view Video — Li et al., CVPR 2022 | bibtex
• Neural Body: Implicit Neural Representations with Structured Latent Codes for Novel View Synthesis of Dynamic Humans — Peng et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Neural Rays for Occlusion-aware Image-based Rendering — Liu et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• PlenOctrees for Real-time Rendering of Neural Radiance Fields — Yu et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• Pointrix — Differentiable point-based rendering.
• Ponder: Point Cloud Pre-training via Neural Rendering — Huang et al., ICCV 2023 | bibtex
• PVA: Pixel-aligned Volumetric Avatars — Raj et al., CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• PyTorch Implementation — Curated implementation of Vanilla 3DGS in PyTorch
• Rodin: A Generative Model for Sculpting 3D Digital Avatars Using Diffusion — Wang et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• spaTV — WebGL Viewer for 4D Gaussians (based on SpaceTime Gaussian) with demo here.
• SpectacularAI — Conversion scripts for different 3DGS conventions.
• splatviz — Viewer that allows you to edit the rendering code during runtime or to display multiple scenes at once.
• Taichi 3D GS — Taichi-based implementation (Apache-2.0).
• TiNeuVox: Fast Dynamic Radiance Fields with Time-Aware Neural Voxels — Fang et al., SIGGRAPH Asia 2022 | github | bibtex
• UV Volumes for Real-time Rendering of Editable Free-view Human Performance — Chen et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• vkgs — Cross-platform, high performance 3DGS renderer in C++ and Vulkan Compute/Graphics.
• Warp 3DGS — Warp/Python-based implementation (AGPL-3.0).

Photogrammetry & 3D Scanning

Photogrammetry, LiDAR, and Gaussian splat capture.

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

Related:

• 360 Gaussian Splatting — Generate gaussian splatting directly from 360 images
• 3D Gaussian Splatting (joeyan reimpl) — Python/CUDA | MIT |
• 3D Gaussian Splatting (WangFeng18 reimpl) — Python/CUDA | MIT |
• 3D in Geospatial: NeRFs, Gaussian Splatting, and Spatial Computing — 3D in Geospatial: NeRFs, Gaussian Splatting, and Spatial Computing.
• 3D Neural Scene Representations for Visuomotor Control — Li et al., CoRL 2021 Oral | bibtex
• A Higher-Dimensional Representation for Topologically Varying Neural Radiance Fields — Park et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• AligNeRF: High-Fidelity Neural Radiance Fields via Alignment-Aware Training — Jiang et al., CVPR 2023 | bibtex
• Animatable Neural Radiance Fields for Modeling Dynamic Human Bodies — Peng et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
• AutoInt: Automatic Integration for Fast Neural Volume Rendering — Lindell et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Awesome-3DGS Paper List — Contribute | MrNeRF
• Block-NeRF: Scalable Large Scene Neural View Synthesis — Tancik et al., Arxiv 2022 | bibtex
• CLIP-NeRF: Text-and-Image Driven Manipulation of Neural Radiance Fields — Wang et al., CVPR 2022| github | bibtex
• CodeNeRF: Disentangled Neural Radiance Fields for Object Categories — Jang et al., ICCV 2021 | bibtex
• Color-NeRF — 🌐 Project Page
• Comprehensive overview of Gaussian Splatting — Comprehensive overview of Gaussian Splatting.
• Compressing Gaussian Splats — Compressing Gaussian Splats.
• D-NeRF: Neural Radiance Fields for Dynamic Scenes — Pumarola et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Deformable Neural Radiance Fields — Park et al., Arxiv 2020 | github | bibtex
• DFNet: Enhance Absolute Pose Regression with Direct Feature Matching — Chen et al., ECCV 2022 | github | bibtex
• Direct Gaussian Style Optimization (DGSO): Stylizing 3D Gaussian Splats — Applying style transfer during gaussian optimization to produce stylized gaussian splats of a scene.
• DONeRF: Towards Real-Time Rendering of Compact Neural Radiance Fields using Depth Oracle Networks — Neff et al., CGF 2021 | github | bibtex
• Dynamic Neural Radiance Fields for Monocular 4D Facial Avatar Reconstruction — Gafni et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Editable Free-viewpoint Video Using a Layered Neural Representation — Zhang et al., SIGGRAPH 2021 | github | bibtex
• Editing Conditional Radiance Fields — Liu et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• ENeRF: Efficient Neural Radiance Fields for Interactive Free-viewpoint Video — Lin et al., SIGGRAPH 2022 | github | bibtex
• FiG-NeRF: Figure Ground Neural Radiance Fields for 3D Object Category Modelling — Xie et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• Gaussian Splats Town Hall - Part 2 — Gaussian Splats Town Hall - Part 2.
• Gaussian Splatting 3D — Python/CUDA | |
• Gaussian Splatting is pretty cool — Gaussian Splatting is pretty cool.
• Gaussian Splatting Lightning — A 3D Gaussian Splatting framework with various derived algorithms and an interactive web viewer
• Ha-NeRF: Hallucinated Neural Radiance Fields in the Wild — Chen et al., CVPR 2022 | github | bibtex
• HumanNeRF: Free-viewpoint Rendering of Moving People from Monocular Video — Weng et al., CVPR 2022 | github | bibtex
• In-Place Scene Labelling and Understanding with Implicit Scene Representation — Zhi et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• iNeRF: Inverting Neural Radiance Fields for Pose Estimation — Yen-Chen et al. IROS 2021 | bibtex
• InfNeRF: Towards Infinite Scale NeRF Rendering with O(log n) Space Complexity — Liang et al., SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 | github | bibtex
• Intro to gaussian splatting (and Unity plugin) — Intro to gaussian splatting (and Unity plugin).
• Jax Ne RF — Deng et al., 2020 | bibtex
• L2G-NeRF: Local-to-Global Registration for Bundle-Adjusting Neural Radiance Fields — Chen et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• Learning Compositional Radiance Fields of Dynamic Human Heads — Wang et al., Arxiv 2020 | bibtex
• Making Gaussian Splats more smaller — Making Gaussian Splats more smaller.
• Making Gaussian Splats smaller — Making Gaussian Splats smaller.
• Meshroom — 3D Reconstruction Software.
• MINE: Towards Continuous Depth MPI with NeRF for Novel View Synthesis — Jiaxin Li et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
• Mip Ne RF — @google, 2021 | bibtex
• Mip-NeRF 360: Unbounded Anti-Aliased Neural Radiance Fields — Barron et al., Arxiv 2022 | bibtex
• Mip-NeRF: A Multiscale Representation for Anti-Aliasing Neural Radiance Fields — Barron et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• Mr Ne RF — For inspiring me to construct this repo.
• MVSNeRF: Fast Generalizable Radiance Field Reconstruction from Multi-View Stereo — Chen et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
• Ne RF Py Torch — Yen-Chen Lin, 2020 | bibtex
• Ne RF Py Torch Lighting — @kwea123, 2020
• Ne RF Py Torch3 D — @facebookresearch, 2020
• Ne RF W — @kwea123, 2021
• NeRF — Mildenhall et al., 2020 | bibtex
• NeRF (paper site) — Mildenhall et al., ECCV 2020 | github | bibtex
• NeRF in the Dark: High Dynamic Range View Synthesis from Noisy Raw Images — Ben Mildenhall et al, arXiv 2021 | bibtex
• NeRF in the Wild: Neural Radiance Fields for Unconstrained Photo Collections — Martin-Brualla et al., CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• NeRF--: Neural Radiance Fields Without Known Camera Parameters — Wang et al., Arxiv 2021 | github | bibtex
• NeRF-In: Free-Form NeRF Inpainting with RGB-D Priors — Liu et al., Arxiv 2022 | bibtex
• NeRF-SOS: Any-view Self-supervised Object Segmentation on Complex Real-world Scenes — Fan et al., ICLR 2023 | bibtex
• NerfingMVS: Guided Optimization of Neural Radiance Fields for Indoor Multi-view Stereo — Wei et al., ICCV 2021 | bibtex
• Nerfstudio gsplat — Python/CUDA | Apache-2.0 | Integration with Nerfstudio |
• Nerfstudio Unofficial — Nerfstudio Unofficial.
• NeRV: Neural Reflectance and Visibility Fields for Relighting and View Synthesis — Srinivasan et al. CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• Neural Radiance Flow for 4D View Synthesis and Video Processing — Du et al., Arxiv 2020 | bibtex
• Neural Refinement for Absolute Pose Regression with Feature Synthesis — Chen et al., CVPR 2024 | github | bibtex
• Neural Rendering (YouTube) — Ben Mildenhall
• Neural Scene Flow Fields for Space-Time View Synthesis of Dynamic Scenes — Li et al., CVPR 2021 | github | bibtex
• Neural Scene Graphs for Dynamic Scenes — Ost et al., CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• Neural Sparse Voxel Fields — Liu et al., NeurIPS 2020 | github | bibtex
• Non-Rigid Neural Radiance Fields: Reconstruction and Novel View Synthesis of a Deforming Scene from Monocular Video — Tretschk et al., Arxiv 2020 | github | bibtex
• NoPe-NeRF: Optimising Neural Radiance Field with No Pose Prior — Bian et al., CVPR 2023 | github | bibtex
• openMVG — A library for computer-vision scientists targeted for the Multiple View Geometry community.
• Photogrammetry Guide — A guide covering Photogrammetry including the applications, libraries and tools that will make you a better and more efficient Photogrammetry development.
• Photogrammetry Importer — Addon to import different photogrammetry formats into Blender.
• pi-GAN: Periodic Implicit Generative Adversarial Networks for 3D-Aware Image Synthesis — Chan et al., CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• Point-NeRF: Point-based Neural Radiance Fields — Xu et al., CVPR 2022 | github | bibtex
• Polyscope — A C++ & Python viewer for 3D data like meshes and point clouds.
• PoRF: Pose Residual Field for Accurate Neural Surface Reconstruction — Bian et al., ICLR 2024 | github | bibtex
• Portrait Neural Radiance Fields from a Single Image — Gao et al., Arxiv 2020 | bibtex
• Putting NeRF on a Diet: Semantically Consistent Few-Shot View Synthesis — Matthew Tancik et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• Self-Calibrating Neural Radiance Fields — Jeong et al., ICCV 2021 | github | bibtex
• SinNeRF: Training Neural Radiance Fields on Complex Scenes from a Single Image — Xu et al., ECCV 2022 | github | bibtex
• Space-time Neural Irradiance Fields for Free-Viewpoint Video — Xian et al., CVPR 2021 | bibtex
• StyleNeRF: A Style-based 3D-Aware Generator for High-resolution Image Synthesis — Gu et al., Arxiv 2021 | bibtex
• SuperSplat — A browser-based tool for inspecting, editing, optimizing and publishing 3D Gaussian Splats.
• Switch-NeRF: Learning Scene Decomposition with Mixture of Experts for Large-scale Neural Radiance Fields — Mi et al., ICLR 2023 | github | bibtex

Retopology & Mesh Tools

Retopology and mesh processing.

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
AutoRemesher	Open-source auto-retopology tool intended to convert source meshes into clean, animation-friendly all-quad geometry. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Open Source	Free · Auto Retopo	Auto-retopology
Instant Meshes	Free, open-source auto-retopology. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Open Source	Free · Auto Retopo	Auto-retopology
Topogun	Standalone retopology and baking. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Paid	Retopo + Bake · Classic	Retopo + baking

Related:

• Danny Mac 3D — Character modeling, posing, rigging, retopology, sculpting.
• Instant Meshes Remesh — A suite of retopology tools for Blender. GitHub
• Retopo MT Paid — Tool for retopo, you use it in addition with other addons or tools in Blender, in Edit Mode.
• RetopoFlow Paid — Blender addon for manual retopology.
• SpeedRetopo — Free add-on for Blender to make fast and easy retopology using Bsurface.
• Topology Guides — Topology reference.

UV Tools

UV unwrapping, packing, and UDIM tools.

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
Headus UVLayout	Standalone UV editor, flatten-based. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Paid	Flatten-based · Classic	Flatten-based UV editor
RizomUV	Fast UV unwrapping, auto-seam, auto-pack. Standalone or bridge. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Paid	Industry Standard · Standalone	Fast pro UV unwrapping
UVPackmaster	Advanced UV packing, UDIM support. Blender addon + standalone. See also: Software Reference → Retopology & UV Software	Paid	UDIM · Packing	UV packing + UDIM

Related:

• UV Checker Map Maker — Custom UV checker textures.
• UV Toolkit Paid — Tools collection for UV editing in blender.

Rigging & Animation Tools

Auto-rig, retargeting, and animation middleware.

• AccuRIG — Free application designed for fast and easy character rigging.
• APEX (Houdini) Paid — SideFX's procedural node-based rigging framework.
• Auto-Rig Pro (Blender) Paid — Automatic rigging and retargeting.
• CvWrap — Fast Maya wrap deformer.
• EasyMocap — Open-source toolbox for markerless human motion capture and novel view synthesis from RGB videos.
• Mesh2Motion — FREE & open-source web application to animate your 3D models. Supports humanoid, four-legged, and bird creatures.
• Onion Skin Renderer — Onion Skin Renderer for Maya.
• ossos — A complete character skinning & animation library for the web
• trigger — Operational code-driven rigging tool for Autodesk Maya.

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking

Camera tracking, object tracking, and camera matching tools.

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

Related:

• F Spy Maya — Unofficial fSpy Maya importer (one of several).

Miscellaneous 3D Tools & Utilities

Assorted CG utilities and specialty tools.

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

Related:

• City Roads — Generate road maps of any city as vector art.
• DEM Net Elevation API Freemium — Live 3D textured terrain generation from real data - export height/normal maps, glTF, OBJ, STL
• DEM Net Elevation API C# — Terrain generation from real data with textures, normal maps, glTF, OBJ, STL support
• emojillate — Pixellate an image into emoji
• Graphtoy — Mathematical function grapher by Inigo Quilez.
• HDRI To Cube Map — A tool to convert your HDRI file into a Cube map.
• Jsplacement — Procedural displacement map generator.
• Math for Motion — Interactive math concepts for motion graphics.
• Palladio — CityEngine Plugin for Houdini
• Penzil — A web application to sketch in 3d made in three.js and Vue.
• Sorcar — A procedural modeling node-based system which utilizes Blender and its Python API to create a visual programming environment for artists and developers
• Sprite Stacker — Create pseudo-3D sprite stacks from pixel art with integrated voxel editor (Godot-based, pre-1.0).
• SunCalc — Sun position, golden hour, and shadow visualization for any location and time.
• Tangram Heightmapper — Interactive grayscale heightmap browser, which can generate heightmaps for use in 3D applications.
• Texture Extractor — Extract textures and materials from photos (Godot-based, pre-1.0).
• VFX Camera Database — Camera sensor data.
• WebGL Texture Tester — Attempts to load one of every texture format supported by WebGL, intended to quickly show which formats your browser/device supports.

Plugin & Addon Marketplaces

Per-software plugin marketplaces.

• 30 Free PBR materials by Artem Lebedev — 30 Free PBR materials by Artem Lebedev.
• aescripts + aeplugins Paid — Primary After Effects / Premiere plugin marketplace.
• Archipack Paid — [$] : The Archipack addon for Blender contains a collection of parametric primitives for ArchViz. You can manipulate these primitives with a realtime on-screen editing interface.
• Autodesk App Store Paid — Official Maya plugins and scripts.
• Blender Osm Freemium — One click download and import of OpenStreetMap and terrain for Blender.
• BlenderAddons.org — Provides a list of free and paid Blender addons. Find the addon you need under categories or tags.
• Blenderesse's Generators — Blenderesse offers a few geometry nodes generators for free. Including; Electric Power Line
• Blenderkit Paid — In-app asset browser.
• Brush Manager for Blender — Add-on for Blender that helps you to create custom brushes, store them in a file and organize the library of various categories of brushes.
• BY GEN — Addon designed to simplify the process of creating non-destructive, generative modeling styles in Blender. GitHub
• City Scatter — Generate cityscape concepts, powered by Blender's collection system.
• E Cycles Paid — [$] : is a fork of Cycles which renders up to 2.5x faster out of the box when using CUDA GPUs, up to 15x using new options.
• EasyBPY — This purpose of this module is to simplify the use of the Blender API (bpy) by creating an extra layer of abstraction that is more human-readable, memorable and reduces the user's exposure to compl
• ExtraInfo — Show more info in the viewport.
• FlippedNormals (site) Paid — Character, sculpting, and CG marketplace.
• Flow Map Painter — This blender add-on provides a brush tool for flow map painting. GitHub
• Free Hard Surface KitBash Models — Free sci-fi kitbash set, 3D Kitbashing library
• Free Sky Environment Shading — Free custom procedural environment shading.
• Free VDB Clouds — Pack of 3 cloud VDBs for large Ariel views.
• Greyscalegorilla (site) Paid — C4D plugins, materials, HDRIs.
• Gumroad Paid — Creator-direct marketplace.
• gumroad/bluefoxcreation Freemium — gumroad/curtisjamesholt
• gumroad/simonthommes Freemium — Meta's Massivest Materials, Abstract Materials
• Higgsas Blender Freemium — Mesh Tension Map, Droplet Generator, BackdropGen
• Highend3d Paid — Maya community scripts and plugins.
• jamajurabaev Freemium — janurschel, yansculpts,
• KIT OPS Freemium — Can create objects and scenes with extreme efficiency and speed. Complex industrial designs can be generated in a single sitting.
• Kitbash3D Paid — High-end kitbash asset packs.
• Layer Painter Paid — Allows you to use a Layer-System for creating materials with painting and procedurals. The layers include masks, filters and much more. Even though the addon is designed with a PBR workflow in mind
• MACHIN3tools — Free, continuously evolving collection of blender tools and pie menus in a single customizable package. GitHub [![market]](https://blendermarket
• Maxivz’s Interactive Tools — Collection of intuitive, context sensitive tools for Blender.
• Mech/Fy — A procedural workflow that automates the process of hard surfaces modelling.
• MotionArray Paid — Motion graphics and video assets.
• Orbolt Paid — Official Houdini HDA marketplace.
• Parallax UV Mapping — This is Parallax Mapping material and node setup. Created in Blender 2.8 for EEVEE renderer, it works well in cycles too. [more info]
• Path Solver HDA — Path Solver is a Houdini Digital Asset solving points/objects along any path without them intersecting each other.
• Photographer 2 — Camera Exposure, White balance and Autofocus. Photographer 2 was made completely free for all.
• Pixel Art Rendering — This is a free addon to make pixel art like renders in blender. It works with EEVEE, Bayer dithering and multiple light sources.
• Point Based Growth HDA — Houdini point based growth Asset.
• Poly Source — Designed to simplify the control of the number of different types of polygons. You can see how many Gone, Quad and Tris are on the active object.
• PowerSave — Tool intended to streamline saving and make saving itself more accessible, friendly and more artist streamlined.
• Reactor (DaVinci) — Community package manager for DaVinci Resolve, hundreds of free tools.
• Speedflow Paid — [$] : Addon for non-destructive workflow.
• Speedsculpt Paid — [$] : The addon allows you to create very fast characters, to manage Dyntopo Sculpting with booleans, cut curves, skin modifier, decimate, mask etc.
• SSGI for EEVEE — Converts Diffuse and Principled BSDFs to nodegroups that give representation of diffuse component to SSR for SSGI effect.
• Super Fast Render Paid — Either uses preset render settings optimised to speed up render times or Uses a benchmark to detect the fastest settings for the same render quality
• Super Res Render Paid — Plugin that splits renders up into several chunks to make rendering at super high resolutions possible.
• Texel Density Checker — Tools for calculate, set and copy texel density. GitHub
• Universal Human Rigged Base Mesh Paid — [$] : Rigged human base mesh.
• VideoHive (Envato) Paid — Templates and presets.
• Wrap Defromer — The wrap deformer provides an alternative approach to Houdinis point deform. The wrap deformer will search for proximity to the driver meshes closest position on the primitive surface and interpolate

Conversion Tools

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

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

Related:

• 123apps Freemium — Free web tools for audio, video, image.
• 3DGS Converter — Format conversion tool for 3D Gaussian Splatting data.
• Assimp (GitHub) — Open-source library, 40+ 3D format import (C/C++/Python).
• Assimp (site) — A portable Open-Source library to import various well-known 3D model formats in a uniform manner.
• CloudConvert Freemium — 200+ formats with API.
• Convertio Freemium — Multi-format converter.
• F Spy USD — Unofficial fSpy to USD converter.
• FBX2glTF — Meta's CLI for FBX → glTF 2.0.
• FreeConvert Freemium — Free online file converter.
• glTF Pipeline — GlTF ↔ GLB, Draco compress, texture resize.
• GLTF Report — Web app to diagnose, optimize your gltf files. Nice inspector that even support BASIS/KTX2 textures. by @donmccurdy
• glTF Transform — JS library/CLI for reading, editing, optimizing glTF (Draco, KTX2).
• glTF Validator — Official Khronos spec validation.
• glTF Viewer — Web-based glTF/GLB viewer.
• gltfpack — Aggressive glTF mesh/texture optimization.
• ImageMagick — CLI, 200+ image formats.
• MAZANOKE — Browser-based converter.
• Mixamo Converter — Blender Plugin that Converts Mixamo animations to work in Unreal Engine 4 with root motion.
• Needle USD Converter — Web-based USD/USDZ viewer and converter.
• obj2gltf — Cesium's OBJ → glTF with PBR mapping.
• OIIO (OpenImageIO) — ASWF CLI tools, 100+ formats. VFX pipeline standard.
• Online Convert Freemium — Web-based format converter.
• Packyderm — A lightweight tool that lets you browse and extract the contents of unitypackage files without opening Unity
• Pixelicious — Image-to-Pixel Art converter.
• PNGQuant — CLI lossy PNG compression.
• Retargeting Mixamo Animation Tool — Retargeting Mixamo Animation Tool.
• SoX — CLI audio processing.
• Squoosh — Google — AVIF/WebP/JPEG XL image compression.
• TinyPNG Freemium — Lossy PNG/JPEG compression.
• USDZ — glTF MultiExport, ZBrush
• VERT.sh — General-purpose online converter.

Pipeline Standards

Interchange formats and standards.

• ACES 2.0 — Academy Color Encoding System. Widely adopted in film/TV, growing in games.
• Alembic — Geometry/animation interchange format (Sony + ILM).
• MaterialX (GitHub) — Materials and look-dev.
• MaterialX (site) — Material interchange format (Lucasfilm). Supported by USD, Blender, Maya, Houdini, Arnold, RenderMan, Substance.
• MDL — Material Definition Language SDK (NVIDIA).
• Open Image IO — A library for reading and writing images in many common and VFX-related formats.
• OpenDCX — C++ extensions for OpenEXR's "deep" file format (DreamWorks).
• OpenPBR — Standardized uber-shader for PBR (Autodesk + Adobe).
• OpenTimelineIO (GitHub) — Editorial timeline interchange (Pixar).

Pipeline Overview

Industry-to-software quick reference.

• Architecture Pipeline Paid — Primary software — 3ds Max, SketchUp, Revit. Key considerations — accuracy, real-world scale.
• Motion Graphics Pipeline Paid — Primary software — Cinema 4D, After Effects. Key considerations — stylized looks, fast iteration.
• Product Design Pipeline Paid — Primary software — Fusion 360, SolidWorks, KeyShot. Key considerations — manufacturing.

Viewers & File Utilities

Also in Software Reference → Viewers & File Utilities

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

Pipeline & Production Management Software

Also in Software Reference → Pipeline & Production Management Software

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
📄 build dynamic matchmaking with PubNub ~ epicgames	[multiplayer].		Free
Articy:draft	Professional narrative design middleware.		Paid	Middleware · Pro	Professional narrative middleware
AYON (Ynput)	Open-source VFX/animation pipeline platform; successor to OpenPype (archived).		Open Source	Open Pipeline · VFX Studio	Open-source studio pipeline
CGAL	A software project that provides easy access to efficient and reliable geometric algorithms in the form of a C++ library.		Open Source	Geometry Lib · Open Source	Computational geometry algorithms
CGRU	CG tools pack that includes AFANASY, a free open-source render farm manager.		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Open-source render farm
Coalition	Render-farm manager from Mercenaries Engineering (makers of Guerilla Render).		Open Source	Render Farm · Guerilla-adjacent	Small-studio render farm
Deadline (AWS Thinkbox)	Render farm manager. Free since v10.1.23. Deadline 10 in maintenance mode (Nov 2025); AWS pushing managed Deadline Cloud.		Free	Render Farm · Free	On-prem render farm management
Epic Online Services	Free multiplayer, matchmaking, voice chat.		Free	Free EOS · Matchmaking/Voice	Free multiplayer services
Flamenco (Blender render farm)	Blender Foundation's free render-farm manager.		Open Source	Render Farm · Blender	Blender render farm
Flamenco (flamenco.io)	From the Blender Foundation		Open Source	Render Farm · Blender	Blender render farm
Flow Production Tracking (Autodesk)	Production tracking and review for film/TV/games. Renamed from ShotGrid in March 2024.		Paid	Industry Standard · Production Tracking	Studio production tracking and review
Foundry Katana	Look-development and lighting orchestration tool for film/episodic VFX, scaling to massive scenes via deferred evaluation.		Paid	Industry Standard · Lookdev/Lighting	Film lookdev and lighting at scale
ftrack	Production tracking.		Paid	Production Tracking · Pro	Production tracking
Gaffer (GafferHQ compositing)	Gaffer is a great toolbox, it's a VFX application that enables look developers, lighters, and compositors to easily build, tweak, iterate, and render scenes.		Open Source	Look Dev · Open Source	Look dev / lighting / compositing
Godot Game Tools	Made easy importing mixamo animations. tools to ease the creation/import process of assets into Godot Game Engine and others.
Golaem (Autodesk)	Crowd simulation for Maya. Now bundled into Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection; built into Maya 2026.	Bundled in Autodesk M&E Collection ($335/mo or $2,700/yr)	Paid	Crowd Sim · Maya	Maya crowd simulation
Houdini Engine (SideFX product)	Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot.		Paid	Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine	Procedural pipeline in-engine
Kitsu (CGWire)	Production tracker.		Open Source	Open Source · Tracking	Open-source production tracking
Massive	AI-driven crowd simulation pioneered on Lord of the Rings; Massive Prime + plugins for Maya/Max.		Paid	Industry Standard · Crowd Sim	Feature-film crowd simulation
Medieval Fantasy City Generator	This application generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size. City Viewer : is a 3d-visualizer for MFCD. See other generators from
Nakama	Open-source game server (social, matchmaking, leaderboards).		Open Source	Social Server · Matchmaking	Social game server
Open3D	Modern library for 3D data processing — point clouds, meshes, voxels, reconstruction.		Open Source	3D Data Processing · Open Source	3D data processing (Python/C++)
OpenCue (docs)	Open-source render management.		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Render farm management
OpenTimelineIO (site)	(repo) - Editorial timeline.		Open Source	Editorial · Open Source	Editorial timeline interchange
Ornatrix (Ephere)	Hair, fur, and feather plugin for 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, and Unreal.		Paid	Grooming · Multi-Host	Cross-host grooming
Pandora	Open-Source Renderfarm-Manager.		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Indie render farm management
Perforce Helix Core	Industry standard for large assets (free ≤5 users).		Freemium	Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users	Large-asset VCS
Photon Engine	Cloud multiplayer (PUN, Fusion, Quantum SDKs).		Freemium	Cloud Multiplayer · Unity/Unreal	Cloud multiplayer
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control	Artist-friendly binary version control.		Freemium	Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated	Artist-friendly VCS
Prism Pipeline	Animation and VFX pipeline.		Freemium	Pipeline · Free Core	Indie/small studio pipeline
Royal Render	Per-node render farm manager for VFX/animation pipelines.		Paid	Render Farm · Studio	Studio render farm management
SmartFoxServer 2X	A comprehensive SDK for rapidly developing multiplayer games and applications with Adobe Flash/Flex/Air, Unity, HTML5, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Android, Java, Windows 8, C++ and more.		Freemium
TerraForge3D	A procedural terrain generation and procedural modeling toolkit.		Open Source
Tik Manager (GitHub)	Artist friendly asset and pipeline manager.		Open Source	Pipeline · Open Source	Asset/pipeline management for small teams
Tik Manager (site)	Artist-friendly asset and pipeline manager.		Freemium	Pipeline · Asset Mgmt	Asset/pipeline management
Tractor (Pixar)	Pixar's render queue/dispatch system, bundled with RenderMan licensing.		Paid	RenderMan · Render Farm	RenderMan-centric farm dispatch
Visual Studio (Windows)	Official supported IDE for Unity in Windows platform. Mac version here.		Freemium	unity-plugin
Yeti (Peregrine Labs)	Maya plugin for fur, feathers, and procedural instancing.		Paid	Grooming · Maya Plugin	Hero grooms and procedural instancing in Maya

Misc 3D Utilities Software

Also in Software Reference → Misc 3D Utilities Software

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

---

Learning, Community & Industry

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

YouTube Channels — Motion Graphics & Cinema 4D

Motion design / C4D focused creators.

• Alexis Vilaca — Motion design.
• Andrey Lebrov — Sci-fi motion design.
• Arthur Whitehead — Motion design.
• CG Shortcuts (YouTube) — C4D workflow shortcuts.
• Derek Elliott — C4D motion design.
• Derek Kirk (Effectatron) Freemium — Cinema 4D and Redshift tutorials, 200+ free YouTube videos, Gumroad assets, Discord.
• Eyedesyn — C4D motion design tutorials.
• Greyscalegorilla (YouTube) — C4D, Redshift, materials.
• John Dickinson (Motionworks) — Motion design resources.
• Josh Pierce — Motion design.
• Minh Pham — Motion design tutorials.
• MoGraph Mentor (YouTube) — Motion design mentorship.
• Motion Design School (YouTube) — Motion graphics courses.
• New Plastic — Cinema 4D tutorials — lighting, motion design, rendering.
• Nick Medukha — Motion design tutorials.
• Nidia Dias — Stylized illustration motion.
• Paul-Guilhem Repaux — Motion design tutorials.
• Perry Cooper 3D — 3D motion design.
• Polygon Runway — Stylized C4D illustration.
• Polygonpen — 3D motion.
• Pwnisher — UE5 + creative challenges.
• Roger Kilimanjaro — Motion design.
• Ross Mason — Motion design.
• Sketchy Visuals — Visual design tutorials.
• Stephy Fung — Stylized 3D motion.
• The Rusted Pixel — Motion design tutorials.
• Theo Kerr — Motion design.
• Vincent Schwenk — Motion design.

YouTube Channels — Blender

Blender-focused creators.

• 3DCoat Training Channel — 3DCoat now has native support of Blender via built-in AppLink.
• 3DGreenhorn — Isometric modeling.
• Bad Normals — Modeling, animation.
• Blender Compositor for Post Processing — Blender Compositor for Post Processing..
• Blender Guru — Classic Blender beginner+ intermediate channel (Andrew Price).
• Blender NPR — Non-Photorealistic and expressive rendering.
• Blender Official — Official Blender Foundation channel.
• Blender Render Passes and Very Basic Compositing — Blender Render Passes and Very Basic Compositing..
• Blender Sushi — Collection of 3D ideas, poetries and experiments blended in Blender 3D.
• Bradley Animation — Geometry Nodes basics for beginners.
• CBaileyFilm — Blender animation projects.
• CG Boost — Blender beginner tutorial series and courses.
• CG Boost — Modeling, sculpting.
• CG Fast Track — Modeling, animation.
• CG Geek — Blender tutorials.
• CG Masters — Modeling, texturing, shading.
• CG Python — Blender Python scripting tips and tricks.
• CGMatter — Technical Blender tips.
• Chris Prenninger — Animation nodes, particle systems, shading.
• Daniel Krafft - DSO — Blender tips, add-ons.
• Darkfall — Blender scripting tutorials.
• Default Cube — Blender procedural and geometry nodes playlists.
• Ducky 3D — Stylized Blender tutorials.
• FlippedNormals (YouTube) — Sculpting, modeling.
• Giulia Marchetti — Sculpting, character modeling.
• Gleb Alexandrov — One of the best-known blender channel on youtube.
• Grant Abbitt — Beginner-friendly Blender tutorials.
• GraphicLine Games — Stylized shader and asset tutorials (Ghibli Shader Texture Generator).
• How to composite renders in Blender — How to composite renders in Blender..
• How to use blender's compositor to improve a rendered frame sequence — How to use blender's compositor to improve a rendered frame sequence..
• Ian Hubert — Lazy tutorials and cinematic shorts.
• Imphenzia — Low poly modeling, rigging.
• Iridesium — Simulation, vfx.
• Jayanam — Blender game art.
• Modeling a character BaseMesh in Blender — Modeling a character BaseMesh in Blender..
• Olav3D — Blender programming and scripting tutorials.
• Peter France — Modeling, texturing, shading, vfx.
• Render Passes in Blender - What are they and why even use them? — Render Passes in Blender - What are they and why even use them?.
• Royal Skies — 3D technical artist — Blender, Unreal, games. Speed tutorials across rigging, shaders, animation.
• Samuel Sullins — Geometry Nodes, vfx, lowpoly, general.
• Sandvector Studios — Cartoon cel shader and material tutorials (Face Shadow Texture Generator).
• SouthernShotty — Stylized modeling, character creation, sculpting.
• YanSculpts' Channel — YanSculpts' Channel.

YouTube Channels — Houdini

Houdini-focused channels.

• 2D Cel Flames with Pyro — Stylized 2D flame with pyro sim.
• Asis FX — FX tutorials.
• Auto Cache Out Tool — Auto Cache Out tool is for managing caches and .hip files. The tool will lay down all the important nodes you need to cache out and when you render it will create the directories and automatically ve
• Chris Brejon — CG cinematography guide and Solaris/USD reference.
• Christopher Rutledge — Houdini Nerd community creator.
• Codegram — Full Stack Fest 2015: The Pixel Factory (Great visuals to gain insights into what's going on with concepts such as UV's, and Rastering)
• Entagma (YouTube) — Advanced design and mograph.
• Inigo Quilez — The principles of painting with maths.
• John Kunz (YouTube) — FX, coding, Redshift.
• Junichiro Horikawa — Procedural and generative Houdini.
• Mark Fancher — FX breakdowns.
• Matt Taylor Motion (Emty01) — Recursive subdivision animation.
• Next-Generation 3D Graphics on the Web — Talk at Google I/O 19 from Ricardo Cabello (MrDoob).
• NineBetween — Houdini beginner series (Houdini Isn't Scary).
• Not Very Dark Magic — Hair and fur starting point.
• Parker Coleman — Houdini tutorial channel — procedural workflows, sim setups, tools.
• Rebelway YouTube — Free Rebelway tutorials on YouTube.
• Rendering Engine Architecture Conference — SIGGRAPH 2021 REAC: Unity Rendering Architecture.
• SideFX Official — SideFX's official channel.
• Simon Fiedler — Mograph and Houdini on Vimeo.
• Tim van Helsdingen — FX and procedural tutorials.
• Voxel/Lego Pyro Explosion — Stylized voxel explosion.
• WhatIFound (Jason Harmon) — Liquid and fluid tutorials.

YouTube Channels — Sculpting & Characters

Character and sculpting focused creators.

• Grady Frederick — Concept art process.
• Marco Bucci — Painting and color theory.
• Modern Day James — Rigorous perspective systems and construction drawing.
• Proko — Figure drawing and anatomy.
• Sinix Design — Digital painting fundamentals.
• Travis Davids — Character workflow and industry breakdowns.
• Travis Ragsdale — Sculpting tutorials.
• Trent Kaniuga — Concept art workflow for game/film production.
• Tyler Edlin — Environment and concept art.
• YanSculpts — Blender sculpting tutorials, including beginner sword modeling.
• Yu Fujishiro (NTRCT) — Stylized character creation and interactive animation art.

Paid Tutorial Platforms

Subscription and course-based learning platforms.

• 📰BlenderNation — Daily news, art and tutorials for Blender, the open source 3D content creation suite.
• 📺 Custom Character Skeletons and Animations ~ Upside Tutorials — [animation,character].
• 📺 Large Scale PCG Tutorial with Gaea Maps ~ Aziel Arts — [environment] - Zelda-inspired landscape using Procedural Content Generation.
• 📺 MEGA TUTORIAL ~ Unreal Sensei — [animation] (5.6 update) - 10 vids, ~30 hours, v5.5 nanite & lumen.
• 📺 What Studio Ghibli Does That Disney Doesn’t ~ omeroy Art Academy — [animation,character] - stylistic differences.
• 25 Tips and Tricks ~ Unreal University — Mostly shortcuts.
• 3D Computer Graphics Programming Paid — Learn all the theory and the math behind 3D graphics while creating a software renderer from scratch using the C programming language.
• 3D for Designers Paid — C4D and motion design courses.
• AAA Ghibli Forest in Blender & Unreal ~ ShinGidora — Good tips, though is promotion for his TREEBOX commercial script.
• Achieve True Color in Unreal Engine: Disabling Tonemapper ~ Kibibyte — Custom look, LUTs, etc.
• Add VFX to Cinematic RAW and LOG Footage — Add VFX to Cinematic RAW and LOG Footage.
• Animation Programming Basics — Animation Programming Basics.
• Animators React to KPop Demon Hunters - ft. THE DIRECTORS ~ Corridor Crew — Animation reactions and breakdowns.
• Artisticrender — Tutorials, tips, resources about Blender and 3D.
• Beginning Python For Maya (Zurbrigg) Paid — Structured Python course for Maya users.
• Blender 3D Architect — Place to find news, tutorials, resources and training related to architectural visualization using Blender.
• Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Python Scripting — Python Scripting from Blender 3D: Noob to Pro book.
• Blender Beginner 3D Modeling Tutorial — Blender Beginner 3D Modeling Tutorial..
• Blender Secrets — Home to hundreds of one-minute or less video tutorials that teach you specific topics.
• BOOST Foliage Performance ~ Joshua M Kerr — World offset in material.
• Build iOS app with Rive Animations — A full 3-hour course showcasing how to build a SwiftUI app with Rive animations.
• CG Cookie — Free tutorials from CG Cookie.
• CG Shortcuts (site) Paid — C4D workflow courses.
• CGCookie Paid — Blender courses. $29/mo.
• Character Customization Tutorial — This is the finished project of part 4 of the tutorial series for using blendshapes for character customization in Unity3D.
• CHEAPEST Motion Capture Setup for Metahumans ~ Charlie Driscoll — For filmmaking.
• Computer Graphics — Ray tracing, animation, and so on at MIT in fall 2012.
• Computerphile 3DGS explanation — Computerphile 3DGS explanation.
• Create 3D Graphics in JS Using WebGL — Get started creating content with WebGL without any frameworks.
• Create the Most AMAZING Animations with Rive — Crash Course (DesignCourse).
• Darkfall (blog) — Blender python tutorials, nodes.
• Dean Yurke - Unreal Engine and VFX Filmmaking — Pro movie VFX artist explains his process.
• DebugLog HTC Vive Unity 3D Steam VR Video Tutorial — DebugLog HTC Vive Unity 3D Steam VR Video Tutorial.
• Default Cube — CGMatter's second channel used for longer tutorials and other kinds of videos.
• Design Patterns in Unity Example — Most of Derek Banas Video Tutorial Series on Design Patterns to C# in Unity translated.
• Domestika Paid — Creative arts courses.
• Environment Art Breakdown ~ Stylized Station — By Melissa Perl.
• GameDev.tv Unreal Engine Blueprint Game Developer Online Course — GameDev.tv Unreal Engine Blueprint Game Developer Online Course.
• Getting Started with VR in Unity (DigitalTutors) — Introductory DigitalTutors tutorial for building VR experiences in Unity.
• GitHub: mixandjam — Unity video tutorials on Youtube.
• Houdini Tricks Tumblr — Assorted Houdini tips and quick tutorials
• HTC Vive SteamVR Tutorial using Flafla2 Teleport, Probuil Box, Lab Render — HTC Vive SteamVR Tutorial using Flafla2 Teleport, Probuil Box, Lab Render.
• Hunyuan 2.1 Install Guide ~ Stefan 3D AI Lab — ComfyUI install guide (text guide).
• I Nailed the Anime Look ~ SILKROAD Project — Outline & shadows part of UV, not filter.
• Importance Sampling for Production Rendering — Importance Sampling for Production Rendering.
• Interactive 3D Graphics — Interactive 3D Graphics.
• Interplanety — Blender tutorials, articles, tips, notes.
• Introduction to Machine Learning (Course) Paid — Full Rebelway ML course.
• Jonathan Lindgren Paid — 3D design courses.
• Learn ARKit using Unity - Udacity — Udacity course about ARKit development using Unity |
• Learn OpenGL: Beginner's guide to 3D rendering and game development with OpenGL and C++ — Learn OpenGL: Beginner's guide to 3D rendering and game development with OpenGL and C++.
• LearnSquared Paid — Professional CG courses.
• Lecture 18: Monte Carlo Rendering (CMU 15-462/662) — Including a very good introduction of importance sampling.
• Many techniques available for Stylized Grass ~ Ghislain Girardot — Stylized grass techniques in Blender.
• Material Ambient Occlusion ~ William Faucher — Bake Ambient Occlusion maps onto models.
• Mind + Motion (Effectatron) Paid — Derek Kirk's C4D + Redshift course. Covers imposter syndrome / mental health alongside technique. $10–$49.99 per course.
• MIT Inverse Rendering Lectures (Module 2) — Academic deep dive into inverse rendering.
• MoGraph Mentor (site) Paid — 3D motion design courses.
• Motion Design School (site) Paid — Motion graphics courses.
• Open Color IO — (repo) - Unified color environment, a complete color management solution geared towards motion picture production with an emphasis on visua
• OpenCue (site) — (repo) An open-source render management system from Sony Imageworks.
• OpenEXR — (repo) - exceptional image format for visual effects purposes, pioneered by ILM.
• Pablander Academy Freemium — Character sculpting and digital art courses, tutorials, and brush packs (ZBrush, Blender, Substance, Marmoset).
• Patata School Paid — C4D and Octane courses.
• Pixel Art Tutorial Basics for Beginners — Pixel Art Tutorial Basics for Beginners.
• Pixel logic — Pixel Logic is an in-depth pixel art tutorial book.
• Pluralsight Paid — All software, $29/mo.
• Pragmatic VFX Paid — Advanced Houdini (ILM FX TD).
• Ray Wenderlich's Tutorials — Beginner and mid-level tutorials focused on learning Unity features or creating small example games.
• RMA Houdini Tutorials — RMA Houdini Tutorials.
• Roll A-Ball ECS Style — Recreation of Unity Roll-A-Ball tutorial using Entity Component System.
• Stop Being Afraid of Houdini Paid — Houdini course for C4D artists.
• Tech Gear HDA — Generate detailed cylindrical pieces. Can be useful to generate gears , bolts or details for sci-fi assets.
• Technical Art & Materials — Tutorials by Ben Cloward.
• The CG Essentials — 3D modeling, rendering, animation, particle simulation, and more, this is the place to be for Blender Tutorials.
• tinyrenderer — Course of computer graphics teaching how Opengl and rendering works, teaching how to build a simpler version of OpenGL
• Tony Munoz | Game Creator Accelerator — Unreal Engine 5.7 Preview.
• Tutorial from the authors of 3DGS — Tutorial from the authors of 3DGS.
• Tutorial: Controlling Objects with Vive Trackers in Unity — Mirror 1 - Mirror 2
• Two-minute explanation of 3DGS — Two-minute explanation of 3DGS.
• Unity + Vive Tutorial: Beginners — Unity + Vive Tutorial: Beginners.
• Unity 3D Steam VR Video Tutorial Series — Unity 3D Steam VR Video Tutorial Series.
• Unity Gems Wordpress — Unity3D tutorials.
• Unity in HoloLens — Official tutorials from Microsoft for creating Microsoft HoloLens applications.
• Unity Readme — Add a Readme / tutorial to the inspector tab of your Unity project.
• Unity tutorials in AR — Unity tutorials in AR |
• Unity5 EditorVR hello world tutorial video (from scratch) featuring Oculus — Unity5 EditorVR hello world tutorial video (from scratch) featuring Oculus.
• Unreal C++ — A large collection of tutorials covering common features implemented in C++
• Unreal tutorial for Rive + Noesis — Tutorial on how to add Rive to your Unreal games using Noesis.
• Vector Math for 3D Computer Graphics — Tutorial on vector algebra and matrix algebra from the viewpoint of computer graphics.
• Vive Tutorial - Intro / UI | Unity VR (VRTK) — GitHub Repo.
• WebGL Academy — Learn WebGL and 3D algorithmic in a progressive and interactive way.
• Wingfox Paid — CG tutorials per course.
• World of Level Design — A whole host of tutorials dedicated to designing levels.

Patreon Creators

Creators on Patreon offering tutorials, files, and tips.

• Arthur Whitehead (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — Arthur Whitehead.
• Christopher Rutledge (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — Christopher Rutledge.
• Dusan Vukcevic Paid — Patreon — Dusan Vukcevic.
• Entagma (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — Entagma.
• Gonzzzalo Paid — Patreon — Gonzzzalo.
• Jesus Suarez Paid — Patreon — Jesus Suarez.
• John Kunz (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — John Kunz.
• Kaeptive Paid — Patreon — Kaeptive.
• Max Salzborn Paid — Patreon — Max Salzborn.
• Merk Paid — Patreon — Merk.
• MotionPunk Paid — Patreon — MotionPunk.
• msedov Paid — Patreon — msedov.
• NewPlastic Paid — Patreon — NewPlastic.
• Philiplueck Paid — Patreon — Philiplueck.
• Ross Mason (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — Ross Mason.
• The French Monkey Paid — Patreon — The French Monkey.
• Vincent Schwenk (Patreon) Paid — Patreon — Vincent Schwenk.
• Xuxoe Paid — Patreon — Xuxoe.

3D Communities & Forums

Cross-DCC CG communities.

• 3D Artists India — India's 3D artist community — events, resources, networking.
• /r/blender: contest — blenderartists.org/contest
• #Blender52 — Blender Discord community (~1.8K) — smaller focused Blender hub.
• ☕Blender.Today — Community-driven Blender news, chat, and live streams! Stream playlist.
• 🌐 UnrealEngine5 ~ reddit — UE5 technical posts, rarely showcase.
• 🌐 Visual Production ~ reddit — [community] - production for movies & live events.
• 👨🏽‍🚀Blender.Community — 👨🏽‍🚀Blender.Community.
• 💬blender.chat — Official chat server for artists and developers.
• 🔌 Developer Portal — 💭 DevTalk | 💻 Developers Blog
• 🖱️Right-Click Select — Got an idea for a feature that you think Blender absolutely must have?
• 🗨️discord/blender — Community-managed Discord server.
• 3D Art Discord — General-purpose 3D art Discord with ~23K members — chat, feedback, and showcase across all DCCs.
• 3D Character Workshop Freemium — Active community for stylized character sculpting — challenges, WIPs, tips at every level.
• 3D FOUNDERS (Skool) Freemium — Skool community for 3D freelancers scaling from low-price gigs to consistent $5K clients.
• 3D Modeling Discord — Large 3D Discord (~33K) for sculptors, VFX professionals, and students — all-DCC discussion and critique.
• 3DPro — 3D professionals community forum.
• 3DVF — French CG news and community.
• 3DVF — European daily CG/VFX news site covering cinema, TV, and tech.
• 80 Level — Industry news and tutorials.
• Agora Community — 3D artists community.
• Animatable — AE animation Discord — narrative, illustrative, character-based animation community.
• Animator Guild (Howard Wimshurst) — Howard Wimshurst's animator community Discord — supports up-and-coming animators with critique and contests.
• Animators — Animation Hub — 2D/3D/stop-motion animation community (~13K) — share work, get feedback, find jobs.
• Animators Guild — India-focused animation community — showcase, workshops, festival events, and AGI Bazaar for Indian animators and illustrators.
• AnimStarter Communities — Curated index of animation communities across Discord, Slack, and forums.
• Architectural Visualization Forum — ArchViz forum focused on rendering and CGI software — V-Ray, Corona, Lumion, technical Q&A.
• Armedunity — Shooter focused forum.
• ArtStation Freemium — Professional portfolios.
• Bad Decisions — Unreal Engine and virtual production training Discord (~4K) — Ultimate Unreal Engine Program community.
• Bforartists Discord — Discord for Bforartists — fork of Blender with refined GUI for hobbyists and indie devs.
• Bismuth Consultancy (MLOPs) — Discord for MLOPs (machine learning toolkit for Houdini) by Bismuth Consultancy + Entagma.
• Blender Awesome List — More addons and resources around Blender in this awesome list.
• Blender Community Discord — Largest Blender Discord (~203K) for artists, designers, game developers — not officially Blender Foundation.
• Blender Conference — The yearly Blender Conference in Amsterdam. (Playlists: Bcon25
• Blender Discord (French) — Blender Discord (French).
• Blender Professionals (Skool) — Free Skool community where 3D artists share experience and grow in Blender.
• Blender Stack Exchange — Blender Q&A community on Stack Exchange.
• BlenderArtists — Blender forum.
• Blenderartists/python Support — stackoverflow/tagged/bpy
• Blue Ocean Games — Indie game fund Discord — networking, feedback, and resources for indie developers seeking funding.
• BNPR (Blender NPR) — Blender stylized/non-photoreal rendering community (~3.5K) — toon, anime, cel, abstract styles. BEER/Malt engine.
• bsky.art — Artist hub on Bluesky — feeds, starter packs, and community curation for visual artists.
• Cara — Anti-AI portfolio and social platform built by and for artists.
• Casual GAN Papers Reading Club — Community knowledge base for Casual GAN Papers
• Cavalry Community — Official community Discord for Cavalry — procedural 2D motion design app — support and showcase.
• ccMixter.org — Community remix site operated by ArtisTech Media, created by Creative Commons. ![cc]
• CG Channel — News, videos, training, and community hub for entertainment CG artists.
• CG Forge Paid — Tyler Bay's Houdini education platform — premium Discord for art reviews and member feedback.
• CG Lounge — Active CG Discord (~9.9K) with daily VFX discussions, render challenges, marketplace, and Hall of Fame.
• CG Pro Social — VFX and real-time artist community — virtual production, LED, greenscreen, mocap.
• CGCircuit Paid — CG tutorial marketplace with per-creator Discord channels for direct instructor interaction.
• CGconnect (CGarchitect) — ArchViz industry hub — community forums, news, and feedback for architectural visualization pros.
• cgwiki Discord Paid — Matt Estela's Patreon-supporter Discord tied to cgwiki — beginner-to-expert Houdini chat, masterclasses, screen-shares.
• Chicago Virtual Production Group — Volunteer association of film/VFX professionals connecting on Discord — regional but active VP discussion.
• Cinema 4D Discord — Community-run Cinema 4D Discord — motion design and 3D discussion around Maxon's C4D.
• Civitai — Community driven AI model sharing tool.
• Concept Art Association — Advocacy and mentorship org for concept artists — events, community-building, and industry support.
• Concept Art Forum — Long-running forum for concept artists, professionals, and beginners.
• Concept Art World — Showcase site for concept art, illustration, and visual development — artist spotlights, news, tutorials.
• Corridor Digital (Crew) Paid — VFX YouTube studio with paywalled Corridor Crew community — weekly challenges and behind-the-scenes.
• Create with Clint — 3D/VFX community Discord (~77K) — weekly, technical, and community challenges. Strong Blender presence.
• Creative 3D Community (Skool) Paid — Skool community focused on professional 3D work in Plasticity and Blender.
• Curtis Holt — Blender mixed-media creator — public BlenderNest art/tech-art community Discord and Community Material Pack.
• Design Buddies — Inclusive design community — workshops, mentor talks, portfolio reviews, and meetups for designers.
• Design Squad - UX Community — UX researchers, strategists, and product designers — community for UX/product practice.
• DEV Community — It covers setting up the environment, understanding generative models, and building a simple Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) with a focus on image datasets.
• devtalk/python — Questions about using and developing the Blender Python API, both for Blender itself and add-ons.
• Digital Art and Animation Discord — Discord for animators, artists, and VFX people across 2D, 3D, modeling, CGI simulations.
• DigitalPainting.school Forum — French-language forum for concept art, illustration, 3D, and digital art — challenges and discussion.
• DoubleJump Academy Discord — VFX/CGI academy Discord (~6K) — monthly hangouts, portfolio reviews, challenges. Niagara, Houdini, EmberGen focus.
• erindale.xyz — Erindale Woodford's procedural Discord (~8K) — Geometry Nodes, Sverchok, Houdini, Grasshopper, shaders.
• F9 Collective — Free India-based motion design community — networking, industry talks, jobs, and collaboration for motion designers.
• fb/blender — Blender Facebook group.
• FlippedNormals Freemium — 3D education site by Henning Sanden and Morten Jaeger — Discord community for character artists and 3D learners.
• Free Low-Poly Nature Assets Thread (r/gamedev) — Reddit thread sharing free low-poly trees, plants, and rocks for game development.
• Game Dev League — Large gamedev Discord (~133K) — community built by game developers for game developers.
• Game Dev Network — Engine-agnostic gamedev Discord (~67K) — open to new and experienced devs.
• GameDev India — India gamedev Discord (~5.5K) — runs BYOG game jam, Coffee House, Campfire events for Indian creators.
• GameDev.tv Discord — A community focused on the GameDev.tv courses.
• Good Boy Ninja — Motion design and creative coding community by the maker of Noodle, Skew, and Colors for After Effects.
• Google Community for “Cardboard and VR Developers” — Google Community for “Cardboard and VR Developers”.
• Graphic Design Discord — Discord's flagship design community — graphic, 3D, UI/UX, video, illustration. Daily marketplace and contests.
• Heavypoly Freemium — Vaughan Ling's Blender concept design hub — courses, tools, and community forum.
• Hieu Vu - Art & Motion — Vietnam-based motion designer Hieu Vu's hub — tutorials, motion graphics work, and community Discord.
• Houdini Academy & Resources — Curated Houdini resources hub — tutorials, tools, and community links.
• Houdini Utility Thread — Houdini Utility Thread.
• Houdini.School Paid — Live Houdini courses across Film FX, Games, MoGraph, Character, Sci-Viz — Discord community for students.
• HoudiniNerd (Tokyo Megaplex) Paid — Christopher Rutledge's Houdini Patreon — free resources at houdininerd.com plus Patreon-tier community.
• HouPy Wiki — Community wiki for Houdini Python — HDAs, snippets, and Discord community around Houdini scripting.
• Hugging Face Forums — ** – Community for open LLMs and model development.
• HuggingFace AI Community Freemium — Host and collaborate on unlimited models, datasets and applications. |
• IAMAG Community Paid — Paid NO-AI community for entertainment industry pros — concept artists, art directors, illustrators.
• Indian Design Community (Slack) — Slack community for India-based UI, UX, graphic, and product designers — portfolio shares, feedback, and industry discussion.
• Indie Games Community (IGC) — Global indie gamedev Discord — devs, players, content creators sharing and discovering indie games.
• Indie Gaming Central (r/IndieGaming) — r/IndieGaming Discord (~5.6K) — devs share new games and discoveries.
• Indie-Pixel Paid — Kenny Lammers' Patreon-tier community — Houdini Engine for Unreal/Unity, procedural pipelines.
• Inside the Mind Paid — Patreon-tier Discord for Houdini training, project files, and tools.
• Introduction to pixel art — Introduction to pixel art.
• JangaFX Software Discord — Official Discord (~15K) for EmberGen, LiquiGen, GeoGen — real-time VFX simulation software users.
• Juniper Dev — Game design and development YouTube creator — community Discord linked from her channels.
• Learn Arch Viz Forum Freemium — Course-tied ArchViz forum organized by software with gallery and PRO course categories.
• Learning — Documentation, Livesteams** (🆓 🥇)
• Lebrov Motion Imagery Paid — Andrey Lebrov's Patreon-tier Discord for CG/VFX learning and behind-the-scenes from Lebrov Motion Imagery.
• lesterbanks — Daily resource for 3D artists, motion designers, and VFX artists — tips, tricks, tutorials.
• LightBox Expo Discord — Official LightBox Expo Discord (10K+) — 8 halls covering illustration, concept art, storyboarding, and more.
• Mental Checkpoint — Game design YouTube creator's Discord (~1.3K) — game design discussion and hot takes.
• Mograph Freemium — Established motion design community — classes, livestreams, podcasts, and Slack hub.
• MOPs - Motion Operators for Houdini — Motion graphics toolkit Discord for Houdini — packed primitives, Mograph-style workflows for MoGraph artists.
• Motion Design School Discord Freemium — 6K+ Discord tied to Motion Design School courses — animation, AE, C4D learners.
• Motion Designers Community (EN) — English-language Motion Designers Community Discord (~6.5K) — mdcommunity.net hub.
• Movies & Filmmaking Discord — Largest film/filmmaking Discord (~92K) — discussions, Letterboxd integration, filmmaker Q&As.
• Neuron — Multi-DCC 3D Discord covering Unreal, Unity, Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini for artists and developers.
• Nexrender Discord — Community of people specializing in scripting and video generation automation.
• Nice Moves Resources — Curated animation resources, learning material, and community pointers.
• Nine Between Paid — Patreon-tier Discord (~600) by Nine Between brothers — pro Houdini VFX education.
• Polycount — Game art community.
• promptoMANIA — AI art community with prompt generator
• r/GenerativeAI — ** – Reddit community on generative models and applications.
• Ravie - Motion Design Community — Thriving Discord community of top motion designers worldwide.
• RealTime Conference — Real-time CG conference and community hub — events, talks, networking for real-time creators.
• realtimevfx.com — Real Time VFX Community.
• Reddit's Unity Best Practices — Reddit's thread with best practices collected by Unity developers.
• RenderRides — 3D mentorship Discord (~1.7K) — storytelling through audio-visual experiments, holistic 3D craft.
• Robotic Arm Kinefx Demo — Robotic Arm Kinefx Demo.
• Rocket Lasso (Slack) — Official Slack community for Cinema 4D artists, originally grown from Chris Schmidt's livestreams — tutorials, plugin chat, live Q&A.
• Ronen Bekerman ArchViz Hub — ArchViz blog and forum — tutorials, jobs, showcase, and 3D architectural visualization community.
• SculptJanuary — Challenge yourself over 31 days with a set of 31 topics.
• Server 4D — 3D Discord (~5.7K) hosted by Patrick 4D — all things 3D with daily live-streams.
• Shaders Hub — Large (~72K) shader-focused Discord covering GLSL, HLSL, and engine shader languages.
• Sir Wade Animation — Sir Wade Neistadt's animation Discord (~11K) — professional and aspiring animators and CG artists since 2019.
• Steam Community VR Workshop Item — Steam Community Workshop submission referenced by the VR/game-dev forum discussions.
• Steam VR Template (Unreal Engine Forum) — Community thread sharing a Steam VR project template for Unreal Engine.
• Stylized Station's World of ArtCraft — Official Stylized Station Discord (~8K) — stylized and real-time 3D art with regular ArtCraft Arena challenges.
• Substance Share — The free exchange platform for the Substance community.
• Technically Speaking — Tech art, VFX, programming, gamedev Discord (~3K) hosted by Harry Alisavakis — challenges and tutorials.
• The 3D Artist Community (Skool) Paid — Paid Skool community for pro 3D artists working beyond VFX/games (apparel, footwear, packaging) — AMAs, office hours, pooled software resources.
• The Blend — Weekly articles & lessons on Blender & 3D
• The Code Editor — This thread is for discussing how the Text Editor can be improved and sharing add-ons which will modernize, expand and ease coding in Blender.
• The Dillcord (Dillon Goo) — 2D animation Discord (~9K) by Dillon Goo — fight scene fan animations, self-taught animator hub.
• The DiNusty Empire — Game/film 3D art community Discord (~11.7K) — environment, prop, character, weapon artists.
• Think Procedural — Houdini community Discord (~9K) bringing Houdini closer to game developers — fractal challenges, procedural work.
• Tim van Helsdingen Paid — Patreon-tier Discord by NL-based Houdini FX artist / CG generalist transitioning into indie gamedev.
• Unity Community — And to begin Awesome Unity (this repository) will be merged into Unity Community organization from now. This repository will be used to merge new contents into the
• Unofficial Houdini Discord — od|force-linked Houdini Discord — long-running unofficial community for Houdini artists.
• Unreal Source — The largest Discord community focused on Unreal Engine.
• Unreal Source Discord — Community** (🆓 🥇)
• VFX Apprentice Community — Community Discord tied to VFX Apprentice school — student feedback, livestreams, and discussions for VFX artists.
• VFX Oasis — VFX artists, animators, and digital artists hub — discussion and knowledge sharing.
• VFX Squad — Beginner-friendly VFX/editing Discord — feedback, tutorials, and active 24/7 help.
• VFXTalk — Revived classic VFX forum as a Discord — destination for the global VFX community to learn and grow.
• Virtual Productions Discord — General-purpose virtual production Discord — LED stages, real-time workflows, mocap.
• WebVR Community Group — Group who's goal is to help bring high-performance Virtual Reality to the open Web.
• XR Creators (XR Bootcamp) Freemium — XR developer expert group — VR/AR events, networking, and advanced tech community.
• Young Designers India — India Discord (~2.7K) for young design talent — career advice, job opportunities, weekly events across design fields.
• ZBrushCentral — ZBrush forum.

3D Inspiration & Showcase

Showcases, portfolios, and visual reference hubs.

• 3D Maths Cheat Sheet Paid — Math cheatsheet by Anton Gerdelan, from his OpenGL book.
• 50 Watts — Illustration history archive.
• Animated AI — Animations and instructional videos about neural networks
• Art of Animation — Curated animation art blog.
• autodestruct.com Paid — Concept art.
• Before & Afters Paid — VFX breakdowns and behind-the-scenes.
• Ben Watts (Vimeo) Paid — Motion design.
• blender.daily — Blender Secrets
• Character Design References Paid — Shape language and character design studies.
• Chrome Experiments — Showcase of web experiments written by the creative coding community.
• cifraworld (Instagram) Paid — 3D motion art.
• Cornelius Dammrich Paid — Sci-fi environments.
• Dash Slide Puzzle (Runner Up - Animation/Design) — Dash Slide Puzzle (Runner Up - Animation/Design).
• Disney Research Paid — Research publications.
• Foundation HTML5 Animation with JavaScript Paid — Everything you need to know to create animation using the HTML5 canvas.
• FX References Paid — Visual effects reference library.
• Gene Kogan: Perlin Noise Paid — Introduction to 2D and 3D perlin noise.
• GPT-3 Demo Paid — Showcase with GPT-3 examples, demos, apps, showcase, and NLP use-cases.
• Graphics Programming Projects Paid — Book about 3D computational graphics by Morgan McGuire.
• HUDs and GUIs Paid — FUI/screen graphics reference for sci-fi 3D work.
• Introduction to Ray Tracing Paid — A simple method for creating 3D images.
• Island Slide Puzzle (Third Place - Animation/Design) — Island Slide Puzzle (Third Place - Animation/Design).
• Leaf Pic — Material-designed android gallery alternative.
• Level Sets in Production (Sony) Paid — Spider-Man 3 VFX paper.
• Linkage Mechanisms Paid — Mechanical animations.
• Mathematics of Animation Paid — Slides about the mathematics of animation (repo).
• Maths & trigonometry cheat sheet for 2D & 3D games Paid — Maths cheat-sheet for 2D and 3D game-makers.
• NAP — [Cross-platform] - Open source data-driven real-time control & visualization platform suited for professional installations in C++, incl. Vulkan renderer.
• Neil Blevins Art Lessons — Composition types, tangents, visual hierarchy by a Pixar artist.
  See also: Art, Design & Visual Storytelling → Composition & Visual Storytelling
• Nick Taylor (MVSM) Paid — Project breakdowns.
• Physics for JavaScript Games, Animation, and Simulations Paid — Teaches JavaScript programmers how to incorporate real physics into their HTML5 games, animations, and simulations.
• Quartz Composer Paid — [Mac] - Development tool for processing and rendering graphical data.
• Retro Slide Puzzle (Winner - Animation/Design) — Retro Slide Puzzle (Winner - Animation/Design).
• Sean Browning - Pixel Art Animation Reel 2018 Paid — A collection of Sean Browning's pixel animations, ranging from simple scenes to recreations of popular shows like Steven's Universe and RWBY.
• shoebot — [Cross-platform] - Shoebot is a creative coding environment designed for making vector graphics and animations with Python.
• Sliding Puzzle 3D (Honorable Mention) — Sliding Puzzle 3D (Honorable Mention).
• Smode Paid — [Win] - A real-time 2D/3D creation, compositing and video-mapping engine.
• Strange Attractors Paid — Mathematical 3D forms.
• Structure Synth — [Cross-platform] - Application for generating 3D structures by specifying a design grammar.
• The Gaming Library — And admire how much geometry is in the scene. These will give you a strong intuition of the capabilities and limitations of CG today.
• The Pixel Factory Paid — Talk about WebGL, GPUs and Math by Steven Wittens.
• Three.js Basics Paid — Introduction to Three.js by Eric Haines.
• Toros Kose (Behance) Paid — 3D artist portfolio.
• Writing a small software renderer Paid — Really good introduction to how basic software rendering works.
• Zdog — A pseudo-3D engine for canvas & SVG.

Architecture & Visualization

Arch-viz inspiration and BIM.

• Blender 3D Architect by Allan Brito Paid — Blender 3D Architect by Allan Brito.
• Contemporist — Contemporary architecture.
• Modlar — Architecture inspiration.

Salary & Career Data

Salary data and studio review spreadsheets.

• Animation Studio Reviews — Studio review spreadsheet.
• Job Openings Tracker — Animation/VFX jobs tracker.
• SaltyAnimators Salary Collection — Industry salary data.

Industry Trends 2025-2026

Current technology and market trends in CG.

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

Related:

• AI in Production Pipelines — AI handling roto, denoise, upres, texture drafts, matchmove cleanup. Studios (ILM, Weta, DNEG) deploying at scale.
• Real-Time Path Tracing — Shipping in games (Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2). RTX 50-series + DLSS 4 with neural rendering.
• The Pipeline Conference Paid — The Pipeline Conference.
• Virtual Production — LED volumes maturing from bleeding-edge to standardized.
• WebGPU Adoption — Shipped in Chrome. Three.js, Babylon.js, PlayCanvas adding WebGPU backends.

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Software Reference

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

3D Software — Free

Free and open-source 3D software.

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

Related:

• Make Human — Open-source tool for making 3D characters. (blender addon) GitHub
• Sculptron — GPU-based tool for sculpting animation caches and for converting mesh sequences to volumes. The software is currently available free during early development.

3D Software — Free Tier

Freemium 3D software with free tier available.

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
Cascadeur	AI-assisted physics-based keyframe character animation; free for non-commercial use.	Indie $19/mo or $96/yr (rent-to-own perpetual)	Free NC	AI Anim · Free NC	Action/fight character animation
Houdini Apprentice	Free learning version of Houdini. See also: Modeling, Sculpting & Texturing → Houdini — Getting Started		Free NC	Free NC · Learning Version	Learning Houdini for free
Vectary	Browser-based 3D for e-commerce and product visualization.	Pro AI $15/mo (annual)	Freemium	Browser · E-commerce	Product viz, e-commerce
Womp3D	Playful browser-based 3D modeler for product design.	Free tier, Pro $12.99/mo	Freemium	Browser · Product Design	Product design, 3D printing
World Machine	Command powerful tools like erosion and advanced colormaps to create terrain heightmaps, meshes, and textures for your game or 3D scene. You can use the Basic Edition for free.		Freemium

3D Software — Paid

Professional paid 3D software.

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
3DCoat	Voxel sculpting, retopology, and UV toolkit.	EUR 299 perpetual	Paid	Voxel Sculpt · Retopo	Voxel sculpting, retopology
3ds Max	Autodesk polygonal DCC widely used in archviz, games, and broadcast VFX.	$255/mo or $2,010/yr (Indie $330/yr)	Paid	Industry Standard · Archviz/Games	Archviz, games, broadcast VFX
Cinema 4D	Maxon's motion-graphics and procedural 3D DCC; ships with Redshift and 5 Team Render nodes.	$69.91/mo annual (Maxon One bundle $99.91/mo)	Paid	Industry Standard · Motion Graphics	Motion graphics, broadcast, design-led 3D
Clo3D	Fashion-focused garment design and cloth simulation.	Subscription	Paid	Fashion · Garment Sim	Fashion design, cloth simulation
Crocotile 3D	Use 2d tiles to create 3d models!		Paid	Pixel/Tile 3D · Indie	2D-tile to 3D modeling
Daz 3D	Character-focused 3D software w/ large marketplace of figures and morphs. Free core app.		Paid	Characters · Huge Marketplace	Character-centric scenes
Houdini	Procedural node-based DCC for VFX, simulation, and FX. See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → Rendering & Shader Theory	Indie $269/yr, Core $1995, FX $4495	Paid	Industry Standard · Procedural FX	Procedural FX, simulation, VFX
LightWave 3D	Veteran modeling, animation, and rendering DCC with a long film/broadcast legacy.		Paid	Veteran DCC · Broadcast/VFX	Broadcast, motion graphics, indie VFX
Marvelous Designer	Cloth simulation and garment design software.	Subscription	Paid	Garment Sim · Cloth	Cloth simulation, garment design
Maya	Film-industry animation and VFX DCC.	$255/mo (Indie $330/yr)	Paid	Industry Standard · Film Animation	Film VFX, CG animation
Modo	Foundry's 3D modeling, texturing, rendering package.		Paid	Foundry · Modeling Focus	Modeling, product viz
Moi3D	NURBS modeler for industrial and product design.	$295 perpetual (90-day trial)	Paid	NURBS · Perpetual License	NURBS modeling, industrial design
MotionBuilder	Autodesk real-time character animation and mocap editing platform.	$2,225/yr	Paid	Industry Standard · Mocap	Mocap cleanup, real-time character animation
Nomad Sculpt	Mobile digital sculpting for iPad and Android.	$19.99 one-time (mobile)	Paid	iPad Sculpt · One-time Purchase	Mobile sculpting
Plasticity	NURBS/CAD-style modeler tuned for artists and concept work; perpetual license w/ 12-month maintenance.	Indie/Studio perpetual; Indie→Studio upgrade $125	Paid	NURBS · Concept/Hard-Surface	Hard-surface concept, product design
Reallusion Character Creator	Character creation and auto-rigging pipeline feeding iClone, Unreal, Unity, Blender, Omniverse.	From $8.30/mo (3D Suite 365 $49.92/mo with iClone)	Paid	Character Pipeline · Auto-Rig	Production-ready character pipelines
Reallusion iClone	Real-time character animation and cinematic creation; pairs with Character Creator.	$59/mo or $199/yr (perpetual $599)	Paid	Real-time · Character Anim	Real-time previs, indie cinematics
SketchUp	Architectural and interior-design-oriented 3D modeler.	Go $10.75/mo, Pro $33.25/mo, Studio $68.25/mo (annual)	Paid	Arch-Viz · Easy Learning Curve	Architecture, interior design
Substance 3D Modeler	Adobe's VR and desktop sculpting tool.	$49.99/mo collection	Paid	VR Sculpt · Adobe Suite	VR/desktop sculpting
ZBrush	Industry-standard digital sculpting from Maxon.	~$27/mo annual	Paid	Industry Standard · iPad Version	Sculpting, characters

CAD Software

Computer-aided design tools.

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

Related:

• GrabCAD — Community CAD model library.
• Thingiverse — 3D-printing model community.

2D & Animation Software

Digital painting, illustration, 2D animation.

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

Related:

• Adding Animation to Buttons in Flutter using Rive — Simple Animated Menu Toggle Button in Rive
• AJ Picard — Complex background animations using SwiftUI & Rive.App
• Aseprite Docs — Official documentation and scripting API.
• Build an animated app — Free course that teaches you how to design and code an iOS/SwiftUI app with Rive animated assets, icon animations, custom layouts, and interactions.
• Clip Studio Assets — Brushes, materials, 3D models, auto-actions.
• Create animated UI in Unity using Rive and Noesis — Tutorial on how to add Rive to your Unity games using Noesis.
• Create Rive-ting Animations — "Rive reduces the time it takes to make complex animation, making some motion items easier and faster to build."
• Flutter Community — Demonstrating Rive on the Flutter Community live stream for the 2022 Flutter Puzzle Hack.
• Flutter SVG Animations with Rive (Reso Coder) — - Sprinkling some beautiful animations across your app
• Flutter Web and Rive Animation Tutorial — Beginner to intermediate tutorial for setting up a Flutter web app with Rive animations.
• Krita Resources — Official brushes, textures, templates.
• OpenToonz GitHub — Source, plugins, and documentation.
• Optimization techniques — Techniques to optimize Rive animations in React apps.
• PiskelApp — Free Online Pixel Art and Animated Sprite Tool.
• Plant Blog — NextJS blog template with Rive to show animated blog thumbnails and syncing scroll to Rive animations deployed on Vercel. Code
• Pointer Tracking Animation Implemented in Webflow — How to set up a Rive file with pointer tracking for Webflow implementation.
• Procreate Handbook — Official guide and brush library.
• Rive Flutter Animation — Best approach for animation in 2023.
• Riveflow — Learn how to create next-level interactive animations for Webflow websites with Rive.
• SwiftUI Animated Login Screen using Rive — Teddy Bear Animation, create an animated and interactive Login screen.
• The Power of Rive: A New Standard for Interactive Animations — "We've been playing around with this awesome interactive animation tool called Rive, and it's blown us away!".
• Toon Boom Learn — Official tutorials and documentation.
• Wordpress Addon Freemium — Greenshift animation addon allows you to use and configure Rive files directly in the WordPress editor.

VFX & Compositing Software

VFX, compositing, and real-time simulation tools.

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

Related:

• ActionVFX — VFX stock elements (explosions, fire, debris).
• JangaFX Docs — Official EmberGen/LiquiGen documentation and how-to guides.
• Nukepedia — Free Nuke gizmos, tools, plugins, tutorials.

Render Engines

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

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

Related:

• Aurora — A real-time path tracing renderer that enables fast product visualizations.
• Chaos Cosmos — Free V-Ray/Corona asset library (3D models, materials, HDRIs).
• Falcor — A real-time rendering framework supporting DirectX 12 aiming to improve the productivity of research and prototype projects.
• Hexels — Intuitive 2D, grid-based painting tool
• Horde3D — Small open source 3D rendering engine.
• kajiya — Experimental real-time global illumination renderer made with Rust and Vulkan.
• OTOY Octane Render Cloud — Free ORBX assets and cloud rendering.
• Redshift Community — Forums, shaders, resources.
• RenderMan Community — Free RenderMan assets, shaders, HDRIs.
• Sheep it Render Farm — Free distributed renderfarm for Blender.
• StratusGFX — Free and open source Realtime 3D rendering engine.
• Sunflow — Not maintained, Sunflow is an open source rendering system for photo-realistic image synthesis.
• Yafaray — LibYafaRay is a free open-source montecarlo raytracing engine released under the LGPL 2.1 license.

Video Editing Software

NLEs and post-production software.

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
DaVinci Resolve	Free professional editing, color grading, Fusion, Fairlight audio.	Freemium	Free Pro · Full Post Pipeline	Color grading, editing, full post pipeline
Final Cut Pro	Apple-native NLE with magnetic timeline.	Paid	Mac-only · Magnetic Timeline	Mac-based editing
GoZen	Free open-source video editor built with Godot (alpha).	Open Source	Godot-built · Alpha	Lightweight editing, Godot integration
Kdenlive	Free open-source NLE.	Open Source	Open Source · Cross-Platform	Linux/cross-platform editing
OBS	Software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content efficiently.	Open Source	Capture · Open Source	Screen capture and streaming
OpenShot	Award-winning free and open-source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.	Open Source	Open Source · Beginner-Friendly	Cross-platform beginner editing
Premiere 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

Related:

• DaVinci Resolve Training — Official free training (hundreds of hours).
• Premiere Pro Learn — Official Adobe tutorials.

Audio Software

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

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
Adobe Audition	Professional audio workstation.		Paid	Audio Restoration · Adobe Suite	Podcast, sound design, restoration
Audacity	Free open-source audio editor and recorder.		Open Source	Open Source · Recording	Voice recording, SFX editing, podcast
Bfxr	Retro and chiptune SFX generator (browser and desktop).		Open Source	Retro/8-bit · Generator	8-bit game sound effects
Fairlight	Professional audio built into DaVinci Resolve.		Freemium	Film Post · Free with Resolve	Film audio post, Foley
FMOD	Industry-standard adaptive audio. Free for indie <$200k. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Audio Middleware		Freemium	Industry Standard · Indie-Free	Adaptive game audio
Reaper	Full DAW with $60 personal license.	$60 personal license	Paid	Full DAW · Affordable	Music production, sound design
Soundly	Desktop SFX platform with curated library and local library management.	Free tier (3000+ sounds), Pro $14.99/mo	Freemium	SFX Library · Desktop	SFX browsing, sound library management
Steam Audio	Physics-based spatial audio by Valve. Free. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Audio Middleware		Free	Spatial Audio · Valve Free	Spatial game audio
Wavewright	Modular music sandbox inspired by analog synthesizers (Early Access).		Free	Modular Synth · Early Access	Sound design, music experimentation
Wwise	AAA audio middleware with free tier. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Audio Middleware		Freemium	AAA · Free Tier	AAA game audio

Design Software

UI/UX, vector, raster design apps.

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

Related:

• Affinity Help Center — Official tutorials, guides, getting started.
• Figma Community — Free templates, plugins, UI kits.

Viewers & File Utilities

Image, video, and 3D file viewers.

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

Game Engines — Free & Open Source

Free and open-source game engines.

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

Related:

• Coquette — A micro framework for JavaScript games. Handles collision detection, the game update loop, canvas rendering, and keyboard and mouse input.
• Gorgon — A 2D rendering API for .NET, written in C#.
• OpenXRay — Community-modified X-Ray engine used in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series.
• Py Game CE — Pygame - Community Edition is a FOSS Python library for multimedia applications (like games). Built on top of the excellent SDL library
• Stage.js — Lightweight and fast 2D HTML5 rendering and layout engine for cross-platform game development.

Game Engines — Commercial Free Tiers

Commercial engines with generous free tiers.

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

Material & Texture Creation Software

Material authoring, texture baking, and PBR painting tools.

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

Photogrammetry & Scanning Software

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

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

Matchmoving & Camera Tracking Software

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

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

Retopology & UV Software

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

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
AutoRemesher	Open-source auto-retopology tool intended to convert source meshes into clean, animation-friendly all-quad geometry. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools	Open Source	Free · Auto Retopo	Auto-retopology
Headus UVLayout	Standalone UV editor, flatten-based. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools	Paid	Flatten-based · Classic	Flatten-based UV editor
Instant Meshes	Free, open-source auto-retopology. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools	Open Source	Free · Auto Retopo	Auto-retopology
RizomUV	Fast UV unwrapping, auto-seam, auto-pack. Standalone or bridge. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools	Paid	Industry Standard · Standalone	Fast pro UV unwrapping
Topogun	Standalone retopology and baking. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Retopology & Mesh Tools	Paid	Retopo + Bake · Classic	Retopo + baking
UVPackmaster	Advanced UV packing, UDIM support. Blender addon + standalone. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → UV Tools	Paid	UDIM · Packing	UV packing + UDIM

Virtual Production Software

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

Software	Description	License	Tags	Best For
disguise	Virtual production solutions. See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production	Paid	LED Walls · Workflow	LED wall virtual production
grandMA3	Industry-standard lighting control console and software for live shows, theatre, and broadcast.	Paid	Lighting Console · Show Control	Stage lighting control, show programming
Notch	Real-time graphics for live events and virtual production. See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production	Paid	Live Events · Real-time	Live events, real-time graphics
Pixotope	Virtual production software. See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production	Paid	VP Software · Real-time	Virtual production
Vizrt	Broadcast graphics. See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production	Paid	Broadcast · Graphics	Broadcast graphics
Zero Density	Real-time VFX engine for broadcast and virtual production. See also: VFX, Compositing & Virtual Production → Virtual Production	Paid	Real-time VFX · Broadcast	Broadcast VP

Level Design & Map Editing Software

Standalone level editors and tile/grid map authoring tools.

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

Related:

• One Page Dungeon — One page dungeon generator
• Perilous Shores — Fantasy region generator
• Village Generator — Randomly generated village maps

Pipeline & Production Management Software

Production tracking, render farm management, asset pipeline orchestration.

Software	Description	Pricing	License	Tags	Best For
📄 build dynamic matchmaking with PubNub ~ epicgames	[multiplayer]. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer		Free
Articy:draft	Professional narrative design middleware. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Dialogue & Narrative		Paid	Middleware · Pro	Professional narrative middleware
AYON (Ynput)	Open-source VFX/animation pipeline platform; successor to OpenPype (archived).		Open Source	Open Pipeline · VFX Studio	Open-source studio pipeline
CGAL	A software project that provides easy access to efficient and reliable geometric algorithms in the form of a C++ library. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Geometry Lib · Open Source	Computational geometry algorithms
CGRU	CG tools pack that includes AFANASY, a free open-source render farm manager. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Open-source render farm
Coalition	Render-farm manager from Mercenaries Engineering (makers of Guerilla Render). See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Guerilla-adjacent	Small-studio render farm
Deadline (AWS Thinkbox)	Render farm manager. Free since v10.1.23. Deadline 10 in maintenance mode (Nov 2025); AWS pushing managed Deadline Cloud.		Free	Render Farm · Free	On-prem render farm management
Epic Online Services	Free multiplayer, matchmaking, voice chat. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer		Free	Free EOS · Matchmaking/Voice	Free multiplayer services
Flamenco (Blender render farm)	Blender Foundation's free render-farm manager. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Blender	Blender render farm
Flamenco (flamenco.io)	From the Blender Foundation See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Blender	Blender render farm
Flow Production Tracking (Autodesk)	Production tracking and review for film/TV/games. Renamed from ShotGrid in March 2024.		Paid	Industry Standard · Production Tracking	Studio production tracking and review
Foundry Katana	Look-development and lighting orchestration tool for film/episodic VFX, scaling to massive scenes via deferred evaluation. See also: Lighting, Rendering & Shaders → 3D Lighting — Production		Paid	Industry Standard · Lookdev/Lighting	Film lookdev and lighting at scale
ftrack	Production tracking. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Paid	Production Tracking · Pro	Production tracking
Gaffer (GafferHQ compositing)	Gaffer is a great toolbox, it's a VFX application that enables look developers, lighters, and compositors to easily build, tweak, iterate, and render scenes. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Look Dev · Open Source	Look dev / lighting / compositing
Godot Game Tools	Made easy importing mixamo animations. tools to ease the creation/import process of assets into Godot Game Engine and others. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools
Golaem (Autodesk)	Crowd simulation for Maya. Now bundled into Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection; built into Maya 2026.	Bundled in Autodesk M&E Collection ($335/mo or $2,700/yr)	Paid	Crowd Sim · Maya	Maya crowd simulation
Houdini Engine (SideFX product)	Procedural generation pipeline for Unreal/Unity/Godot. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — AI & Procedural Generation		Paid	Procedural Pipeline · Multi-Engine	Procedural pipeline in-engine
Kitsu (CGWire)	Production tracker. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Open Source · Tracking	Open-source production tracking
Massive	AI-driven crowd simulation pioneered on Lord of the Rings; Massive Prime + plugins for Maya/Max.		Paid	Industry Standard · Crowd Sim	Feature-film crowd simulation
Medieval Fantasy City Generator	This application generates a random medieval city layout of a requested size. City Viewer : is a 3d-visualizer for MFCD. See other generators from See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools
Nakama	Open-source game server (social, matchmaking, leaderboards). See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer		Open Source	Social Server · Matchmaking	Social game server
Open3D	Modern library for 3D data processing — point clouds, meshes, voxels, reconstruction. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	3D Data Processing · Open Source	3D data processing (Python/C++)
OpenCue (docs)	Open-source render management. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Render farm management
OpenTimelineIO (site)	(repo) - Editorial timeline. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Editorial · Open Source	Editorial timeline interchange
Ornatrix (Ephere)	Hair, fur, and feather plugin for 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, and Unreal.		Paid	Grooming · Multi-Host	Cross-host grooming
Pandora	Open-Source Renderfarm-Manager. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Render Farm · Open Source	Indie render farm management
Perforce Helix Core	Industry standard for large assets (free ≤5 users). See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Version Control		Freemium	Industry Standard · Free ≤5 users	Large-asset VCS
Photon Engine	Cloud multiplayer (PUN, Fusion, Quantum SDKs). See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer		Freemium	Cloud Multiplayer · Unity/Unreal	Cloud multiplayer
Plastic SCM / Unity Version Control	Artist-friendly binary version control. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Version Control		Freemium	Artist-Friendly · Unity-Integrated	Artist-friendly VCS
Prism Pipeline	Animation and VFX pipeline. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Freemium	Pipeline · Free Core	Indie/small studio pipeline
Royal Render	Per-node render farm manager for VFX/animation pipelines.		Paid	Render Farm · Studio	Studio render farm management
SmartFoxServer 2X	A comprehensive SDK for rapidly developing multiplayer games and applications with Adobe Flash/Flex/Air, Unity, HTML5, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Android, Java, Windows 8, C++ and more. See also: Game Development → Game Dev Tools — Networking & Multiplayer		Freemium
TerraForge3D	A procedural terrain generation and procedural modeling toolkit. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source
Tik Manager (GitHub)	Artist friendly asset and pipeline manager. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Open Source	Pipeline · Open Source	Asset/pipeline management for small teams
Tik Manager (site)	Artist-friendly asset and pipeline manager. See also: Tools, Pipeline & Utilities → Scene & Pipeline Tools		Freemium	Pipeline · Asset Mgmt	Asset/pipeline management
Tractor (Pixar)	Pixar's render queue/dispatch system, bundled with RenderMan licensing.		Paid	RenderMan · Render Farm	RenderMan-centric farm dispatch
Visual Studio (Windows)	Official supported IDE for Unity in Windows platform. Mac version here. See also: Game Development → Unity Engine — Resources		Freemium	unity-plugin
Yeti (Peregrine Labs)	Maya plugin for fur, feathers, and procedural instancing.		Paid	Grooming · Maya Plugin	Hero grooms and procedural instancing in Maya

Misc 3D Utilities Software

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

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

AI Image & Texture Generation Software

AI image generation and AI texture/material generation tools.

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

Related:

• SLK_img2pixel — Convert images/textures to pixel art

AI Video Generation Software

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

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

AI 3D Generation Software

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

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

AI Audio & Music Generation Software

AI music, voice, and SFX generation tools.

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

AI Motion Capture Software

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

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

AI-Assisted CG Software

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

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

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Contributing

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

Attribution

Sources & contributors

Curated by Devanshu Tak.

Built with help from:

• Houdini Nerd — Christopher Rutledge
• Best 3D Resources — Anne Thai
• Community contributions via GitHub
• Compiled with the help of Claude Code

Automated ingest sources:

• 80 Level
• Gumroad
• itch.io
• YouTube channels & playlists

GitHub awesome-lists mined (70)

• agarcialeon/awesome-unity
• agmmnn/awesome-blender
• aishwaryanr/awesome-generative-ai-guide
• Alinshans/awesome-cg
• AtakanFire/Awesome-Unreal-Engine
• awesome-NeRF/awesome-NeRF
• AxiomeCG/awesome-threejs
• bcmi/Awesome-Generative-Image-Composition
• bcmi/Awesome-Image-Composition
• bertjiazheng/Awesome-CAD
• bluesfdw/awesome-CAD
• brabadu/awesome-fonts
• brandonhimpfen/awesome-generative-ai
• calinou/awesome-gamedev
• camilleroux/awesome-generative-art
• cgwire/awesome-cg-vfx-pipeline
• cjroth/awesome-vr
• Coop56/awesome-unreal
• cutbypham/awesome-davinci-resolve
• dharmeshkakadia/awesome-AR
• Domeee/awesome-augmented-reality
• drwpow/awesome-oss-fonts
• ellisonleao/magictools
• ericjang/awesome-graphics
• eug/awesome-opengl
• filipecalegario/awesome-generative-ai
• fire/awesome-godot-procedural-manual-generation
• FronkonGames/Awesome-Gamedev
• haxiomic/awesome-gamedev
• iamtpb/awesome-photography
• ibaaj/awesome-OpenSourcePhotography
• inlife/awesome-ae
• insthync/awesome-unreal
• Kavex/GameDev-Resources
• KelvinAnymoree/awesome-cg-pipeline
• kidult00/awesome-AR
• loonghao/awesome-cg-pipeline
• luisdnsantos/awesome-computer-graphics
• mbrukman/awesome-game-dev
• mdyao/Awesome-3D-AIGC
• melbvr/awesome-VR
• mnrmja007/awesome-virtual-reality
• MrNeRF/awesome-3D-gaussian-splatting
• MrPeker/awesome-illustrations
• nathakits/awesome-cinema4d
• natnew/Awesome-Generative-AI
• oli-z/awesome-filmmaking
• olucurious/Awesome-ARCore
• olucurious/Awesome-ARKit
• querielo/awesome-computer-graphics
• rive-app/awesome-rive
• rng70/Awesome-Fonts
• shlomif/awesome-graphics-programming
• Siilwyn/awesome-pixel-art
• sjfricke/awesome-webgl
• steven2358/awesome-generative-ai
• teamgravitydev/gamedev-free-resources
• terkelg/awesome-creative-coding
• terrehbyte/awesome-ue4
• TheFrenchGhosty/awesome-art
• tobiasbueschel/awesome-WebAR
• tom-choi/awesome-cg-pipeline
• tomByrer/awesome-unreal-engine
• UEProjectXmples/awesome-ue5
• unclamped/awesome-vr
• UnityCommunity/AwesomeUnityCommunity
• vanrez-nez/awesome-glsl
• waitin2010/awesome-computer-graphics
• wentianli/awesome-video-editing
• wyhinton/AwesomeHoudini