blender.org - Home of the Blender project - Free and Open 3D Creation Software

Submitted by: Cad Junkie

While not a "CAD" software there are very compelling reasons to have this a designers wheelhouse of 3D modeling tools.

- It's free and always will be, runs on a Mac or PC, and has a very strong community of users and developers.
- Offers a wide range of different tools such as 2D sketching - Grease Pencil, as well as sculptural tools aka zBrush,
and an amazing rendering and animation suite.
- Customization allows users to really get in to the software however they so choose. Being able to create code/scripts or purchase ones that suit ones needs from the market place also adds a level of most other packages don't.

While not a "CAD" software there are very compelling reasons to have this a designers wheelhouse of 3D modeling tools.

- It's free and always will be, runs on a Mac or PC, and has a very strong community of users and developers.
- Offers a wide range of different tools such as 2D sketching - Grease Pencil, as well as sculptural tools aka zBrush,
and an amazing rendering and animation suite.
- Customization allows users to really get in to the software however they so choose. Being able to create code/scripts or purchase ones that suit ones needs from the market place also adds a level of most other packages don't.