Open Source 3D animation
VIRTUAL WORLDS
You need good software and plenty of CPU power to create virtual worlds. Luckily for today’s animators, powerful PCs are inexpensive, and some excellent animation tools are absolutely free.
Not so long ago, professional quality 3D animation required expensive workstations. The software they ran, for example Maya (Unlimited Version), cost more than US$ 15,000 early in 2002, and the software technology was hidden behind restrictive licenses. As hardware prices started to plummet, the software prices stayed too high for amateurs at first, and the tough licensing conditions looked like they were there to stay. For most people, 3D animation on home computers was just a distant dream. More recently, with the appearance of the first Open Source programs, this situation has changed dramatically, bringing affordable 3D graphics to the public, and opening up the underlying technologies to let developers produce a whole new collection of applications. The expression “7 degrees of freedom” was coined by the K3D project. It stands for the 6 degrees in 3D space and the additional freedom to distribute and modify source code. This article describes some of the best Open Source tools for 3D animation.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
News
-
KDE Plasma Developers Introduce a GNOME-Like Overview
A new overview effect makes it easier for users to interact with both Plasma Activities and Virtual Desktops.
-
Rocky Linux 8.5 Now Available with Secure Boot Support
The latest iteration of CentOS alternative, Rocky Linux has arrived and includes numerous updates as well as support for Secure Boot.
-
System76 Developing a New Desktop Environment
The makers of Pop!_OS are currently in the early stages of creating a brand new, non-GNOME, desktop environment.
-
Hetzner Opens New Location in the USA
The Hetzner cost-effective Cloud solution has arrived in the United States to offer cloud servers that offer solid performance without a high price.
-
KDE Plasma 5.24 Introduces Fingerprint Reader Support
The next release of the KDE Plasma desktop environment will include support for fingerprint readers for session authentication and more.
-
Ubuntu 21.10 Released and Finally Includes Gnome 40
The most anticipated update to Ubuntu is finally here and the workflow couldn't be better.
-
Linux Can Now Run on Apple’s M1 Chipset
Linux users looking to take advantage of Apple Silicon are about to get their wish with the M1 chipset.
-
MX Linux 21 RC Candidate Available For Testing
The MX Linux development team has released the RC images for MX Linux 21 for testing purposes.
-
Fedora 35 is Shaping Up to Be an Impressive Release
Although the beta version of Fedora’s upcoming release is behind schedule, the Linux distribution is still slotted for October and will include numerous bug fixes and some exciting new features.
-
Canonical Extends Support For Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04
The company behind Ubuntu offered a much-needed lifeline to those who still depend on older versions of the open-source operating system.