# Comparison of 3D computer graphics software

3D computer graphics software refers to packages used to create 3D computer-generated imagery.

## General information
### Current software

This table compares elements of notable software that is currently available, based on the raw software, with no added plug-ins.
| Application | Latest release date and version | Developer | Platforms | Main uses | License |
| 3ds Max | 2024-10-16 v 2025.3 | Autodesk | Windows | Modeling, animation (video games and films only), FX simulation, lighting, rendering | Proprietary |
| AC3D | 2022-04-27 v 9.0 | Inivis | Linux, macOS, Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
| Alibre Design | 2022-08-03 v 25 | Alibre, LLC | Windows | Computer aided design | Proprietary |
| AutoCAD | 2022-03-28 v 2023 | Autodesk | macOS, Windows | 2D computer aided design, 3D modeling, basic rendering, rudimentary animation (of camera, not objects) | Proprietary |
| Blender | 2024-08-20 v 4.2.1 | Blender Foundation | Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Solaris, AmigaOS 4, MorphOS | 2D–3D cartoon animation, lighting, modeling, node based material creation, texturing, 3D texture painting, UV mapping, rendering (internal, external, 3D anaglyph and VR), 3D rigging and animation, sculpting, visual 3D effects, basic post-production video editing, motion tracking, Python scripting, fluid simulation, particles, physics, compositing | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Carrara | 2013-08-26 8.5.1.19 | Daz 3D | Windows, macOS | Animation, modeling | Proprietary |
| Cheetah 3D | 2021-02-20 v 7.5.1 | Martin Wengenmayer | macOS | Animation, modeling, rendering | Proprietary |
| Cinema 4D | 2022-04-20 S26 | Maxon | macOS, Windows, Amiga OS | Animation, lighting, modeling, visual 3D effects, rendering, simulation | Proprietary |
| CityEngine | 2018-09-18 v 2018.1 | Esri | macOS, Windows, Linux | Procedural Modeling of 3D Cities | Proprietary |
| Cobalt | 2020-02-04 v11 | Ashlar-Vellum | macOS, Windows | Modeling, computer aided design, animation | Proprietary |
| DesignSpark Mechanical | 2020-07-20 v5.0 | SpaceClaim, RS Components | Windows | Modeling, computer aided design, rapid prototyping, 3D printing | Proprietary |
| Electric Image Animation System | 2013-06 v9.1.0 | EIAS3D | macOS, Windows | Animation, lighting, rendering, film, television, visual 3D effects | Proprietary |
| FreeCAD | 2024-01-08 v 0.21.2 | Jürgen Riegel, Werner Mayer, Yorik van Havre | macOS, Windows, unix, Linux | CAD, FEA with Calculix, Python scripting, parametric design, robot simulation, CAM, BIM, import and export | LGPL 2.0 or later |
| form-Z pro/jr/free | 2020-02-? 9.0.2 | Autodessys, Inc. | macOS, Windows | Animation, modeling, lighting, rendering, fabricating, set design | Proprietary |
| Hexagon | 2018-02-16 2.5.2.109 | Daz 3D | Windows, macOS | Subdivision modeling, UV mapping | Proprietary |
| HiCAD | 2017-02-13 v HiCAD 2017 | ISD Software und Systeme | Windows | 2D/3D modeling, computer aided design, Automatic drawing generation, BIM, animation, HELiOS PDM integration, API scripting | Proprietary |
| Houdini | 2024-05-31 v 20.5 | Side Effects Software | Windows, macOS, Linux | Animation, lighting, modeling, visual 3D effects | Proprietary |
| iClone | 2019-12-17 v 7.71.3626.1 | Reallusion | Windows | Animation, film and television previz, videogame asset creation, lighting, visual 3D effects | Proprietary |
| Inventor | 2021-01 v 2021.2.1 | Autodesk | Windows | Modeling, computer aided design, rapid prototyping, 3D printing | Proprietary |
| LightWave 3D | 2020-08-07 v 2020.0.2 | LightWave Digital | macOS, Windows, Amiga OS | Modeling, animation, lighting, rendering, film and television previz, videogame asset creation | Proprietary |
| MASSIVE | ? v 3.5 | Massive Software | Windows, Linux | Artificial intelligence in models | Proprietary |
| Maya | 2024-08-13 v 2025.2 | Autodesk | Windows, macOS, Linux | Modeling, NURBS modeling sculpting, rigging, skinning, retargeting, animation, lighting, rendering, Bifrost fluids, Python scripting, Bifrost ocean simulation system, UV mapping, MASH procedural effects, time and graph editor, Arnold renderer, color management polygon modeling, visual 3D effects | Proprietary |
| Metasequoia | 2022-12-23 4.8.4b | tetraface Inc. | Windows, macOS | Modeling | Proprietary |
| Modo | 2022-06-21 16v2 | The Foundry | macOS, Windows, Linux | Modeling, animation, rendering | Proprietary |
| Mudbox | 2022-04-18 2023 | Autodesk | macOS, Windows, Linux | Lighting, sculpting (the deformation of the model) | Proprietary |
| OpenSCAD | 2021-01-31 v 2021.01 | Marius Kintel, Claire Wolf | macOS, Windows, Unix, Linux | CAD, scripting, parametric design, CSG | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| PTC Creo (former Pro/Engineer) | 2020 v 7.0 | PTC | Windows, HP-UX, Unix | Modeling, computer aided design | Proprietary |
| Remo 3D | 2025-02-17 v 3.1.2 | Remograph | Windows, Linux | Modeling, virtual reality, real-time modeling, video game creation, computer aided design | Proprietary |
| Rhinoceros 3D | 2020-12-08 v 7 | McNeel | Windows, macOS | Modeling, computer aided design, scripting with Grasshopper, many plug-in for simulation, CAM, BIM, rendering, and more | Proprietary |
| Salome | 2020-12-01 v 9.6 | Open Cascade EDF CEA | Windows, Unix, Linux | CAD, scripting, parametric design, CSG, meshing, pre-post for CAE | LGPL 2.1 or later |
| Shade 3D | 2022-11-08 v 23.1 | FORUM 8 [ja] | macOS, Windows | Modeling, computer aided design, rendering, animation | Proprietary |
| Silo | 2022-11-03 v 2023.0 | Nevercenter | macOS, Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
| Tekla Structures | 2024-09-13 v 2024 SR 4.1 | Tekla | Windows | 3D modeling, reporting, 2D drawings, 3D drawings, CAD, CAM, BIM | Proprietary |
| SketchUp Pro | 2021-01-05 v 21.0.1 (Win64) v 16.1.1450 (Win32) v 20.0 (Mac64) | Trimble Navigation | macOS, Windows | Modeling, computer aided design | Proprietary |
| Solid Edge | 2020-06-? 2021 ST13 | Siemens Digital Industries Software | Windows | Computer aided design | Proprietary |
| SolidWorks | 2022-07-11 v SolidWorks 2022 SP3.1 | Dassault Systèmes | Windows | Computer aided design | Proprietary |
| SpaceClaim | 2020-08-08 v 2020.R2 | Ansys | Windows | Computer aided design | Proprietary |
| Verto Studio 3D | 2021-02-12 v2.5.0 | Michael L. Farrell | macOS, iOS | Mobile modeling, texture mapping, lighting | Proprietary |
| Wings 3D | 2020-12-20 v 2.2.6 | Dan Gudmundsson (maintainer) | macOS, Windows, BSD, Linux | Modeling, sculpting (the deformation of the model), UV mapping | BSD |
| ZBrush | 2022-02-07 v 2022.0.5 | Maxon | macOS, Windows | Modeling, texturing, lighting, sculpting (the deformation of the model), rendering | Proprietary |

### Inactive software

There are many discontinued software applications.
| Application | Latest release date and version | Developer | Platforms | Main uses | License |
| Bryce | 2010-12-23 7.1.0.109 | Daz 3D | Windows (32-bit), macOS (10.7 and above) | Animation, landscape modeling, fractal geometry | Proprietary |
| Clara.io | redesigned in 2015-03-31 | Exocortex | Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer | Modeling, animation, rendering | Proprietary |
| E-on Vue | 2021-12-09 v 2021.2 | E-on Software (part of Bentley Systems) | macOS, Windows | Animation, landscape modeling, lighting | Proprietary |
| POV-Ray | 2013-11-09 v3.7.0 | The POV-Team | macOS, Windows, Linux, AmigaOS | Lighting, visual 3D effects | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| SketchUp Make | 2017-11-14 v 18.0.16975 (Win64) v 18.0.16976 (Mac64) | Trimble Navigation | macOS, Windows | Modeling, computer aided design | Proprietary |
| Softimage | 2014-04-14 "2015" (final release) | Autodesk | Windows, Linux | Modeling, animation, video game creation, lighting, rendering, visual 3D effects | Proprietary |
| solidThinking Evolve (predecessor of Altair Inspire Studio) | ?-? v 9.0 | Altair Engineering | macOS, Windows | Modeling | Proprietary |
| trueSpace | 2009-05-25 v 7.61 | Caligari Corporation | Windows, AmigaOS | Animation, modeling | Proprietary |
| VistaPro | 2005 v 4.2 | Hypercube Engineering, Monkey Byte Development | Windows | Landscape modeling | Proprietary |

## Operating system support

The operating systems on which the editors can run natively (without emulation or compatibility layers), meaning which operating systems have which editors specifically coded for them (not, for example, Wings 3D for Windows running on Linux with Wine).
| Name | Windows | macOS | Linux | Unix | BSD | iOS | Android | Other |
| 3ds Max | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| AC3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Art of Illusion | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Java virtual machine |
| AutoCAD | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Carrara | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Cheetah 3D | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Amiga OS |
| Clara.io | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ChromeOS |
| DesignSpark Mechanical | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Electric Image Animation System | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| form-Z | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| HiCAD | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Houdini | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| IClone | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| LightWave 3D | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| MakeHuman | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Massive | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped | No | No | No | |
| Metasequoia | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Modo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| POV-Ray | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Remo 3D | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Shade | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Silo | Yes | Yes | dropped in 2.5 | No | No | No | No | |
| SketchUp | Yes | Yes | SketchUp for Web | ? | ? | Yes | Viewer only | |
| Tekla Structures | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Softimage | Yes | No | XSI 2.0 and later | dropped | No | No | No | |
| Solid Edge | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| solidWorks | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| solidThinking | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| SpaceClaim | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| trueSpace | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Amiga OS} |
| Verto Studio 3D | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| E-on Vue | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Wings 3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| ZBrush | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
* ↑ Old versions supported AmigaOS, Solaris, and MorphOS
* ↑ LightWave 3D 5.0 and before supported AmigaOS.
* ↑ Maya 1.0 - 6.5 supported SGI Irix.
* ↑ Old versions supported Amiga OS, and Atari TOS

## Features

| | Modeling | 3D Painting | Animation | Rendering | 3D Tracking | Compositing |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Some |
| AC3D | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electric Image Animation System | dropped | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | R16 or later | No |
| Clara.io | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
| Cobalt | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
| HiCAD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Houdini | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| IClone | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Lightwave 3D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MakeHuman | parameter-based | No | No | No | No | No |
| Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped (Maya Live) | dropped (Maya Composer, Maya Fusion, and Maya Composite) |
| Metasequoia | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Modo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Remo 3D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Shade | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Softimage | Yes | 3.7 or later | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Solid Edge | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? |
| SketchUp Make | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SketchUp Pro | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Wings3D | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | ? |

## I/O
### Image, video, and audio files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports | Exports | Exports | Exports |
| | EXR | DDS | KTX | others | EXR | DDS | KTX | others |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | ? | BMP, Cineon, TGA, JPG, PNG, Cineon, Radiance HDR, SGI, RLA, RPF, AVI, MPEG and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV, YUV | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Art of Illusion | No | No | No | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, HDR, SVG | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, HDR, QuickTime |
| AC3D | ? | Yes | ? | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF | ? | Yes | ? | GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, PPM, Targa, TIFF |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV |
| Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, TIFF, PSD, MOV | ? | ? | ? | PNG, BMP, AVI and QuickTime GIF, TIFF, MOV |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | ? | Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD | Yes | Yes | ? | Radiance HDR, BodyPaint 3D, TIFF, PSD |
| Clara.io | Yes | Yes | ? | PNG, JPG | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM | ? | ? | ? | BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, PPM, XBM, XPM |
| Houdini | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| IClone | ? | ? | ? | JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, AVI, WMV, MP3, WAV, popVideo | ? | ? | ? | JPG, BMP, GIF, TGA, PNG, WMV, AVI, MP4, popVideo, FLV, iWidget |
| Lightwave 3D | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, AI, EPS, BMP, IFF, Radiance HDR, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, JPG, PNG, BMP, Radiance HDR, IFF, AVI and QuickTime, GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV |
| MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Maya | Yes | ? | ? | Ai, Aiff, Pix, AVI, Cineon, EPS, GIF, Jpeg, Swf, Maya IFF, Maya16 IFF, MacPaint, PSD, PNG, Quantel, Quickdraw, MOV, RLA, SVG, SGI, SGI16, SGI Movie, TGA, TIF, BMP, HDR | Yes | Yes | ? | Maya IFF, AVI, QT, GIF, Softimage, RLA, BMP, TIF, SGI RGB, Alias PIX, Jpeg, EPS, Cineon, Quantel, TGA, Macpaint, PSD, PNG, Quickdraw |
| Metasequoia | EX version only | Yes | No | BMP, JPG, PNG, IFF, TGA, PPM, TIFF, PSD, Radiance HDR | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Modo | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, SGI, EPS, AI, PSD | Yes | ? | ? | TGA, BMP, FLX, GIF, HDR, JP2, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF, MOV, MWV, PSD |
| Remo 3D | ? | Yes | ? | BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PNM, SGI (RGB), TGA, TIF | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, SGI (RGB), TIF, XPM |
| Shade | Yes | (DDS Converter plugin) | ? | ? | Yes | (DDS Converter plugin) | ? | QuickTime VR, Piranesi EPix |
| Softimage | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP |
| SketchUp Pro | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, TGA, BMP | ? | ? | ? | JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP, MOV(on Mac), AVI (on Windows) |
| E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |

### General 3D files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports | Exports | Exports | Exports |
| | FBX | Other formats | Web, mobile, and VR | FBX | Other formats | glTF | Web, mobile, and VR |
| 3ds Max | Yes | 3DS, PRJ, AI, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ, SHP, SKP, TRC | VRML | Yes | 3DS, AI, ASE, COLLADA, HTR, OBJ | ? | M3G, VRML97 |
| AC3D | Yes | 3DS, AC3D, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, OFF, Pointfield, Points, Terragen, Triangle, Vector | VRML 1.0, glTF | ? | 3DS, 3D Studio ASE, AC3D, Dive, DVS, DXF, COLLADA, Lightwave, Massive, Milkshape Ascii, OBJ, Triangle | ? | VRML 1.0, VRML 2.0, X3D |
| Blender | Yes | COLLADA, 3DS, PLY, OBJ, SVG | X3D, glTF | Yes | COLLADA, PLY, OBJ, SVG, PC2 | Yes | X3D |
| Electric Image Animation System | Yes | 3DS, OBJ, LWO, MDD | | ? | 3DS, OBJ, LWO | No | |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, LWO/LWS | VRML 1, VRML 2 | Yes | OBJ, 3DS, QD3D, W3D | Yes | VRML 1, VRML 2 |
| Clara.io | Yes | OBJ, Collada, 3DS, LWO, GEO, PLY, SHP, XGL, ZGL, AC, BLEND, CSM, LWS | VRML, Three.js | Yes | OBJ, Collada | Yes | Three.js, Babylon.js |
| Cobalt | ? | 3DS, AI, ASCII Text | VRML | ? | AI, ASCII Text, RAW Triangle | ? | Shockwave 3D, VRML |
| Houdini | Yes | ? | | Yes | ? | Yes | |
| IClone | Yes | OBJ, SKP (via 3DXChange) | | Yes | OBJ (via 3DXChange) | ? | |
| Lightwave 3D | Yes | 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO, VideoScape | VRML, VRML97 | Yes | 3DS, COLLADA, OBJ, LWO | ? | VRML, VRML97 |
| MakeHuman | No | N/A | | Yes | COLLADA, MHX, OBJ, STL | ? | |
| Maya | Yes | Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, MEL, OBJ | VRML2 | Yes | Maya Ascii, Maya Binary, Mel, OBJ, GE2, RTG | ? | VRML2 |
| Metasequoia | EX version only | 3DS, COB, LWO, OBJ, ROK (Rokkaku Daiō), SUF (DoGA CGA System) | glTF | EX version only | 3DS, PMD, OBJ, COLLADA | Yes | |
| Modo | Yes | LXO, LWO2, LWOB, 3DS, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA | | Yes | LXO, LWO, PLT, GEO, OBJ, COLLADA | Yes | X3D |
| Remo 3D | Yes | 3DC, 3DS, AC, Collada, OpenFlight, LWO, LWS, OBJ, P3D, PLY, STA, SHP | OSG | Yes | 3DS, AC, Collada, DOT, OpenFlight, OBJ, P3D, STL | ? | OSG |
| Shade | Yes | OBJ, SketchUp, XML; (Pro) 3DS, COLLADA, LWO | | Yes | COLLADA, DXF, OBJ, XML; (Pro) 3DS, LWO | glTF Converter for Shade3D plugin | VRML 2.0, Flash (SWF) |
| Softimage | Yes | ? | | Yes | ? | No | |
| Solid Edge | ? | | | ? | | ? | PDF |
| SketchUp Make | ? | SKP, 3DS | | ? | COLLADA, SKP | ? | |
| SketchUp Pro | ? | SKP, 3DS | | Yes | COLLADA, SKP, EPS, EPX (removed v16+), 3DS, OBJ | ? | PDF, VRML |
| E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Wings3D | ? | 3DS, AI, EPS, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D | | dropped in 1.3.1 | 3DS, COLLADA, LWO, LXO, Nendo, OBJ, SVG, Wings3D | ? | VRML 2.0 |

### Game and renderer files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports | Exports | Exports | Exports |
| | OpenFlight (FLT) | other 3D game files | 3D renderer files | OpenFlight (FLT) | OGRE | other 3D game files | 3D renderer files |
| 3ds Max | Yes | | | Yes | No | | |
| AC3D | No | Quake III BSP, Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Irrlicht irrmesh, Renderware, SMF | | No | Yes | DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Quake II (MD2), Quake Map, SMF, Unreal Tournament | POV-Ray POV, RenderMan RIB |
| Blender | dropped | | | dropped | (blender2ogre addon) | | POV-Ray POV |
| Electric Image Animation System | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Cinema 4D | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Clara.io | ? | DirectX X, Irrlicht irrmesh | POV-Ray POV | ? | ? | Quake II (MD2), Quake III Mesh (MD3), Doom 3 (MD5) | |
| Cobalt | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Houdini | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| IClone | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Lightwave 3D | ? | Quake II (MD2) | | ? | ? | Quake II (MD2) | |
| MakeHuman | No | | | ? | Yes | Doom 3 (MD5) | |
| Maya | Yes | | | Yes | No | | Mental Ray MI, RenderMan RIB |
| Metasequoia | No | | | No | No | DirectX X | RenderMan RIB |
| Modo | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Remo 3D | ? | DirectX X, Quake II (MD2) | | ? | | | |
| Shade | ? | | | ? | ? | DirectX X, Second Life Sculpted Prim, Blue Mars | RenderMan RIB |
| Softimage | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| Solid Edge | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| SketchUp Make | ? | | | ? | ? | | |
| SketchUp Pro | ? | | | ? | ? | dotXSI | |
| E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Wings3D | ? | | | ? | ? | BZFlag, DirectX X, Renderware | Kerkythea, POV-Ray POV |

### Cache and animation files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports | Exports |
| | Geometry Cache | Geometry Cache | Point Cache | Point Cache | Particle Cache | Particle Cache | Particle Cache | Particle Cache | Animation | Exports | Exports |
| | Alembic (*.abc) | Maya Cache (*.mc) | 3ds Max PC2 | LightWave MDD | Maya Particle Data (*.pda, *.pdb) | Houdini BGEO | RealFlow BIN | Krakatoa PRT | Biovision Hierarchy (*.bvh) | Alembic (*.abc) | others |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| AC3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Blender | Yes | No | Mesh Cache Modifier | Mesh Cache Modifier | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | BVH |
| Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| Clara.io | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | BVH |
| Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Houdini | Yes | via FBX importer | via FBX importer | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| IClone | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | BVH |
| Lightwave 3D | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Partio Node | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Maya | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| Metasequoia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Modo | Yes | ? | ? | MDD Deformer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| Remo 3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Shade | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | BVH |
| Softimage | (Exocortex Crate) | ? | ? | Point Oven | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | (Exocortex Crate) | |
| Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| SketchUp Pro | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |

### CAD files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports | Exports | Exports | Exports |
| | STL | DXF | DWG | others | STL | DXF | DWG | others |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGE, IGS, IGES, IPT, WIRE, IAM, LS, VW, LP, SAT, Catia V4/V5, JT, ProE, RVT, PRT, SolidWorks, STEP, WIRE | Yes | Yes | Yes | ATR, BLK, DF, IGS, LAY, LP, SAT, VW |
| AC3D | Yes | Yes | No | LDraw (Lego), SOF Airfoil | Yes | Yes | No | Inventor, LDraw (Lego) |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | No | | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Electric Image Animation System | ? | Yes | ? | | ? | Yes | ? | |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| Clara.io | Yes | Yes | ? | | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Cobalt | ? | Yes | Yes | ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CCAD, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, Pro/E, Rhino 3DM, Spline, STP (STEP) | ? | Yes | Yes | ACIS SAT, CATIA v4, CGM, CO (native), Drawing board, Facet, Grid Surface, IGS (IGES), Parasolid XT, PDF, Pro/E, STP (STEP) |
| Houdini | External | External | No | | External | External | No | |
| IClone | ? | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | |
| Lightwave 3D | Yes | Yes | No | | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Maya | Windows and Mac only | Windows only | Windows only | IGES, StudioTools Wire | Windows and Mac only | Windows only | Windows only | IGES, StudioTools Wire, Open Inventor2 |
| Metasequoia | Yes | Yes | No | | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Modo | Yes | Yes | No | SolidWorks | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Remo 3D | Yes | Yes | No | DW (Designer Workshop) | Yes | No | No | |
| Shade | Yes | Yes | No | | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Solid Edge | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGES, STEP, JT, ACIS (SAT), ProE, SolidWorks, NX, SDRC, Microstation, Inventor, CATIA (V4/V5), Parasolid, XML, MDS | Yes | Yes | Yes | IGES, STEP, EMS, JT, XGL, XML, Parasolid, CATIA (V4/V5), ACIS (SAT), Microstation |
| SketchUp Make | ? | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | |
| SketchUp Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| E-on Vue | ? | ? | ? | | ? | ? | ? | |
| Wings3D | Yes | ? | ? | | Yes | ? | ? | |

### Point clouds and photogrammetry files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports |
| | ASTM E57 | LASer (LAS) | Leica Cyclone PTS/PTX/PTG | Autodesk ReCap RCS/RCP | VisualSFM NVM |
| 3ds Max | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| Blender | ? | (Blender LiDAR Importer addon, Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon) | ? | ? | (Blender-Photogrammetry-Importer addon) |
| Houdini | Lidar Import geometry node | Lidar Import geometry node | ? | ? | ? |

### GIS and DEM files

| | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Imports | Exports |
| | USGS DEM | USGS SDTS (DDF) | LandXML | GeoTIFF | Shapefile | OSM | others | Exports |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | | |
| AC3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Blender | ? | ? | ? | (Blender GIS addon) | (Blender GIS addon) | ? | | |
| Bryce | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | VistaPro DEM | USDS DEM |
| Electric Image Animation System | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | VistaPro DEM | |
| Clara.io | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Cobalt | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Houdini | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | | |
| IClone | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Lightwave 3D | (Ground Control plugin) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| MakeHuman | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Maya | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Metasequoia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Modo | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Remo 3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Shade | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| Solid Edge | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
| SketchUp Make | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | SKP+KMZ | SKP+KMZ |
| SketchUp Pro | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | SKP+KMZ | SKP+KMZ |
| E-on Vue | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | DTED | |
| Wings3D | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | |
* 1 2 VRML, Java 3D, Adobe Flash, Shockwave 3D, Acrobat 3D, OpenSceneGraph, USDZ, WebGL-related formats, etc...
* ↑ Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object format
* ↑ Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its RDS (Ray Dream Studio), and SCE (SoftF/X Model) exporters and 4.7.0 dropped its COB (Caligari TrueSpace 3D Object), DoGA CGA System SUF, and AMF exporters.
* ↑ Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped the VRML 1.0 (WRL), and Three.js JMF exporters.
* 1 2 OSG, OSGB, OSGT, OSGX, IVE and OSGA
* 1 2 Metasequoia 4.0.0 dropped its PlayStation RSD importer and exporter.
* ↑ Metasequoia 4.7.0 dropped its POV-Ray POV exporter.
* 1 2 Maya Cache and 3ds Max PC2 format are also used with FBX format.
* 1 2 3 SLDPRT and SLDASM
* 1 2 via AutoCAD DXF addon
* ↑ via Game Development Toolset

## Supported primitives

| Application | Polygon | Polygon | Polygon | Polygon | Spline/Bézier Surface | Spline/Bézier Surface | Spline/Bézier Surface | Voxel, Volume | Metaball | Point Clouds | Particles |
| Application | Triangles | Quads | N-gons | Torus, Donut | NURBS regular patch | NURBS trimmed surface | Bicubic Bézier patch | Voxel, Volume | Metaball | Point Clouds | Particles |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | soc-2014-nurbs branch | No | 2.83 and later | Yes | 3.1 and later | Yes |
| Maya | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 3D Texture | Yes | No | Yes |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Patch Objects | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | R20 and later | Yes | ? | Yes |
| LightWave | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | (LWCAD plugin) | (LWCAD plugin) | No | OpenVDB primitives | Yes | No | Yes |
| Rhinoceros | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Grasshopper | Grasshopper | Grasshopper | Grasshopper |
| Shade 3D | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | CAD mode | CAD mode | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Application | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Curves | Bone | Text | Camera | Light | Speaker |
| Application | Linear | Quadratic Bézier | Cubic Bézier | B-spline | Cardinal spline | Hermite spline | TCB spline | Smoothstep | Akima spline | NURBS | Bone | Text | Camera | Light | Speaker |
| Blender | Bézier curve without subdivision | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maya | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 3ds Max | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | dropped in R23 |
| LightWave | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | only in Graph Editor | only in Graph Editor | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Shade 3D | ? | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sound Object |

## Modeling

| Application | Hard surface Modeling | Hard surface Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Sculpt Modeling | Non-destructive Modeling | Non-destructive Modeling | Non-destructive Modeling | Non-destructive Modeling |
| Application | Polygon Modeling | Subdivision Modeling | Base-mesh Creation | Sketch Modeling | Sculpting | Cloth Sculpting | Hand Retopology | Automatic Retopology | Boolean | Bevel | Modifier | Procedural |
| Maya | Yes | Yes | (SOuP BMesh) | No | Yes | No | Yes | 2020 and later | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Yes | (Form) | No | Paint Deform | No | Yes | 2021.3 and later | Yes | Yes | Yes | Max Creation Graph |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | Skin Modifier | Trim Brush with Union/Join mode | Yes | 2.83 and later | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Geometry Nodes |
| ZBrush | ZModeler | ZModeler | ZSphere and ZSketch | MeshBalloon | Yes | 2021 and later | Yes | ZRemesher | 4R8 and later | ? | No | No |
| Curvy 3D | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No |

## Lookdev, Shader writing

| Application | PBR viewport | Viewport effects | Interactive GI Rendering | Integrated Compositing | Text editor for shader writing | Material Nodes | Turntable Rendering |
| Maya | Yes | Some | Arnold | No | ? | Hypershade, Node Editor, ShaderFX | Yes |
| 3ds Max | Yes | Some | Arnold | (State Set) | OSL Map | Slate Material Editor, ShaderFX | Easy Turntable script |
| MODO | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | Nodal Shading | Render Turntable |
| Blender | Eevee (2.80 and later) | Eevee (2.80 and later) | Cycles | Yes | Text Editor | Yes | Turnaround Camera addon |
| Gaffer | No | No | external renderers | Yes | OSLCode Node | No | No |
| Marmoset Toolbag | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Uber PBR shaders only | Yes |
| Substance Designer | Yes | YEBIS | NVIDIA Iray | ? | ? | MDL graph | ? |

## Lighting

| Application | Alembic Importer | USD Importer | Rendering Engine | Volume Rendering for clouds | Interactive Rendering | Isolating light contribution | Light Lister | IES Light | Physical Sun & Sky | Sun Positioning by location and times | Light Portal | Shadow Catcher | IBL and Environment texture | IBL and Environment texture | IBL and Environment texture | Highlight Placement | Light Mixer |
| Application | Alembic Importer | USD Importer | Rendering Engine | Volume Rendering for clouds | Interactive Rendering | Isolating light contribution | Light Lister | IES Light | Physical Sun & Sky | Sun Positioning by location and times | Light Portal | Shadow Catcher | Lat Long | sIBL | Light Extraction | Highlight Placement | Light Mixer |
| Maya | Yes | USD Extension for Maya | Maya Hardware 2.0 | ? | Yes | No | Light Editor | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | (Place Highlight Tool for Maya) | No |
| Maya | Yes | USD Extension for Maya | Maya Software | ? | ? | Light Linking | Light Editor | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | Env Sphere | ? | ? | (Place Highlight Tool for Maya) | No |
| Maya | Yes | USD Extension for Maya | Arnold | Yes | Yes | Light Linking | Light Editor | Ai Photometric Light | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | (Place Highlight Tool for Maya) | Light Mixer imager |
| 3ds Max | Yes | (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) | Quicksilver | ? | Yes | No | Light Lister | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Place Highlight | No |
| 3ds Max | Yes | (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) | Scanline | ? | ? | Light Exclude/include | Light Lister | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | sIBL-GUI software | ? | Place Highlight | No |
| 3ds Max | Yes | (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) | ART | ? | ? | ? | Light Lister | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Place Highlight | No |
| 3ds Max | Yes | (USD for Autodesk 3ds Max) | Arnold | Yes | Yes | Light Group | Light Lister | Ai Photometric Light | Yes | Sun Positioner | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Place Highlight | Light Mixer imager |
| Blender | 2.78 and later | 3.0 and later | Workbench | Some | Yes | View Layers | Property Chart Addon, Gaffer addon | No | ? | Sun Position addon | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Look At Gizmo (with Ctrl key) | No |
| Blender | 2.78 and later | 3.0 and later | EEVEE | Some | Yes | View Layers | Property Chart Addon, Gaffer addon | No | Yes | Sun Position addon | No | Shader Node | Yes | ? | ? | Look At Gizmo (with Ctrl key) | No |
| Blender | 2.78 and later | 3.0 and later | Cycles | Yes | Yes | Light Groups (3.2 and later) | Property Chart Addon, Gaffer addon | 2.80 and later | Yes | Sun Position addon | from 2.75 | from 2.79 | Yes | sIBL_GUI for Blender addon/ Add Environment nodes addon | ? | Look At Gizmo (with Ctrl key) | No |
| MODO | Yes | 14.1 and later | MODO Renderer, mPath | Yes | Yes | Light Linking | ? | Photometric Light | Directional Light | Directional Light | Portal | Shadow Catcher | Yes | mm_sIBLToModoEnvironment script | ? | ? | No |
| LightWave | 11.6 and later | No | LightWave Renderer | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Photometric Light | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | original loader script, where most sIBL features were invented | ? | ? | No |
| Houdini | Yes | Solaris | Mantra (PT), Karma | Yes | Yes | Light categories | Light bank | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Shadow matte | Yes | ? | ? | Solaris | ? |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | R23 and later | CineRender | Yes | Yes | Exclude/include | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | from R18 | Yes | ? | ? | Lighting tool | ? |
| Cinema 4D | Yes | R23 and later | Redshift CPU | Yes | Yes | Light Group AOVs | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Matte options | Yes | ? | ? | Lighting tool | ? |

## Path-tracing rendering

| Application | CPU rendering | GPU rendering | GPU rendering | GPU rendering | GPU rendering | GPU rendering | GPU rendering |
| Application | CPU rendering | OpenCL | NVIDIA CUDA, OptiX | AMD HIP | SYCL, Intel DPC++ | Apple Metal | Texture streaming (out-of-core) |
| V-Ray | Yes | V-Ray GPU (former V-Ray RT) | V-Ray GPU (former V-Ray RT) | No | No | No | Yes |
| RenderMan | Yes | No | 24 and later | No | No | No | ? |
| Arnold | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Redshift | No | No | Yes | Redshift for AMD (alpha version) | No | Yes | ? |
| Modo mPath | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
| Houdini Karma | Yes | No | 19 and later | No | No | No | No |
| Blender Cycles | Yes | dropped in 3.0 | Yes | 3.0 and later | 3.3 and later | 3.1 and later | 2.80 and later |
| Application | MIPMAP generation | Adaptive tessellation | Instancing | Camera culling | Deep pixel rendering | Fisheye stereo for fulldome | Omnidirectional stereo for HMD | Deforming motion blur |
| V-Ray | img2tiledexr | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Domemaster Stereo Shader | 3.2 and later | Yes |
| RenderMan | txmake | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Arnold | maketx | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Domemaster Stereo Shader | 5 and later | Yes |
| Houdini Karma | icp | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | 15.5 and later | Yes |
| Blender Cycles | No | 2.78 and later | Yes | Camera Cull | No | 2.78 and later | 2.78 and later | Yes |

## Level of detail (LoD) generation, baking

| Application | LoD generation | Texture baking | Texture baking | Texture baking | Texture baking |
| Application | Automatic | Normal Map | Ambient Occlusion (AO) Map | Light Map | Light Map |
| Application | Automatic | Tangent Space Normal Map | Ambient Occlusion (AO) Map | Non-directional (Traditional) | Directional |
| Maya (Turtle renderer) | "Generate LOD Meshes" | Yes | Yes | Yes | RNM (Radiosity Normal Map), and SH (Spherical harmonics) coefficients |
| Enlighten | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Blender | AssetGen addon | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |