F3D 2.0 is a free, light-weight ray traced 3D mannequin viewer
Thursday, Could 4th, 2023 | Posted by Jim Thacker
Want a fast technique to view 3D fashions with out having to attend for software program as well up? Take a look at F3D, a promising light-weight open-source 3D mannequin viewer, model 2.0 of which has simply been launched.
It runs on Home windows, Linux and macOS, can combine into Home windows or Linux to generate thumbnail previews of fashions in your file browser, and may show fashions in a real-time ray traced 3D view.
Obtainable for a few years, however 2.0 got here out final month
Developed by graphics engineers Michael Migliore, R&D workforce lead at 3D trend expertise agency z-emotion, and Mathieu Westphal, F3D was first launched in 2020, and has acquired regular updates since then.
Model 2.0 is essentially a efficiency replace, but it surely makes F3D simpler to put in, and comes with a brand new web site with clear on-line documentation.
A quick, light-weight 3D mannequin viewer with help for a spread of ordinary file codecs
To view a mannequin in F3D, you simply drag it into the viewer window, which hundreds in a fraction of a second.
The interface is minmal to the purpose of non-existence – it truly is light-weight – however you possibly can navigate with customary mouse interactions, and toggle show choices with hotkeys.
F3D helps a spread of frequent 3D file codecs, together with 3DS, Alembic (.abc), Collada (.dae), FBX, glTF, IGES, OBJ, STL and STEP, and level clouds in PTS format, and may import lights, cameras and animation.
Helps real-time ray tracing with built-in denoising
Though we’ve lined different free 3D mannequin viewers prior to now, F3D is uncommon in that it may show the 3D mannequin with real-time ray tracing for a higher-quality preview.
It makes use of OSPRay, Intel’s open-source ray tracing engine, so it’s CPU-based, however you possibly can enhance interactivity by enabling denoising, which makes use of one other Intel expertise, Open Picture Denoise.
You too can render ray traced stills by operating F3D from the command line, which supplies you additional controls not obtainable within the viewer window – GamesFromScratch has a pleasant video displaying them in use.
Different advantages and limitations
One other good characteristic, when you’re utilizing Home windows or Linux, is that F3D can combine into the desktop, routinely displaying thumbnail previews of 3D fashions in File Explorer or the equal file supervisor.
Nevertheless, there are a selection of identified limitations, as a result of file import libraries that the software program makes use of: specifically, it doesn’t help supplies for Alembic recordsdata, or PBR supplies for FBX recordsdata.
System necessities and licensing
F3D 2.0 is a free obtain. Compiled binaries can be found for Home windows, Linux and macOS. The supply code is obtainable underneath a BSD 3-Clause licence.
Should you like F3D, you possibly can sponsor the challenge on GitHub to help improvement.
Learn extra about F3D on the software program’s web site
Obtain free cross-platform 3D mannequin viewer F3D from the challenge’s GitHub repository
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