MB-Lab
MB-Lab is an open-source character creation Blender add-on that helps you easily create humanoid characters by using simple tools. It is a complete solution and comes with all the leading objects, tools, and features to design any type of 3D characters.
With the help of this tool, you can create your 3D character more deeply with a professional topology that makes it better than others. The best thing about this software is that it comes with a library of preset that covers the most common human phenotypes. You need to drag and drop attributes, quickly preview, and directly share your stuff with others to get quick feedback.
There is also has an option that allows you to create an anime-style character with custom advanced cell shader as well as will enable you to import your characters to enjoy a more personalized experience. Auto fitting of skeleton, clothing, and hair, parametric, body measure system, facial expressions, and built-in library these are the core features of the solution.
MB-Lab Alternatives
#1 Blender
Blender is a 3D and open-source application for design animations and graphs. It is best for scientists, students, experts, VFX experts, game artists, modders, and many others. Blender is a free and open-source application used for any purpose.
It is quite simple and easy to use and offers a massive range of new tools that helps users to create high-quality animations or graphics without any limitation. Whatever you create by using the Blender is your property, and Blender will never charge for it.
Blender lets users do any artwork, either it is images, movies, blend files, or any other type of data files; all can be controlled on the Blender. The stunning features of Blender are photorealistic rendering, fast modeling, fast rigging, animation toolset, fast UV unwrapping, full compositor, game creation, simulations, etc.
#2 Sculptris
Sculptris is a virtual sculpting tool designed for beginners to experts. It comes for entering into the world of digital sculpting and involving yourself to create the best products. The two main functions are the availability of 3D sculpting and 3D painting in addition to others. Sculptris is developed on the concept of modeling clay, and its focus is entirely on the same idea.
Sculptris lets designers and artists pull, pinch, push, and twist the virtual clay to make what they want. The other best thing about Sculptris is its user-friendly relation external environment, and that is the import of 3D meshed (.obj) into the Sculptris for further detailing generation normal and displacement maps.
Sculpting, dynamic tessellation, UV texture painting, and cavity painting are its primary functions. The list of technical features includes easy-to-use, ZBrush navigation controls, free moving navigation, hotkeys toggled on/off the system, various plugins for advanced projects, immersive interface, optimizing brushes, etc.
#3 ShapeShop
ShapeShop is an advanced and professional 3D design and modeling application that comes with an easy-to-use and user-friendly interface. It enables users to create sketch-based shape creation and editing tools to translate the ideas into a 3D shape.
ShapeShop is a sketch-based shape creation and editing tool that lets designers and artists transform their virtual idea into a 3D form. The best about ShapeShop is that it has a drag and drop system that makes the texturing simpler as compared to other programs. The advanced technology used by ShapeShop is the state-of-the-art technology that enables the designers to drag-and-drop the 3D parts directly to assemble a seamless and smooth surface quickly.
The involvement of procedural modeling means that the user can easily create the meshes at any resolution they need, like NURBS or SubDs. The advanced decal texturing tools of ShapeShop also supports the simple drag-and-drop interaction as well.
#4 Misfit Model 3D
Misfit Model 3D is a 3D model editor that operates with triangle-based models. It can easily support the various multi-level undo, simple texturing, batch processing, skeletal animations, image filtering, and many more functions. Misfit Model 3D supports multiple file formats, including Misfit MM3D, Milkshape MS3D, Quake MD2, Quake MD3, COB, and some others.
The feature list of Misfit Model 3D includes multiplatform applications, availability of up to 9 Orthographic canvas & 3D perspective viewports, viewport zoom & pan, a comprehensive plugin system for adding more tools, commands, and models, etc.
It also allows to create rectangles, cubes, ellipsoids, cylinders, apply materials & skins to models, alpha blending system, native support for PCX & TGA files and texture-mapped element can clamp at the edges or wrap; skeletal animations, frame animations, multiple named animations of both kinds, a system for converting skeletal animations into frame animations, etc.
#5 Sketchfab
Sketchfab is a web-based platform for creating and sharing 3D content. It provides a 3D model viewer based on the technology of WebGL that ultimately enables users to display 3D models on a desktop or mobile web page. Sketchfab is a platform of over 400,000 models.
The list of available tens of thousands of 3D models includes 3D scans, 3D printable, animal, architecture, characters, objects, science, scenes, engineering & technology, vegetal, vehicles, and many more. Sketchfab is one of the best platforms where you can upload, publish, and share 3D models with others. Sketchfab also lets designers and artists embed the interactive 3D files.
Sketchfab is available in three plans, mainly free, pro, and business. The good news is that the basic plan of Sketchfab enables users to upload unlimited models. Email support is also available in the free model. The other two plans include more advanced features.
#6 MeshMixer
MeshMixer is a designing application for giving your virtual idea with solid shape. It lets designers transform their boring stuff into 3D stuff. MeshMixer is a multiplatform 3D designing application that is available for Mac OS X, Windows (32 & 64 bit), and Ubuntu Linux 64-bit.
Basic designing tools like selection, drag & drop, filling, smoothing, making parts, basic controls & hotkeys, volume brush tools, etc., are also part of the MeshMixer. The software comes with a simple editor full of new tools that help you efficiently design any design quickly and easily.
Its most prominent features include pivot system, 3D design option in file menu, texture support, vertex color painting, duplicating linked pivots, new create modes, incorporation of 3D hubs, and ability to add an alternate proxy server. The solution also offers texture maps, create pivot tools, transform tools, align tools, pivot-to-pivot snapping, adaptivity settings, anti-aliased rendering, support structure generation, multi-user installations, etc.
#7 SculptGL
SculptGL is a WebGL sculpting application that is powered by JavaScript. It is a web sculpting application for sculpting 3D models in browsers and publishing them as well. The dashboard of SculptGL includes files import & export system, scene, history, background, camera, language, extra UI, rendering, topology, sculpting & painting, and much more.
SculptGL made a fork of the old SculptGL version with a new design. Camera tools in SculptGL include projection, fov (for perspective), camera mode, and camera pivot on picking. The rendering tools include shader, flat shading, show wireframe, curvature, exposure environment, environment texture, and madcap texture.
The other miscellaneous tools are five international languages, show mesh online, outline color, show grid, scale and center mesh at import, show symmetry line, Wacom plugin, shortcuts, and much more.
#8 SharpConstruct
SharpConstruct is a 3D modeling application designed to enable users to create and develop polygon models in real-time. The best is that it lets users create model organic shapes. Most of the tools integrated into SharpConstruct are based on the technology of ZBrush.
The software was initially developed for Linux/GNU, but now it is available for Windows as well. It is a free 3D modeling application and licensed under the GPL. The best about SharpConstruct is that it is straightforward to perform regular 3D programs as compared to other 3D modeling applications.
SharpConstruct works as advanced sculpting than conventional modeling. The user of SharpConstruct can draw bugles, shapes, and pits directly on an object, smooth surfaces, pinching, and pulling the edges. SharpConstruct also supports the pressure-sensitive ritbrador providing high and more control over the creation. Users can also increase the number of polygons properly on selected parts.
#9 3D-Coat
3D-Coat is an application for PBR, voxel sculpting, retopology, and UV-mapping. It is used to render and enable texturing with smart and fully designed materials — 3d-coat for creating free-form organic and hard surfaced 3D models from rough ideas and scratches.
The tools let users sculpt, add polygonal topology, create UV maps, texture the resulting models with natural painting tools, and also render the static, animated, or images turntable movies. The best about 3D-Coat is that it can modify imported 3D models from various commercial 3D software products by using plugins titled App links.
Moreover, it can be converted into voxel objects or refinement and for adding more high-resolution details, UV mapping & wrapping, bump maps, specular color maps, diffuse color maps, adding textures for displacement, and much more.
#10 Curvy 3D
Curvy 3D is a dedicated 3D modeling application for artists and designers. It is such a 3D making platform that assists both beginners and professionals in drawing 3D models, maintaining, sculpts, and much more in real-time. Curvy 3D is one of the best and easy-to-use yet powerful sculpting application for Windows for rapidly sketching natural forms direct to 3D.
The non-technical interface of Curvy 3D makes sculpting fun with speedy model development. Curvy 3D lets artists sketch, paint, and even trace. The software is a straightforward route to 3D modeling for the 3D modelers. Curvy 3D is integrated with an advanced volumetric sculpting tool that makes base mesh creation incredibly easy and straightforward.
Curvy 3D lets designers quickly draw the shapes for their model and then merge the forms to create a seamless base mesh. This feature is best for instant content creation and creates an even mesh for detailing in other modeling programs as well.
#11 MARI
MARI is a 3D texturing and painting software integrated with the power performance tools that enable designers to handle even the most complex assets. Nowadays, challenging the world of VFX, animation, and game development, MARI is one of the best options to deal with complex projects in a high creativity environment.
The advantages of using MARI are to paint quickly & intuitively in 3D, keep the creativity flowing in a professional & creative environment, work in a user-friendly yet high-quality context, eliminate frustrating & time-consuming multiplication workflows, and enjoying seamless pipeline integration.
MARI features are painting, texture mapping, realistic interactive preview, sophisticated geometry handling, color management, and dozens of others. MARI is a multiplatform software that is available for Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X 10.9.5 or higher, Linux 64-bit operating systems. However, MARI is also capable of working on many older and prior-generation systems, as well.
#12 ZBrush
ZBrush is a digital sculpting utility that mingles 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing, and painting. It utilizes a proprietary ‘Pixel’ technology, which stores lighting, color, stuff, depth information for all objects on the screen. It is employed for producing high-resolution models to be used in games, movies, and animations by companies ranging from ILM to Electronic Arts.
ZBrush is one of the best digital sculpting tools used for creating high-resolution and high-quality models that are then used in movies, games, and animations by movie makers. It used dynamic levels of resolution to enable sculptors and designers to make local or global changes to their models.
ZBrush’s other best function is being capable of sculpting medium to high-frequency details that were otherwise traditionally painted in bump maps. ZBrush’s available features are Zmodeler, instances, details, ZBrush to key shot, other external addition, sculpting, texturing, rendering, import & export, etc.
#13 Poser
Poser is a 3D computer graphics software that is optimized for a 3D modeling for human figures. The software is well-known for enabling digital artists in order to quickly produce 3D animation, digital images, and the wide availability of 3rd-party digital content. It is a complete solution and comes with all the leading tools and features to design and produce high-quality stuff.
With the help of this, you can easily create any 3D object or 3D animation video. You need to drag and drop 3D content right from the software’s library of more than 5GB of content onto the stage and into your scene. All the content in its library are consists of multiple options, and you can easily explore each one or use its search box to get your stuff in a second.
Poser delivers the power of interactive 3D figure design that provides infinite opportunities in order to portray human diversity and expression. One of the most interesting facts about this 3D software is that it allows you to import your objects and to design more personalize 3D stuff. Poser also offers core features such as a simple editor, ready-to-use content, a massive range of body shapes, a Reyes-based render engine, own import content, and much more.
#14 MakeHuman
MakeHuman is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software created for prototyping of photo realistic humanoids. The software is created by a team of programmers, artists, and academics interested in the 3D modeling of characters. With the help of this tool, you can easily design a model of a virtual human with a complete pose system that includes the simulation of muscular movement.
The interface of the software is quite simple, fast, and intuitive, where you can easily access several parameters that are required in modeling the human form. MakeHuman comes as the alternatives to Poser and offers all the key services with some new tools and features in order to design a complete 3D model without any effort.
It also comes with a massive 3D library that is full of 3D objects such as body shapes, faces, hair, and all the other things. There is also has a feature that allows you to import your stuff to design more personalized objects that make it better than others. MakeHuman also comes with some core features such as all the leading tools, create and design all kinds of designs, online libraries, community, and much more.
#15 DAZ 3D
DAZ 3D is feature-rich graphic design software that allows you to create 3D models, animation, and rendering applications designed for 3D animators, illustrators, and designers. The software is comprised of graphic design solutions, add-ons, and programs that allow them to create rigged 3D human models quickly and digital illustration and environments, etc. It is created with a robust toolset that allows you to customize scenes and characters that turn them into unique works of art.
Additionally, the software will enable you to create, modify, and improve realistic figures and characters. DAZ 3D comes with a complete character engine and figure platform that can produce details of characters. Also, it delivers a user-friendly modeling solution in order to help in modeling, animating, morphing, and rendering a different kind of 3D content. In order to provide a comprehensive experience, the software offers 3D creation tools equipped with GPU-accelerated real-time rendering capabilities.
Just like most of the leading 3D design software, it also comes with a built-in library that is full of content. DAZ 3D other prominent features such as real human figures, hexagon 3D guide, 3D printing, thousands of ready-made items, detailed characters, auto converse to Arnold render engine and powerful editor, etc.
#16 DesignDoll
DesignDoll is software that allows you to manipulate the human body into 3D space. It is a next-generation solution that comes with all the leading tools and features to make it comprehensive for all kinds of artists. With this, you can create postures and compositions that artists demand with easy and intuitive operations.
Most of the built-in functions in this solution are based on customer requests, so you can only get useful tools and features. The best thing about this solution is that it uses a blending method, where shapes and sizes change freely, allowing models to be reproduced with head-to-body ratios that suit the drawing.
Just like Poser and all the other similar software, it also comes with a massive library with multiple body models, shapes, and other related things that helps you easily create your 3D model. One of the most interesting facts about this solution is that it comes with some collaboration tools and allows you to quickly send your model to your client and team members to get real-time feedback.
DesignDoll also includes core features such as finger controller, creating multiple figure portrayals with ease, managing with fewer controllers, synthesizing data, importing external 3D models, turning your data into the library, and much more.
#17 Adobe Fuse CC
Adobe Fuse CC (also known as Fuse Character Creator) is a powerful and feature-rich 3D computer graphics software that allows you to create 3D characters. The software’s main novelty is the ability to import and integrate user-generated content into the character creator.
With the help of this, you can easily and quickly design any kind and size of 3D character and save them to your creative cloud libraries as well as pose and animate them right inside Photoshop. As compared to all the other similar software, it is quite simple and comes with a massive library where all the stuff consists of several categories. Each category has its models that you can easily choose to make your design more perfect.
There is also has a customization system, and you can easily customize its every attribute without any limitation. Adobe Fuse CC is an open platform, so you can quickly create body parts, 3D textures, and other things in your signature style and then bring them into the application to use with the existing 3D content. It also offers a prominent feature such as fine-tune face and expressions, create a high-quality model, customizes character look, automatically resize, and much more.
#18 Game Character Hub
Game Character Hub is a tool that helps you create and edit game assets in 2D. It allows to export sprite sheets and create animations with timeline editing. The graphics can be exported in various file formats, raster, and vector. The generator allows for the quick creation of characters and tilesets to assist in the development of games. The program also includes a number of tools to aid in the development process and boasts a clean, easy-to-use interface that allows even the most novice of developers to pick it up and start creating with minimal training.
It includes a powerful image editor and all the tools you will need for pixel, such as pixel grid, snap to grid, free select tool, color palette, and more. The image editor offers all the standard tools for image editing. The interface is optimized for precision drawing, making it very simple to create pixel-perfect art. All in all, Game Character Hub is a great tool that you can consider among its alternatives.
#19 Pixeldudesmaker
Pixeldudesmaker is a generator for pixel art characters that features animations for idle, running, and jumping and have a lot of customization options available. In addition to the presets, you can randomize them to instantly create an original bitmap or animation. It has been tested with a couple of retro platforms like Top-Down or side-scrolling platform games. The generator is flexible enough to work with any existing character set or sprite sheet.
Highlighting features include Full-page mode to let you play more easily with your animations, the choice between two different color palettes, export PNGs of your animations or as a game sprite sheet, over 1000 individual frames to choose from 5 different styles, etc. All in all, Pixeldudesmaker is a great tool that you can consider among its alternatives.
#20 RPG Character Builder
RPG Character Builder is a tool that lets you create sprite sheets for your game characters with animations and a unique color set. Create your very own RPG game in the editor that can be created in any style or art type. Import elements from this tool and apply them to your sprite sheets. The tool is easy to use and saves lots of time, supports multiple background colors, and alpha channels can be used for almost any kind of role-playing game and can be used for 2D games and 2D animations.
RPG Character Builder saves a lot of time compared to doing things by hand; for example, making a sprite sheet for each individual image takes hours, but this tool can do it in minutes. It also makes sure that the images are sized correctly no matter what the size of the window is. The program-generated sheets are easily animated and are formatted with the perfect size frames. Each character has a different vibe to give variety, and the character sheets are customizable so you can change colors, clothes, hair, etc.
#21 001 Game Creator
001 Game Creator is a game scripting engine that allows you to make character prototypes, skins, animations and build single or multiplayer games from any platform. With a strong focus on highly visible gameplay and lighting, 001 Game Creator is the ultimate tool for creating graphics-rich, visually appealing games that are easy to use and quick to deploy.
With an easy-to-use visual node-based interface and a fully customizable scripting language, developers can quickly create games for Windows or mobile platforms without having to write a single line of code. No programming is needed, but if you are comfortable programming C#, you can extend the engine with your own editor and scripting using our APIs. All in all, 001 Game Creator is a great tool that you can consider among its alternatives.
#22 Natron
Natron is an open-source platform that helps developers create VFX and motion graphics. It is a powerful digital compositor that developers can use to fulfill their needs of 2D with its robust OIIO file formats and Open FX architecture. The software comes with a flexible and intuitive multi-platform node-based engine and provides layers of complexity that enable the users to take their creativity to the next level.
Moreover, the platform provides various powerful keying tools to meet the production needs of developers and offers a 2D Planar tracker for tracking jobs. It gives GPU and networking rendering for faster production and offers more than two hundred plugins. Natron supports 32 bits floating linear color processing pipeline and also supports various file formats such as JPG, EXR, DPX, etc. Lastly, it can render multiple graphs simultaneously and offers accurate panning, even for very large image sizes.
#23 Magic Poser
Illustrate like Magic. Magic Poser is one of the most popular 3D graphic design software that allows you to create quite impressive 3D character posers. It is the only application that enables you to pose several figures, and its multi-model mode allows you to create complicated yet amazing scenes with no limitation.
Its models include both realistic, and anime styles and have several props, including basic shapes, furniture, accessories, weapons, and musical instruments, etc. The software has built a physics engine that conforms to human anatomy and kinematics. Unlike others, it also allows you to drag on control points or entire objects and move the model to whatever pose you like. One of the most interesting facts about this 3D character software is that it allows you to rotate and adjust the brightness of the in-app light source.
There is also has a library with hundreds of attributes that you can easily choose and customize without any limit to set on your need. Magic Poser also offers key features such as an adjustable perspective, and its camera provides you a 360-degree view, articulated hand posing, simple interface, and much more.
#24 Universal LPC Spritesheet Character Generator
Universal LPC Spritesheet Character Generator is an online tool for creating sprites for games using the Line Drawing Primitives character format. Design your own LPC sprite sheet, and download the images in a variety of different formats. Select your preferred output format (PNG, GIF, JPG, or BMP), choose a character controller, and then customize the look of your character by adjusting its color, size, rotation, and even adding a background.
With this tool, you can generate universal, ready-to-use sprite sheets from any number of images in your sprite library and make massive sprite sheets from a single image. It has a simple user interface and is available for different kinds of games. Moreover, the tool also supports transparency, which in the case of .gifs should be 8-bit with the background color set to transparent. In case the image format is not supported, the program will attempt to convert it to the format it supports.
It can help you save a lot of time and money because it does all the hard work for you. It will also ensure consistency in your game if you have multiple character designs. You can generate portraits, headshots, closeups, and full-body shots, which will make it easier to implement them into your game.