This is an era of revolution in 3D graphics and animation. CG (Computer Graphics) has almost blurred the line between 3d and reality. It also has found new areas of application and has made life easier for many, for example 3d simulation is widely used in aviation, where a pilot is trained in simulators instead of a real airplane.
The first step in any 3D animation or simulation is creating concept arts, sketching the environment, characters and every minute detail that goes into the creation of CG environment. Then comes the step called modeling or digital sculpting, where a 2D art is converted into 3D object or 3d model. There are thousands of websites with free 3D models organized like a digital library and available for any 3d enthusiast. But here we list the top 5 sites with excellent 3d models.
It’s a open source repository for 3d models in Blender formats. Blender without doubt had made its impact with the release of 4 amazing short films.
- Elephants Dream (2006)
- Big Buck Bunny (2008)
- Sintel (2010)
- Tears of Steel (2012)
This site also has released all the models and assets used in the creation of those short films for the Blender enthusiasts. You will be stunned by the quality of models and amount of work done by this fast growing open source community.
This site has vast collection entirely built with generous contribution by various 3d artists. Though most of the model quality is low, for a 3d beginner it will be really helpful, but you will find excellent models too.
One of the oldest site with widely categorized 3d models. It is a huge library for 3d and 2d resources like clip-arts and animation. It also has job section integrated for posting 3d jobs and contacting freelance 3d designers.
This site is unique, with excellent models in one category “VEHICLES”, which is further sub-categorized into cars, trucks, rescue, military and racing vehicles. Hundreds of free models available in Lightwave format, supported and powered by many 3d artists around.
Relatively new to 3d model collection, but an excellent site with top quality models. Contains thousands of models organized into different categories. Neatly organized content and most of them are unique and new 3d models.
Other sites or intentionally left as they are built upon the content from the sites mentioned above.