3D viewers

esp. on Linux

Notes and Code

source
and/or
binaries

'glc_player' 3D model file
viewer - GUI interface

Home > RefInfo menu >

Computer topics menu >

Linux Guides/Notes by Blaze menu >

3D tools (viewers & converters)
Introduction-and-Menu page >

This 3D viewers notes-and-code page

! Note !
More notes and links to code
( source and/or binaries/packages )
may be added, if /when I re-visit this page.

< Go to the Table of Contents (menu), below. >
(Skip the Introduction)

INTRODUCTION :

This is a page of links to 3D viewer software --- files that can be used to install (or develop) 3D viewer programs --- on Linux systems --- especially on Ubuntu (around version 9.10 = 2009 Oct, Karmic Koala - and beyond).

Many of the links are to locally stored files (source and/or binaries/packages).

The code is stored locally both for convenience (especially mine), AND because some of the 3D-viewer authors are going on to other projects (or to other worlds) --- and it is questionable whether the code will be preserved for future generations to build upon.

Furthermore, the info on 3D viewers for Linux is consolidated (to a great extent) on this one page --- instead of in many bookmarks in my web browsers on my various machines.

This is a great convenience for me --- and may also be to others.

In addition, many software sites go dead (or, at least, move).

Trying to keep up with moving 'external' links and trying to find replacements for dead 'external' links can be a time-robbing pain.

So this page, with a lot of locally stored content, is intended to reduce the pain and the wasting of time.

The 3D viewer programs that I am talking about are meant to view (on Linux) 3D file formats like the following :

  • 3ds (3D Studio files)

  • ac (AC3D files)

  • dae (Sony COLLADA files)

  • dwg (Autodesk DWG files)

  • dxf (Autodesk DXF files)

  • igs (IGES files)

  • iv (SGI Inventor files)

  • lwo (Lightwave object files)

  • md2 ( Quake MD2 files)

  • md3 (Quake MD3 files)

  • obj (Alias/Wavefront Object files)

  • off (Object File Format)
    Reference: Geomview at U. Minnesota Science & Technology Center)

  • ply (Ply format files)
    References: Stanford, GaTech, P. Bourke

  • pov (POV ray tracer files)

  • stl (Stereolithography files)
    (suffix '.stlb' is sometimes used for binary STL files --- and suffix '.stla' is sometimes used for ASCII STL files)

  • stp (STEP files)

  • vrml (VRML1 files)
    (a subset of the SGI Inventor file format)

  • vtk (Visual Tool Kit files)

  • wrl (VRML2 = VRM97 files)
    (common file suffixes: '.wrl', '.wrl.gz', '.wrz')


'ivview' VRML1 and Inventor file viewer
GUI interface

It was pointed out on the parent page of this page (an intro to 3D files, and their viewers and converters) that, on Linux (Ubuntu), I was able to quite easily install the following 3D file viewer programs --- thanks to the Ubuntu Software Center, apt-get, and Gdebi.

  • glc_player
    which is said to read-and-show '.3ds', '.obj', '.stl', '.off', '.3dxml', and Collada ('.dae') files

  • g3dviewer
    which is said to read-and-show '.3ds', '.lwo', '.obj', '.dxf', '.md2', '.md3', '.wrl', '.vrml', '.dae' (COLLADA), '.ase' (ASCII Scene Exporter), '.ac' (AC3D)

  • ivview
    which reads-and-shows '.iv' and VRML1 files

  • paraview
    which reads-and-shows '.ply' and '.vt*' files

  • varicad-view
    which reads-and-shows '.dwg' (2D), '.dxf' (2D only?), '.igs' (maybe?), '.stp' (3D) files


'paraview' PLY file viewer
GUI interface

In addition, I was able to easily install the following 3D modeller (editor) programs, that could be used as 3D-viewers if the non-editor 3D file viewers above are found wanting --- namely :

  • The Blender modeller
    will read '.obj' and '.3ds' files via scripts developed by the Blender community.

  • The K3D modeller
    will read '.obj' and '.off' files.

  • The mm3d modeller
    loads quickly and is said to read '.obj' and '.dxf' (3D) files as well as about 7 others including '.md2', '.md3', and '.lwo'.

  • The whitedune VRML2 editor
    which reads '.wrl' (VRML2, not VRML1) files

  • The wings3D modeller
    will read '.obj' and '.3ds' files.

And it was pointed out on the parent page of this page (the 3D files, viewers and converters intro), that I may be keeping an eye out for other 3D viewer/modeller programs that may become easily installable on Ubuntu in the future, such as

  • MeshLab

    There are some MeshLab screenshots at sourceforge.net.

    'meshlab' is said to read ply, stl, off, obj, 3ds, collada (dae), vrml, dxf, x3d, and several others --- a lot of the same formats handled by 'glc_player' or 'g3dviewer'.

  • mview

    'mview' (mesh viewer) has source available at Sourceforge.

    It is said to read ascii ply, vrml1, vrml2, vtk (ascii POLYDATA), and wavefront obj (ascii polygons).

    If a package becomes available for Ubuntu, I may promote it to the 3D viewers list along with 'glc_player', 'g3dviewer', 'ivview', and others.

  • OctagaPlayer

    Commercial only? Forum threads indicate that they offered a free version around 2007.

    There seems to be a free download (in 2011 Jan), but commercial, closed-source outfits tend to have a history of suddenly withdrawing or abandoning free (VRML) viewers.

    'octagaPlayer' is said to handle 'x3d' and 'vrml2' formats.

  • view3dscene

    'view3dscene' has a home page at Freshmeat with installation instructions at vrmlengine.sourceforge.net.

    'view3dscene' is said to read vrml1, vrml2, x3d, 3ds, md3, wavefront obj, and Collada (dae).

    If packages become available for Debian or Ubuntu, then I may promote 'view3dscene' to the 3D viewers list along with 'glc_player', 'g3dviewer', 'ivview', and others.

Contents of this page :

On this page (below), there are links to install notes and install files (source code and/or compiled binaries) for most of these 3D viewers.

The install files can be downloaded to your computer by clicking or right-clicking on the links below and choosing an option (in the pop-up menu that appears) to save the file to a local directory.

    In the Seamonkey web browser (a Mozilla.org web browser, descended from Netscape), when I click on a compressed install file, such as a '.gz' or '.zip' file, I get a popup window that gives me two options --- save the file to disk, or, first, look at the contents with the Gnome-Nautilus 'Archive Manager'.

    If the file is a '.deb' file, I get the option to do the install with 'Gdebi' --- or save it to disk.

For some of the software, I have not done an Ubuntu install, so I have not provided any Ubuntu install notes.

But the software may be available as source, so I have provided links to the source --- or links to packages that may take some work to install on your Linux distro.

In one case --- OctagaPlayer --- there is not source because it is closed-source software.

For the time being (circa 2011), Octaga is providing a 'beta' build of a Linux version of their 3D player, as a free download.

But that could become a non-free item --- or be abandoned --- within a few years.

A link is provided to the 'closed' Linux package.

Why this page :

I made this page so that I can access these files on any of my computers --- desktops or netbooks --- whether at home or away.

But others may find these files useful as well.

I may try to develop my own 3D viewer(s) someday, so I am interested in source code --- to browse for code snippets of use, or snippets that are at least instructional.

Browsing code may help me discover some 'best practices' --- and help me decide what GUI API's or languages I want to avoid.

How to use this page :

You can use the Table of Contents, below, to jump to a particular group of files.

Or simply scroll down this page.

Of course, you can use the 'Find text' option of your web browser to look for keywords such as 'glc_player' or 'ivview' or 'source' or 'tar' or '.deb' or '3ds' or 'stl' or ...

Table of Contents:

(links to notes and code-links below, on this page)

End of Table of Contents.

The software notes and code links are below.

3D modeller/viewer 'blender' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

It was easy to install Blender via 'Ubuntu Software Center', with a few mouse clicks.

Other notes :

There are a couple of screenshots of the Blender 'Import' and 'Export' dialogs (indicating the file-types supported) on a 3D file converters on Linux web page.

Info on Blender capabilities can be found at the blender.org page.

I am waiting to learn how to use Blender --- until the new interface version is formally released (in 2011) and has had some time for bugs to be worked out that drastically re-programmed version.

3D viewer 'glc_player' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Install notes :

GLC_Player is referenced at Freshmeat --- and there are PPA packages for Ubuntu at 'ubuntuupdates.org'. (PPA = Personal Package Archive)

glc-player 2.1.0 was available for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic), and 2.2.0 was available for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) and Ubuntu 10.10 (Meerkat).

I installed the Karmic PPA '.deb' file --- version 2.1.0.

After downloading the '.deb' file via my web browser, in the Nautilus file manager, I right-clicked on the '.deb' file and was presented the option 'Open with GDebi Package Installer'.

I clicked on that option and the install completed within half a minute.

Other notes :

'glc_player' is said to read 3ds, obj, stl, off, 3dxml, and Collada (dae) formats --- and I have verified that it does a good job on the first three of these formats.

You can check the glc-player home page for recent activity.

The News page indicates there was active development in the 2008 to 2010 timeframe.

There was no news posted between July 2010 and now (Jan 2011).

Hopefully that is not a bad sign.

The fact that there is a package for Ubuntu 10.10 (Meerkat) --- released 2010 October --- is a good sign.

Check the packages.ubuntu.com Ubuntu packages pages to see if there is a release for 'Natty' or subsequent Ubuntu releases.

Links to files :

GLC_Player_src_2.2.0.zip (source, as the name indicates - C++)

3D viewer 'g3dviewer' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

At packages.ubuntu.com, I noticed that 'g3dviewer' was available for Ubuntu Lucid (10.04) and Maverick (10.10), but not Ubuntu Karmic (9.10), which was on my 'main' Linux machine.

I downloaded the '.deb' file for Lucid --- g3dviewer version 0.2.99.5 --- to give it at try on Karmic.

The install, with Gdebi, worked.

Other notes :

'g3dviewer' is said to read formats handled by LibG3D, which includes

    '.3ds', '.lwo', '.obj', '.dxf', '.md2', '.md3', '.wrl', '.vrml', '.dae' (COLLADA), '.ase' (ASCII Scene Exporter), '.ac' (AC3D)

--- a lot of the same formats handled by 'glc_player' and 'mm3d'.

The home page at automagically.de/g3dviewer/ indicates that the 0.2.99.4 release of this program was in 2006 Nov --- and it appears that there was little activity with the software source for about 4 years.

However, there is an indication that version 0.2.99.5 was 'accepted' by debian.org from Sven Eckelmann on 2009 Nov 28.

Links to files :

g3dviewer-0.2.99.4.tar.gz

    'External' References :

    • The source for 'g3dviewer' is available as a 'tar.gz' file via a 'source' page at the home page site.

3D viewer 'gCAD3D' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I installed 'gCAD3D' on Ubuntu 9.04 --- on an Acer netbook --- using the Linux binary file at gcad3d.org.

See the 'Downloads' link.

The screenshots, on the same page, are pretty impressive.

It looks like gCAD3D can be used as a landscape/map viewer.

Other notes :

'gCAD3D' is a rare Linux viewer of DXF files.

'varicad-view' is one of the few alternatives.

gCAD3D is available as a single, one-size-fits-all-Linuxes executable file.

Easy to install, but the graphics seems rather flaky --- on my machine (video card) and distro, anyway.

Links to files :

gCAD3D-devel-1.28.tar.gz (source)

    'External' References :

    • 'gCAD3D' is available as a pre-built binary and as source in a 'tar.gz' file via a 'Downloads' section on the home page at gcad3d.org.

3D viewer 'ivview' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I installed the 'inventor-clients' Debian package file for Ubuntu that I found at linuxappfinder.com.

'ivview' is in the 'inventor-clients' package.

The 'inventor-clients' are nicely described at this merlin.fit.vutbr.cz web page, which also provides the source code.

When I looked for 'inventor' and 'ivview' in the keyword search facility of the 'Ubuntu Software Center' of my Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) installation, I got no hits.

But I was able to install from linuxappfinder.com/package/inventor-clients.

On that web page, I clicked on the Ubuntu 32-bit Karmic link ('2.1.5-10-12ubuntu2') and the Gdebi utility came up as the default 'opener' program.

The Gdebi install went smoothly (I simply watched messages in the installer GUI), and 'ivview' worked on sample '.iv' files, such as ones provided via the 3D TEST FILES page of this site.

I was able to run 'ivview' at the command line, and I set up 'ivview' in the Nautilus file-manager to be the default 'opener' of '.iv' files.

Other notes :

'ivview' reads SGI Inventor files [and VRML1 files] --- suffix typically '.iv' [or '.vrml'], but can be anything.

'ivview' apparently reads header records to determine if it is reading the right type of file.

Links to files :

ivTools 2.0 source including ivview (zip file --- C++ source)

    'External' References :

    • merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/...
      source of the zip file above.

      See the zip file links in the 'Download' section near the top of the 'merlin' page.

More Inventor notes :

'ivTools' includes source for a program called 'ivvrml' whose comments say that it is a convertor between Inventor/VRML file formats.

The following formats are said to be supported:

  • ASCII Inventor
  • Binary Inventor
  • VRML1
  • VRML2 (VRML97)

'ivTools' also includes the source for 'ivview' and 'ivinfo'.

Also source for 'ivcat', 'ivfix', 'ivgraph', 'ivnorm', and 'ivperf'.

The (old, circa 2003) source for 'ivview' and other clients is available at oss.sgi.com/projects/inventor/.

Since that site may go dead in the next few years, I have saved a copy of that source on this site (below), for those who might have the C++ and 3D background to learn from the code or make use of it.

More Links to Inventor files :

inventor-2.1.5-10_src tar.gz file from oss.sgi.com (C++ source)

    'External' References :

'inventor-2.1.5-10_src' includes source for 'ivdowngrade' (= 'iv2toiv1'), some example '.iv' files, and some 'demos':

    'gview' (a precursor of 'ivview'?), 'drop', 'maze', 'noodle', 'qmorf', 'revo', 'SceneViewer' (looks like 'ivview'), and 'textomatic'.

'inventor-2.1.5-10_src' also includes C++ source for some programs/routines called :

    'BarChart', 'Decal', 'GeneralizedCylinder', 'Triangulator', 'NurbMaker', 'fview', 'ivclock', 'LineManip', 'linkages', 'details', 'constrainManip', 'menu', 'spaceball', 'viewerTest', 'vortex', and 'componentTest'

--- as well as another copy of source for 'ivcat', 'ivfix', 'ivinfo', 'ivnorm', 'ivper', and 'ivview' (in addition to the copy in the 'ivTools' archive file above).

3D viewer 'java-dxf_build' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'dxf_build' Java package.

Links to files :

dxf_build-120307-2344_sourceforge-net.jar (Java run-times, no source)

3D viewer 'java-freewrl' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'freewrl' Java package.

Links to files :

freewrl-1.22.10_sourceforge-net.tar.bz2 (Java and C source)

3D modeller/viewer 'k3d' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

It was easy to install K-3D via 'Ubuntu Software Center', with a few mouse clicks.

Other notes :

Info on K-3D capabilities can be found at the k-3d.org page.

3D viewer 'lxviewer' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'lx_viewer' package.

Links to files :

lx_viewer-1-0-3_sourceforge-net.tar.gz (C++ source)

dg-convert_sourceforge-net.tar.gz (C++ source)

3D viewer 'MeshLab' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'MeshLab' package.

Links to files :

MeshLabSrc_AllInc_v123a_sourceforge-net.tgz (source, as the name indicates - C++)

3D viewer 'mm3d' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

On typing the command 'mm3d' at a terminal command prompt, Ubuntu 9.10 said not found and gave me the hint to try the command

sudo apt-get install mm3d

I did that and the install completed in less than half a minute.

Other notes :

There are a couple of screenshots of the mm3d 'Import' and 'Export' dialogs (indicating the file-types supported) on a 3D file converters on Linux web page.

Links to files :

mm3d-qt3-1.3.7.tar.gz (C++ source)

3D viewer 'mview' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'mview' package.

Links to files :

mview-src-0.3.3_sourceforge-net.tar.gz (C++ source)

3D viewer 'OctagaPlayer' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install this 'OctagaPlayer' (closed source) package.

Links to files :

OctagaPlayer_3Dviewer.3.0.0.1rc1.tar.gz (binaries - the source is proprietary)

    'External' References :

    • octaga.com/...

      "Octaga Player for Mac and Linux are Beta versions, therefore distributed freely." (2011 Jan)

      The tar.gz file above came from this site.

3D viewer 'paraview' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

Paraview is available via packages.ubuntu.com, for several releases of Ubuntu (karmic, lucid, maverick, natty).

I installed the Karmic package --- Paraview 3.4.

I downloaded the Karmic '.deb' file and installed with GDebi.

Other notes :

Paraview ( paraview.org is the home page) reads '.stl' and '.ply' files and various VTK format files --- '.vtk', '.vtu', etc.

Paraview seems to be undergoing active development in the 2010 timeframe.

It is used in parallel processing environments, thus the name.

Links to files :

ParaView-3.8.1-Linux-i686.tar.gz (binaries)

3D viewer 'Range' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install the 'Range' FEA modeller package (closed source).

Links to files :

range_2-2-11H1_i386_rangeHsoftware-com.deb (binaries - proprietary)

    'External' References :

    • range-software.com (FEA viewer-modeler)
      (See the Download page for a '.deb' file for Ubuntu - source of the file above.)

3D viewer 'STLViewer' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install the 'STLViewer' package.

Links to files :

STLViewer_1-1_src_en-sourceforge-jp.tar.bz2 (C++ source)

StLViewer_src.zip (C++ source)

    'External' Reference :

    • codeproject.com/...

      (See the components of the src.zip file on the left of the 'codeproject.com' page. MS Windows code?)

3D viewer 'TeighaViewer' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install the 'TeighaViewer' package.

Links to files :

TeighaViewer-3-4-0_i386_opendesign-com.rpm (binary)

    'External' References :

3D viewer 'varicad-view' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I found a '.deb' file for 'varicad-view' at 'ftp.varicad.com'. After downloading it, I installed it with GDebi.

Other notes :

It is hard to find Linux viewers for Autodesk DWG and DXF files, so 'varicad-view' is nice 'find'.

Links to files :

varicad2010-view-en_3-03_i386_ftp-varicad-com.deb (binary)

    'External' References :

    • ftp.varicad.com/... (I installed 'varicad-view' on Ubuntu 9.10 via this '.deb' file, found at this site.)

3D viewer 'view3dscene' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I have not tried to install the 'view3dscene' package.

Other notes :

'view3dscene' has a page at Freshmeat.net, and there are installation instructions at vrmlengine.sourceforge.net.

'view3dscene' is said to read vrml1, vrml2, x3d, 3ds, md3, wavefront obj, and Collada (dae) files.

Links to files :

view3dscene-3.8.0-linux-i386_sourceforge-net.tar.gz (binary)

3D viewer 'view3ds' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I installed 'view3ds', perhaps via download from the 'packages.ubuntu.com' site [not from source], but it does not seem to read 3ds files.

Buggy?

Since I have installed other '3ds' viewers, with much more feature-filled user interfaces, I have not looked into this further.

Links to files :

view3ds_1-0-0-orig_packages-ubuntu-com.tar.gz (C++ source)

3D viewer 'viewstl' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I was able to get the binary running on Ubuntu 9.10 with a little LD_LIBRARY_PATH trickery (in a wrapper script) and supplying 'libglut.so.3'.

Other notes :

'viewstl' has a pretty crude user interface --- and a 'jittery' window title (never have seen that before).

Since I have installed other 'stl' file viewers with better user interfaces, I have not looked into how to do rotate and zoom with 'viewstl'.

Links to files :

viewstl-binaries_sourceforge-net.tar.gz (binary, as the name indicates)

3D viewer 'whitedune' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

On typing the command 'whitedune' at a terminal command prompt, Ubuntu 9.10 said not found and gave me the hint to try the command

sudo apt-get install whitedune

I did that and the install completed in less than half a minute.

Other notes :

I was able to use 'whitedune' as a VRML2 (= VRML97) file viewer in my Seamonkey web browser.

Details on how this was done will are in a 3D test/demo files for Linux viewers and converters web page.

'whitdune' is actually a Vrml editor, which makes its interface much more complicated than pure viewers like 'glc_player', 'ivview', and 'paraview', described above.

3D viewer 'wings3d' :

< Go to Table of Contents, above. >

Ubuntu install notes :

I installed wings3d via the 'Ubuntu Software Center' of Ubuntu 9.10 --- a few mouse clicks.

Other notes :

There are a couple of screenshots of the wings3d 'Import' and 'Export' dialogs (indicating the file-types supported) on a 3D file converters on Linux web page.

ADDITIONAL LINKS on 3D viewer software :

Wikipedia list of 3D graphics software
(look for 'linux' on this page and in link pages)

Wikipedia page on 3D computer graphics software
(look for 'linux' on this page and in link pages)

Open Inventor Tools - Merlin Wiki (nice descriptions)

NOTE:
You can search the Ubuntu 'Graphics' packages page of a recent Ubuntu release, at packages.ubuntu.com for terms like '3d', 'view', 'cad', 'dxf', 'mesh', 'stl', 'surface', 'vrml', 'wrl', etc.

More links may be added here.

(I will try to avoid ones that will likely go dead within a few years, such as home directories of students at '.edu' sites.)

Bottom of this
3D viewers - on Linux -
Notes and Code page.

To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times. OR, use the History-list option of your web browser.
OR ...

< Go to start of Software links,
above. >

< Go to start of Table of Contents,
above. >

< Go to Top of Page,
above. >

Page history:

Page was created 2011 Feb 11.

Page was changed 2011 Feb 16.

Page was changed 2018 Dec 18.
(Added css and javascript to try to handle text-size for smartphones, esp. in portrait orientation.)

Page was changed 2019 Jun 20.
(Specified image widths in percents to size the images according to width of the browser window.)