PNG-supporting 3D Applications

3D Applications with PNG Support

3D applications, from real-time VRML to high-end modeling apps to ray-tracers, are becoming increasingly popular, and textures are the usual means by which PNG images are supported.

As with the other PNG-applications pages, links to home WWW sites or to downloadable versions are provided where known, but if a link is broken, check the location and see if an updated version is available (and please tell Greg!). Relevant operating systems are printed in (parenthesized italics).

These are listed alphabetically, more or less:

3D-XplorMath [Richard Palais and Hermann Karcher] (Mac OS, Mac OS X) - version 10.0 and later; write-only? freeware for non-commercial and academic use. (This is a mathematical visualization and exploration tool ["museum"] that can save visualizations in PNG format. It was originally called 3D-Filmstrip.)
3D IMPACT! [CrystalGraphics] (Win32) - all versions? write-only; freeware (standard version) and commercial (Pro version). (This is a 3D image- and animation-generator; it can extrude text, add bevels to existing artwork, and rotate them. The commercial version adds shadows, sparkles, and more sample material.)
3D Studio MAX /3ds Max [Kinetix / Autodesk] (Win32) - version 1.1 and later; read/write; JNG support (read-only) as of version 9 with Tassilo Philipp's free JNG importer; commercial. (This is a 3D modeler/animator.)
3DSMax4 VRML exporter [blaxxun] (Win32) - version 4.4.1.0 and later; write-only? freeware. (This is an "enhanced" VRML exporter for 3D Studio MAX; it makes use of some of the VRML extensions supported by blaxxun's VRML browser, Contact. PNG is one of the formats supported for exporting textures.)
AP 3D Object Editor [Antti Pekonen] (Win32) - version 1.02.11 and later; read/write; freeware for non-commercial use. (This is a 3D modeler that can "save images to PNG format" and, as of version 1.03.02, read PNG images as textures.)
ArchiCAD [Adobe] (Win32) - version 8 and later; read/write; commercial. (This is an architectural CAD program. It ships with another PNG-supporting utility with read/write capability, PlotMaker, which may or may not be related to the utility of the same name by SailScience, listed on the converters page.)
Atmosphere [Adobe] (Win32) - all versions; read/write; no transparency support (as of build 67); commercial. (This is a 3D builder/browser package with an associated multiuser server ["community server"]. PNG is supported as a texture format, an icon format, and as the output format for the browser's built-in snapshot capability.)
Blender [Ton Roosendaal / NeoGeo / NaN / Blender Foundation] (Win32, Unix/X, Mac OS X) - all versions? read-only? freeware (GPL) with source. (This is a popular--and originally commercial--3D modelling and rendering program.)
Blitz3D [Blitz Research / Mark Sibly] (Win32/DirectX) - all versions? read-only; commercial. (This is an integrated development environment [IDE] incorporating a 3D game engine, design package, custom programming language [hybrid of BASIC and C], and compiler.)
Bryce [MetaCreations] (Win32, Mac PPC) - version 4.0(?) and later; read/write; commercial. (This is a 3D modeler. PNG is supported as a texture format.)
Ca3D-Engine [Carsten Fuchs] (Win32, Linux/X) - all versions? read-only? freeware/commercial. (This is an OpenGL-based 3D game engine; PNG is supported as a texture format.)
Cn3D [National Center for Biotechnology Information] (Win32, Unix/X, Mac OS) - version 4.0(?) and later; write-only; freeware with source. (This is a 3D molecular-visualization application that "simultaneously displays structure, sequence, and alignment, and now has powerful annotation and alignment editing features." It can render directly to PNG, either high-resolution or via screenshots.)
Contact [blaxxun / Bitmanagement Software] (Win32) - version 3.0 and later; read-only; alpha support; freeware with source (older version only). (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details. Contact was originally called CC3D and CCpro. blaxxun became insolvent in mid-2002, and development of Contact was taken over by Bitmanagement. Version 5.1 is still available from the original site.)
Cortona [ParallelGraphics] (Win32) - all versions; read-only; full alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details.)
Cosmo Player [SGI] (Irix/X) - all versions; read-only; perfect alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details.)
Cosmo Player [Paper Software / Netscape / SGI / Cosmo Software / Platinum Technology / Computer Associates] (Windows 3.x, Win32, Mac PPC) - all versions; read-only; alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details. The Cosmo Player 1.0 betas were developed by SGI, but Cosmo Player 1.0 itself was basically a lightly modified version of Netscape's Live3D, which in turn was based on Paper Software's WebFX. Cosmo Player 2.0 was a complete rewrite by SGI, which then spun off the VRML team to form Cosmo Software, which was later acquired by Platinum [except for the Irix versions, above and below], which was then acquired by Computer Associates. Ay carumba... This product is no longer under development, as such. It was licensed by Nexternet and is now known as Pivoron Player; see below.)
Cosmo Worlds [SGI / Cosmo Software / Platinum Technology / Computer Associates] (Irix/X, Win32) - all versions; read/write; full alpha support; commercial. (This is/was a high-end VRML 2.0 modeler. Version 1.1 for Irix and version 2.0 for Win32 are reported to support PNG textures perfectly. Note that SGI retained the rights to the Irix version, while the Windows version was acquired by Platinum in mid-1998 and then by Computer Associates in early 1999; the latter apparently is no longer available. See also Cosmo Player above.)
Crystal Space [Jorrit Tyberghein and the Crystal Space Team] (Unix/X, DOS, OS/2, Win32, BeOS, NeXTStep/OpenStep, Rhapsody, Mac OS, Amiga) - version 0.10 and later; read-only; MNG support (read-only) as of version 0.96(?); uses libpng, zlib and optionally libmng; freeware (LGPL) with source. (This is an open-source 3D game engine written in C++ that compiles on multiple platforms; it also includes a number of demo levels. PNG support was added by Andrew Zabolotny.)
DINO [Ansgar Philippsen] (Unix/X) - version 0.8.0 and later; write-only; freeware. (This is a scientific application for the visualization of structural biology--molecular structures, electron densities, etc. PNG is one of the supported 2D output formats.)
Extreme3D [Macromedia] (Win32, Macintosh) - version 2.0 and later; read/write(?) for textures and backgrounds; write-only for rendered scenes (with interlacing and alpha support); commercial. (This is a 3D modeler/editor. Version 2.0 is part of FreeHand Graphics Studio on the image editors page.)
Flamingo [Robert McNeel and Associates] (Win32) - all versions; read/write; commercial. (This is a radiosity and ray-tracing plug-in for Rhinoceros, below. PNG is supported as an input format for textures and as an output format for final, rendered images.)
Flounder [Edward Vigmond] (Unix/X) - all versions; write-only; requires libpng and zlib; freeware with source. (This is a 4D data-visualization program that can render isosurfaces, slices, etc. Images or image sequences can be saved in PNG format.)
Font F/X [DCSi / Electric Rain] (Win32) - version 1.1 and later; write-only; commercial. (This is a 3D font-rendering program that can export to various image formats.)
FontTwister [Alexander and Matthias Neuber] (Win32) - all versions; read/write; full alpha support claimed; shareware. (This is an app for creating 3D text images. It supports reading PNGs as textures and writing them as finished images.)
FreeWRL [Tuomas J. Lukka, John Stewart, etc.] (Perl) - all versions; read-only; requires libpng and zlib; freeware (LGPL) with source. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for (out-of-date) details. Since FreeWRL is mostly written in Perl, it has dependencies on a large number of Perl modules [Digest-MD5, HTML-Parser, Image-Base, Image-Xpm, MIME-Base64, URI, libnet, libwww-perl], as well as Mesa3D, FreeType, the aforementioned libpng and zlib, and optionally JavaScript and Java.)
Internet[3D] Space Builder [ParallelGraphics] (Win32) - version 3.0 and later; read/write? commercial. (This is a 3D modeling program that exports VRML 1.0 and 2.0 scenes. It supports PNG as a texture format.)
Gforge [John Beale] (Unix, DOS) - version 1.1f and later; write-only; freeware with source. (This is a fractal terrain/surface generator that uses "random fractal forgery" a la Richard F. Voss; its output can be used in POV-Ray scenes. Xforge is the tcl/tk version. Gforge has been superseded by HF-Lab below.)
glpng - see the Toolkits page
HF-Lab [John Beale] (Unix, DOS) - version 0.84 and later; read/write; uses libpng and zlib; freeware with source. (This is a "height field" generator, used to create two-dimensional grayscale images that can be used as input to a 3D modeler--i.e., black corresponds to low-altitude terrain, white to high-altitude terrain, etc. HF-Lab is based on Gforge above.)
Jun for Java [AOKI Atsushi, ODA Tomohiro, et al.] (Java) - version 316 and later; read-only? requires JIMI or JAI; freeware (GPL) with source. (This is an OpenGL-based "graphic multimedia library with topology and geometry." There is also a Smalltalk version, but it is unclear whether that version supports PNG.)
OpenVRML / Lookat [Chris Morley, Braden McDaniel, and others] (Unix/X, Unix/Motif, Unix/GTK, Unix/Qt, Win32, Mac PPC) - all versions; read-only; perfect alpha support; requires libpng and zlib; freeware (GPL et al.) with source. (This is a VRML library and several stand-alone VRML-browser front ends. See the VRML browsers page for details. The library [formerly known as LibVRML97] includes Lookat, a very basic Xlib/OpenGL browser, but there are also separate Motif, GTK, Qt, Windows, and Macintosh versions that are somewhat more user-friendly.)
LightWave 3D [NewTek] (Win32, Irix/X, Solaris/X, Mac PPC) - version 4.x(?) and later with James G. Jones' PNG plug-in; read/write; full (32-bit) alpha support; no gamma support; reportedly buggy on Macintosh; commercial. (This is a 3D rendering and animation program.)
Liquid Reality [DimensionX / Microsoft] (Java) - version 1.0b17; read-only; minimal transparency support; very unstable; freeware. (This was a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details. Liquid Reality was developed by DimensionX, which was then acquired by Microsoft. The latter eventually released a derivative product called Liquid Motion, which was itself discontinued on 26 January 2000. Liquid Reality 1.0b17 was the first and only version [beta] to support PNG.)
Live3D - see Cosmo Player above
LiveArt [Viewpoint Digital] (Win32) - version 98 and later; write-only; alpha support? commercial. (This is a "3D clipart" program, in a sense; its 3D models can be rotated and manipulated in the usual manner, but then it renders the models as if they were hand-drawn, and PNG is one of the supported output formats. The technology originated at Thinkfish ["What do you put in a thinktank?"], which was acquired by Viewpoint Datalabs, which is distinct from Viewpoint Digital but nevertheless apparently related in some twisted manner.)
Magma - see Reachin API below
Mathematica [Wolfram Research] (Unix/X, NeXTStep, Win32, Macintosh) - any version? with Jens-Peer Kuska's PNGBitmap package (freeware with source); read/write; alpha support; 16-bit support; commercial. (This is a "fully integrated environment for technical computing." The PNG add-on allows Mathematica graphics elements to be saved as PNGs and PNGs to be used as textures for surfaces.)
MathGL3d [Jens-Peer Kuska] (Win32, Unix/X) - version 1.1 and later; read/write; freeware. (This is an interactive viewer for Mathematica 3D elements that supports saving the rendered images as PNG. As of version 2.0, it also supports reading PNG images as textures on Mathematica objects and writing VRML 2.0 models and POV-Ray models with PNG textures.)
Maya [Autodesk] (Win32, Mac OS X) - version 8(?) and later; read-only; JNG support as of version 8.5 with Tassilo Philipp's free JNG importer; commercial.
MicroStation/J [Bentley Systems] (Win32) - version 8.0(?) and later; read/write? commercial. (This is a CAD program with 3D modeling support. PNG is probably supported as a format for background images and possibly for screenshots or "web export.")
Moonlight 3D Atelier [Stephane Rehel and Alexandre Belhoste] (Linux/X) - version 0.9.2; read/write; freeware (2012k). (This is a 3D modeler/raytracer that can read PNG images as textures and write rendered images as PNGs. It is not clear whether 0.9.2 was the first version to support PNG, but it was the last; development of this product ended in 1999. However, an earlier open-source release, version 0.5.3, was forked in January 2002 to become Moonlight|3D; it will be listed above when PNG support is restored.)
MSVRML - see WorldView below
NatureView Express - see Visual Nature Studio and World Construction Set below
Nendo [Nichimen Graphics] (Solaris/X, Win32) - all versions; read/write; commercial. (This is a low-cost and reportedly excellent 3D modeling and paint tool with support for several 2D and 3D formats, including PNG and VRML 2.0.)
OpenGL::Image [POGL Team / Graphcomp] (Perl) - all versions; read/write; requires ImageMagick, libpng and zlib; freeware (Artistic) with source. (This is an imaging component that can load PNGs for use as OpenGL texture maps and frame-buffer objects and that can save OpenGL frames in PNG format. It is part of the Perl OpenGL [POGL] project.)
pf2wrl [WareOnEarth] (Irix) - version 1.4(?) and later; write-only; freeware. (This is a command-line conversion utility for 3D files, specifically those supported by IRIS Performer. It converts all texture files [.rgb, .rgba, .int, .inta, or .bw] to PNG or JPEG format.)
Pivoron Player [Nexternet] (Win32) - all versions; read-only; alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. Version 1.0 is essentially identical to version 2.0 of Cosmo Player, which was the previous name for the browser; see above for its extensive history.)
PixelTex [Stuart Williams / Virtuality] (Win32) - all versions; read-only; freeware. (This is a tool to convert from PNG and JPEG images to VRML97 PixelTexture nodes. PNG alpha/transparency support is reportedly coming.)
Poser [Fractal Design / MetaCreations / Curious Labs / e frontier America Smith Micro Software] (Win32, Mac PPC) - version 4.0(?) and later; read/write; fake transparency support (white = transparent); commercial. (This is a 3D application to pose and animate human and animal figures. At least as of version 5, PNG is supported only as a format for texture, bump and reflection maps, not as a format for exporting rendered images, but this limitation no longer applies in version 7. [No word on version 6.] Fractal Design was acquired by Metacreations between versions 2 and 3; Poser was purchased by Curious Labs between versions 4 and 5; Curious Labs was acquired by e frontier between versions 5 and 6; and Poser apparently was purchased by Smith Micro after version 7, though as of January 2008, neither site has been updated to reflect this.)
POV-Ray [POV-Ray Team] (Unix, DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, OS/2, Win32) - version 3.0 and later; read/write; full gamma support; partial, broken alpha support (only for anti-aliasing, not transparent objects, and premultiplied instead of non-premultiplied as required by PNG spec); up to 16 bits per channel (i.e., 48-bit truecolor); uses libpng and zlib; freeware with source. (This is one of the more famous ray-tracers in existence.)
Q3BSP [John W. Ratcliff / Holger Grahn] (Win32) - version 1.1 and later; write-only; full 32-bit alpha support; uses libpng and zlib; freeware with source. (This is a Quake3-to-VRML converter. Quake 3 TGA textures are converted to RGBA PNGs.)
Quat [Dirk Meyer] (Unix/FLTK, Win32/FLTK) - all versions? read/write; requires zlib; freeware (GPL) with C/C++ source. (This is a generator of 3D quaternionic fractals. PNG is its sole image format, and it includes an independent C implementation of PNG-encoding/decoding functions. Development appears to have ceased in late 2002.)
Rational Reducer [Systems in Motion] (Win32, Linux/X, Irix/X) - version 2.0 and later; read-only; commercial. (This is a polygon-reduction tool for VRML and other 3D formats. PNG is supported as a texture format for the models.)
Reachin API [ReachIn Technologies] (Windows NT, Irix/X) - all versions; read/write; alpha support (read/write but not display); commercial. (This is a 3D API/toolkit for developing "multisensory"--at a minimum, visual and haptic--3D applications. PNG is the "primary native graphics format." It was formerly known as Magma.)
Realsoft 3D [Realsoft Graphics] (Win32, Irix/X, Linux/X) - version 5(?) and later; read-only? commercial. (This is a 3D modeling, rendering, and animation tool.)
RealWorld Icon Editor [RealWorld Graphics] (Win32, Win64) - all versions; read/write; full alpha support (claimed); uses libpng and zlib; commercial.
Rhinoceros [Robert McNeel and Associates] (Win32) - version 1.1 and later; read/write; commercial. (This is a NURBS-based 3D modeler. PNG is supported as an input format for textures and as an output format for the internal screen capture function. The related Flamingo plug-in, above, adds support to Rhino 2.0 [and later] for saving radiosity-based and ray-traced renderings in PNG format.)
Scene Express - see Visual Nature Studio and World Construction Set below
Spazz3D [Virtock Technologies] (Win32) - version 2.0 and later; read/write? transparency support; reportedly crashes on either gray RGB PNGs or true grayscale PNGs, possibly only with transparency; commercial. (This is a 3D modeller with VRML import and export capabilities.)
Stereograph [Fabian Januszewski] (Linux) - version 0.17 and later; read/write; alpha support; requires libpng and zlib; freeware (GPL) with source. (This is a "magic eye"-style [or RDS] stereogram generator that can use PNG images as textures for stereograms and can write the finished results as PNG files.)
Stereoptica [Daniel White] (Win32, Unix, etc.) - all versions; read/write; requires FreeImage, libpng and zlib; freeware (for non-commercial use) with C++ source. (This is a 3D anaglyph generator [red/green glasses] that can use pairs of PNG images as sources for stereograms and can write the finished results as PNG files.)
Surface3D PRO [ScienceGL] (Win32) - version of March 2007 and later; read/write; commercial. (This is 3D graphics software for analysis of atomic-force microscopy [AFM] data.)
Tachyon [John Stone] (Unix, BeOS, Mac OS X, Windows NT/2k) - version 0.93.2 and later; read/write; uses libpng and zlib; freeware (BSD) with source. (This is a ray-tracing library optimized for parallel and multiprocessor configurations. It can render to PNGs and apparently also read them for use as textures.)
Torch [Newfire] (Win32) - all versions; read-only; dithered transparency support; freeware. (This was a VRML browser/plug-in specifically designed for 3D games. See the VRML browsers page for details. Torch flamed out when Newfire did [1999 or so].)
trueScape [DigitalFlux Entertainment] (Win32) - all versions; read/write; commercial. (This is a "realtime terrain-creation" plugin for trueSpace 4 or later [see below] that "allows you to interactively sculpt terrains by drawing directly on the interface of the tsx." PNG and other image formats may be imported and exported as height maps.)
trueSpace [Caligari] (Win32) - version 4.0 and later; read/write; commercial. (This is a 3D modeler/renderer with support for radiosity, NURBS, VRML 1.0 import and VRML 2.0 export, etc.; PNG support is apparently limited to textures and may not include alpha transparency.)
VERA [Steve Marthouse / vrml3d.com] (Win32) - all versions? read/write; freeware. (This is a VRML 1.0/2.0 editor with partial support for reading and rendering VRML97 worlds--including PNG textures--and support for converting SFImage nodes [the data part of PixelTextures] to PNG, optionally with alpha transparency added on.)
Viscape Universal [Superscape] (Win32) - version 5.60 and later; read-only; partial alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details.)
Visual Nature Studio [3D Nature] (Win32, Mac OS) - version 2.0 and later; read-only? commercial. (This is a 3D landscape modeling tool geared toward geographical information systems [GIS]. VRML and 3DSMax export support is available via a separate Scene Express add-on, which also includes the NatureView Express standalone 3D viewer.)
Visual Sun Chart [3-D Software] (Windows 2k/XP) - all versions? write-only; uses Victor Image Processing Library and zlib; commercial. (This is "solar geometry software," a modelling tool to visualize shading from trees or buildings at various times of day or of the year. It can export rendered images in PNG format.)
Volume4D PRO [ScienceGL] (Win32) - version of March 2007 and later; read/write; commercial. (This is medical imaging software for analyzing CT and MRI data, etc.)
VRMLView [Systems in Motion] (Win32, Linux/X, Irix/X, HP-UX/X, BeOS) - version 2.0 and later; read-only; partial alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details.)
white_dune [Stephen F. White / Joerg "MUFTI" Scheurich] (Unix/Motif) - version 0.16 and later; read-only? full alpha support? requires libpng and zlib; freeware (GPL) with source. (This is a "graphical VRML97 editor and animation tool." It uses code from OpenVRML for its PNG texture support.)
World Construction Set [3D Nature] (Win32, Mac OS) - version 6.0 and later; read-only? commercial. (This is a 3D landscape modeling tool. VRML and 3DSMax export support is available via a separate Scene Express add-on, which also includes the NatureView Express standalone 3D viewer.)
WorldView [Intervista / Platinum Technology / Computer Associates] (Win32, Mac OS) - version 2.0 and later; read-only; alpha support; freeware. (This is a VRML browser/plug-in. See the VRML browsers page for details. WorldView was developed by Intervista, which was acquired by Platinum in mid-1998, which in turn was acquired by Computer Associates in early 1999. MSVRML is a slightly modified version of WorldView distributed with some Windows 98 machines. This product is no longer under development.)
Xara3D [Xara] (Win32) - version 2.0 and later; write-only? full alpha support; commercial. (This is a `slimware' app for creating 3D text images. It may also support reading PNGs as textures.)
XmLookat - see LibVRML97 / Lookat above

Here are some related PNG pages at this site:

Last modified 14 March 2009.