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About

K-3D is free-as-in-freedom 3D modeling and animation software. It combines flexible plugins with a visualization pipeline architecture, making K-3D a versatile and powerful tool for artists.

Easy

K-3D's interface uses your platform's look-and-feel, and it's consistent with the applications you already know. New artists will find K-3D easy to understand, and professionals feel right at home. K-3D is intuitive, consistent, and discoverable.

Powerful

K-3D features procedural and parametric workflows. Properties can be adjusted interactively and results appear immediately. The powerful, node-based visualization pipeline allows more possibilities than traditional modifier stacks or histories. Selection flows from one modifier to the next.

An advanced undo/redo system ensures you can always go back, and the pioneering undo tree means you can always go forward, even where other programs lose the ability to redo.

Industrial-strength standards form the foundation on which K-3D builds - including native RenderMan(TM) support that integrates tightly with the K-3D user interface.

Flexible

Get all the power of a node-based visualization pipeline: connect anything to anything else. K-3D gives you the freedom to create combinations never before seen.

Work on one side of a model, show the other side mirrored, and see the end result welded together as a subdivision surface in realtime. Using K-3D, complex workflows are easy to create and understand. Go back, modify the beginning of a workflow, and watch as changes propagate automatically to the end.

Free

K-3D is Free Software. Run it on your choice of platform. Adapt it for any purpose. Receive it at no cost. Share it with your friends. All of the K-3D source code is available under the GNU General Public License.

Documentation

Documentation is available at the archived wiki.

Developing

K-3D is Free Software. The source code is licensed using the GNU General Public License. K-3D is written in C++ with platform independence in mind. As a result, K-3D can be built on GNU/Linux, MacOS X, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, and other platforms.

We use Git for source-code management, CMake for our build system, and gtkmm for our user interface toolkit. Required dependencies include Boost, OpenGL, and libsigc++.

K-3D can be optionally built with integration for Collada, DBus, GLX, Gnome VFS, GTS, ImageMagick, ODE, OpenCASCADE, OpenEXR, and more ...

Quick Start

Clone the K-3D sources and build:

$ git clone git://github.com/K-3D/k3d.git
$ mkdir k3d-build
$ cd k3d-build
$ cmake ../k3d
$ make

Run K-3D from the build directory:

$ cd k3d-build
$ make run/fast

Install K-3D:

$ cd k3d-build
$ make install

Make changes to the K-3D sources:

You can also just create a patch, if needed.

For more on using Git see the guide.

Donations

K-3D is a member of the nonprofit Software Freedom Conservancy. Thanks to the Conservancy, donations to support K-3D development are convenient, and may be tax-exempt in many jursidictions. The K-3D project uses donations to further our goal of providing quality Free Software for professionals. Thanks in advance for your interest in supporting K-3D!

PayPal Donations

Check Donations

K-3D can accept check donations drawn in USD from banks in the USA. (Donations from banks outside of the US or not in USD should be handled by wire; see Wire Donations).

Donors should make their check payable to:

Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc.

and place

Directed donation: K-3D

in the memo field. Checks should then be mailed to:

Software Freedom Conservancy
137 Montague Street STE 380
Brooklyn, NY  11201-3548

Wire Donations

K-3D can accept donations via wire, but instructions must be sent on a case-by-case basis as they are different depending on the country of origin. Donors wishing to send a wire should contact:

accounting@sfconservancy.org

for instructions. Please be sure to mention that your donation is for K-3D.

Contact

Help for K-3D is available through the forums or from the mailing list:

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/k3d-development

Or if you prefer, you can just submit an issue.