Occasionally, as I look around at free software for creative purposes, I am genuinely suprised by some amazing give-aways. Usually these freebies come with one of the well known digital design journals like Computer Arts, 3D World or DigitalArts (formerly Digit).
This time though, it is well known 3D Software developer Caligari that is giving away their hard developed wares, and not even limiting it to magazine readers. This time you can download Truespace 7.6, their latest version, absolutely free. All you need to do is click the link on the home page, and set up a free membership account if you don't already have one.
What are you waiting for? Download it now >
Caligari have given away TrueSpace before. V1 and V3 have both been available for a while, but this is the first time they appear to have given away their latest version, and by the looks of things it is pretty powerful.
See how it compares with more well known competitor products:
I actually found out about this amazing offering when reading on the Computer Arts website, what the content of the new 3D World issue was going to be, then promptly zoomed over to Caligari to see for myself.
The reasons for this daring move by Caligari are to be discussed in the new issue of 3D World (which I don't have yet), but I can't help wondering if this has something to do with Daz 3D's move to give away Carrara 5 Pro on a magazine a few months ago. If so, watch Daz, because that is where the next move may be.
Whatever the reason, high competition in the 3D software industry has to be a factor, and so a good thing in the short term. The problem with this type of competition is that there are likely to be casualties, and that may hurt if you have developed a workflow around software from a company that goes under, or stops developing that title.
But while that is largely out of the control of most of us, make hay while the sun shines and download TrueSpace 7.6 today, free.
And if that all looks a bit complicated for your students...
Take a look at some alternative free 3D software here:
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