Free programs run the gamut between the pro and hobby levels and you'll have to consider other factors when choosing between them.
Programs such as Amorphium, trueSpace and Milkshape are aimed at professionals and casual hobbyists, but not all of them are going to have the full 3D studio capabilities of some more expensive programs.
Lightwave, zBrush and programs in their price range are powerful professional tools while still being within reach of a reasonably well-to-do person who's dedicated to their SL design work, but these are probably still overkill for pure sculptie creation as most of the features you pay for go beyond the general tools to create sculpt maps for Second Life. Programs like Maya and 3ds Max are powerful, but if you're not already seriously into 3d modelling, they're probably overkill.
Many programs such as Blender and 3ds Max offer this function in a limited sense to help with precision detailing but not to the extent of programs built with this method as their focus, such as zBrush.
For example, it allows manual export of sculpt maps with Blender and Lightwave. If this functionality is built into the software, it is available to user-generated scripts.
Note: Resident-made sculpt map tools and offline previewers now have their own page.Įach software entry includes a rundown of features that are particularly useful for creating sculpt maps.
Each entry lists the software package's web site, operating system support, cost and trial versions if applicable, and the licence. This page offers a list of 3D modeling software for use with sculpt maps for Sculpted Prims, along with a short explanation of popular 3D file formats.