Building 3D models can be a time-consuming process.
To jumpstart the creation process we've compiled a list of free blender models and character rigs. These are all free but for the models found in Sketchfab and Turbosquid, you will be required to log-in first before downloading anything.
Blender 3D models Blender lets you publish 3D works directly to your Sketchfab profile. Get it on blender.org. Popular Blender 3D models View all. Animated Available on Store. 10E, The Violinist. 7.4k Views 11 Comment. 196 Like Unlike. Draft- Sci-Fi Toad Coursework XYZ school. Create and Share Blender Assets. Welcome to Blend Swap! Create and share along with 1,289,971 other artists. Grab This Model. Here's a cool model divided into many objects: the bookshelf itself and the books. You can use this to populate an abandoned room, or you can just use the books and put them into an existing shelf or on top of a cabinet. These models are shipped with. Grab This Model. Here's a cool model divided into many objects: the bookshelf itself and the books. You can use this to populate an abandoned room, or you can just use the books and put them into an existing shelf or on top of a cabinet. These models are shipped with PBR textures which adds the dusty and realistic look.
While most of these assets are made by and for Blender, the models can also be used in other 3D applications too. These can be exported as FBX or OBJ formats which can still be used even if you don't work in Blender.
Also before downloading anything be sure to check the licenses on each model. Not all of them allow commercial use which can lead to copyright issues. In general if you're using models for personal use you're probably good but it's always smart to double check!
Free Models
Lumberjack Darius
League of Legends' Darius is given a makeover as a lumberjack reminiscent of Logan in his time in the Canadian forests.
This model comes with a low poly mesh count with a single 2k texture set. And just like the original Darius in League of Legends, he sports a massive axe.
A default T-pose is not provided but you can learn a lot on how to create an appealing character despite the model and texture constraints.
Because the model is a contest entry you can find the author's work in progress in this thread. Zbrush was used for creating the high poly design, Blender for retopology, UV unwrapping, and rigging. Then lastly 3D Coat and Photoshop for painting.
Vivi Ornitier
You may remember Vivi as the small charming magician from Final Fantasy IX who also happens to be a playable character.
Apart from his emissive texture, the model also comes with different textures for every major part such as its coat, legs, and hands, all while providing high detail definition of every aspect.
Reptile Mage
This reptile mage is also a caster type. Unlike Vivi, this model is built on a low poly count mesh with a hand-painted texture.
In more ways than one, the design is reminiscent of a Pokemon that mated with an Argonian Mage in Elder Scrolls.
Its head is larger in proportion to the rest of its body adding an adorable appeal. It sports a number of magical items including a pair of boots, a staff, and a cape.
Lowpoly McCree
McCree is a stylized low-poly model taken from McCree, the Damage hero in Overwatch.
The model is neither skinned nor weighted with a pose in an almost neutral state.
However its limbs can be adjusted to create a T-pose. The character also sports several props such as a gun, a wad of cash, and a cigarette.
Knight Artorias
Inspired by the Dark Souls boss Astorias the Abysswalker, this model comes with a complete PBR texture from the base color to roughness maps.
The model stays true to its inspiration with ornamental metal armor and a cloth mask that extends into a cape. All of this is complemented with a massive sword for fighting baddies.
Alice
Based on Lost Saga's Alice who's also based on the fictional character of the same name in Alice in Wonderland, don't let her sweet looks fool you.
She's loaded with heavy artillery, specifically a Gatling gun with a bow.
With its action pose intact this is 3D print-ready. However you may need to perform retopology as the mesh is dense by default.
Wolf with Animation
A quadruped model that is both weighted and animated, this wolf is a 16-frame quadruped with a variety of animation cycles that loop seamlessly.
If you want to use the model without the animation you can simply reset to bind pose or disable the skinning entirely.
You may also turn off the wolf's mane since it is skinned separately.
You can also do it the other way around. If you already have a quadruped model you can bind it to the existing joint chain and use the quadruped cycle.
Drunk Troll Tavern
This stylized environment piece easily blends in a mobile game platform because of its low poly count.
While the interior is not modeled, the exterior makes up for it. It presents a proper silhouette that can clearly be viewed from various distances and vantage points.
The entrance has a parked carriage and a signboard that shows several written announcements. There is a bar on the top floor that features beer barrels and bottles of liquor with stables below at the rear end of the tavern that add a nice overall touch.
Also the tavern shows a mix of materials and fixtures including metal details, cloth banners, windows, ropes, bottles, and aging wood.
With a little bit of texturing you can make use of an environment that can act as a venue to numerous stories.
Baba Yaga's Hut
Baba Yaga's Hut is set up as a location that's VR and film friendly.
This stylized piece is well-dressed with various focal points starting with a witch and a boiling cauldron. Not far behind is a hostage trapped in a cage.
On the river we see several rescuers including a priest holding a cross and knight preparing for an attack.
The scene is surrounded by a cloudy mist, adding to its mysterious ambiance. Despite not being a part of the action the interior is also populated with several items such as potions, candles, and a broomstick.
There's also the nice touch of another witch apprentice and an accomplice bat flying around.
Barrels
One of the staples of environment prop designs are barrels.
A scene looks more organic with a pile of barrels in a corner giving the sense of a recent occupancy. With this free download you'll have several barrel types ranging from a standard storage barrel to a beer barrel.
The models come with PBR textures that are ready for Unity and Unreal Engine. The author also conveniently provides several exchange formats such as FBX and OBJ extensions.
Hologram Console
This model comes with the complete PBR textures which is a nice benefit.
What makes this model unique is its emissive texture which is a must for any futuristic or post-apocalyptic setting.
After the proper set-up you'll see the screen lighting up the whole scene. You can take this further and animate the texture like the model in the Advance Tiling for Environment demonstration.
This model can also serve as a good base for a modular asset that can populate a space ship command center or docking control bay.
Runestones
To be upfront, this model does not have a well-organized hierarchy. You may need to clean up certain aspects if you want to modify the asset.
But needless to say the scenery looks good based on the Blizzard style of glowing features and details.
With a night scene the model shows off its magic with its emissive texture. Also through this model you'll get a glimpse on how to create basic but appealing foliage.
Goblin Warrior
This goblin warrior is close to a AAA character with such attention to detail.
The author made several interesting design choices to add to the menacing nature of the goblin: nails instead of thread line the side sole of its footwear, and a shield that looks as if it was torn straight from a door.
The main leather material complements all the other elements of the design including the belt straps, armor, bandages and even on the model's footwear.
A threatening look is achieved through a mischievous expression, piercing ears, and emissive textures.
You'll also get a nondescript treasure box that the goblin is protecting. The model is sculpted in Zbrush, polished in Blender and painted in Substance Painter.
Old Tower
So this whole model is meticulously hand-painted and you can tell.
The effort can be seen in the blending of various props. The scene is given detail through a variety of props such as sand, rocks, cacti, barrels, fence, trees, and of course, the tower.
Gladiator Model
By far, this model is the most detailed on the list.
The model is highly realistic with the proper muscle groups for both arms and legs, as well as its torso—all displayed in its full glory.
The realism also extends to his props: a detailed helmet featuring ornaments and chips, an intricate design on the shield, a flail with a spiked morning star, all the way down to a caligae or Roman leather sandals.
While the model is made in Zbrush, the download also offers several formats such as OBJ and FBX files which you can readily import to Blender.
However you might need to decimate it first as the original model has 19 million points in its highest subdivision.
The site also offers several free models such as a teeth model and a helpful guide on how to retopo a Marvelous Designer model.
Dusty Old Bookshelf
Here's a cool model divided into many objects: the bookshelf itself and the books.
You can use this to populate an abandoned room, or you can just use the books and put them into an existing shelf or on top of a cabinet.
These models are shipped with PBR textures which adds the dusty and realistic look.
Fruit Baskets
A fruit basket is another prop that gives life to any environment scene, especially a market place.
The download contains various foodstuffs such as grapes, oranges, tomatoes, pears, and cheese.
As this is a low poly model it will not hold well for close-up shots but the model serves as a decent grey box blocking on your scene.
The Great Sword
This stylized model makes a great weapon or even prop in any game.
It features chipped edges that suggests it has been through a lot. The cryptic glowing runes engraved in the center suggests the sword is of magical descent too.
You can treat it as a rare or hero item like the Excalibur where only the righteous can wield it.
Pokémon GO!
With this download you get the three main Pokemon from the Gen 1 games: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander.
It may not be an action piece but it can be a cute figure piece of them huddled together.
Charmander has an additional texture accent with a glowing tale which is great for newbies in the 3D space to study.
Low-Poly Car
This low-poly car ships with a simple texture.
The car comes with a platform too and the model is also segregated in a hierarchy so you can easily move the body and wheels around.
Cityscape
In this model you'll find several buildings that can populate a city.
For caution's sake the creator didn't consider any zoning. However you can still use parts of the model to block your own scene.
The asset also does not have any textures. Maybe this is a good asset to use for brushing up on your painting skills. There are several variations in this asset from a singular home to four-story buildings.
Cartoon Land
Cartoon Land is a low poly environment based on a rural setting.
It comes with basic textures with different variations of land topology.
As for the models themselves, you'll get trees, grass, a ranch, and a house, among other items.
If you want to complete the set you can even design your own assets to match the scene.
Free Rigs
Vincent
Vincent is a professional rig made by the Blender Foundation.
The character has an appealing design that can easily blend in a Pixar animated film.
It comes with the necessary bells and whistles for you to animate the character from the IK and FK switch to the expressive facial rig.
To maximize features you'd need to download the BlenRig add-on.
Fortunately, like Blender, BlenRig is free. As the rig has dozens of parameters you may find it hard to navigate in the viewport.
But you can turn off several parameters such as the muscle system for faster playback and simply turn them back on when rendering.
Proog
Like Vincent, Proog is a rig made by the Blender Foundation.
As such you can expect that it made use of the latest tools Blender can offer at the time of the model's creation. Even though Proog has been created for the previous version, he has been updated to work with the Cycles renderer for a more detailed look.
Cool Blender Models Videos
Proog also has hair material you can play around with and study. You can check on how to use Proog's various rig features by reading more on the download page.
Ballie
Ballie is good beginner rig to study body mechanics.
You don't have to deal with the complexity of a facial rig but you can still provide emotion and personality through its shape and movements.
Basically, Ballie is half-bodied rig with only a pelvis and legs.
On the plug side Ballie is already animated once you open the rig. As such you can dive right in and immediately see what the rig can offer your projects.
Grey Alien
With its shiny eyes and extra-terrestrial skin, this model's design will remind you of any recent alien film.
You can animate this model as it is already rigged and ready to go. Although you may need to add custom controls to fit to your taste.
The model also comes a gradient texture with gradient tapers giving it a subtle focus toward the body.
Penguin Nikko
Nikko doesn't really have a complete facial rig.
However if you want to try to animate penguins like in the film Madagascar this rig is a good start.
It may have a somewhat flawed deformation but it will be good enough for many body dynamics exercises. The rig also features IK legs and arms.
Funny Robot
What makes this model stand out from a typical robot is its rear turbine.
This means you can animate flying body mechanics fast. It's just a bit tricky to work with at the beginning as the model is already in a position rather than in a neutral pose.
However once you get around the model it functions like any other rig.
Sara Tween Girl
Sara is a teen girl model. She has a weighted skin and ships with several textures, pretty standard stuff.
You can use her in anime projects with her pigtails and slightly larger eyes which are just adorable. She comes with a school girl attire, eyelashes, and a hair ribbon accessory.
Low Poly Character
All other characters in the list have already been posed and designed with textures. This last one does not. And for good reason.
This character is made as a low poly base mesh on which to build your own character. In its current state you can easily make a muscular design or give a more chiseled build to a chubby guy.
This also comes skinned so you can immediately build controls on top of it. The model has proper muscle groups in the chest, arms, and legs. You can subdivide the model too and you'll still keep all the detail.
You can either use it as a base mesh on Zbrush or choose to model on top of it, or just work with this in Blender and have some fun. The sky's the limit here!
Related Posts:
Learning to model is crucial for anyone trying to master Blender. As the foundation of everything in 3D graphics, modeling is a necessary hurdle that every student will need to leap.
Luckily there's plenty of help online to teach yourself how to model.
One of Blender's best features is the large community behind it. Over the years they've created an abundance of learning resources and this guide offers the best of the best when it comes to modeling in Blender.
No matter your budget or current skillset this list is sure to help.
Free Tutorials
Beginner Modeling Tutorial (Multipart)
Blender Guru is one of the most popular Blender YouTube instructors.
I often point students to these lessons when they're just getting started with Blender in general.
In this series Blender Guru teaches the fundamentals of modeling. But instead of doing a car or a character, students will learn how to model a medieval blacksmith's anvil.
Why?
Because modeling more complicated objects can be difficult for beginners. It's likely they'll run into trouble and give up. Blender Guru argues that starting with something simpler like an anvil is better for learning the principles of 3D modeling.
Character Modeling
After you've learned some of the basics it's time to try a character.
Since characters are the bread and butter of most 3D graphics, it's good to tackle this subject early on and keep practicing.
This 10-part series will walk you step-by-by through the modeling process in Blender. It covers everything from modeling a character's face to the hands and feet.
With this series you will get an in-depth look at the first steps necessary to building high-resolution characters for video games or movies. These are the foundational skills needed to succeed in computer graphics so this lesson is essential for all beginners.
Modeling Charmander
In this tutorial by 3D artist Arturs Luksis you'll observe the workflow of character creation in Blender.
More specifically you get to build a beloved Pokemon character from scratch with lots of guidance.
Starting with a low-poly model, the artist continues through the creation of the high-resolution character as well as texturing, rigging, weight painting, and animation.
This tutorial will teach the full workflow of character modeling in Blender. This is truly a powerful showcase of Blender's tools and features.
Star Wars Tie Fighter
Focusing on hard surface modeling, top YouTube talent CG Geek demonstrates the process of creating a high-resolution Tie Fighter from the Star Wars universe.
CG Geek shows you how to take your modeling skills to the next level by using the mirror modifier to achieve perfect symmetry.
Add Blender's subdivision surface modifier to pump up the detail without losing the original geometry. Working in this non-destructive manner will add lots of flexibility to your workflow.
The techniques in this video will translate well to other hard surface objects such as cars and planes where angular precision and tight geometry are key.
Gun Hard Surface Modeling
With this Oranhunter Modeling video you'll get a chance to further develop your hard surface modeling skills by making a weapon.
Specifically you'll be making a gun from Blizzard's blockbuster game Overwatch.
This tutorial offers some tips and tricks for keeping your polygon count low without sacrificing detail.
By focusing on keeping good quads(four-sided polygons) it's easier to develop a clean model from scratch. This will be important later when it comes to texturing and animating the object.
Oranhunter Modeling combines the mirror modifier and the subsurface modifier to gain accuracy, speed, and detail.
Combining these two modifiers is a common technique used by many Blender artists.
Create Any Low-Poly Animal
Low Poly scenes are still the rage and making them in Blender is a breeze once you learn the ropes.
In this video you'll pick up some simple techniques for making low-poly models even if you've never done it before.
Grant Abbitt is a YouTube tutorial superstar who offers short videos and a relaxed teaching style. In this 10-minutes tutorial Abbitt walks you through the process of low-poly modelling with step-by-step instructions.
If you need some further explanation about the topics covered in this modeling tutorial, such as the mirror modifier, check the links in the description featuring even more of Abbit's guides.
Game Asset Modeling
This advanced Blender tutorial by 3D artist AlienMinefield is targeted at those who are already comfortable with modeling in Blender.
You should know the basics of modeling and texturing before diving in since this can be a complex subject.
But this multi-part series teaches the workflow of game asset creation including object modeling, UV-unwrapping, and UV-packing.
Creating a complex model is difficult but planning can save you trouble down the road. Artists will often model an object in a way that makes it easier to add materials and this is exactly what you'll learn here.
Artists looking to work in games will want to check out this Blender tutorial. The skills used to create industrial crates will easily lend themselves to other objects that you'll find in a production workflow.
Blender Hair Tutorial
Creating hair in any 3D program is no easy task. But Nazar Noschenko will guide you through making realistic hair using particle systems in Blender.
By stacking particle systems and slowly working up the head from the base of the neck, 3D artist Nazar Norschenko achieves a highly sculpted and realistic figure with a stylish hairdo.
It's a somewhat painstaking technique but the results speak for themselves.
If you want to achieve high resolution hair for your characters you'll need to work with Blender's particle system and hair settings. Powerdirector 8 free trial. This video offers a fantastic intro to the subject.
After modeling the hair you'll learn how to take it a step further and render the final image by adding color and other effects.
Blender has fully equipped lighting and rendering features that can be used to create almost any effect you desire.
Creating A Nature Scene
This wonderful tutorial by Wayward Art Company offers a step-by-step guide to constructing an elaborate nature scene in Blender.
Starting with a blade of grass, the instructor shows you how to build an inspiring scenic view complete with trees, mountains, and clouds. No detail is left out in this 45-minute Blender demo.
You'll even learn how to use particle systems to add moss to your trees and rocks.
Once you've created the set pieces and added your lights, creating interesting images becomes a simple matter of positioning your camera and adjusting the scene.
Blender's powerful rendering features give you plenty of possibilities to explore. Render often and adjust accordingly.
Simple Trees
This 15-minute tutorial video by Toxicity Game Dev teaches beginners an easy method for making an unlimited number of low-poly trees. In just a few minutes you could have a low-poly forest ready to go.
Aimed at game development, this tutorial will show you how to get the most out of Blender while making game assets.
One helpful trick is to set the origin of the object to its base.
Not only will it scale along the ground plane, but game engines like Unreal and Unity look for the origin when instantiating objects in the scene. This makes it easier to place them when building game levels.
Using these methods will make it easier to work with your models in any modern game engine.
Rocket Plane Modeling
This half-hour video teaches a bunch of useful tools for modeling in Blender.
For example: you'll learn how to make a WWII rocket plane as an easy introduction to hard-surface modeling. This step-by-step process can teach a whole lot so it's best to move slowly and carefully.
This is a good tutorial for artists looking to hone their skills in creating vehicles for games.
3D Isometric Game Tiles
Here's a fun guide teaching you how to create cute and colorful tiles for an isometric scene.
Follow along with the time lapse to see how the artist builds low poly models and applies materials to create the final look.
By playing with materials it's relatively easy to get effects for dirt, grass, and water. Adding stones and individual blades of grass gives the scene a high-quality finish.
Create A Realistic City
Blender's community has created some fantastic add-ons that can be extremely useful.
One of these is the Open Street Map add-on which can generate real life buildings and street lay-outs fast.
By visiting the main website Blender artists can export a map of any city they want. After installing the add-on and enabling it in Blender it's easy to import the data and generate a copy of the map complete with buildings and real-life city layouts.
Open Street Map is powered by an open source community of mappers that contribute data about streets, buildings, and more.
By combining this add-on with Blender's rendering tools you can follow along with this tutorial to create a beautiful cityscape within just one hour.
Awesome Modeling Hacks
Zacharias Reinhardt offers a list of 14 tips to improve your Blender experience. There's also some links in the description to modeling courses for those looking to up their game.
These are some very handy tips that will save you time and frustration. Blender is a such a large program that it can take a long time to discover all the hidden shortcuts and special features.
Everything on this list is useful, but my personal favorites include combining the bevel and subdivision surface modifiers to get crisp, high-poly models. And resetting the key frame positions with a hidden shortcut.
Premium Courses
Premium video series are designed to accelerate your development by learning from high-quality sources.
Professional instructors and long-format tutorials offer a better approach for most people getting into the 3D world.
So whether you're a complete beginner or just looking to take your skills to the next level, the following courses are a perfect place to start learning how to make amazing Blender artwork.
Intro to Modeling in Blender
This beginner's guide will teach you everything you need to get started in Blender.
3D artist Justin Marshall teaches some of the skills that landed him a job at Sony Imageworks in Los Angeles.
This series focuses on foundational knowledge that will be used all the time as you progress in Blender.
After covering the most basic information about polygon geometry the instructor introduces all the tools needed for modeling in Blender.
However this series takes a slightly different approach than other beginner tutorials. Instead of covering all the options for modeling in Blender, Justin Marshall narrows the focus to only the most useful tools.
Creating Assets
In this tutorial series by artist Mark Masters you'll explore how to make an asset in Blender from start to finish.
You'll begin with a basic model and then move onto UV unwrapping and material creation.
Masters will take you through the process of building a realistic soda bottle using Blender 2.77.
Throughout the series you'll find expert advice on Blender's toolset to create polished, professional assets. Perfect for anyone looking into 3D work as a career.
By the end of this course you'll have all the skills necessary to take full advantage of Blender's asset creation pipeline and bring your own ideas to life.
Designing & Modeling a Sci-fi Prop
3D environment artist Denis Osmanbegovic covers a lot in this series along with sharing a few skills that landed him a job as an artist on Halo 5.
With this course you'll learn how to create a 3D sci-fi prop for a game or movie all from scratch.
You'll begin by learning how to adjust Blender's settings to get the most of the modeling tools before moving onto shaping a basic object. Then you'll learn how to apply materials and lighting to create a rendered image.
Osmanbegovic's goal is to teach you how to use Blender efficiently so that you can be more productive as you continue learning.
Creating a Cartoon-style Character
This lengthy series from Pluralsight teaches the ropes of character creation in Blender.
By exploring various modeling techniques, instructor Costas Frost teaches you how to work on your own and encourages everyone to experiment with Blender's toolset.
This video course focuses heavily on cycles rendering and cycles materials. By the end you'll have a solid grasp of the Blender character modeling workflow.
Designing a Low Poly Game Environment
In more ways than one, the design is reminiscent of a Pokemon that mated with an Argonian Mage in Elder Scrolls.
Its head is larger in proportion to the rest of its body adding an adorable appeal. It sports a number of magical items including a pair of boots, a staff, and a cape.
Lowpoly McCree
McCree is a stylized low-poly model taken from McCree, the Damage hero in Overwatch.
The model is neither skinned nor weighted with a pose in an almost neutral state.
However its limbs can be adjusted to create a T-pose. The character also sports several props such as a gun, a wad of cash, and a cigarette.
Knight Artorias
Inspired by the Dark Souls boss Astorias the Abysswalker, this model comes with a complete PBR texture from the base color to roughness maps.
The model stays true to its inspiration with ornamental metal armor and a cloth mask that extends into a cape. All of this is complemented with a massive sword for fighting baddies.
Alice
Based on Lost Saga's Alice who's also based on the fictional character of the same name in Alice in Wonderland, don't let her sweet looks fool you.
She's loaded with heavy artillery, specifically a Gatling gun with a bow.
With its action pose intact this is 3D print-ready. However you may need to perform retopology as the mesh is dense by default.
Wolf with Animation
A quadruped model that is both weighted and animated, this wolf is a 16-frame quadruped with a variety of animation cycles that loop seamlessly.
If you want to use the model without the animation you can simply reset to bind pose or disable the skinning entirely.
You may also turn off the wolf's mane since it is skinned separately.
You can also do it the other way around. If you already have a quadruped model you can bind it to the existing joint chain and use the quadruped cycle.
Drunk Troll Tavern
This stylized environment piece easily blends in a mobile game platform because of its low poly count.
While the interior is not modeled, the exterior makes up for it. It presents a proper silhouette that can clearly be viewed from various distances and vantage points.
The entrance has a parked carriage and a signboard that shows several written announcements. There is a bar on the top floor that features beer barrels and bottles of liquor with stables below at the rear end of the tavern that add a nice overall touch.
Also the tavern shows a mix of materials and fixtures including metal details, cloth banners, windows, ropes, bottles, and aging wood.
With a little bit of texturing you can make use of an environment that can act as a venue to numerous stories.
Baba Yaga's Hut
Baba Yaga's Hut is set up as a location that's VR and film friendly.
This stylized piece is well-dressed with various focal points starting with a witch and a boiling cauldron. Not far behind is a hostage trapped in a cage.
On the river we see several rescuers including a priest holding a cross and knight preparing for an attack.
The scene is surrounded by a cloudy mist, adding to its mysterious ambiance. Despite not being a part of the action the interior is also populated with several items such as potions, candles, and a broomstick.
There's also the nice touch of another witch apprentice and an accomplice bat flying around.
Barrels
One of the staples of environment prop designs are barrels.
A scene looks more organic with a pile of barrels in a corner giving the sense of a recent occupancy. With this free download you'll have several barrel types ranging from a standard storage barrel to a beer barrel.
The models come with PBR textures that are ready for Unity and Unreal Engine. The author also conveniently provides several exchange formats such as FBX and OBJ extensions.
Hologram Console
This model comes with the complete PBR textures which is a nice benefit.
What makes this model unique is its emissive texture which is a must for any futuristic or post-apocalyptic setting.
After the proper set-up you'll see the screen lighting up the whole scene. You can take this further and animate the texture like the model in the Advance Tiling for Environment demonstration.
This model can also serve as a good base for a modular asset that can populate a space ship command center or docking control bay.
Runestones
To be upfront, this model does not have a well-organized hierarchy. You may need to clean up certain aspects if you want to modify the asset.
But needless to say the scenery looks good based on the Blizzard style of glowing features and details.
With a night scene the model shows off its magic with its emissive texture. Also through this model you'll get a glimpse on how to create basic but appealing foliage.
Goblin Warrior
This goblin warrior is close to a AAA character with such attention to detail.
The author made several interesting design choices to add to the menacing nature of the goblin: nails instead of thread line the side sole of its footwear, and a shield that looks as if it was torn straight from a door.
The main leather material complements all the other elements of the design including the belt straps, armor, bandages and even on the model's footwear.
A threatening look is achieved through a mischievous expression, piercing ears, and emissive textures.
You'll also get a nondescript treasure box that the goblin is protecting. The model is sculpted in Zbrush, polished in Blender and painted in Substance Painter.
Old Tower
So this whole model is meticulously hand-painted and you can tell.
The effort can be seen in the blending of various props. The scene is given detail through a variety of props such as sand, rocks, cacti, barrels, fence, trees, and of course, the tower.
Gladiator Model
By far, this model is the most detailed on the list.
The model is highly realistic with the proper muscle groups for both arms and legs, as well as its torso—all displayed in its full glory.
The realism also extends to his props: a detailed helmet featuring ornaments and chips, an intricate design on the shield, a flail with a spiked morning star, all the way down to a caligae or Roman leather sandals.
While the model is made in Zbrush, the download also offers several formats such as OBJ and FBX files which you can readily import to Blender.
However you might need to decimate it first as the original model has 19 million points in its highest subdivision.
The site also offers several free models such as a teeth model and a helpful guide on how to retopo a Marvelous Designer model.
Dusty Old Bookshelf
Here's a cool model divided into many objects: the bookshelf itself and the books.
You can use this to populate an abandoned room, or you can just use the books and put them into an existing shelf or on top of a cabinet.
These models are shipped with PBR textures which adds the dusty and realistic look.
Fruit Baskets
A fruit basket is another prop that gives life to any environment scene, especially a market place.
The download contains various foodstuffs such as grapes, oranges, tomatoes, pears, and cheese.
As this is a low poly model it will not hold well for close-up shots but the model serves as a decent grey box blocking on your scene.
The Great Sword
This stylized model makes a great weapon or even prop in any game.
It features chipped edges that suggests it has been through a lot. The cryptic glowing runes engraved in the center suggests the sword is of magical descent too.
You can treat it as a rare or hero item like the Excalibur where only the righteous can wield it.
Pokémon GO!
With this download you get the three main Pokemon from the Gen 1 games: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander.
It may not be an action piece but it can be a cute figure piece of them huddled together.
Charmander has an additional texture accent with a glowing tale which is great for newbies in the 3D space to study.
Low-Poly Car
This low-poly car ships with a simple texture.
The car comes with a platform too and the model is also segregated in a hierarchy so you can easily move the body and wheels around.
Cityscape
In this model you'll find several buildings that can populate a city.
For caution's sake the creator didn't consider any zoning. However you can still use parts of the model to block your own scene.
The asset also does not have any textures. Maybe this is a good asset to use for brushing up on your painting skills. There are several variations in this asset from a singular home to four-story buildings.
Cartoon Land
Cartoon Land is a low poly environment based on a rural setting.
It comes with basic textures with different variations of land topology.
As for the models themselves, you'll get trees, grass, a ranch, and a house, among other items.
If you want to complete the set you can even design your own assets to match the scene.
Free Rigs
Vincent
Vincent is a professional rig made by the Blender Foundation.
The character has an appealing design that can easily blend in a Pixar animated film.
It comes with the necessary bells and whistles for you to animate the character from the IK and FK switch to the expressive facial rig.
To maximize features you'd need to download the BlenRig add-on.
Fortunately, like Blender, BlenRig is free. As the rig has dozens of parameters you may find it hard to navigate in the viewport.
But you can turn off several parameters such as the muscle system for faster playback and simply turn them back on when rendering.
Proog
Like Vincent, Proog is a rig made by the Blender Foundation.
As such you can expect that it made use of the latest tools Blender can offer at the time of the model's creation. Even though Proog has been created for the previous version, he has been updated to work with the Cycles renderer for a more detailed look.
Cool Blender Models Videos
Proog also has hair material you can play around with and study. You can check on how to use Proog's various rig features by reading more on the download page.
Ballie
Ballie is good beginner rig to study body mechanics.
You don't have to deal with the complexity of a facial rig but you can still provide emotion and personality through its shape and movements.
Basically, Ballie is half-bodied rig with only a pelvis and legs.
On the plug side Ballie is already animated once you open the rig. As such you can dive right in and immediately see what the rig can offer your projects.
Grey Alien
With its shiny eyes and extra-terrestrial skin, this model's design will remind you of any recent alien film.
You can animate this model as it is already rigged and ready to go. Although you may need to add custom controls to fit to your taste.
The model also comes a gradient texture with gradient tapers giving it a subtle focus toward the body.
Penguin Nikko
Nikko doesn't really have a complete facial rig.
However if you want to try to animate penguins like in the film Madagascar this rig is a good start.
It may have a somewhat flawed deformation but it will be good enough for many body dynamics exercises. The rig also features IK legs and arms.
Funny Robot
What makes this model stand out from a typical robot is its rear turbine.
This means you can animate flying body mechanics fast. It's just a bit tricky to work with at the beginning as the model is already in a position rather than in a neutral pose.
However once you get around the model it functions like any other rig.
Sara Tween Girl
Sara is a teen girl model. She has a weighted skin and ships with several textures, pretty standard stuff.
You can use her in anime projects with her pigtails and slightly larger eyes which are just adorable. She comes with a school girl attire, eyelashes, and a hair ribbon accessory.
Low Poly Character
All other characters in the list have already been posed and designed with textures. This last one does not. And for good reason.
This character is made as a low poly base mesh on which to build your own character. In its current state you can easily make a muscular design or give a more chiseled build to a chubby guy.
This also comes skinned so you can immediately build controls on top of it. The model has proper muscle groups in the chest, arms, and legs. You can subdivide the model too and you'll still keep all the detail.
You can either use it as a base mesh on Zbrush or choose to model on top of it, or just work with this in Blender and have some fun. The sky's the limit here!
Related Posts:
Learning to model is crucial for anyone trying to master Blender. As the foundation of everything in 3D graphics, modeling is a necessary hurdle that every student will need to leap.
Luckily there's plenty of help online to teach yourself how to model.
One of Blender's best features is the large community behind it. Over the years they've created an abundance of learning resources and this guide offers the best of the best when it comes to modeling in Blender.
No matter your budget or current skillset this list is sure to help.
Free Tutorials
Beginner Modeling Tutorial (Multipart)
Blender Guru is one of the most popular Blender YouTube instructors.
I often point students to these lessons when they're just getting started with Blender in general.
In this series Blender Guru teaches the fundamentals of modeling. But instead of doing a car or a character, students will learn how to model a medieval blacksmith's anvil.
Why?
Because modeling more complicated objects can be difficult for beginners. It's likely they'll run into trouble and give up. Blender Guru argues that starting with something simpler like an anvil is better for learning the principles of 3D modeling.
Character Modeling
After you've learned some of the basics it's time to try a character.
Since characters are the bread and butter of most 3D graphics, it's good to tackle this subject early on and keep practicing.
This 10-part series will walk you step-by-by through the modeling process in Blender. It covers everything from modeling a character's face to the hands and feet.
With this series you will get an in-depth look at the first steps necessary to building high-resolution characters for video games or movies. These are the foundational skills needed to succeed in computer graphics so this lesson is essential for all beginners.
Modeling Charmander
In this tutorial by 3D artist Arturs Luksis you'll observe the workflow of character creation in Blender.
More specifically you get to build a beloved Pokemon character from scratch with lots of guidance.
Starting with a low-poly model, the artist continues through the creation of the high-resolution character as well as texturing, rigging, weight painting, and animation.
This tutorial will teach the full workflow of character modeling in Blender. This is truly a powerful showcase of Blender's tools and features.
Star Wars Tie Fighter
Focusing on hard surface modeling, top YouTube talent CG Geek demonstrates the process of creating a high-resolution Tie Fighter from the Star Wars universe.
CG Geek shows you how to take your modeling skills to the next level by using the mirror modifier to achieve perfect symmetry.
Add Blender's subdivision surface modifier to pump up the detail without losing the original geometry. Working in this non-destructive manner will add lots of flexibility to your workflow.
The techniques in this video will translate well to other hard surface objects such as cars and planes where angular precision and tight geometry are key.
Gun Hard Surface Modeling
With this Oranhunter Modeling video you'll get a chance to further develop your hard surface modeling skills by making a weapon.
Specifically you'll be making a gun from Blizzard's blockbuster game Overwatch.
This tutorial offers some tips and tricks for keeping your polygon count low without sacrificing detail.
By focusing on keeping good quads(four-sided polygons) it's easier to develop a clean model from scratch. This will be important later when it comes to texturing and animating the object.
Oranhunter Modeling combines the mirror modifier and the subsurface modifier to gain accuracy, speed, and detail.
Combining these two modifiers is a common technique used by many Blender artists.
Create Any Low-Poly Animal
Low Poly scenes are still the rage and making them in Blender is a breeze once you learn the ropes.
In this video you'll pick up some simple techniques for making low-poly models even if you've never done it before.
Grant Abbitt is a YouTube tutorial superstar who offers short videos and a relaxed teaching style. In this 10-minutes tutorial Abbitt walks you through the process of low-poly modelling with step-by-step instructions.
If you need some further explanation about the topics covered in this modeling tutorial, such as the mirror modifier, check the links in the description featuring even more of Abbit's guides.
Game Asset Modeling
This advanced Blender tutorial by 3D artist AlienMinefield is targeted at those who are already comfortable with modeling in Blender.
You should know the basics of modeling and texturing before diving in since this can be a complex subject.
But this multi-part series teaches the workflow of game asset creation including object modeling, UV-unwrapping, and UV-packing.
Creating a complex model is difficult but planning can save you trouble down the road. Artists will often model an object in a way that makes it easier to add materials and this is exactly what you'll learn here.
Artists looking to work in games will want to check out this Blender tutorial. The skills used to create industrial crates will easily lend themselves to other objects that you'll find in a production workflow.
Blender Hair Tutorial
Creating hair in any 3D program is no easy task. But Nazar Noschenko will guide you through making realistic hair using particle systems in Blender.
By stacking particle systems and slowly working up the head from the base of the neck, 3D artist Nazar Norschenko achieves a highly sculpted and realistic figure with a stylish hairdo.
It's a somewhat painstaking technique but the results speak for themselves.
If you want to achieve high resolution hair for your characters you'll need to work with Blender's particle system and hair settings. Powerdirector 8 free trial. This video offers a fantastic intro to the subject.
After modeling the hair you'll learn how to take it a step further and render the final image by adding color and other effects.
Blender has fully equipped lighting and rendering features that can be used to create almost any effect you desire.
Creating A Nature Scene
This wonderful tutorial by Wayward Art Company offers a step-by-step guide to constructing an elaborate nature scene in Blender.
Starting with a blade of grass, the instructor shows you how to build an inspiring scenic view complete with trees, mountains, and clouds. No detail is left out in this 45-minute Blender demo.
You'll even learn how to use particle systems to add moss to your trees and rocks.
Once you've created the set pieces and added your lights, creating interesting images becomes a simple matter of positioning your camera and adjusting the scene.
Blender's powerful rendering features give you plenty of possibilities to explore. Render often and adjust accordingly.
Simple Trees
This 15-minute tutorial video by Toxicity Game Dev teaches beginners an easy method for making an unlimited number of low-poly trees. In just a few minutes you could have a low-poly forest ready to go.
Aimed at game development, this tutorial will show you how to get the most out of Blender while making game assets.
One helpful trick is to set the origin of the object to its base.
Not only will it scale along the ground plane, but game engines like Unreal and Unity look for the origin when instantiating objects in the scene. This makes it easier to place them when building game levels.
Using these methods will make it easier to work with your models in any modern game engine.
Rocket Plane Modeling
This half-hour video teaches a bunch of useful tools for modeling in Blender.
For example: you'll learn how to make a WWII rocket plane as an easy introduction to hard-surface modeling. This step-by-step process can teach a whole lot so it's best to move slowly and carefully.
This is a good tutorial for artists looking to hone their skills in creating vehicles for games.
3D Isometric Game Tiles
Here's a fun guide teaching you how to create cute and colorful tiles for an isometric scene.
Follow along with the time lapse to see how the artist builds low poly models and applies materials to create the final look.
By playing with materials it's relatively easy to get effects for dirt, grass, and water. Adding stones and individual blades of grass gives the scene a high-quality finish.
Create A Realistic City
Blender's community has created some fantastic add-ons that can be extremely useful.
One of these is the Open Street Map add-on which can generate real life buildings and street lay-outs fast.
By visiting the main website Blender artists can export a map of any city they want. After installing the add-on and enabling it in Blender it's easy to import the data and generate a copy of the map complete with buildings and real-life city layouts.
Open Street Map is powered by an open source community of mappers that contribute data about streets, buildings, and more.
By combining this add-on with Blender's rendering tools you can follow along with this tutorial to create a beautiful cityscape within just one hour.
Awesome Modeling Hacks
Zacharias Reinhardt offers a list of 14 tips to improve your Blender experience. There's also some links in the description to modeling courses for those looking to up their game.
These are some very handy tips that will save you time and frustration. Blender is a such a large program that it can take a long time to discover all the hidden shortcuts and special features.
Everything on this list is useful, but my personal favorites include combining the bevel and subdivision surface modifiers to get crisp, high-poly models. And resetting the key frame positions with a hidden shortcut.
Premium Courses
Premium video series are designed to accelerate your development by learning from high-quality sources.
Professional instructors and long-format tutorials offer a better approach for most people getting into the 3D world.
So whether you're a complete beginner or just looking to take your skills to the next level, the following courses are a perfect place to start learning how to make amazing Blender artwork.
Intro to Modeling in Blender
This beginner's guide will teach you everything you need to get started in Blender.
3D artist Justin Marshall teaches some of the skills that landed him a job at Sony Imageworks in Los Angeles.
This series focuses on foundational knowledge that will be used all the time as you progress in Blender.
After covering the most basic information about polygon geometry the instructor introduces all the tools needed for modeling in Blender.
However this series takes a slightly different approach than other beginner tutorials. Instead of covering all the options for modeling in Blender, Justin Marshall narrows the focus to only the most useful tools.
Creating Assets
In this tutorial series by artist Mark Masters you'll explore how to make an asset in Blender from start to finish.
You'll begin with a basic model and then move onto UV unwrapping and material creation.
Masters will take you through the process of building a realistic soda bottle using Blender 2.77.
Throughout the series you'll find expert advice on Blender's toolset to create polished, professional assets. Perfect for anyone looking into 3D work as a career.
By the end of this course you'll have all the skills necessary to take full advantage of Blender's asset creation pipeline and bring your own ideas to life.
Designing & Modeling a Sci-fi Prop
3D environment artist Denis Osmanbegovic covers a lot in this series along with sharing a few skills that landed him a job as an artist on Halo 5.
With this course you'll learn how to create a 3D sci-fi prop for a game or movie all from scratch.
You'll begin by learning how to adjust Blender's settings to get the most of the modeling tools before moving onto shaping a basic object. Then you'll learn how to apply materials and lighting to create a rendered image.
Osmanbegovic's goal is to teach you how to use Blender efficiently so that you can be more productive as you continue learning.
Creating a Cartoon-style Character
This lengthy series from Pluralsight teaches the ropes of character creation in Blender.
By exploring various modeling techniques, instructor Costas Frost teaches you how to work on your own and encourages everyone to experiment with Blender's toolset.
This video course focuses heavily on cycles rendering and cycles materials. By the end you'll have a solid grasp of the Blender character modeling workflow.
Designing a Low Poly Game Environment
Moving back into low-poly work we have this incredible series tailor made for environment artists.
Cool Blender Models
Anyone looking to work in mobile game development or as a freelancer will want to check out this course by Jeannot Landry.
Game content creation is one of the most common jobs for freelance 3D artists. In this Blender series you'll learn some techniques for creating low polygon environments that are perfect for mobile gaming.
Blender Models Library
You'll also study the pipeline for hand-painted assets and environment creation using Blender. By the end of this series you should have enough knowledge to build your own game assets and start building up that 3D portfolio.