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I really want to get into character modeling but all the professional software is so expensive. Are there any good free 3D character modeling software options that are actually capable of creating decent characters?

I'm looking for software that has good tools for creating humanoid figures, facial features, and clothing. Bonus points if it has rigging capabilities or can export to game engines. I've seen some free software that's great for hard surface modeling but struggles with organic shapes.

What free 3D character modeling software have you used that surprised you with its capabilities? I'm not expecting AAA game studio quality, but I'd like something that can produce characters good enough for indie games or personal projects.

Also, are there any free tools that come with good character base meshes or templates to start from?

For free 3D character modeling software, Blender is definitely the most capable. The character modeling tools have improved a lot, and there are tons of tutorials specifically for character creation in Blender.

What makes Blender good for free 3D character modeling software is the sculpting-retopology-rigging pipeline. You can sculpt a high-poly character, retopologize it for animation, rig it, and even animate it - all within the same free software.

There are also many free character base meshes available for Blender. You can download these and modify them, which is a great way to learn character modeling without starting from scratch every time.

MakeHuman is specifically designed as free 3D character modeling software. It's not for sculpting from scratch - it's for generating human base meshes that you can then export to other software.

What's great about MakeHuman is the level of control you have over the base mesh. You can adjust proportions, facial features, body types, etc., using sliders. Then you can export the model to Blender or other software for further detailing.

For someone who wants to create characters but isn't ready to sculpt human anatomy from scratch, MakeHuman is perfect. You get a anatomically correct base mesh that you can customize, then add clothing and details in other software.

Daz Studio is another option for free 3D character modeling software, though it's more of a character posing and rendering tool than a modeling tool. It comes with a basic human figure and you can download additional free content.

Where Daz Studio shines is in character presentation. The rendering is good and you can create professional-looking character shots without being a modeling expert. For portfolio pieces or concept art, it can be very useful.

The limitation is that you're somewhat limited to the available content unless you learn to create your own. But for beginners who want to create character art without mastering character modeling from scratch, it's a good starting point.