Blender and Rhino both are advanced modelling, sculpting and animation software used for creating different styles of animation, models, visual effects etc. They are used by different industries for different purposes ranging from advertisement to commercial production of animation works and marketing. They are used in designing assets for games and movies. Both come with robust sculpting, animation, texturing and visual effects features. There is always been confusion in choosing software for the work which would be best suited for them. So let’s understand the key differences between these softwares.
Blender is also an animation software developed by Blender Foundation. It is free and open-source software and it was initially released in 1994. It is written in different programming languages like C, C++, Python etc. It comes with tons of features like modelling, sculpting, UV unwrapping, rigging etc.
Advantages of Blender
- One of the main advantages of a blender is that it is completely free for everybody.
- It allows importing files from other 3D animation software like Maya, 3ds Max etc.
- It has one of the largest communities to provide support at all times.
- It supports nearly all types of operating systems like Windows, Linux, MacOS etc.
- It allows third-party plugins for enhancing its capabilities.
Disadvantages of Blender
- It requires graphic drivers above OpenGL 3.0 to run the software.
- It is not of industry standard.
Rhino is an abbreviation for Rhinoceros 3D and it is a graphic software which is used for making 3D models and designs for different projects. Its stable version was released in 2020. It was built using C++, .Net and other programming languages. It is available for Windows and MacOS.
Advantages of Rhino
- It has great features for modelling including subdivision modelling.
- It has the ability to convert different 3D files to other formats.
- It can be easily paired with other software like Grasshopper to create complex and unusual geometries.
- Its rendering features are much faster as compared to other software.
Limitations of Rhino
- Sometimes it gets hung when views are changed from solid mode to render mode.
- It does not have many shortcuts and most of the tasks are done manually.
Following is a table of differences between Blender and Rhino:
|
Blender |
Rhino |
|
| 1. | It is an animation tool used for creating different types of animations, visual effects, motion graphics etc. | Rhino can be understood as a graphic software which is used in designing and modelling 3D assets for various purposes. |
| 2. | It was developed by Blender Foundation. | It was developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. |
| 3. | It is open-source software. | It is not open-source software. |
| 4. | Its files are saved with the .blend extension. | Its files are saved with the .3DM extension. |
| 5. | It is completely free for a lifetime. | It provides a trial of 90 days. |
| 6. | It allows 2d animation along with 3d animation. | It only supports 3d animation and modelling. |
| 7. | It has large community support. | Community support is low. |
| 8. | It is the best choice for individuals and small companies to produce animation works. | It is good for medium and large-scale companies which are dedicated to 3d animation. |