fastest 3D software for linux

Linux 3D
interactive ray-tracing Downloads

Before downloading EQUINOX-3D, please see the licensing page and please, like the EQUINOX-3D Facebook page.

Many years and an insane amount of work went into developing EQUINOX-3D, so if you find it useful, please send $50 USD (or whatever you find appropriate) via PayPal, to: g4@equinox3d.com
Thank you!

Manual Documentation
Manual with clickable table of contents, and quick-reference guide. Both in PDF format:
Application Application

These downloads contain the main application, plugins, several command-line tools for manipulating image files, and lots of plugin sample code.
EQUINOX-3D is "installation-free". Simply extract the downloaded file, and you're ready to run the application. It's clean and self-contained. No files all over your system, no need to be root to install, no dependencies on mysterious libraries.


EQUINOX-3D Linux Linux (x86 64-bit)
Download: EQUINOX-3D v1.3.94, Linux

Just extract the file: right-click->Extract (in KDE), or in a shell, type:

 tar xzvf equinox3d-1.2.*.tgz
The main executable will be "eqx" in the newly created directory. You can run that from a shell, or create an icon for it in KDE/Gnome, using the image "eqx.png".
Important note
Please, install the proper graphics driver for your system, the one provided by the manufacturer of your graphics hardware (NVidia or AMD).
The default driver on most Linux systems (Mesa) does not support proper 3D graphics, so you'll be missing out on the advanced features of EQUINOX-3D, or graphics might not work correctly.


EQUINOX-3D Mac OS X Mac OS X (x86 64-bit)
Download: EQUINOX-3D v1.3.94, Mac OS
Just extract the file with right click -> Extract.
You'll need a 3-button / 2 button + wheel mouse for your Mac to use EQUINOX-3D (or any serious 3D design software :) ).

When you run EQUINOX-3D for the first time:
- Download and install XQuartz, and start it.
- In the XQuartz preferences, under the "Windows" tab, enable "Focus follows mouse".
- Hold down the "control" key.
- Click on the EQUINOX-3D icon.
- Select "Open" from the menu.

For the best experience, in System preferences:
- Turn on "Automatically hide and show the menubar" ("General" icon).
- Turn on "Automatically hide and show the dock" ("Dock" icon).
This allows EQUINOX-3D to use the full screen, which is especially important on laptops with small screens.
You'll need to log out and log back in, so apps get the correct new screen size (this is a Mac OS bug).


EQUINOX-3D IRIX  SGI IRIX
Download: EQUINOX-3D v1.1.75, SGI IRIX 6.5 MIPS4 (CPU>=R10000)

Type the following (replace "package_name" with the name of the of the file you downloaded):

 gunzip package_name
This will create a new file with a ".tar" extension, which now you can unpack with:
 tar xvf name_of_this_new_file
The main executable will be "eqx", in the newly created directory.



Application Examples

Download: Example 3D files and textures
You can install the examples anywhere by typing:

 tar xzvf equinox-3d.examples.tgz
Way better example scenes coming soon!

Grass example

System requirements:

  • At least a 2 GHz i5, i7 or equivalent. The more cores the better. (you didn't expect the interactive ray-tracer to be usable on an ancient Pentium, right? :)).

  • Minimum screen resolution: 1280x1024 (1600x1200 or higher recommended).

  • A 3-button mouse

To be able to compile the plugins, you also need the header files for OpenGL and X11.

See the Help page for the documentation of the plugin API (it's a work in progress). You can also use the provided plugin source code as template.
The source code with the Makefile for the plugins will be in the "src/Plugins" directory.
To add a new plugin, just edit the file: "Plugins/Plugins.list". It's a simple text file and really easy to understand.


© 1996-2023 By Gabor Nagy