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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Blender

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ABlender is a free and open source 3D creation suite available in under the GNU General Public License. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Blender Cloud is a related service accessible via subscription, and is a training and content platform providing access to expertise from the Blender Institute for advancing one's use of Blender.

    $11.50

    per month

    Simcenter STAR-CCM+

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/ASimcenter, from Siemens, is a suite of simulation tools and software. STAR-CCM+ is a multiphysics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to study how products operate under real-world conditions.N/A
    Pricing
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Editions & Modules
    Blender Cloud Membership
    $11.50
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Siemens AG
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    26 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    26 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    26 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Small Businesses
    Autodesk Maya
    Score8.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (25 ratings)
    9.5
    (14 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.5
    (8 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BlenderSimcenter STAR-CCM+
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    Blender is an excellent tool for everything from simple to complex 3D animations, the creation of 3D images, etc. It performs excellently in all of these areas. In the realm of 3D modelling, animation and rendering, there is very little that Blender is not suited for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    A case where you are interested in modeling various physics such as
    Aerodynamics,
    Hydrodynamics, Heat Transfer & Thermal Management, Multiphase Flow, Fluid-Structure
    Interaction (FSI), Combustion & Reacting Flows, Aeroacoustics, Electrochemistry, and Electromagnetics. STARCCM+ is recommended. But if your interest is complex Structural dynamics, durability, or Motion analysis, etc. better to go with other tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Open Source
    • Creating complex polygonal geometries is very easy in Blender.
    • Edit Mode and Sculpt Mode helps in creating non uniform surfaces for objects like rocks, surfaces, terrains etc.
    • Blender can use various external plugins to make it work in more smoother way. For example to import any 3d object one can use sketchfab plugin and easily import the free assets from web after logging in.
    • Blender has a better rendering engine known as Cycles, it is far more better than any other stock rendering engine which can generate realistic lightning, shadows and reflections.
    • The animations can easily be generated with blender animation toolbar and also it incorporate any other animations made in any other software.
    • The bone generation and its behavior of animations can be achieved easily in blender.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    • Meshing is very easy to do in STAR CCM+
    • Post-processing results is also very intuitive, making extracting results very enjoyable and easy to use.
    • The Advanced rendering options that are available in STAR CCM+ can really help make very well-generated videos that can make the simulation easy to visualize, share with non-technical engineers, and showcase the study done.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Open Source
    • It's really a hard question, but it could be: a game engine. Older versions used to have it; I would use it to simulate machines game-like.
    • I'm struggling to find another one; maybe the fact that it is so powerful and has so many features that learning it can be daunting; better documentation WITH examples and/or a map of Blender capabilities would help to know where you are in terms of knowledge and the planning the roadmap to where you want to go.
    • Precision modeling. Coming from CAD and using Blender as part of my design workflow, I'd love to be able to model inside Blender as I model with CAD tools. At this moment, it's simply impossible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    • Maybe a little bit on the automation side and if you want to script something, if you want to automate procedures, that happens through every simulation round that you have. That part could be a little bit cumbersome right now, depending on the operating system that you use.
    • Introducing the software on other platforms like Mac OSS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Open Source
    Because while it's a pretty good piece of software, the default built-in commands, the interface layout, and certain functions aren't as logical in their way of being arranged and executed. This, of course, doesn't diminish its use or effectiveness in your field of work, but it is quite awkward at first. A big advantage is that Blender lets you customize the interface however you want as well as keyboard shortcuts and several general program parameters.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    Great single window GUI
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Siemens AG
    STAR CCM+ technical support was very quick to respond when a ticket was raised for issues. For support in setting up a test case for the Lagrangian particle tracking technique, a support assist agent was assigned immediately, and after having a detailed discussion, my problem was understood by them, and a suitable test case was shared, which I was able to understand and use to build my case.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Siemens AG
    It is super easy when it comes to implementing it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    We've only used the consumer (non-pro) version of SketchUp, which we love, but is very limited in features and output capabilities compared to Blender. While Blender's learning curve is MUCH steeper than SketchUp, it feels like truly complete, professional design software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    Competitive tools, both Fluent and STARCCM+, but the user interface and ease of learning, along with everything in a single interface, and a wide variety of proven physics capabilities, along with good scalability and automation, made the choice easy for me. Also, the user guide and tutorials available to explore various kinds of Physics capability, and A single license for access to all physics, also made it easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • As it is a beginner-friendly software with increasing demand in the animation sector again, it positively impacts the business.
    • Except in some specific cases, no one will use Blender on their own at a professional level.
    • When I was a beginner, it took me a lot of time to learn, consequently designing the creation. But if we want to learn to master Blender, we can do it. As long as we have time and a lot of willpower, since, we repeat, it is not a simple program and hides thousands of tools and possibilities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Siemens AG
    • Time saved in creating a inhouse code, tens and tens of hours.
    • Time saved in experimental setup, tens of hours.
    • Does add some time in testing to confirm star is doing what you think it's doing, but an overall net gain in productivity.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Screenshots

    Screenshot of Multiphysics Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulationScreenshot of Car aerodynamics CFD simulationScreenshot of Integrated Design Exploration and OptimizationScreenshot of Fully integrated CFD based topology optimizationScreenshot of Multiphysics CFD - Electric Motor CoolingScreenshot of Multiphase Flows