Links

A list of the software mentioned in this blog.

Blender - Free and open source 3D modelling software.  This has so many options and features it will make your eyes water, but gives the opportunity for truly professional looking results.  Not only does it just do 3D modelling, but you can so animations.  For an example of what it possible it's definitely worth checking out the free films they produce each year via the Blender Foundation.  I've not yet really got to grips with it, because the learning curve coming from more basic software like Sketchup is still unnervingly steep.

GIMP - Standing for the GNU Image Manipulation Program, this is a free and open-source equivalent to Adobe's Photoshop.  Coming from the same scene as Inkscape, this has a similar look and feel to it's vector equivalent.  There are all the features you'd expect to find in any commercial release and an active development scene, bringing adding new tools on a regular basis.  This is an essential piece of software when dealing with image manipulation - and when MS Paint just doesn't cut it (so that would be pretty much all the time).

Inkscape - Free vector graphics software distributed through the GNU General Public License.  This does anything you'd expect of a full, commercial vector suite.  Since switching to vector graphics I've not really gone back to bitmap, as most of my work uses schematic diagrams.  As experiments change, the associated figures can be rearranged and altered as required with a minimum of hassle.  It does have a nasty habit of suddenly crashing, so frequent saves are a must.  

Kerkythea - A free rendering system, which has export plugins for Blender, SketchUp and 3ds Max.  While it lacks some features found in commercial equivalents, such as GPU rendering, the software can give professional looking results without too much effort.  I found the interface to be easily navigable and there to be a minimal learning-curve.  There are also a fair few pre-designed materials available in the online library, which facilitates quick rendering.

MATLAB - A commercial product for, among other things, data manipulation.  This really excels when working with data stored in matrices (hence the name!), but it can be used for all manner of problems thanks to the fact it can be interfaced with Java and C++.  During my PhD I've had MATLAB do Monte Carlo simulations, particle tracking and data plotting.  Another nice feature is the ever-improving integration with GPU-computing thanks to Nvidia's CUDA system.  Something I find refreshing is the genuinely useful error information MATLAB provides when something with the code fails coupled with a healthy community where questions are often answered quickly.

OblyTile - A simple program that can allows users to create custom Windows 8 start menu tiles.  A nice feature is the ability to add program arguments, which allowed me to create a shutdown tile since Microsoft have hidden this feature below layers of buttons and swipes...ok, one swipe and two clicks, but hey, I'm lazy!

SketchUp - 3D modelling software originally created by Google, but recently sold to Trimble.  The free version remains under the new ownership, which is great because as a standalone package there are plenty of features to be getting on with.  Sketchup has been designed with architectural modelling in mind, but works well with any application where objects are angular thanks to cursor-snapping to nodes, midpoints and object centres.  While organic designs may require more advanced modelling solutions such as Blender, I've found Sketchup well-suited to engineering design in science.  Sketchup also features a pleasing non-photorealistic rendering engine, but photorealistic results can be achieved through the addition of plug-ins.

Sonic Visualiser - Free spectral analyser released under the GNU GPL.  I used this to recover the images I had encoded into sounds using my im2sound MATLAB script.