In the next article we are going to take a look at Blockbench. This is a free, open source, 3D square model editor which can be found available for Gnu / Linux, Windows and MacOS. This program is a modern 3D model editor, for square models with textures of Pixel art. These can be exported to standardized formats, to be shared, rendered, 3D printed or used in game engines. In addition there are several dedicated formats for Minecraft Java and Bedrock Edition, with specific format characteristics.
Blockbench presents itself to the user with a modern and intuitive user interface, with plugin compatibility and innovative features. It is the industry standard for creating custom 3D models for Minecraft Marketplace.
Blockbench general features
- Blockbench makes all the tools available to the user so that the process of low-poly modeling keep it as simple as possible. We can use cuboids to obtain that Minecraft aesthetic, or create complex shapes with the mesh modeling tools.
- We can translate the program’s interface into different languages, among which is Spanish.
- We will have texturing tools. With them we can create, edit and paint textures directly within the program. Blockbench will allow us to paint directly on the model in 3D space, use the 2D texture editor or connect our favorite external image editor or Pixel Art software.
- This program will allow us to use its powerful animation editor. These animations can later be exported to Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, rendered in Blender or Maya, or shared on Sketchfab. You can see some animations created with Blockbench in the following link.
- We can also customize Blockbench with the add-ons available in the built-in store. Plugins add new tools, support for new export formats or model generators. We can also create our own plugin to extend Blockbench. You can see the plugins available for Blockbench in the following link.
- Is about a free and open source program. Blockbench is free to use for any type of project. The project is open source under the GPL license, and its source code is available on your GitHub repository.
- What minimum hardware requirements we will need; Windows 7 or newer, macOS 10.10 Yosemite or newer, Ubuntu 12.04, Debian 8, Fedora 21 or newer. 1 GB of storage space. 1 GB of RAM and a 1280 x 720 screen.
Install Blockbench on Ubuntu
Through Deb
It can download Blockbench in .deb file format from the download section on the project website. In addition to using the web browser to download the package, we can also use the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) to download the latest version published today:
wget -O Blockbench.deb https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/releases/download/v4.0.3/Blockbench_4.0.3.deb
When the download is finished, we only have install the program. To do this, in the same terminal it is only necessary to launch the command:
sudo apt install ./Blockbench.deb
After installation, there is only start the program looking for your launcher in our system.
Uninstall
This program, installed as a .deb package, can be remove from our system using in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) the command:
sudo apt remove blockbench
Via Flatpak
We will also have the possibility of install this program using its Flatpak package, which can be found at Flathub. If you use Ubuntu 20.04 and you do not have this technology enabled on your system, you can follow the guide that a colleague wrote in this blog.
When you can install this type of package on your computer, all that remains is to open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and run the install command:
flatpak install flathub net.blockbench.Blockbench
For start the program, it will be necessary to search for the launcher on our computer, or execute the command in the terminal:
flatpak run net.blockbench.Blockbench
Uninstall
This program can be uninstall from system In a simple way. It is only necessary to open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and execute in it:
flatpak uninstall net.blockbench.Blockbench
As AppImage
In addition to the two previous options, Blockbench can also be available on our computer using its AppImage package. This AppImage file can be download from website of the project, but in addition we will also have the possibility of downloading the latest version published today, opening a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and executing wget as follows:
wget https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/releases/download/v4.0.3/Blockbench_4.0.3.AppImage
When the download is finished, it will be necessary for us to move to the folder in which we have saved the file. Once in it, we will give execute permissions to the file with the command:
sudo chmod +x Blockbench_4.0.3.AppImage
After the previous command, it will already be possible start the program by double clicking on the file, or we will also have the possibility of executing it with the command:
./Blockbench_4.0.3.AppImage
In addition to all these installation possibilities in our equipment, this project also offers the possibility of use the program from the web browser.
For more information about this program and how it works, users can consult the project website, its Wiki, or your repository on GitHub.
