Here is a list of Best Free DAE Viewer Software for Windows. A DAE aka COLLADA (COLLAborative Design Activity) is a 3D computer graphics format to store a 3D model. To view these files, you are required to use a software which supports this format. So, I have compiled a list of free software which lets you import and view DAE files.
These COLLADA viewers provide all essential as well as advanced set of tools to view a DAE model. You can select the desired view mode to visualize the model such as orthographic, perspective, top, front, right, rear, left, etc. These also let you set rendering mode to wireframe, points, shaded, etc., configure lighting conditions, setup shader properties, etc. Basic tools to rotate, pan, move, and zoom 3D model are provided in all of these. Some of these provide various navigation modes including walkthrough, flythrough, etc.
Apart from viewing DAE or any other 3D model, you can modify a 3D model or even create a new one from scratch.
My Favorite Free DAE Viewer Software for Windows:
FreeCAD and view3dscene are my favorite software because these two provide a nice experience of viewing a 3D model. You get all essential as well as advanced tools with a simple GUI in these COLLADA viewers.
FreeCAD
FreeCAD is a free open source DAE file viewer for Windows. It lets you view a lot of other file formats including PLY, OBJ, STEP, STL, DWG, DXF, SVG, SVGZ, IGS, IFC, etc. You can view DAE file in normal, flat lines, shaded, wireframe, points, hidden line, or no shading mode. You can change the view of a DAE model to fullscreen, orthographic, axonometric, top, front, right, rear, left, or bottom. It provides a lot more tools to enhance viewing experience which are Texture Mapping, Measure Distance, Appearance, Stereo, Zoom, Clipping Plane, Scene Inspector, and Toggle Visibility. As it has a multi-tab interface, you can open and view multiple DAE files at a time in it. It lets you view different model elements and their properties (mesh, placement, etc.) from the left panel.
It is a nice and featured 3D modeling software. You can create a new model or modify existing ones. Also, it lets you convert DAE file to another supported format using its Export option. Overall, it is one of the best COLLADA file viewers on this list.
view3dscene
view3dscene is a free portable DAE file viewer for Windows. It is a dedicated 3D model viewer which lets you view COLLADA files as well as other 3D files including VRML, 3DS, IV, OBJ, STL, etc.
Let’s have a look at its keyfeatures:
- It provides three main modes to navigate through a DAE file including Examine, Fly, and Walk.
- You can change display mode to a single, double, or quadruple viewports.
- You can customize some more view options in order to change viewing preferences. These options include Fill Mode (Wireframe, Solid, Silhouette and Border Edges, etc.), Screen Effects, Phong Shading, Bump Mapping, Shadow Map, Shadow Volume, Textures, etc.
- It lets you enable/ disable view preferences like Bounding Box Visible, Lighting Calculation, Use Scene Lights, Blending, Occlusion Sort, Frustum Visualization, Octree Visualization, etc.
- Some additional Edit options like Remove Face, Remove Shape, Light Editor, Add Humanoids Joints Visualization, Load Material Properties, etc. are also present in it.
It also displays warning regarding current scene of a model. It provides an option to take a screenshot of current view of DAE model. But, this feature didn’t work fine while my testing.
All in all, it is a simple yet effective software to view COLLADA files as well as other 3D model files.
MeshLab
MeshLab is another free DAE file viewer for Windows. It provides all essential tools to let you view and analyze a DAE file properly. You can select a desired mode to view a DAE file such as fullscreen, orthographic camera, bounding box, points, wireframe, etc. It lets you customize model view by using options like Show Box Corners, Show Current Mesh, Show Quality Contour, Show Labels, Enable Shadow Mapping, Show UV Tex Param, Show Quality Histogram, etc. You can apply some filters to view the model including Cleaning and Repairing, Smoothing, Fairing and Deformation, Color Creation and Processing, Quality Measure and Computations, Normals, Curvatures and Orientation, etc.
This COLLADA viewer provides a ‘Not Editing‘ mode which you can enable to prevent any unintentional editing. Some more tools of this software are Align, Arc 3D Importer, Manipulators Tool, Measuring Tool, Quality Mapper, Reference Scene, etc.
MeshLab is basically a 3D mesh processor and editor. Other than DAE, it supports a lot of other input and output formats including 3DS, PLY, OBJ, STL, PTX, VMI, X3D, etc.
DeskArtes View Expert
DeskArtes View Expert is another one of COLLADA file viewer software for Windows. To properly view a COLLADA or DAE model, it provides features like Ortho View, Spin View, Quad View, Zoom, Pan, Light Position, etc. Additionally, you can use options like Show Object, Hide Object, Display Surface, Grid Settings, etc. It also provides a feature to measure points, distance, angle, radius, volume, wall thickness, center of gravity, etc. in a model.
From its left panel, you can view all parts of a 3D model contained in DAE file. Apart from viewing a model, it provides options to verify model using Fix Model > Verify Shells option. Besides DAE, you can also view STL, VRML, CGR, PLY, OBJ, SLDPRT, STEP, etc. files in it. You can use its Save As feature in order to convert a DAE or another model to a supported format.
Note: Some features of DeskArtes View Expert in this free version are disabled. You need to purchase a license to completely utilize this software.
Autodesk FBX Review
Autodesk FBX Review is yet another free DAE viewer software for Windows. You can view a DAE model in perspective, front, top, or left view mode. It lets you easily zoom (in/out) the model using your mouse wheel. It also provides wireframe, shading, texture, and lighting options to enhance your 3D model viewing experience. From Settings, you can find more options to customize DAE model view such as show 3D grid, display object mode (presentation/ models only), enable scene lights, enable wireframe overlay, tessellation mode (static/dynamic), etc.
Apart from DAE, it supports 3D model files including FBX, 3DS, OBJ, DXF, etc.
DAZ Studio
DAZ Studio is another one of COLLADA file viewer i.e. DAE viewer software for Windows. It is basically a feature-rich 3D suite to create, render, and animate 3D models. You can also open and view 3D files in it including DAE, OBJ, Poser Files, BVH, and FBX. It provides different view modes to view DAE file such as perspective, front, left, right, back, top, camera, sun, UV, etc. Other than that, it provides basic features to view a 3D model like rotate, pan, zoom (dolly zoom/focal zoom), etc.
It is a featured 3D modeling software. You can find a wide number of tools to create models or to edit existing ones. These tools include Joint Editor, Geometry Editor, Spot Render, Animate, Translate, Scale, Scene Navigator, etc. You can also export a DAE model in another supported format using it. To know more about it, visit its official homepage given below.
Open 3D Model Viewer
Open 3D Model Viewer is one more DAE file viewer for Windows. You can view 3D model contained in a DAE file in full 3D view mode or you can view it with two or four sides of the model at a time. You can use wireframe, shading, and textures options to view DAE file. You can further customize the view by enabling options axis-aligned bounding boxes for nodes, geometric normal vectors, skeleton joints in 3D view, frames per second, etc. By using its Tools > Export option, you can even convert DAE file to PLY, OBJ, STL, 3DS, etc. formats.
ClockStone FBX Viewer
ClockStone FBX Viewer, as the name suggests, is a free software to view FBX files. But, it also lets you view other 3D model files including DAE, 3DS, DXF, and OBJ. You can view a DAE model by rotating it, enabling wireframe mode, configuring shader properties, enabling full illumination, etc. It lets you navigate through a DAE model using Fly-through mode. You can setup shadow properties too such as shadow map size, colored and transparent shadow, shadow blur, etc. Some effects can be applied to the model to customize the view such as Bloom, Gauss Blur, Funky Cartoon, Show Depth, Directional Occlusion, etc.
Wings 3D
Wings 3D is another free DAE file viewer on this list. You can import a lot of other files in it, such as AI, 3DS, OBJ, STL, etc. You can view the 3D model in perspective or orthogonal mode, enable quick smoothed preview of model, enable wireframe rendering option, etc. It also lets you view objects with smooth or flat shading, enable scene lights, highlight aim, configure camera settings, etc. Additionally, it provides tools like Align, Bounding Box, Virtual Mirror, Scene Info, Unitize, Sculpt, Ambient Occlusion, etc. It also lets you export DAE file to another supported format.
All in all, it is a nice free software to view, build, and modify various 3D models.
Blender
Blender is a famous free open source 3D modeling software for Windows. This can be your another alternative to a DAE or COLLADA viewer software as it lets you import a DAE file using its inbuilt file explorer. You can use its ‘3D View Full’ mode to view a DAE model. To view a model, it lets you zoom in/out. Apart from that, it doesn’t provide any view related features.
You can modify or create a 3D model in Animation, Compositing, Scripting, Game Logic, Motion Tracking, UV Editing, etc. modes. Using the Render menu, you can render an image of the current view of the model. You can also render an animation, play rendered animation, etc. Apart from DAE, it supports 3DS, OBJ, PLY, STL, FBX, etc., to import or export.
Blender needs some prior knowledge to be utilized completely. Hence, if you want a software to just view DAE file, I would recommend you use some other software than this one.
Bforartists
Bforartists is another free open source 3D modeling software for Windows. Using it, you can also view existing 3D models in various files including DAE. Apart from DAE, it also lets you import other files such as 3DS, OBJ, PLY, STL, FBX, etc. To view a DAE file, you can select 3D View Full mode. Here, you can only zoom in/out using mouse wheel. You can also choose another mode like Animation, Compositing, Game Logic, Motion Tracking, UV Editing, etc. In these modes, you can also modify imported model.
You can render the current view of DAE model as an image or animation. Apart from that, you can export DAE model to some other supported format using Export feature.
It is exactly similar to Blender in terms of working and functions. This software is also quite complex to use. You need to have some prior knowledge on 3D modeling to use it.
NuGraf
NuGraf is yet another COLLADA file viewer on this list. It lets you view a lot of other 3D model files including PLY, SLDASM, FBX, IGES, DWG, DWF, 3DS, STP, etc. As you open a DAE file, it displays four different views of the model including top, front, right, and camera default view. It provides various tools to visualize a 3D model properly such as orthographic view, orbit camera, tilt camera, pan, zoom, rotate, etc. You can also configure lighting options, skeleton bones and joints display options, fog options, etc., to view DAE model in different conditions. Additionally, it provides animation options too.
This DAE viewer comes with an export function too. This function allows you to convert DAE or any other model to some other supported format.
Note: This software has a restriction that it doesn’t display every fifth polygon of a model. To remove this limitation, you need to purchase its upgraded version.