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A Mac app

Paint a volume.
In cubes, or in ASCII.

Sculpt.3md is a native Mac app for a 3D volume you save as .3md. One window, Settings, and a menu bar.

In development. There is no download on this page yet.

See the 3md format → Where it stands ↓
Sculpt.3md in development
Platform
Mac
A model
Up to 256 cells on each axis
Files
.3md and .3mdb
Needs
No account, wallet, or network
Download
Not yet

The idea

A volume you can paint.

The app edits one bounded model, then lets that model be reused. Each editable model stays within 256 cells on each axis.

Cubes or ASCII

one volume

Paint a 3D volume as translucent cubes, or look at the same volume as characters. A model stays within 256 cells on each axis.

Compositions

one character

A composition places a whole model with one character. Maps can nest, so one character can stand for another composition.

Sparse worlds

exact places

A sparse world places those models at exact coordinates and draws the neighborhood in front of the camera. The empty gaps are not stored.

Examples

A few volumes.

Rendered sculptures from the app. Each model stays within 256 cells on each axis. These pictures are the volumes, not a download.

Translucent voxel figure in a wide hat and coat, holding a book and a staff, standing on two blocks.
Wandering cartographer
Translucent voxel dragon with spread wings, pink wing membranes, and a yellow tip on the raised wing.
Clockwork dragon
Translucent voxel castle with four towers, purple roofs, and yellow flags on a gridded base.
Citadel of arches
Voxel solar system: a bright center, ringed planets, dotted orbits, and small star marks on a dark field.
Grand solar system
A gyroid shell of translucent voxels, banded pink, yellow, green, and blue.
Gyroid, 64 cells
A square courtyard of repeated arch models and trees, with an open center.
Courtyard

Files

Save it as .3md.

The public 3md format is the readable file. The app also keeps a compact save beside it.

Readable .3md
A text file you can open and read. The same family of file as the public 3md format.
Compact .3mdb
The app's smaller native save. Open detects either file from its contents.
On this Mac
Ordinary use needs no account, wallet, or network. Save and open use a file you choose.

Compact save

Readable text, and a smaller file.

The compact .3mdb is this app's LZFSE save. It is not the portable 3md binary. Bars show compact bytes as a share of the readable file. A full bar would mean no saving. The mixed volume stays near half. The others shrink to a hairline. Medians of five samples, optimized Swift, CPU time only. File I/O and rendering are excluded. Sparse ratios do not predict an arbitrary model. The full comparison, including the 2.0 portable file and the 2.1 kind 2 save, is on the 3md storage study.

Compact bytes against readable bytes for five volumes
Volume Share of readable Readable Compact Decode
Orb, 16 cubed
9.9%
5,126 505 0.013 ms
Grand solar system
0.36%
16,854,166 60,313 19.34 ms
Empty 256 cubed
0.06%
16,854,157 10,127 18.17 ms
Dense 256 cubed
0.06%
16,854,157 10,127 28.85 ms
Mixed 256 cubed
48.4%
16,854,157 8,163,571 170.94 ms

Status

In development.

The app runs on a Mac. There is no download yet. When a build is ready for other people, this page will say where to get it.

  1. now

    In development

    Sculpt.3md runs as a native Mac app. There is no download on this page yet.

  2. next

    Used on this Mac

    The editor, compositions, and sparse worlds are exercised here before a release is offered.

  3. later

    A download, when it is ready

    When there is a build for other people, this page will say where to get it. Not before.

A volume, in a file.

The format is public. The Mac app is not a download yet.

Read about 3md → Browse the catalogue →