Raw Materials

I believe no matter how much AI will move into the space of sculpture/digital sculpture. I will always advocate using real clay at the start of your project and making by hand. It creates more creative depth, and real life is real 3D not screen 3D if you see what I mean. There are different types of clay out there. Form example, oven drying clay and clay you can dry in a kiln.

I often use air drying clay.  For this I usually use Scola air drying clay.

This will dry overnight to a good hard  form that can then be digitally scanned. I sometimes just let it dry and then paint the original. This can  also gives good long lasting results. You can also make the clay soft again just by adding water onto it which an be useful.

Prior to this, I often make sketches and rough ideas using paper and pen to  help with the sculpture. Again, I advocate traditional methods especially at the start for more deeper art on a human level.

Hardware Essentials

Drawing Tablets

What I use

I find this tablet great due to its size, it is small enough to take around with me when I work away. I find it just as intuitive and accurate digitally sculpting with this compared to more pricey tablets.

What a Google or LLM search recommends 

The XP-Pen Deco Mini 7 ($59) offers excellent pressure sensitivity and programmable hotkeys, making it perfect for beginners. If you prefer a screen tablet, the Huion Kamvas 13 ($299) provides a near-parallax-free drawing experience that rivals more expensive options.

Photogrammetry Cameras

What I use I just use my normal phone in this case is a Samsung Galaxy A56 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A565G has a triple rear camera system, featuring a 50 MP main sensor, a 12 MP ultrawide, and a 5 MP macro camera, plus a 12 MP front selfie camera.

This previous post shows you how to use affordable photogrammetry processes

I used Substance Sampler by Adobe for my photogrammetry, they had a great feature. However in the new version they took this out. So I had to find an alternative and  3D Zephyr is a good user friendly way to get photogrammetry made quickly and fairly easily without bugs and crashes. Meshroom can work too but I find it needs tweaking a lot as sometimes the process will take a long time or just freeze. Meshroom is free however, so worth looking into.

What a Google or LLM search recommends 

Creating assets from real objects? The Canon EOS R50 ($449) is exceptional for photogrammetry, capturing detailed textures and geometry. For those on a tighter budget, a used Google Pixel 5 ($150) can produce surprisingly good results with the right photogrammetry apps.

Budget 3D Printers and Fabrication

What I use and price

I just use the Ender 3 Neo really cheap.

Don’t let the cheap price tag put you off..  I have used Ultimakier 3s a lot in Fablabs. The Ender 3 compares fairly well. Print setup and building the printer is a bit “maker” orientated.  However, it is great if you don’t want to spend too much but get detailed 3D prints you can sand and add wood filler after the print to get rid of slight horizontal lines and print mistakes.

https://www.creality.com/products/ender-3-3d-printer

UltiMaker 3D printers

Don’t forget CNC and laser cutters, these are other ways to fabricate 2D and 3D objects. Stay tuned for future blog posts about this.

What a Google or LLM search recommends 

Bringing your digital creations into the physical world is more accessible than ever. The Ender 3 V3 SE ($249) offers reliable printing with auto-bed leveling, while the Anycubic Photon Mono 2 ($229) provides stunning resin print quality for detailed sculptures.

Casting

Software Solutions

• Blender (Free): The undisputed champion of free 3D software. Its sculpting tools have improved dramatically, rivaling paid alternatives.

Paid Software

• ZBrushCoreMini (Free, with full ZBrush at $179): While the full version exceeds our budget, ZBrushCoreMini offers core sculpting features.

• Nomad Sculpt ($15): The most powerful mobile sculpting app, surprisingly capable for its price.

What I use and price

Blender sculpt mode is my preferred option.  I used Zbrush years back. However Blender gives me enough tools to sculpt what I want as well as making other edits in modes like edit mode and modifier parametric tweaking.

AI Tools Revolutionizing Sculpting

Nano Banana ($29/month) free too

This AI-powered tool generates base meshes from text prompts, dramatically speeding up your initial workflow. Perfect for creating complex organic forms that would take hours to model manually.

Hitem3D ($19/month) free too

Specializing in texture generation, Hitem3D creates photorealistic materials from simple descriptions. Its strength lies in creating unique surface details that make your sculptures stand out.

Meshy

Meshy gives good results, with a free option.

The Future?

Realtime scanning? I envisage a time where I can pick up a piece of clay, sculpt it and see the model immediately in Blender that I can then edit there.

Building Your Toolkit

The beauty of this selection is its modularity. Start with the free options like Blender and the Ender 3 then expand as your needs grow. 

What tools would you add to this list? Share your favorite budget-friendly digital sculpture tools in the comments below!