# Shade 3D

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**Shade 3D** is a [3D](/source/3D_computer_graphics) modeling, [rendering](/source/Rendering_(computer_graphics)), [animation](/source/Computer_animation), [3D printing](/source/3D_Printing) computer program developed by e frontier Japan and published by Mirye Software.[1] In October 2013, Shade 3D development team formed a new company called Shade3D Co., Ltd., and continue to develop and market the program.[2] After terminating the sales agreement with e frontier Japan and Mirye Software by the end of December 2014, Shade3D company is now developing and marketing Shade 3D products in Japan and worldwide exclusively.[3]

## History

Shade was first published in Japan in the mid 1980s, making it one of the oldest 3D applications on [macOS](/source/MacOS) and [Windows](/source/Windows). E Frontier, a Japanese software company acquired Shade from its previous owner ExpressionTools in the early 2000s. E Frontier later acquired [Curious Labs](/source/Curious_Labs), the developer of Poser and marketed Shade through a subsidiary E Frontier America. E Frontier America sold its directly owned assets to [Smith Micro](/source/Smith_Micro). In 2009, Mirye Software started [localization](/source/Internationalization_and_localization) and [publishing](/source/Publishing) of Shade in the English language worldwide until 2014 December. After then, Shade3D Co., Ltd is now handling both Japanese and English version development and worldwide marketing included Japan.[4] Shade 3D has an estimated 200,000 users worldwide.

## Special features

Shade 3D supports [polygon modeling](/source/Polygon_modeling), however all versions of Shade support curved surface modeling based on [Bézier](/source/B%C3%A9zier_curve) based lines - a unique modeling method similar to Bézier based vector editing tools such as [Adobe Illustrator](/source/Adobe_Illustrator) and not available in some other 3D modeling applications. Shade also supports [NURBS](/source/NURBS) based modeling. Modeling in Shade is done with Metric or Imperial measurements selected making Shade useful for architecture.

The Professional version of Shade creates large renders. Shade 14 Pro renders up to 22528 x 22528. This render size is larger than the 12000 x 8700 [IMAX](/source/IMAX) digital version theoretical display size. In print, a 1200 [dpi](/source/Dpi) [A3 document](/source/International_standard_paper_sizes#A_series) (11.7 x 16.5 in / 297 x 420 mm) is 14032 x 19842.

Shade 3D has specific features for [3D printing](/source/3D_printing) using the Shade 3D Print Assistant, a feature to interactively diagnose and fix common problems with3D models used with3D printers, such as working with [manifold](/source/Manifold) geometry.

The current Shade 14[5] supports a wide variety of popular formats including adobe formats ([AI](/source/Adobe_Illustrator#File_formats), [PSD](/source/Adobe_Photoshop#File_format), [SWF](/source/SWF)), movie formats ([AVI](/source/Audio_Video_Interleave), [MOV](/source/QuickTime_File_Format), [QuickTime VR](/source/QuickTime_VR) panorama, QuickTime VR cubic, QuickTime VR object),3D formats ([OBJ](/source/Wavefront_.obj_file), [LWO](/source/LightWave_3D), [3DS](/source/.3ds), [DXF](/source/DXF), [RIB](/source/Pixar_RenderMan)), video game [digital asset](/source/Digital_asset) formats ([BVH](/source/Biovision_Hierarchy), [DirectX](/source/DirectX), [COLLADA](/source/COLLADA), [COLLADA](/source/COLLADA) animation, Blue Mars, [Second Life](/source/Second_Life)), picture formats ([BMP](/source/BMP_file_format), [TARGA](/source/TARGA), [TIFF](/source/TIFF), [PNG](/source/PNG), [EPix](/source/Piranesi_(software)), [HDR](/source/High-dynamic-range_rendering), [openEXR](/source/OpenEXR)), and format options with toon rendering on export (AI, SWF) among others.[6] This wide format support of popular application formats makes working between programs easier than usual.

Because of its history with the [Poser](/source/Poser_(software)) product line, some versions of Shade also incorporate PoserFusion, a file hosting solution rather than a direct file import solution. This allows Shade to maintain Poser specific features within the Shade rendering environment; it is possible to later edit the original Poser file and then see the changes reflected in the hosting Shade scene.

## Workflow

As mentioned, the file import and export support does allow for an extremely varied workflow. By original design, canned Character modeling was done in Poser, those pose files were imported into Shade which could create the scene for the imported character. Shade could then rig, animate, render and export as a movie for video editing/compositing. As the comic book software [Manga Studio](/source/Manga_Studio) EX has been importing the Shade format directly for some time, it seems likely that [Manga Studio](/source/Manga_Studio) EX was used for print advertisement.

## Versions

DATE RELEASE 08/30/2004 Shade 7 E developed and published by e frontier America 09/19/2005 Shade 8 E developed and published by e frontier America 01/05/2009 Shade 9 E developed by e frontier America and published by Mirye 02/09/2010 Shade 10 E developed by e frontier Japan and published by Mirye 03/07/2011 Shade 12 E developed by e frontier Japan and published by Mirye 11/20/2012 Shade 13 E developed by e frontier Japan and published by Mirye 11/20/2012 Shade 3D for Unity developed and published by e frontier Japan 08/30/2013 Shade 3D ver 14 E developed by e frontier Japan and published by Mirye 12/15/2014 Shade 3D ver 14.1.3 E developed and published by Shade3D 01/28/2015 Shade 3D ver 15 E Upgrade version developed and published by Shade3D 03/20/2015 Shade 3D ver 15 E developed and published by Shade3D

Shade 9 was released on January 5, 2009. Shade 9 introduced Particle Physics, [Collision Detection](/source/Collision_Detection), new Polygon Modeling Tools, Hair Salon, Parallax Bump Mapping, improvements to PoserFusion, previewing and [HDRI](/source/High-dynamic-range_imaging) import and export.

Shade 10 was released on February 14, 2010. Shade 10 included significant integration features with online game and [MMO](/source/MMO) content, including native export of [Avatar Reality](/source/Avatar_Reality) [Blue Mars](/source/Blue_Mars_(video_game)), [COLLADA](/source/COLLADA) and [Second Life](/source/Second_Life).

Shade 12 was released in March 2011. Shade 12 includes a redesigned interface based on user feedback, upgrades to Boolean operations, volumetric materials and lights, strengthened modeling (addition of photo modeling, sketch modeling, mirror modeling tools, and cage modeling), animated [normal mapping](/source/Normal_mapping), [displacement mapping](/source/Displacement_mapping), [subsurface scattering](/source/Subsurface_scattering), preview rendering, [stereoscopic](/source/Stereoscopic), unlimited maps per mesh, and unlimited rendering nodes in standard and pro versions.

A free version Shade 3D for [Unity 3D](/source/Unity_(game_engine)) lets 3D game developers create, edit and animate 3D game models then use a script to open models directly from within a Unity 3D project and then automatically return the model to the project environment.

Shade 13 was released November 12, 2012. Shade 13 added improved viewports (Scale Guide, Parallel Project, Wireframe by Color), modeling (Bevel Edge, Bevel Vertex, Replicators) and user interface customization.

Shade 14 was released August 30, 2013. Shade 14 added 3D printing tools, Line Thickness, Line Offset, LSCM UV Mapping, Quality adjustment tools (Texture, Lighting, STL Import / Export and others.[7]

Recently, Shade 15.1 was added at [DAZ3D](/source/Daz_3D)'s store in its basic, standard and professional versions.

## References

1. ["フォーラムエイト、ミラノサローネ併催SUPERDESIGN SHOWに初出展"](https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/093/4093825/) (in Japanese). *ASCII.jp*

1. ["フォーラムエイト、ミラノサローネ併催SUPERDESIGN SHOWに初出展"](https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000093.000020176.html). *プレスリリース・ニュースリリース配信シェアNo.1｜PR TIMES*. 6 June 2022. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221021082049/https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000093.000020176.html) 2022-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-19.

1. ["Biomaterial printing with cellulose-based materials"](https://3dprint.com/278559/biomaterial-printing-with-cellulose-based-materials/). *3DPrint.com*. 5 February 2021.

1. Sloat, Sarah. ["Newly Unearthed Footprints Suggest Ancient Males Had Multiple Sex Partners"](https://www.inverse.com/article/25249-ancient-human-footprints-discovered-social-sexual-groups). *Inverse*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250123031857/https://www.inverse.com/article/25249-ancient-human-footprints-discovered-social-sexual-groups) 2025-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-19.

1. ["Shade 3D"](http://www.mirye.net/shade-3d). *www.mirye.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140630144129/http://www.mirye.net/shade-3d) 2014-06-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-05-04.

1. ["Compare Features by Version"](http://mirye.net/compare-shade-3d-features-by-version). *mirye.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140809064008/http://mirye.net/compare-shade-3d-features-by-version) 2014-08-09 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-07-19.

1. ["NOVUM project to improve sustainability with cellulose bioprinting"](https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/novum-project-to-improve-sustainability-with-cellulose-bioprinting-185383/). *3D Printing Industry*. 1 March 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250517192336/https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/novum-project-to-improve-sustainability-with-cellulose-bioprinting-185383/) 17 May 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 August 2025.

**Notes**

- [End of the collaboration with our U.S publisher](http://shade3d.jp/en/news/18.html) - Shade3D
- [Shade3D Co buys rights to Shade 3D from e frontier](http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/shade3d-co-buys-rights-to-shade-3d-from-e-frontier/) - cgchannel.com
- [A Look at the Macintosh 3D Market](https://web.archive.org/web/20100523091842/http://www.idevgames.com/objective-cc/looking-at-the-macintosh-3d-market) - iDevGames
- [e Frontier America Products acquired by Smith Micro](https://archive.today/20071116055008/http://www.poserpro.net/blog/poser_pro/2007/11/e-frontier-america-products-ac.html) - PoserPros
- [Shade R5/E: expression tools' modeling package goes west](http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25341933_ITM)

## External links

- [Official website](https://shade3d.jp/en/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shade 3D](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade_3D) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade_3D?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.