Linux FOSS Tools
We have installed a number of Free OpenSource (FOSS) tools on the linux labs, most of these are either alternative tools for you to use or experiment with (such as Blender) or Linux alternatives to Windows / Mac only tools (such as photoshop).
These tools are all places in the folder /public/devel/23-24/fossdcc however for ease there are a number of goScripts to make things easier to use.
To run a go script open a terminal and type (yes I know typing is so last century) go …..
| Tool | goScript | Type | Alternative too |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blender | goBlender | Full 3d modelling and rendering | Maya or Houdini |
| Armour Paint | goArmourPaint | 3D Painting Software | Substance Painter / Mari |
| pureRef | goPureRef | Image Reference / Moodboards | N/A |
| Allusion | goAllusion | Visual Library Manager Image Reference / Moodboards / Organisation | N/A |
| Material Maker | goMaterialMaker | A procedural materials authoring tool, based on the Godot Engine. | Substance Designer |
| Gaffer | goGaffer | Node based lookdev python 3 | Houdini / Katana |
| DJV | goDJV | Playback and review of frames | Quicktime / fcheck etc |
| mrViewer | goMrViewer | Playback and review of frames | Quicktime / fcheck etc |
| Inkscape | goInkscape | 2D Vector Graphics and Drawing | Adobe Illustrator |
| Natron | goNatron | Compositing and Tracking | Nuke |
| Krita | goKrita | Painting and Illustrating | Photoshop / Gimp |
| OpenToonz | goToonz | 2D animation software | Various |
| Pencil2D | goPencil2D | 2D animation software | Various |
| Storyboarder | goStoryboarder | Storyboarding Tools | Various |
| SynfigStudio | goSynfigStudio | 2D animation software | Various |
| Ultimaker Cura | goUltimakerCura | 3d printer software | Various |
| Prusa Slicer | PrusaSlicer.AppImage | 3d printer software | Various |
| MeshRoom | goMeshroom | 3D reconstruction software / photogrammetry | |
| MeshLab | goMeshLab | mesh processing and conversion |
Why do we need goScripts?
Most of you are used to just doing a double click to run software on you home machines, or if using apps anywhere clicking and running the software. Under Linux things are a little different hence the need for the goScripts.
For the most part these scripts are used to setup a temporary runtime environment which points to things like the license server, where plugins are installed and other things. Sometimes we unset things like PYTHONPATH or QT_PLUGIN_PATH so user defined ones don’t mess with the other applications.
This is a complex process and each script is different, all of these scripts are just simple bash scripts and you can open any of them in an editor and have a look (note these are readonly so you can’t break them or save them).
If you would like to create or modify these to add anything you can copy them to your local directory and do so.
All the scripts are in the folder /public/bin/2023 and this is added to your path by default when you login.
goScripts for 23-24
| script | Application |
|---|---|
| goBlender | runs blender |
| goArmourPaint | runs Armour Paint |
| code | opens visual studio code editor |
| goDJV | runs the DJV frame viewer |
| goGaffer | runs gaffer |
| goHoudini | runs houdini |
| goInkscape | runs inkscake |
| goKatana | runs katana |
| goKrita | runs krita |
| goMari | runs mari |
| goMaya | runs maya |
| goMeshroom | runs Meshroom |
| goMrViewer | runs mrViewer |
| goMudbox | runs mudbox |
| goNatron | runs natron |
| goNuke | runs nuke |
| goPencil2D | runs pencil2D |
| goPftrack | runs pftrack |
| goPureRef | runs pureref |
| qtcreator | opens the QtCreator IDE |
| goStoryboarder | storyboarder |
| goSynfigStudio | runs synfig studio |
| goToonz | runs Open Toonz |
| UltimakerCura.AppImage | runs Ultimater Cura |
| PrusaSlicer.AppImage | runs Prussa Slicer |