do you need it for further 3D-printing?

No. It is just to show my design works with and without soft tissue by putting the head into motion using the related software.

Have you tried MeshLab? It's a free software for 3D visualisation and supports many different formats.

I would recommend using Blender as a “first-try” software. It`s for free, supports many formats, supports animation and there are lots of tutorials out there (and a big and active community). Also there are thousands of already completed 3D Models out there for Blender (probably also a lot of human 3D-Models). Another really good software for 3D-Modelling from the scratch would be Z-Brush in my opinion.

I would at least check out the models from biodigitalhuman, not sure you can customize...but like the web based versions.

Dear Mary, you might want to take a look at www.humanbodymodels.com, a service set up through my spin-out company Simpleware (www.simpleware.com). Alternatively, you can contact [email protected] or [email protected] to see if it's possible to do something which matches your needs.

Hi Philippe,

Actually I have contacted them before writing this post and I am waiting for them to suggest me a trial. I am familiar with simpleware because we used it during our course. I am truly stuck since I don't know what to use to make the model inside my head! So fingers crossed....

Most any professional 3D animation software package will be able to open the Zygote models as a set of well-labeled objects (in sensible hierarchies in most software) that you can turn on or off, manipulate or replace, retexture, animate, etc.  I've not looked in years, but if I recall, most of the Zygote models are already rigged for animation, meaning they have hierarchies of the objects set up for inverse kinematic and other even more sophisticated animation technologies.

Having taught 3D to many different audiences for many years, I highly recommend beginning with Cinema 4D (C4D) from Maxon.net.  It is not a free package, but it does have a free 6 week trial.  It is famous for its relatively intuitive user interface, while Blender is famous for having the most confusing and intimidating interface. C4D is a nice gentle introduction to 3D modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, and rendering that makes these tasks enjoyable... "it gets out of your way" to quote a friend's opinion after he switched from a different/more famous package.  Blender is free and open source and I have seen some excellent work done with it- namely a question of how much time you have to get through Blender's massive learning curve (expect 2-3 years).  In the middle you could consider Autodesk Maya which is free for academics for 3 years.  It is still a major Hollywood workhorse- very powerful, but also takes considerable time to learn how to use.  With C4D, you can be up and running in a matter of 3-4 days worth of the introductory tutorials.  In 2015, pretty much all of these packages have the same core capabilities and the same "power", so pick one that best suits your time/budget needs.  

Good luck.

I will confirm that Blender  (blender.org) is a good free 3D package could help you. Moreover Makehuman (www.makehuman.org/) can directly import mesh for blender. Makehuman will allow you to create easily a human body exactly parametrize as you wish. You can adjust neck and head parameters just by clicking on some rulers.

You could use some program such MeshMixer, CloudCompare and MeshLab, but they are not that easy to manipulate.

Blender and MakeHuman will allow you to create a clean and easy to handle 3D model. Blender can also import and export in a lot of different format. No if you want good deeper in simulation, you will need something like OpenSim (https://simtk.org/home/opensim). But it is far more advance.

Hope it will help

Best regards

Dear Mary, just following up if you're still interested in using the software - please see http://simpleware.com/software/trial/ to request a trial, or feel free to contact Simpleware at [email protected] or on +44(0)1392 428750. Best, Philippe.

Check VOXEL_MAN, may be helpful for you. but I am not sure about that sort of motion you like, but at least you have a full volumetric model of body

Blender would be good option for that.

I think Cinema 4D and 3D-Doctor may be helpful for you.

You can remove some parts of the 3D model. Also, you can move 3D model according to  coordinates XYZ on timeline.

Best regards.