If you want to view a 3D model, you have various choices. For example, you can install one of the many bulky 3D modeler apps, or you can go online and access one of the many 3D viewers, or you can find a good desktop app. Out of the three, the last one is most probably the most convenient option.

Exhibit is one such application, a 3D model viewer specifically designed for the GNOME desktop. Best of all, it's totally free and open-source.

Since the app is based on the F3D library, the app provides support for a wide range of 3D digital formats such as gITF, USD, STL, STEP, PLY, OBJ, FBX, and Alembic.

For what seems to be a very simple app, Exhibit provides a surprising amount of customization options, which proves that it's a very well-thought-out app.

In fact, this is my favorite aspect of the app. I like that I'm always a few clicks away from being able to fully control how the app displays 3D content. From the Render section, the app provides control over aspects such as translucency, tone mapping, ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing, and light intensity.

The Scene section is just as nice since it provides access to a grid, as well as to how the background is displayed. My favorite feature is Blur Background. However, there are other nice touches such as the option to blur only parts of the background or use HDRI for the background, as well as custom colors.

As mentioned before, Exhibit strikes me as the kind of app that someone really thought about before building. It's clearly not an app that just "rolled out" in an unusable state.

It's going to be interesting to see how the app evolves in the future since I only tested the first release. Nonetheless, things are looking good.

Last but not least, it's also important to note that the app only runs on X11/XWayland (for now).