Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

3D Modelling in a Browser

vectary.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 78 posts

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#21

Post by holoduke »

AlunAlun wrote: post #16

See also: Clara.io [0], Onshape [1], Lagoa (bought a few years ago by Autodesk) [2] I must confess I struggle to see the long-term market for these services - I was working on a startup in the field for a while, and eventually decided it wasn't worth continuing. The only thing these services really offer above desktop equivalents (which Autodesk totally dominate) is the collaboration (like Google Docs for 3D). But do…

Yes i agree. There are some exceptions. You have Fusion360 (also autodesk) which is a slim version of Inventor. It is web based and used by lots of professional people. It also works quite similar to Inventor. So switching isnt that hard. But to go from 3dmax or maya to an entirely different ecosystem. I don't see that happen anytime soon.

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#22

Post by redindian75 »

AlunAlun wrote: post #16

See also: Clara.io [0], Onshape [1], Lagoa (bought a few years ago by Autodesk) [2] I must confess I struggle to see the long-term market for these services - I was working on a startup in the field for a while, and eventually decided it wasn't worth continuing. The only thing these services really offer above desktop equivalents (which Autodesk totally dominate) is the collaboration (like Google Docs for 3D). But do…

For lightweight & quick conceptual work, even final deliveries most of the time, nothing beats a browser based available-everywhere tool. No files to sync, same tool to both view & edit the files.

I used Industry heavyweight Photoshop for 15+ years, Sketch for 4 and dropped everything for Figma[1] after playing with it for 2 days. Now my UX comps, UI sketches all available EVERYWHERE. All inspirations, rough concepts all stacked away in any browser I have access to. I move to different machines a lot (Macs/Windows). Used to carry around a USB stick (synced to Dropbox from my home computer).

Now it is nirvana - No syncing, No dropboxing or figuring out where my prototypes, v1, 'final-final-v1-1-edit-final' files, & source files are. Not only the files are available, but the viewer to view those files are right there.

[1] www.Figma.com - Browser based UX Mockup/Prototype tool.

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#23

Post by eerikkivistik »

AlunAlun wrote: post #16

See also: Clara.io [0], Onshape [1], Lagoa (bought a few years ago by Autodesk) [2] I must confess I struggle to see the long-term market for these services - I was working on a startup in the field for a while, and eventually decided it wasn't worth continuing. The only thing these services really offer above desktop equivalents (which Autodesk totally dominate) is the collaboration (like Google Docs for 3D). But do…

I'll plug our product here as well https://3dc.io

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#24

Post by mmcwilliams »

bcohen5055 wrote: post #19
mmcwilliams wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better distinction here is mesh vs. solid geometry. This is a tool for creating mesh-based models and has a focus on rendering. STL is a mesh format that you can print with consumer 3D printers and it looks like Vectary supports that as an export format, but it's not a product built for engineering or mechanical design. That said it looks really cool and I would definitely print something made with it. Tryi…

The distinction you are looking for is parametric vs. geometric. Parametric models such as Solidworks or Creo use complex equations to derive the 3D geometry. Geometric models use a point cloud built from polygons to develop surfaces. These point clouds are defined by the user and are not as "stable" when used in product development setting where you are trying to create multiple iterations/sizes of an object

Thank you for clarifying. I wasn't sure if the Vectary editor was or wasn't parametric, but it seems clear that it isn't for building CSG models.

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#26

Post by andybak »

Does per monthly pricing turn off a lot of people?

My usage patterns are pretty uneven and - although I know I can unsubscribe/resubscribe - I end up feeling like I'm probably wasting my money when I'm not using it (despite the low price)

It's irrational but there you go.

Does anybody consider a per-usage pricing model? Is there some reason why that is a terrible idea?

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#27

Post by andybak »

AlunAlun wrote: post #16

See also: Clara.io [0], Onshape [1], Lagoa (bought a few years ago by Autodesk) [2] I must confess I struggle to see the long-term market for these services - I was working on a startup in the field for a while, and eventually decided it wasn't worth continuing. The only thing these services really offer above desktop equivalents (which Autodesk totally dominate) is the collaboration (like Google Docs for 3D). But do…

How about casual use?

I know 3DS Max very well (at least I used to... Hopefully the synapses are still firing) but it's a zillion dollars for a licence and I probably need to use it maybe once a month.

I work mainly in Unity and 3D modelling is not my main focus. I would use a 3D package for some light editing and as a glorified file converter.

Nobody makes software to do this at a reasonable price so I usually head to clara.io

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#28

Post by nraynaud »

bcohen5055 wrote: post #19
mmcwilliams wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better distinction here is mesh vs. solid geometry. This is a tool for creating mesh-based models and has a focus on rendering. STL is a mesh format that you can print with consumer 3D printers and it looks like Vectary supports that as an export format, but it's not a product built for engineering or mechanical design. That said it looks really cool and I would definitely print something made with it. Tryi…

The distinction you are looking for is parametric vs. geometric. Parametric models such as Solidworks or Creo use complex equations to derive the 3D geometry. Geometric models use a point cloud built from polygons to develop surfaces. These point clouds are defined by the user and are not as "stable" when used in product development setting where you are trying to create multiple iterations/sizes of an object

it's more like Brep is the distinction, is the internal representation a list of operations on a Brep model?

But it's true that model history is preferred for mechanics, but I have seen some proto model history in 3DS max with the modifier stack.

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#29

Post by [deleted] »

andybak wrote: post #26

Does per monthly pricing turn off a lot of people? My usage patterns are pretty uneven and - although I know I can unsubscribe/resubscribe - I end up feeling like I'm probably wasting my money when I'm not using it (despite the low price) It's irrational but there you go. Does anybody consider a per-usage pricing model? Is there some reason why that is a terrible idea?

[deleted]

Re: 3D Modelling in a Browser

#30

Post by StavrosK »

AlunAlun wrote: post #16

See also: Clara.io [0], Onshape [1], Lagoa (bought a few years ago by Autodesk) [2] I must confess I struggle to see the long-term market for these services - I was working on a startup in the field for a while, and eventually decided it wasn't worth continuing. The only thing these services really offer above desktop equivalents (which Autodesk totally dominate) is the collaboration (like Google Docs for 3D). But do…

I'm 3D modeling on OnShape right now, and it's just because I can't be bothered booting into Windows to get Fusion. That's pretty much why I stopped using the latter, and only use OnShape. It's convenient.
Post reply on HN