Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master • Hacker News Board

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#41

Post by WillAdams » Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 8:35 PM UTC

dofm wrote: post #32

WillAdams wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A UI which seems a bit more in-line w/ contemporary expectations is Dune 3D: https://dune3d.org/ which I find a little less confusing than the traditional 3D CAD packages I've tried (and failed to learn) --- at least for Dune 3D I've made it through the tutorial successfully.

Dune 3D is OK — and is after all dependent on Solvespace.

As noted on the footnote for the project on Github:

>I ended up directly using solvespace's solver instead of the suggested wrapper code since it didn't expose all of the features I needed. I also had to patch the solver to make it sufficiently fast for the kinds of equations I was generating by symbolically solving equations where applicable. ↩

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#42

Post by luccabiagi » Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #33

darksim905 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad apples?

Many major companies switched local forever-licensing to monthly SaaS payments. Others which looked promising (SketchUp) were effectively sold/abandoned.

I'm trying to keep having faith in Chilli 3d because of that

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#43

Post by dofm » Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 9:29 PM UTC

Silamoth wrote: post #38

dofm wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess this is, sort of, the filter through which I experience the frustrations; it may be magnifying them even. I've not used a three button mouse in thirty years. Probably only used a mouse for a dozen hours in the last 15 years.

Not the person you were responding to, but genuine question: How are you interacting with computers without practically ever using a mouse? And how do you expect to use CAD software without a mouse?

Trackpad?

I have used Macbooks with good trackpads since 2003. The models from the 2008 unibody Macbook and onwards are so very obviously superior to mice, that I simply have never wanted to use a mouse since.

My preference for mice was two-button Microsoft Mouse models (I had the magnificent early "dove bar" Microsoft mouse, which I regretfully had to replace with a 2.0 at some point). On the Mac, you only had one-button mice anyway.

For Linux I did try a nicely made Logitech three-button mouse, but ended up giving it away because some quirk of my neurology or physiology simply will not let me consistently independently address the middle button while holding or moving the mouse. I will almost always end up pressing one or other finger either side as well (sometimes enough to click it).

Scroll wheel mice are slightly better because the middle button is physically different (and often slightly raised). I do have one stored away in case I need it.

On a trackpad I do have individual fingertip tap control, for some reason.

I also use a wacom pen for photo editing, but those are not really much use for CAD. (Honestly, I don't get how people think Shapr3D is usable on the iPad with the Pencil; it is not)

For CAD: FreeCAD's "Gesture" control mode is superb! The "touchpad" control mode not bad. I've toyed with the idea of getting a Spacemouse for my left hand (or making one of the DIY ones) but I have never really felt enough need, because the Gesture mode is so fluid and instinctive.

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#44

Post by kennywinker » Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

stiray wrote: post #16

Was preparing a rant about CAD solutions being free as long as people didnt get hooked and then closed behind paywall with ever increasing price. Then I see that I can self host it. This is interesting novelty. But there were so many bad apples in CAD area, that I will stick with FreeCAD and after 20 years, if this will evolve and prove it is just not another scam, happily give it a try.

I think this is a free alternative to tinkercad, not to freecad. Tinkercad is a lot of people’s first cad program, so now instead of putting them on a path towards autodesk products, this could put them on a path towards freecad

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#45

Post by kennywinker » Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC

joachimhs wrote: post #2

I run a small makerspace for kids and teens in Norway, and we kept hitting the same wall: the 3D tools we tried were either too fiddly for a 9-year-old or locked behind installs and accounts. So I built Akse — a browser-based 3D modeller for beginners, where the path from idea to a printable STL is as short as I could make it. It's deliberately limited, but with a rather powerfull 2D Blueprint mode where you draw an…

> That's most of it — no parametric constraints, no assemblies, no fillets. For teaching beginners that's intentional, not a gap.

Fillets seems like an omission. For 3d printing, fillets are pretty important for getting good results.

Every other limitation makes sense to me, tho it’d be cool to see parametric constraints eventually, if you could find a way to add them without confusing beginners.

Thanks for making this! I will be recommending it over tinkercad going forward!

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#46

Post by lucasoshiro » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 9:54 PM UTC

prmoustache wrote: post #25

lucasoshiro wrote: post #4

Really nice! Do you have plans to release it for desktop (maybe using Electron)? One of my main complains about tools like Tinkercad is that they are browser-based, and it's easier/faster to have everything local. That's one of the reasons that I moved to OpenSCAD

Browser based is not opposite to being local. Given it is open source I guess you can self-host locally on your computer.

> Browser based is not opposite to being local

Technically no, but in that sense everything cloud-based is local in some machine.

I wouldn't consider it "local" if I need to run a web server (!), "upload" if I want to open file or "download" to save it locally. This is client-server approach where both my machine acts as both client and server.

Re: Akse3D – open-source 3D modelling anyone can master

#47

Post by phkahler » Mon, Jun 22, 2026, 5:36 PM UTC

dofm wrote: post #43

Silamoth wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the person you were responding to, but genuine question: How are you interacting with computers without practically ever using a mouse? And how do you expect to use CAD software without a mouse?

Trackpad? I have used Macbooks with good trackpads since 2003. The models from the 2008 unibody Macbook and onwards are so very obviously superior to mice, that I simply have never wanted to use a mouse since. My preference for mice was two-button Microsoft Mouse models (I had the magnificent early "dove bar" Microsoft mouse, which I regretfully had to replace with a 2.0 at some point). On the Mac, you only had one-b…

>> Scroll wheel mice are slightly better because the middle button is physically different (and often slightly raised). I do have one stored away in case I need it.

Solvespace does great with a scroll-wheel mouse. Scroll = zoom.