Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
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Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
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Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#2Another alternative I saw at the Maker Faire last weekend.
http://www.sketchup.com/
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#3Another alternative I saw at the Maker Faire last weekend. http://www.sketchup.com/
Yup SketchUp is pretty good, but it's really not ideal for 3D printable objects. And it's still not easy enough to help enable the widespread adoptions of 3D printing.
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#4Sounds interesting. When do you expect to launch ?
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#5I design all of my parts (mostly camera/lens accessories and quadcopter frames) in OpenSCAD.
Not really a good candidate for a general-audience "easy to use" 3D design program (and thus doesn't preclude their plan to build something like that), but likely highly relevant for any HN readers who are looking for such a thing who are comfortable with code/markup and are wired to be able to pre-visualize things in their head prior to building them.
There are off-shoots like OpenJSCAD (see: http://openjscad.org/) as well, which actually give you more of a complete language. The OpenSCAD language is really simple and is more like a markup language with some limited flow-control than a real full-blown programming language -- but I kind of like it that way, and if you need to get really algorithmic with your designs you can always generate OpenSCAD "code" from other languages (of your choice) since it is all just text.
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#6I'm surprised they don't mention OpenSCAD [1], which in conjunction with a decent vector graphics editor works wonders for a wide range of objects.
Yes, it has a programming interface, but I'd argue the visual/spatial context makes it much easier to pick up than most programming languages. I've seen it successfully taught to people who otherwise have little to no coding experience.
(If I had to gripe about something in OpenSCAD, it would probably be lack of spline support.)
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#7We use SolidWorks at my school, and my students don't seem to have any issues. It's fairly easy to use and easy to generate files that our 3d printer can handle.
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#8Not sure what the author means by "freeform". He seems to use that term to refer to mesh editors, which do surfaces for graphics, vs. solid geometry editors, which understand volumes. Mesh editors are more for 3D graphics.
Learning to use a constructive solid geometry system used to be hard, but Autodesk came out with low-end tools based on their their Inventor product line which make it easier. There's 123D, 123Make, 123Sculpt, Meshmixer, etc. The heavy CSG machinery of Autodesk Inventor is inside, but it's not dumped on the user all at once.
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#9We use SolidWorks at my school, and my students don't seem to have any issues. It's fairly easy to use and easy to generate files that our 3d printer can handle.
While the linked blog post focuses on usability rather than price, it is perhaps important to note that a single SolidWorks license costs about 8 times as much as you might pay for a pretty decent (if basic) FDM 3D printer.
I'm not arguing that the software isn't worth that price because its scope is vast, but that price makes it basically a non-starter as a suggestion for a software package for hobbyists.
Re: Where is the Modelling Software for 3D Printing?
#10We use SolidWorks at my school, and my students don't seem to have any issues. It's fairly easy to use and easy to generate files that our 3d printer can handle.
SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor are the big two CSG CAD systems. If you know one, transitioning to the other isn't hard. Each reads the other's format, so they interoperate.