Would like some input on 3d modling software choice.

Discussion started by ken-a5a126

Hello folks. I am relatively new to the 3D design world. I have looked at a number of online and offline packages.

I am currently using MatterHacker's "MatterControl". I find the user interface pretty good, however there are some deficiencies as well as some bugs (a particular nagging one happens when attempting to do a subtraction).

If anyone has some advice on choice of software that does not require an engineering degree to operate but gives decent results that would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Kenny

Answers

Posted over 3 years ago
0

If you want to keep it simple and also keep it free, Wings3D is about your best option. Blender is more suited to PBR models and animation (although I wouldn't ever touch it with a barge pole, that's just me, especially as it's import and export functions don't work properly).

Maya, Max and Fusion are all a little too expensive for the casual modeller and I have to admit I've never even bothered looking at Sketchup.

It's horses for courses I suppose. Each to their own. One man's scrap is another man's treasure... Ok, I'll stop now >.<

luxxeon wrote
luxxeon
There are some excellent addons and tools in Blender for creating watertight models to scale, but it does take a little extra setup to prepare the software for this type of modeling. I've switched over to it now almost entirely for this purpose for reasons too lengthy to list here, but it fulfills the needs quite well after a learning curve. Especially with the assistance of some useful addons.
SimonTGriffiths wrote
SimonTGriffiths
Never been a fan of it and even less of Armour Paint lol I do use Blunder from time to time, but only when I need to make nif's as it has the best exporter. The UI is horrible and I never made friends with it. As I said, each to their own.
Posted over 3 years ago
0

It sounds like Blender is what you want.

If your main purpose is to build printable objects, then you might want to add a product like Atangeo's "Balancer Pro" to your software tools.

Balancer and Balancer Pro are tools that reduce the polygon count of an object to a "manageable" amount while maintaining the basic structure of the model, but also help ensure that the walls of your object have a thickness and other dimensions suitable for printing. Your "work flow" is that you first construct the desired objec in Blender, save it out into a format that can be read by Balancer Pro, import and pass it through Balancer Pro to prepare it for printing, and then use whatever tool the printing process provides to verify the integrity and suitability of the object for print. (And then "print", of course.) Essentially. Balancer Pro will enable you to learn the basics of model-building in Blender, but move more quickly into being able to produce printable objects. Blander and any of the 3D model-building apps will let you reduce the polygon count and ensure the water-tightness and wall integrity of an object for printing, of course, but it takes additional time and effort to learn to do this well. Balancer Pro just provides a good way to cheat until you pick up these skills in Blender.

ken-a5a126 wrote
Thank you. It sounds like something I should use. I have had problems in the past with hidden voids inside models. Should this Balancer Pro help with this?
ken-a5a126 wrote
It appears I don't have a graphics controller that supports "OpenGL 3.3". But thanks for the info.
luxxeon wrote
luxxeon
The latest Blender updates do require a more capable GPU and drivers to work with its real-time rendering engine, but it is well worth it if you can somehow upgrade your hardware to minimum specs. Keep in mind that Blender is very different from the MatterControl software you had been using. The modeling style and tools are quite different. Blender, however, will offer a much larger variety of possibilities once you get to know the interface and toolset. You will eventually be able to create a much wider variety of models with more detail and accuracy than ever before, but it will be a steep learning curve if you have never done polygonal modeling before. MatterControl is a software package built specifically around a 3d Printer and actually uses solid additive modeling features to build watertight geometry directly on a virtual printer bed. This will not be the case with Blender out of the box. The polygon modeling tools in Blender will require a far different production workflow than you were used to in that software.
Posted over 3 years ago
0

primarily box modelling for 3D printing objects. More function than artistic.
I will look at the suggestions you made.
Thanks

Posted over 3 years ago
0

Have you looked into Sketchup already? There's so many options and so many variables when it comes to choosing a software that I'm going to be honest in saying it's nearly impossible to give you a good recommendation without knowing what type of OS you use, what experience level you have, what kind of modeling type do you prefer (solid modeling vs. box modeling vs. parametric modeling vs. NURBS modeling vs sculpting), etc.

Perhaps a few common apps that most beginners start with are Tinycad, Sketchup, MOI, and maybe even Blender if you've ever worked with Polygon modeling.

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