Where to start with modeling?

I recently have been spending a good amount of time studying the 3D printing industry, processes and history. As a result I am now completely obsessed as I'm sure many of you are as well.

My next step is I want to learn to create designs of my own and I was hoping to get some guidance. I have a little experience with Illustrator and not much else and I don't want to purchase any expensive software at this point. I have downloaded Blender and have an account to Lynda.com, but it seems as though the classes for Blender are focussed more on animation.

A few questions:
-Should I start by learning a Solid Modeler? I have heard it is easier and as someone with little modeling/design experience, it might be better?
--If so, what (free) software do you recommend?
---Where can I learn to use this software? I'm willing to spend money on the class but it must be over the computer because I don't have time for in person.
-Is Blender a good Mesh Modeler?
--Am I wasting my time by taking a Beginner class that focusses much on animation?
---Does anybody know a good (online) class on 3D modeling for printing? Again, I'm willing to spend money for a class.

I really appreciate any and all guidance and recommendations.

I'm a big fan of Open_SCAD. It is Open Source and is used to create all the plastic parts on Prusa 3D-Printers. Check out:

http://www.openscad.org/documentation.html

or possibly:
http://www.makerbot.com/tutorials/openscad-tutorials/

I wonder why Google Sketchup doesn't get more love around here. I've tried OpenSCAD, an I really really can't get my brain around it. (there's not a coding bone in my body whatsoever)

I'm the kind of person who sits down with a piece of paper and draws the item from drafting perspectives, for that kind of modelling, I've not found anything better than Sketchup. My fiance on the other hand is a die-hard AutoCAD drafter by trade and every time she touches Sketchup, she tosses her hands up in frustration five minutes later from the lack of a command prompt, so I know it isn't for everyone.

My suggestion is get and try to use both packages, you'll figure out almost immediately which kind of modelling you want to do.


Oh, there's also Blender as you mentioned, but the interface on that drives me nutty.

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My suggestion is get and try to use both packages, you'll figure out almost immediately which kind of modelling you want to do.

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Yes... Very good advice. You have to find what YOU want to use...

The big problem I had with Sketchup is the lack of precision. I could drag and drop stuff to different places. I could get the general shapes I wanted. But to put components exactly where I wanted them never worked. That problem is non-existent in Open_SCAD.

I also like sketch-up. You can tell SU what coordinates to place any object

If you are in the education secter e.g. student/Teacher/professor you can download Autodesk inventor for free. There are loads of tutorials on youtube to get started. Pretty powerful package.

The choice of modeling software really depends on the type of parts you want to make. But if you're planning to use a 3D printer, a solid modeling program has a lot of advantages, since you won't have to assemble your solids from surfaces, which can introduce errors. Blender is free, but it's pretty difficult to use, especially if you're focused on parts and not animation. Sketch-up is easier, but fairly limited in what it can do. You might take a look at the Cubify products from 3D Systems: Design (for mechanical models) and Sculpt (for more organic things); they're reasonably priced and fairly powerful.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Thank you all for the advice! I agree it's a good idea to try both so I can absorb and expose myself to as much as possible. I want to be on the business side of the industry but it's important to be familiar the product/process at the very least.

Hey there! If you're looking for something that lies perfectly in between Sketchup and Open_SCAD, take a look at FreeCAD. As the name implies, its free, and it takes the easy to use tools of Sketchup and adds the accuracy of Open_SCAD, just in a simple, non-programming way. Obviously you'll still need to find some lessons online for FreeCAD, as I have done all of the tutorials and am still learning how to get around.

http://freecadweb.org/

you can either love sketchup or hate it but what its not good for is making models for 3d prinitng. sketchup isnt a solid modeler. its a surface modeler. perts exported from sketchup usually have issues for 3d printing. many can be correctled with a quick run through netfabb but some cant. there are so many pieces of software out there its not funny and like what was mentioned before you need to know what type of modeling you are going to be doing. sculpting type stuff or mechanical stuff. blender and zbrush for instance are for organics and more of a sculpting type where freecad, rhino, solidworks, etc are more engineering or consumer products.

Also, if you're looking for an extremely easy way to learn, one with guided lessons and such, take a look at TinkerCAD (its free). Some people scoff at it for being too simple, but it is very effective at teaching basic CAD concepts that you will use no matter what program you end up using. I used it to break the ice with CAD modeling, and it really helped me with usingFreeCAD. As an added bonus it even exports .STL files that are ready for you to print!

https://tinkercad.com

I'll definitely check this out