3D printed models elaboration, tools, hints, ideas, and stuff!
- Free and OpenSource
- Desktop based
- Programmatic approach to shape modeling, very cool.
Note: Re-useablity comes naturally with it, I like that!
You can generate your models with a very well documented (proprietary) functional programming language (good paper here), and finally turn them into stl (short for stereolithography, originally) format, which is understood by all 3D printers (among others).
Generating stl code by hand is just a nonsense, but take a look at the sizes of the stl and scad files (the one that contains the code)...
- User Manual
- Language reference
- Another good doc here
- A CheatSheet
- TinkerCAD, web-based, also has a programmatic approach, based on
blocklyor something similar. - OnShape, web-based, looks really good, but not always free.
- FreeCAD, programmable in Python.
- AutoCAD, a reference, very good. But far from free...
- OpenJSCAD, in JavaScript! Moved to http://openjscad.azurewebsites.net/.Online, supports
stluploads as well. - Blender, free and Open Source.
- More to come...
- A bridge between Blender and OpenSCAD: https://mathgrrl.com/hacktastic/2015/10/beefy-trophy-baking-meshes-into-openscad-from-blender/
- GCode Viewer online.