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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Software & Firmware → 3d Print software for beginner
Hi guys im new to 3d printing design, but i love to learn some. could you guys share with me which 3d design software is suitable for beginner and also their pros and cons? i prefer software that more general to use , i mean when i dont use this software anymore i can still use my skill on other software
Thanks have a good day 
Four that come to mind 123DDesign. No longer supported by auto desk but downloads still available still usable. Free
Tinkercad supported easy to use
Fusion 360 cloud base very powerful bit of a learning curve
Blender does all things 3d free huge community steep learning curve.
Need a decent computer.
If you need prints that need to be actually round then stay away from Tinkercad. The cylinders it generates are composed of faces and will never be truly round.
If you need prints that need to be actually round then stay away from Tinkercad. The cylinders it generates are composed of faces and will never be truly round.
Even if you use a CAD program that uses solids or NURBS or other type of mathematical interpretations for curves surfaces, once exported to STL for printing, the tessellation process will convert that curved path to faces (triangles).
But depending on how dense the triangle mesh is, the surface can appear very smooth. So I'm sure there's some kind of setting in TinkerCAD that can be set to increase the density of the faces to generate a near smooth curve.
carl_m1968 wrote:If you need prints that need to be actually round then stay away from Tinkercad. The cylinders it generates are composed of faces and will never be truly round.
Even if you use a CAD program that uses solids or NURBS or other type of mathematical interpretations for curves surfaces, once exported to STL for printing, the tessellation process will convert that curved path to faces (triangles).
But depending on how dense the triangle mesh is, the surface can appear very smooth. So I'm sure there's some kind of setting in TinkerCAD that can be set to increase the density of the faces to generate a near smooth curve.
I invite you to try it out. it has very little in the way of settings other than grid spacing and measurement resolution. There really are no user settings that I can find. It is basically a drop and go application that lets you drop parts, scale them, merge them, are use the to subtract and that is about it.
As you may have guessed this question has been asked and answered before.
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/15007/be … -printing/
If you need prints that need to be actually round then stay away from Tinkercad. The cylinders it generates are composed of faces and will never be truly round.
woops good to know that then thanks for your info 
a lot of people suggest me to try SketchUp as well. but i found it quite hard to understand for newbie, any other software suggestion?
Try this one
http://autodesk-123d-design.en.lo4d.com/
Then get a hold of some tutorials and go through them
I highly recommend Tinkercad. Yes, it have many limitations, but just like apple products, most of the limitation make it easy for beginners. Once you learned how to use Tinkercad, you will learn many factor that required to define/manipulate 3D objects. After you learned some advanced skills, you will truly appreciate its advantages and have better understanding of its limitations, then it is a lot easier for you to evaluate other software or understand other people's review comments better.
I have been trying to get into 3d design for a really long time, but get lost or frustrated when play with blender, which supposed to be a very good tool. Until one day I tried Tinkercad, and I was able to learn and build stuff and get it print in 2 hours. 2 hours include learning how to use Tinkercad!
Then I hit some problems when I need to design more complicated objects and realize there are some concepts that I don't understand before, which prevent me from understand and use blender. After I understand how to use Tinkercad, it become a lot easier for me to understand how to use other software packages and why they use more complicate settings to achieve what Tinkercad unable to do.
I think, if you are new to 3D design, start from Tinkercad. You are less likely to give up 3D design due to frustration, and it helps a lot when you eventually switch to other software packages. I still use Tinkercad for most of my designs because it is easy to use. I only use 3D printer for lab equipment and tools, so Tinkercad can do almost all I wanted. The cylinders it generates are truly composed of faces and will never be truly round, but it is round enough for me and for my purpose. But if you want to fine tune something for natural/animal/art purpose, you will need to evolve to more advanced tools such as blender later.
pirvan wrote:carl_m1968 wrote:If you need prints that need to be actually round then stay away from Tinkercad. The cylinders it generates are composed of faces and will never be truly round.
Even if you use a CAD program that uses solids or NURBS or other type of mathematical interpretations for curves surfaces, once exported to STL for printing, the tessellation process will convert that curved path to faces (triangles).
But depending on how dense the triangle mesh is, the surface can appear very smooth. So I'm sure there's some kind of setting in TinkerCAD that can be set to increase the density of the faces to generate a near smooth curve.
I invite you to try it out. it has very little in the way of settings other than grid spacing and measurement resolution. There really are no user settings that I can find. It is basically a drop and go application that lets you drop parts, scale them, merge them, are use the to subtract and that is about it.
In the newest design tool, you can click on the shape and increase the number of sides and/or steps for Cylinders and Spheres. Increase either setting to its maximum (i.e. 64 sides to a Cylinder).....you will see it "smooth out" for you. You can also adjust Bevel and segments to make round and smooth top corner. Not perfect but will be much better than default setting. It also slow down your computer/browser if you have too many high resolution object in your design. I would increase this setting before final group and export stl files.
You can get various 3D design software easily from online. You can visit outlook technical support to get the various list of the software. You can also download any software from there free.
carl_m1968 wrote:pirvan wrote:Even if you use a CAD program that uses solids or NURBS or other type of mathematical interpretations for curves surfaces, once exported to STL for printing, the tessellation process will convert that curved path to faces (triangles).
But depending on how dense the triangle mesh is, the surface can appear very smooth. So I'm sure there's some kind of setting in TinkerCAD that can be set to increase the density of the faces to generate a near smooth curve.
I invite you to try it out. it has very little in the way of settings other than grid spacing and measurement resolution. There really are no user settings that I can find. It is basically a drop and go application that lets you drop parts, scale them, merge them, are use the to subtract and that is about it.
In the newest design tool, you can click on the shape and increase the number of sides and/or steps for Cylinders and Spheres. Increase either setting to its maximum (i.e. 64 sides to a Cylinder).....you will see it "smooth out" for you. You can also adjust Bevel and segments to make round and smooth top corner. Not perfect but will be much better than default setting. It also slow down your computer/browser if you have too many high resolution object in your design. I would increase this setting before final group and export stl files.
You just need a better computer..
You just need a better computer..
I'm using laptop released 7 years ago, but replaced HDD to SSD. Running tinkercad alone with high resolution is not a problem, but can not open another 20 windows of google chrome while running tinkercad. Internet connection can also be a limiting factor for people living in area with limited connection speed.
I recommend SelfCAD, https://www.selfcad.com.
What Is SelfCAD And It’s meant For Who?
SelfCAD is an online 3d designing software that allows you to model, sculpt, draw, sketch, and animate all under one program. It has brought almost all the best and useful tools of the cutting edge programs into one package. Each user usually has its own requirements. It has all the tools needed by professionals of all kinds. Whether you’re an engineer, architect, hobbyist, or student this online 3D modeling software has something for you.
The mission of SelfCAD is to make 3D modeling and 3D printing easy and accessible to everyone.
Difference Between SelfCAD And Other CAD Programs.
Most of the professional CAD programs with all features are usually expensive and average users don’t afford them or they have to dig deep in their pockets in order to buy it and most are complex too. Hence one has to take if not weeks, months in order to master the concepts of the program. Some of the free and cheap programs don’t have all the necessary 3D modeling and printing tools. SelfCAD has bridged this gap as it’s affordable, easy to learn and it targets all the industries.
SelfCAD is fully-featured, but the aggregate amount of tools is much less than any compatible software package because of its brilliant UX. Most programs have many tools which are not useful, SelfCAD has reduced the number of tools and only useful tools are available. This makes it much easier to use and master.
Key Features Of SelfCAD
Intuitive and versatile- You can learn SelfCAD quite easily. You don’t need months of training in order to get started.
Accessible- It’s browser-based. You can access it wherever you are. You can save your design on the cloud and continue working with them.
Fully-featured- It has consolidated all the features necessary for 3D printing in one place. This includes 3D modeling, sketching, drawing and slicing features as well as animation. Users don’t need to switch between programs anymore, everything is done under one program.
A library of ready to print objects- SelfCAD partnered with Myminifactory to allow users to have access to more than 45k objects which are ready to print.
3D Models created in SelfCAD are ready to print. There is the magic fix tool which ensures that the designs are printable.
Important Tools Of SelfCAD
Image to 3D
With the Image to 3D tool, you can take any photo and turn it into a 3D model at a click of a button. This tool can detect the background and remove it! The outcome is a 3D printable model.
Custom Drawing And Sketching Tools
There are FreeHand Drawing and Sketching Tools which you can use to create any model from scratch easily. SelfCAD is all about drawing, sketching and modeling objects in the simplest way possible. The drawing and sketching tools can help you go beyond ready-made objects so that you can create your own because SelfCAD is all about doing things in the simplest way possible.
Sculpting
SelfCAD has powerful Sculpting Tools and it has all the basic functions that you would expect from any other basic sculpting software. Though you can’t compare it with ZBrush as ZBrush is more powerful. If you need a beginner level Sculpting tool this is a great fit. Once the tablet version of SelfCAD is launched, sculpting, drawing, and sketching will be much more interesting.
3D print
SelfCAD has an in-built slicer. Once you click the 3D print tool, you will be able to access the in-built slicer which you can use to generate the G-Code that you will send to your printer.
Usually when using other programs one needs to install other software or extensions to prepare their models for 3D printing or after designing they have to switch to other programs. But thanks to SelfCAD, the all in one program where everything is done under one platform.
There is a 3D printing animation feature that allows you to preview the 3D printing process of your design too.
3D Animation
The Animation Feature was recently added during the release of SelfCAD 2.9. You can animate colors, transformations, and entire objects easily. Working with layers is easier too and this makes SelfCAD one of the easiest software for creating simple 3D animations.
SelfCAD Pricing
SelfCAD is much affordable. There is a free account though it’s limited in functionality and to access all the features you can upgrade your account only at $14.99/M.
Whether you are working on basic 3D designs, innovative concepts or unique shapes, SelfCAD will help you realize and unleash your imagination easily. Whatever you conceive you can bring it into a reality quickly. There are more updates we should be expecting in a few months to come like the Rendering option which is being worked on.
You can sign up for the free plan and test it and see if this is something best for you.
There are many tutorials on Youtube that can help one get started easily in SelfCAD. You can begin with this tutorial explaining the ins and outs of SelfCAD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZhu13zE3mA&t=24s then you can check out the step by step Instructables to teach yourself SelfCAD. https://www.instructables.com/howto/selfcad/.
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