From there, is there a better Free 3D Program you guys are using? I watched a bunch of Fusion 360 videos that the guy said was free, however, when I tried to download it, it turns out its only free for students and educators, and the subscription is Imho a little heavy, at least for my usage. And no, I don't have Win10, but I guess if all else fails, that's an option.

As far as fusion 360   it is free for enthusiasts as well just download the program and sign up as an enthusiast.

There is another Autodesk  program that is an option It is called 123d design . it is free and easy to use. the only downside it had been orphaned by autodesk so no official support or updates . but easy to use mechanical cad type program.

Blender is another option but lots to learn .

Most of us here use repitier host and Slic3er but  not comparable with a davinci.

Hello all, happy holidays!

My wonderful son got me a DaVinci Mini for Christmas, and I've been trying to learn quickly to get proficient asap. Total newbie a couple of days ago, and have a long way to go. I realize that the built-in software is very basic, but I've been able to edit/modify a few Thingiverse designs and print them successfully.

I have however noticed that the scaling is off a bit - which is what caused me to go the route of editing.  However, on one plan - a ball and socket extension for a cell phone holder, I found that the ball at one end printed too small and the socket at the other end was too big, so I couldn't simply scale it.

So I figured the easiest way to skin this cat was to scale the entire piece to 99% and add a larger ball. However, the piece is designed to be printed with the ball end down with a flat at the bottom, which is then landed - and then printed with a raft.

However, I cannot figure out a way how to slice off a flat of the top of the ball.  As the piece is inverted in the print position with the ball down, I thought I could just Z it lower through the land plane and find a function to slice off the portion below, but I can't seem to find the function.  Any thoughts on how to make this flat with XYZ Marker?

From there, is there a better Free 3D Program you guys are using? I watched a bunch of Fusion 360 videos that the guy said was free, however, when I tried to download it, it turns out its only free for students and educators, and the subscription is Imho a little heavy, at least for my usage. And no, I don't have Win10, but I guess if all else fails, that's an option.

I guess at that point, I better think about a slicing program too. I suppose the 3D program and slicer that works best together.  Is there an over all Free Combo package that you all are using that tends to work well with the Da Vinci printers?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.  Thank YOU!

With risk of all criticism that will follow soon, I want to recommend thinkercad, it is a free web based program for basic 3D design that is easy to learn and easy to use for beginners.

https://www.tinkercad.com/

go through their training class, which takes about 1 hour, and you will have very good idea how to do what you need to do.
https://www.tinkercad.com/learn/

My wonderful son got me a DaVinci Mini for Christmas, and I've been trying to learn quickly to get proficient asap. Total newbie a couple of days ago, and have a long way to go. I realize that the built-in software is very basic, but I've been able to edit/modify a few Thingiverse designs and print them successfully.

I have however noticed that the scaling is off a bit - which is what caused me to go the route of editing.  However, on one plan - a ball and socket extension for a cell phone holder, I found that the ball at one end printed too small and the socket at the other end was too big, so I couldn't simply scale it.

So I figured the easiest way to skin this cat was to scale the entire piece to 99% and add a larger ball. However, the piece is designed to be printed with the ball end down with a flat at the bottom, which is then landed - and then printed with a raft.

However, I cannot figure out a way how to slice off a flat of the top of the ball.  As the piece is inverted in the print position with the ball down, I thought I could just Z it lower through the land plane and find a function to slice off the portion below, but I can't seem to find the function.  Any thoughts on how to make this flat with XYZ Marker?

From there, is there a better Free 3D Program you guys are using? I watched a bunch of Fusion 360 videos that the guy said was free, however, when I tried to download it, it turns out its only free for students and educators, and the subscription is Imho a little heavy, at least for my usage. And no, I don't have Win10, but I guess if all else fails, that's an option.

I guess at that point, I better think about a slicing program too. I suppose the 3D program and slicer that works best together.  Is there an over all Free Combo package that you all are using that tends to work well with the Da Vinci printers?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.  Thank YOU!