Hello Guys.. Currently I am making some industrial designs for 3D Printing.. Kindly suggest me the more efficient tool for creating some Hard Surface Assets.
i think the CAD tools are pretty hardcore and different from what we're generally used to though, so beware. 3ds max seems a decent choice for poly modelling. if you don't care about the modifier stack then most other tools should qualify.
but what software will this be compared against? what are you using now?
i think the CAD tools are pretty hardcore and different from what we're generally used to though, so beware. 3ds max seems a decent choice for poly modelling. if you don't care about the modifier stack then most other tools should qualify.
Very true. Though I think David Lesperance and a few others may use Fusion 360 every now and then for some hard surface work, it is pretty 'hardcore'.
Fusion 360 is indeed very interesting, I have been experimenting with it over the past few weeks myself.
However, even though great stuff can be made with it (as shown in the link above), the UI responsiveness is very poor and it can be very frustrating to anyone used to go blazing fast with Max/Maya/Blender. Unfortunately I feel like a large chunk of the target audience of the program just doesn't notice the issue and I am afraid it might just end up staying like this for a while. This actually makes me want to try other, more obscure CAD programs.
Hi. Industrial Designer/3D Print expert person here...what do you want to do?
You can use whatever software you'd like to make 3D printable models. It all gets turned into triangles in the end. So as long as the model is watertight (no holes), has no interior faces that share an edge (intersections are usually OK so long as all the sub-objects are watertight), and has all the normals facing the right way, the model is fine to print.
If you want to do technical development, i.e. you need to have some sort of interface, say, an axle free spinning in an enclosure of a set diameter, then you could try Rhino, MoI, or Onshape (keep in mind that no matter WHAT you use, you will have to design in engineering tolerances...see the link below). These software packages allow for precise dimensioning and tolerance control. A lot of people talk about Fusion 360, but PIOR's right, it's a clunky tanker to use. Rhino is pretty quick to pick up - virtually everything is run via typing in a command. Check it out. MOI is Rhino's little brother.
Onshape/SolidWorks/Fusion are all parametric modelers. The closest you've probably experienced to this is in 3DS Max, but even still it's worlds away more powerful. Parametric models are built using "Features", and each feature can be modified later to adjust the model.
Do you have a picture of what you're making? That would help with the recommendations. But TL;DR: CAD software lets you have easier control when it comes to precise manufacturing. You can use whatever you want though. CAD tools just have workflows that are geared to making physical things.
I've actually written some articles about this on my website...which for some reason I can't access here at work. I will edit this post later with the relevant links.
Replies
Inventor as well. http://www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview
3ds Max also has some great tools for hard-surface modeling.
but what software will this be compared against? what are you using now?
http://lesterbanks.com/2015/08/fusion-360-for-game-artists/
However, even though great stuff can be made with it (as shown in the link above), the UI responsiveness is very poor and it can be very frustrating to anyone used to go blazing fast with Max/Maya/Blender. Unfortunately I feel like a large chunk of the target audience of the program just doesn't notice the issue and I am afraid it might just end up staying like this for a while. This actually makes me want to try other, more obscure CAD programs.
You can use whatever software you'd like to make 3D printable models. It all gets turned into triangles in the end. So as long as the model is watertight (no holes), has no interior faces that share an edge (intersections are usually OK so long as all the sub-objects are watertight), and has all the normals facing the right way, the model is fine to print.
If you want to do technical development, i.e. you need to have some sort of interface, say, an axle free spinning in an enclosure of a set diameter, then you could try Rhino, MoI, or Onshape (keep in mind that no matter WHAT you use, you will have to design in engineering tolerances...see the link below). These software packages allow for precise dimensioning and tolerance control. A lot of people talk about Fusion 360, but PIOR's right, it's a clunky tanker to use. Rhino is pretty quick to pick up - virtually everything is run via typing in a command. Check it out. MOI is Rhino's little brother.
Onshape/SolidWorks/Fusion are all parametric modelers. The closest you've probably experienced to this is in 3DS Max, but even still it's worlds away more powerful. Parametric models are built using "Features", and each feature can be modified later to adjust the model.
Do you have a picture of what you're making? That would help with the recommendations. But TL;DR: CAD software lets you have easier control when it comes to precise manufacturing. You can use whatever you want though. CAD tools just have workflows that are geared to making physical things.
I've actually written some articles about this on my website...which for some reason I can't access here at work. I will edit this post later with the relevant links.
EDIT: Here they are;
"So you want to make a model for 3D Printing" http://jordanpelovitz.com/?p=471
"How Accurate is 3D Software?" http://jordanpelovitz.com/?p=1122
"Modeling for Industrial Design": http://jordanpelovitz.com/?p=775
"How to Choose the best 3D Software for you": http://jordanpelovitz.com/?p=609 (This one caused some rancor here as I was probably a bit unfair to 3DS Max, but maybe the rest of it will be useful to you).
I'd really recommend reading at least the first 2, the others are for your reference.