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Post by onethatwas on Jul 10, 2016 18:09:41 GMT
Hey guys, I honestly haven't looked much into 3D printers yet, but am kinda curious about the programs used to model them.
Do you need a printer to use the programs, or could I (say) make a model on a program, export it, and let others have access for their own printing? What are some quality programs? Cost to download/use? And learning curve?
I am interested to fiddle with the programs first if I can before I make a 300+ dollar investment. Any help would be appreciated.
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Post by wilmanric on Jul 10, 2016 18:12:23 GMT
I use Blender and Sketchup extensively to make/hack/modify .stl files for printing. Both are free. Blender is hard to learn (for me at least) but Sketchup is easier. YMMV. Give them a try. There are tutorials on YouTube that have helped me with both.
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Post by curufin on Jul 10, 2016 19:03:59 GMT
TinkerCad, OpenScad, Inventor, Blender, SketchUp, MeshMixer are all free programs, or have free versions. You dont need a printer, but knowing how the printer prints will help you design models that will print well. If you are familiar with Cad programs, I would start with TinkerCad, Openscad, or Inventor. Sketchup is probably the easiest to learn, but their free version means they will own any creation you make. Like Wilmanric, I find Blender to be not intuitive at all. Luckily, all of these programs have plenty of Youtube tutorials.
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