1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Print Creation App?

Discussion in 'Software' started by JoelDryden, Dec 12, 2017.

  1. JoelDryden

    JoelDryden New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2017
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    I'm brand new to the 3D printer arena. I'm looking for creation software for prints, what is recommended? I've looked at Fusion360, will this work?
     
  2. Kilrah

    Kilrah Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2017
    Messages:
    498
    Likes Received:
    332
    Sure is one of the favorites.
     
  3. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Messages:
    752
    Likes Received:
    141
    I use Autdesk Fusion 360 on a daily basis. There's a sharp learning curve initially, but it's great software.
     
  4. JoelDryden

    JoelDryden New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2017
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    After a little more research, it appears Fusion 360, Blender, and SketchUp are the top three, with SketchUp having the lowest learning curve and reviews of being more intuitive.
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    We use SolidWorks and Fusion360 (the latter mostly for the CAM features since CAM add-ons for SW are -- expensive)
     
  6. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Messages:
    752
    Likes Received:
    141
    This is me today in Autodesk Fusion 360, for what it's worth. At this level, there are annoyances in the menu ("browser"), for example, the scrolling at the bottom is dysfunctional. Adding some dummy/unused components at the end avoids this.

    Other than this, it's a rather usable software for designing parts and exporting them as mesh files.

    AutodeskFusion360.png
     
  7. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    OSG, that's because you're a MAC user :D
     
  8. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Messages:
    752
    Likes Received:
    141
    On multiple occasions I have screamed bad things at this software. That jumping-around thing it does at the bottom is truly maddening.
     
  9. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    5,905
    Likes Received:
    3,593
    Like I said, the Windows version does not behave in the manner you describe.
     
  10. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Messages:
    752
    Likes Received:
    141
    On multiple occasions I have screamed bad things at this software, as well. ha
     
  11. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    1,605
    Likes Received:
    1,003

    I'd suggest staying away from sketchup. It's just not meant for producing the water tight meshes we need for 3D Printing. Blender and Fusion 360 are both good for different reasons. Blender more for organic modeling/ mesh manipulation and fusion for engineering work where you're more interested in precision than a fancy shape. Blender isn't exactly stellar for water tight meshes either, but if you're putting in the work to learn it, you should be able to handle the extra little bit to get good meshes.

    I'll also toss out TinkerCad and Morphi for easy beginnings, then selfCad for a next step after those two if you're intimidated by something like Fusion. I tend to use onshape for engineering design type work and meshmixer for my crude attempts at organic modeling.
     
    JoelDryden and Geof like this.
  12. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2015
    Messages:
    1,322
    Likes Received:
    510
    Designspark Mechanical is another lesser-known free software package that has some pretty good features in it.
     

Share This Page