What software do you use for 3D modeling?

#1

I’ve always used pen and paper to draw out designs before making them out of wood. But recently i’ve been wishing I’d 3d modeled the design in software that could calculate measurements for me.
Any tools you would recommend? Free preferably because i won’t use it loads.

I used sketchup at school but trying the new online free version I wasn’t a huge fan

Many thanks

#2

There were some useful comments in this thread:

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#3

Heya Dougal. I use sketchup 2017. You can still download it and use it free on your desktop. It’s currently the only version available for this. I’ve found it ample for all the design work I want to do.

Another option, which a lot of people in the makerspace enjoy, because of its crossover with cnc and 3d printing is Fusion 360. Although the learning curve is fairly steep, it does offer a one year ‘hobby’ license, which is free and gives you full access to the software.

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#4

+1 for Fusion360. The community edition is also fully free now so it’s much more accessible. I also haven’t found the learning curve too steep especially for fairly straightforward stuff that can work on distinct planes. Probably the most challenging thing when starting out is getting familiar with the dimensions and constraints

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#5

thank you!

#6

Hey, +1 for Fusion360, it’s got good support forums, tutorial videos, and it has a measure tool for grabbing dimensions

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#7

It depends on what you want to do. How complicated do you want to go?

My personal decision was to go w/ Fusion360, because it can do everything I could possibly want, and you’ll find tons of resources. I do recommend walking through youtube tutorials, or the tutorials from Autodesk themselves… even though it’s a complicated software, you’ll learn enough to get going quickly enough.

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#8

this may end up useful, just saw the video and figured it belongs here.


free and opensource but taking donations

#9

You can use a Browser version of SketchUp for free that works well, I’ve also just started getting into fusion 360 (you can get a free hobbiest licence) also I’ve used tinker cad (another browser based one)

I always used to reach for SketchUp, but am really enjoying fusion