"Learning 3D Sculpting/CAD?" Topic

OK, I've been playing around with my 3D printer since September and there are a whole lot of things for gaming (and other things) I'd like to be able to print but no one is making models for. Therefore, I'd like to see if I can learn some 3D Sculpting or Computer Aided Desgin so I make my own STL files. Where is the best place an impoverished nerd can go to learn how to start?

There are some excellent free 3D cad programs to start with. I lost all my links with my new laptop so I can't link them for you. Find an article about 3d CAD and they will list all the good ones for you. Tell me which one you settle one. Maybe I know a trick or two for it. I've been doing this work for 20 years.

Here is the perfect sculpting tool to get a start with.

pixologic.com/sculptris

It is free. It is a slimmed down version of Zbrush and you can even export to zbrush should you really take to digital sculpting. Check out the link amd read what it's about. It can create the 3d printing files your printer uses and it will be all your own work. You can do basic building shapes all the way to organic figures. Try just making a stone statue like on Easter Island. Very basic and yet it teaches you how to control the various tools in the program. There are also lots of really good tutorials out there.

Please share what you create with us. It's a really cool tool we have for gaming now and it is only going to get better.

Matthew

Depends upon what you want to do, and the style of the shapes, e.g. hard, straight edges, and/or organic ones.

I've heard Zbrush can be pretty technical, but perhaps the slimmed down version is easier to grasp.

I forget the name of the one recommended that's free, and pretty easy to learn, but it's been posted about on here before. Will post, if/when I recall that.

Just make sure whatever you use, that you can produce water-tight, STL files with it.

Sketchup – claims to be the easiest way to draw in 3-D.

Don't know if that is really true, but I've heard good things about it, and a person I know recommended it for me, so it's worth checking out, I suspect, since the price is right.

Can't beat free.

sketchup.com

There are also a lot of models already available for you to view, and/or to possibly download too.

I just want to add one other comment.

You do need to make sure it can give you the .stl file no matter what program you choose.

Look at the free stuff and see what the interface looks. Watch a few videos on navigating the user interface and then pick one program. You need to pick one and give it a few weeks of playing with it before you go to another software. Jumping around to different software can really cause some headaches.

There are some nice, free programs out there, but it is worth spending some time watching intoduction YouTube videos on them to see which one might fit your style.

Have fun.

Matthew

There are a number of programs that can convert one type of 3D file into another; I use Meshlab (which is free) to convert Art of Illusion files to .stl, and have no issues at all.

Art of Illusion, by the way, is a great free program if, like me, you come from a 2D digital illustration background. The interface feels a bit like an early version of Freehand.

However, it is a more 'technical' sculpting program, as opposed to an 'organic' one, like Z-Brush. Great for modelling vehicles and buildings, not so for figurines or representations of the living.

AoI is VERY basic, however, until you find the right add-ons. Fortunately, there is a pretty big, active community, and lots of add-ons to choose from in the AoI library. (All free!)

Look at a few tutorials of various tools on youtube and decide which you like.

Learning a commonly used app like Blender is a good idea. It is important that whatever you choose has a lot of inbuilt functions that make developing high quality models easier.

Years ago, I saw some great examples and write-ups for Rhino, but IIRC, it is more technical (a steeper learning curve), and the commercial version was pretty expensive.

They had a much lower cost, student version, but I don't know what you need to qualify for that discount. Also, not sure the student version permits you to use it for commercial applications, but if you're just playing around for your own fun, and can qualify for the discount, it might be worth considering, if it provides more features than the others.

Rhino is more of a CAD program, as is Solidworks, and you can make great models using them, but they are complicated pieces of software.

Software like MAYA, 3D Studio Max, Blender etc are more suited to designing miniatures than CAD software, they also tend to be easier to learn.

For me, MAYA was very easy to learn, the tools are easy to find and it's a very flexible piece of software. So my process has been to make a low-poly model in MAYA, then export it to Zbrush for the detail work and to remesh it.

I haven't used other programs like Sketch-Up or AOI, so I can't speak as to their functionality and ease of use.

Everything I've made has been in Sketchup Make, which is the free version.

link

javelin98.blogspot.com

I've played around with Sculptris, but I can't get over the fact that there's no ruler or measurements that I can find! How am I supposed to create a 15mm miniature if I can't tell how big the sculpt is??

One thing that Sketchup has over nearly all other packages I've tried (Rhino, Autodesk 3DSMax, Blender, etc.) is tool tips. It seems like a real no-brainer, but so many companies neglect to include such a simple, user-friendly feature. Amazing.

I use Rino. Alex of Shopyards uses Turbocad. Rino is very good for compex curved surfaces. Turbocad is less capable on that score. I suspsct there is no easy way. You need complex tools even for somrhing like my first scale model a Unimog.