Marco Arment

RE: https://mastodon.social/@agiletortoise/116117737649974536

I've done everything in TinkerCAD so far.

I've tried a couple of higher-end options, but the learning curve has been RIDICULOUS, and I haven't been able to push through on any of them yet.

TinkerCAD can do a LOT once you dig in. The most common reason I want better tools isn't to make more complex shapes — it’s to have parameters/variables/patterns easily adjustable after creation.

Feb 23 at 3:13amIvory for Mac
Show threadAliFeb 23

@marcoarment

[ ] Download TinkerCAD

Show threadJohannes ErnstFeb 23
@marcoarment for us people who like git and scripting: OpenSCAD.
Show threadGreg PierceFeb 23
@marcoarment Sounds right. I’m playing with Valence and Shapr on iPad, because they do seem like some of the best pencil experiences I’ve had. But, yes, learning curve.
Show threadSteve LedsworthFeb 23
@agiletortoise how does Valence compare to Shapr? I got a 3D printer recently as well and was doing okay with Shapr, but couldn't stomach the subscription price for a little hobby. I settled with Plasticity on the Mac, which I like quite a lot, but miss being able to model on the iPad. Valence seems like a great value if it's anything close to Shapr in experience
Show threadsomethingvagueFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise I use Solidworks on my work computer using the company license. I tried TinkerCAD, but it felt like using an iPhone for something you want your Mac for. I should probably spend some more time with it.
Show threadJohn CarusoFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise Check out OpenSCAD, its simple like TinkerCAD with all the same merge, delete/difference tools between primitive shapes but everything you do is code and you can make variables and do math really easily.
Show threadMathew SchafferFeb 23
Shapr3D is probably the “easiest” real modeling software, but it’s still a steep learning curve. iPad + Apple Pencil makes it kinda fun, too. But, I find myself using Tinkercad for pretty much every, even with its limitations.
Show threadTyler A.Feb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise I’ve been using OnShape and it’s been great. I’ve really only touched the surface, but even with the basics you make awesome stuff.
Show threadDmitri KalintsevFeb 23
@marcoarment as someone with an electromechanical engineer in the family who often designs and prints for lyfe, the rec is Fusion360. Even the free one's fine, and is totally worth the trouble.
Show threaddjoll Feb 23
@marcoarment OpenSCAD is the way for programmers 😉
Show threadGaryFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise another one to add to the list is FreeCAD. It’s not easy to ramp up but once you have been in there for a while it eventually makes sense — it retains a 2D drawing (sketch) that once you pad it to 3D - you can come back to the 2D version and edit it…the change will flow back up to the 3D state. I use it bc fusion has terrible UI and FreeCAD is well, free…and has dark mode UI too.
Show threadPeter N LewisFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise Onshape is probably a good bet for being able to do variables. Here is a relatively simple “spanner” I cooked up recently to help remove some octagonal tap caps that uses a bunch of variables for its various sizes. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/80e5219c14a496bccd50bbff/w/ca8d10a4933f41a06b120f53/e/dbf8f18d08447df549ffa541
Onshape

Sign in to Onshape, the #1 fastest growing CAD system in the world.

Show threadPaulFeb 23

@marcoarment @agiletortoise Variables / parametric design is why I use OnShape. Here's an end to end design walk through from Functional Print Friday https://youtu.be/OF1M-RF61gU?si=7Zc2j62wg3Yca5PK

I did use Fusion 360 for a while, but the convenience of Onshape via a web app for the desktop and iPad app when sitting on the couch make it a good experience. The learning curve isn't too steep - just watch a few tutorials.

3D Printed Counterbore Tool Holder

YouTube
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23
@pauld @agiletortoise Thanks, this is great!
Show threadNuno FerroFeb 23
@marcoarment try asking Claude to generate OpenScad files ;)
Show threadThomas BrockFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise ChatGPT is pretty good at generating OpenSCAD scripts.
Show threadsmythFeb 23

+1 for Onshape.

It’s free, entirely web-based and not that hard to learn.

@marcoarment @agiletortoise

Show threadKenny BarntFeb 23
@marcoarment @agiletortoise Fusion is a good step up from TinkerCAD, and even stays free if you do the personal use license, and I’ve rarely run into to something I need to do that I can’t within the limits on it.
Show threadJoseph LamoreeFeb 23
@marcoarment I use Onshape and it's extremely frustrating, but ultimately does almost what I wanted. I was a Fusion 360 customer for a while, but the subscription just grew beyond what I could justify.
Show threadJon EvansFeb 23

@marcoarment @agiletortoise

I teach 3D modeling at my primary school using TinkerCAD and the children love it. Very quick to pick up and can produce some amazing creations.

Show threadSteve GenoudFeb 23
@marcoarment if you want to go the code cad way, you can try my own https://replicad.xyz (100% front end). Have a look at this model for instance https://models.sgenoud.com/posts/lamp-rosette/
replicad | replicad

The library to build browser based 3D models with code.

Show threadQuentin ZervaasFeb 23

@marcoarment don’t sleep on OpenSCAD. It’s a very dated interface and you can’t output multicolour 3MF files, but LLMs are VERY capable at producing designs in it.

(And programmatically/scripted cad much more logical for programmers, and diffable)

Eg you can break up each component into separate modules/function then piece it together as necessary in another module.

Show threadThomas TempelmannFeb 23
@marcoarment I went from TinkerCAD to FreeCAD, because free. But what a pain that UI is. Imagine the constraints for a 2D sketch being 0-indexed, and errors show only those indexes (and no automatic selection of the constraints), but the items in the list (a) don't show their index and (b) are auto-named with 1-based indexing! Seems to be like this for ages, and no one seems to want to change that. Lots of such illogical issues. I'm slowly learning it, but wow, how stupid can one make this.
Show threadLaurentMar 2

@tempelorg @marcoarment FreeCAD is indeed very powerful but the UX is terrible.

This said, it is excellent for parametric modeling. If you can overcome the learning phase it will do everything you need and more but you will pay for the result with your blood, sweat and tears. 😅

Show threadmasukomiFeb 24

@marcoarment @agiletortoise i’ve found Shapr3D to be way more intuitive than most and a great next step.

As you make more advanced things it’s limits (like no good tooling around screw threads) start to chafe, but it is a huge relief to slip the bonds of Tinkercad’s restrictive simplicity.

I’ve been forced to move to Fusion 360 for CAM work but i really don’t enjoy it.

Show threadlegrasFeb 24
@marcoarment have you tried OpenSCAD? As programmer, it feels so right