It’s software cad. You write code that makes the 3d model. And then you print the 3d model.
The last “official release” was 2 years ago. But development (and community) is active. You gotta get the nightly builds.
Openscad is fine for pretty basic one item things. It’s not so good for complex designs like the model steam engines I sometimes amuse myself with. And it’s sure not capable in a commercial setting.
But if you enjoy openscad and writing code, more power to you and enjoy what you are doing with it!
It’s really cool and I love the concept but doing basic things like chamfers are super slow and clunky so I just use freecad, which has support for openscad but also has conventional CAD paradigms.
I got too used to Fusion 360 and now I’m stuck with it since I can make stuff fast, easy, and parameterized with full change history and it’s too much effort to learn something new to replace my workflow. Also its the CAM software for my CNC.
I’ll probably play around with SCAD/Build123d though for fun.
FreeCAD! I dont mean to be a evangelist, but it is finally good enough for myself that I made the leap from Fusion, and I haven’t missed it a moment. Your mileage may vary, but now is better than ever to give it a(nother) try
I wonder if there is a 2D equivalent, basically imperative parametric cad?
Openscad has a slew of 2d. Polygons and such. Just plug in your xy data.
I don’t think it has the boolean constructive stuff for that tho.
Check out this little overview cheatsheet. It pretty much shows you what it can do.
Absolutely. Blender is so fucked up. Designed for the artsy types, but if you need something at exactly these coordinates, you are fucked.
With openscad you have precision, repeatability, and you can even write scad source code from some data points you have, and just use it.
I dk what you are talking about it. I use blender daily for 3d models. Just grab the point, line or face, and tell it xyz coordinate or grab a bunch and line them up.
I never used the python code function but supposedly that works. Blender is way easier than any other cad I’ve used because its made for artsy types. So that anyone could do it after watching a few YouTube videos.Three times I have tried to get a grip on Blender, and have given up. You have to dig deep to put something on precise coordinates, and if you click something wrong, everything is fucked up with the UI without a way back. Documentation is random YT videos that all seem to assume that you already have a blender diploma.
With openscad, it took me half a day from installing the software, doing tutorials to finished design.
Same here. Never found a 3d tool that went right. But openscad is straightforward. Zero to printable thing in an hour.
Code is a little weird but I’m getting a feel for it. That would be an interesting project, to make a better openscad code.