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 never really could wrap my head around openscad.
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.
Tbf, comparing blender and openscad is more like comparing a hammer with a knife.
FreeCAD would be the more obvious comparison here - and while Openscad has some benefits for more complicated projects it is less than optimal - and sadly FreeCAD still sucks compared to most commercial products,even though it has improved recently due to the ONSEL influence.
Also check out build123d; uses Python instead of a non standard DSL, and supports fillets/chamfers
I wrote my own fillet function in openscad. It was a fun adventure to work out the geometry. Next time I’ll use some else’s function.
Shameless plug: I made an OpenSCAD calendar that uses some clever algorithms to automatically determine the correct day of the week no matter what year you set.
https://chrastecky.dev/post/8 (you can open the post directly on your Lemmy instance, if it doesn’t work, you can check out the entire blog category: !3d-printing@chrastecky.dev)
It’s cool, but I never had the chance to get into it. Conventional CAD tools are pretty convenient as well especially if you already know how to use them. What would be a good starter model to try this on?
Build a simple house model! Make it configurable using customiser, it’s pretty cool watching it rerender itself. Or make a LEGO brick, also a fun exercise.
Some of the things I made with it:
- the iconic “days without accidents” plate with changeable numbers
- an iPhone stand with slope customizable in the customiser
- a simple toy bed
- a keychain of the Lemmy logo
- a custom phone case
- a configurable task list with sliders
- a calendar that automatically calculates the correct day of week, meaning no matter what year you set in the customiser, the days are always correct
Use the “manifold” engine, it’s far, far, faster.
Even the older versions work pretty well, depending on the features you need. I use it for all my 3D modeling, I could never get the hang of other CAD software but this one just “makes sense” to me. I even used it last year to create a model of a trailer I wanted to build, worked out the finer details of how everything would fit together and some options like adding ramps, and once we got to the point of building the trailer it was just a matter of copying the dimensions and cutting out all the steel.
